What type of women would spend two days in a boat often not much larger than a bathtub, in a river that is home to the highest density of saltwater crocodiles in the world?

Reel women targeting the Territory’s premier sports fish, the mighty barramundi, thats who!

On 5-6 September 2003, Australia’s reel women converged on the Northern Territory’s world-renowned Mary River System for the second annual Reel Women’s Barra Classic, a two day catch and release fishing tournament.

Anglers had the choice of fishing either Corroboree Billabong or Shady Camp, both major barramundi havens. Neatly placed between the two locations, the Bark Hut Inn was the base for the two days.

The tournament funnily enough coincided with Father’s Day so it was an opportune time to hook up the boat, grab the rods, reels, tent and swag and let dad bond with the kiddies.

The mission of the Reel Women’s Barra Classic is to encourage ladies to take a more active role in recreational fishing. The competition can be a gentle introduction to fishing for those who have never fished before or a mighty challenge for those who are handy with a rod and reel. The tournament allows for a team to fish independently with women only or with a skipper for those less experienced.

Although fishing in the Top End offers some of the best sports fishing available in Australia, this tournament is just as much about being out in pristine country where the wildlife and countryside is breathtaking. Mary River is one of the most spectacular sights in Australia. The crocodiles, birds of prey, buffalo and barramundi make this adventure an experience to remember. Even the locals are continually in awe of the beauty that surrounds them in this part of their world.

Some teams travelled the 2,000km from Adelaide to participate in the weekend of fun, fishing and frivolity. Others had an easy 130km drive from their homes in Darwin.

Team names including PharCan Got One, Hormonal Release and Fish N 4 Chicks, the Casted Tarts and the Piscatorial Princesses made up just some of the 351 ladies and 64 teams. One team included an extremely keen but novice 17-year-old who partnered a more experienced ‘reel woman’ with 60 years of angling under her belt. Age is no barrier in fishing, although experience and practice can certainly pay off.

Lines were not permitted in the water until 6am on day one of the tournament although alarm clocks were buzzing not long after midnight. Shady Camp is tidal and requires careful planning for boat launch and retrieval at this time of year. Serious competitors not taking the risk of missing the high tide, launched their boats as early as 2am.

Take a moment to consider where the women were fishing and visualize a 2am boat launch. In the black of the night, in crocodile infested waters, a team member reverses the boat. A second team member climbs aboard with keys and a spotlight. The third is left to hold the rope and quietly pray. The spotlight quickly darts between the reflective red eyes of crocodiles.

A swift and efficient is launch is essential when fishing on the Mary River System. Shady Camp ‘boat ramp’ can be an unpredictable swirling muddy pond full of deep holes and rocks. The ramp at Corroboree Billabong was made of concrete but a large crocodile had been spotted sun baking on it leading up to the event.

With rods and reels at the ready, lines were in at 6am on day one.

As the sun rose over the billabong, the warmer clothes from the morning’s cooler air were peeled away.

Trolling, jigging, flicking lures and plastics, all techniques were used to intercept the barramundi. Some teams at Corroboree Billabong decided to specifically target saratoga. It was a lesser scoring fish but seemed to be easier to hook when using a surface lure cast into pools of water amongst the lotus lillies that framed the river and billabong. This was the tactic used by Piscatorial Princesses who ended up fourth overall.

The beauty of the Mary River System is that even with 65 boats on the water, there was enough freedom to fish your own oasis. The vast distances between teams meant that secret spots could be left undiscovered and casters flicking lures into quiet snags would not be disturbed by passing boats and motors.

At the end of day one the score board was fairly empty except for a few notable exceptions. The crowd gathering round wanted to know who fished where and where they were going tomorrow.

For entertainment that evening, The Annual Mud Crab Tying Championship was a definite high light. Fifteen ladies registered to try their luck. These crustaceans are as big as dinner plates and have nippers that could easily destroy three human fingers with one snap.

With only 60cm of twine, the ladies would cautiously secure the crab using their big toe to pin down the monster. (no footwear allowed) Close by, the official held a stop watch in one hand and a mallet in the other, just in case a crab got too friendly.

