FISHING AT PALM BAY

On Easter Saturday we received a request from a member of the Yarmirr family to take them fishing as they do not have a vehicle. Nancy had other things on - maybe next time. They wanted to fish at the mouth of a creek that drains the water from the floodplain into Palm Bay.

Below Ian is preparing his line for action. 

Below the other members of Ian's family catching some fish. Bryan tried some lures however bait seemed to be the only thing working. 

The word was that the previous day just on dusk and on the incoming tide some big barramundi were caught in this location. In the meantime Bryan decided to put the drone up and have look around.

Just down the beach was a smallish crocodile just drifting along close to the waters edge. See short video below.

Flying back along the beach passed the Yarmirr family just in time to seeing a small salmon being pulled in. 

The photo below from the drone up high shows the mouth of the creek with part of the floodplain in the background. Barramundi breed in fresh water and most return to the salt water when the fresh water levels drop. Fishing the floodplain runoff is a good place to land a good barra.

Last year a commercial fishing operator netted this area. This violated an agreement between the local traditional owners and the NT Seafood Council. Apart from taking a lot of fish there were also a lot of dead fish left behind. This incident further strained relationships between traditional owners and the commercial fishing industry.

As the light was fading and with the incoming tide, the 'Barra' action started. 

The young man below is the son of two of the rangers who work with Bryan. Now that is a nice barra and it certainly made the young man's rod bend!

Fishing can be done in many ways. Rods, lines and hooks are more recent fishings tools in this part of the world. Below the man standing at the front of the boat is looking for not only fish but also stingray and turtles. Before aluminium boats and outboard motors, dugout wooden canoes were used. 

Turtles are harpooned with a spike fitted into the end of a long pole. The pole is used to drive the spike into the shell of the turtle. The spike is attached to a float by rope. When the turtle tires it is lifted into the boat and taken home - when many mouths can be fed.

Some of the local wildlife - that can fly. Firstly a brolga on the floodplain.

Unknown butterfly ****

Red winged parrot - common to northern Australia.