Jo Hindle was the mud crab-tying champion with a time of 22 seconds. Last year’s winner Angele Verall holds the current record at 17 seconds.

For the second day most anglers chose to stick to their first day location and just work on technique. An early morning unseasonal shower cooled the air.

Team points were accumulated based on species (barramundi or saratoga only) and its length. All teams were given a small Konica camera to verify their catch before careful release.

With final day count included, 281 barramundi and saratoga over 45cm were landed in the Northern Territory’s largest fishing tournament and Australia’s largest women’s fishing tournament.

The Champion Team, earning 620 points were ‘Flynnies Team’ consisting of Kathryn Flynn and Charmaine Hird of Darwin with Kathryn’s son Daniel Flynn, acting as skipper. The lucky ladies each collected a Flueger rod and reel combo from Happy Micks, a weekend package at Aroura Resort South Alligator, a Columbia fishing shirt, Maui Jim sunglasses and a lure pack. Skipper Daniel received a hand held Lowrance GPS for his efforts.

Kathryn Flynn also won Champion Angler by personally obtaining 340 points. Kathryn won a LCX Lowrance Sounder. Charmaine was runner-up Champion Angler with 280 points and won a Lowrance ifishfinder.

Kathryn and Charmaine only met three weeks prior to the tournament through mutual friends. Kathryn was seeking a team member, as her original partner could not attend. Charmaine had not caught a barra before but was keen to find out more about the sport and was certainly not expecting to hook and land 11 barramundi.

Kathryn and Charmaine attribute their success to their skipper who has local knowledge of the area. Charmaine said she did not realise how much was involved in barra fishing but Daniel was very helpful in teaching her techniques to increase
her chances of hooking up.‘Flynnies Team’ fished Shady Camp.

Champion Independent Team was Team PAKAT consisting of Pam Housley, Kate Robinson and Torana Simpson. This award recognises female anglers that were fishing independently with no support of a skipper. Team PAKAT had a final score of 185 points.

The longest barra at 87cm was caught by Pam Housley with the second longest at 77cm being caught by Larni Montgomery. Both fish were taken at Shady Camp. Kate McCullough and Debbie Smith of the Catchy Chics who were unlucky on the water and had a zero score but were encouraged by receiving a barra fishing safari with Anglers’ Choice Fishing Safaris.

The camaraderie between women from all over the country was amazing: mothers, daughters, neighbours, sisters, friends and strangers. All were on an exciting adventure, many fishing for the first time independently without their partner’s guidance. The more experienced ladies were always on hand to freely offer support to the newcomers or a cold beer from the esky when times were hard.

The Gold Bat Barra Babes were a team of four although only one team member had any boating or fishing experience. More impressive was that each member took on a task then mastered their task to perfection. One member drove the boat, a second learnt how to reverse the boat trailer, the third is now an expert at tying fishing knots and the fourth —well, someone needed to manage the esky!

Many had stories of the one that got away. One told her story of the boat that flipped off the trailer on the dirt road and was winched back over by fellow competitors.

Then there was the story of the car that rolled on the dirt road and the driver who dusted her self off, borrowed another car and continued to take her team fishing. The reel women were on the road and on the water.

The Reel Women’s Barra Classic is now attracting expressions of interest from international anglers from as far as the United States. The future of the tournament is bright and major sponsors such as Channel 7, Lowrance, Pure Fishing, Maui Jim, Spot on Fishing Tackle and Halco can all take credit for its huge success and we thank them for supporting women and fishing.

For details on the up coming Reel Women’s Barra Classic visit www.reelwomen.com.au

Author is Emma Cartwright. Emma Cartwright – the Barra Queen as known by friends and colleagues, is editor of “ReelWomens Fishing and Adventure” magazine, creator of the “Reel Womens Barra Classic” and “Reel Women Adventures”, and operates Anglers’ Choice Fishing Safaris. Let Emma organise your next Northern Territory Fishing Adventure.

Photography is by Simon Love & Jane O’Brien

This article has been provided for publication by ReelWomen Fishing & Adventure Magazine. Unauthorised use or reproduction is strictly prohibited. All material is © Break Loose Publications Reel Women features fishing reports from across the world and joins women on their fishing and outdoor adventures.