Mosquitoes, Sweat and Barra Boofs: Land Based Fishing in the Northern Territory: Darwin and the Milkfish

I had two milkfish sessions after work last week. Not wanting to peeve anyone off by giving away co-ordinates of a certain not so secret 'secret spot', milkfish are verging on being a plentiful sport-angling target in Darwin Harbour, and could perhaps pull all except larger pelagics like tuna backwards in a power tug-o-war. Pound for pound they put any barra to shame.

A Milkie puts a bend in a 6 - 12 lb Loomis NRX

I have had big milkfish strip towards 100 yards of line off a spool in around 10 seconds, then begin leaping several feet out of the water. Like bonefish, milkfish use speed as their main weapon of defence against larger predators. Unlike bonefish, who are at times opportunistic feeders on shallow flats and will hence take a baitfish imitation, milkfish are almost completely vegetarian, preferring algae to tasty flesh. I had one chase a very small paddletailed plastic last year, but using a 1000 sized reel with only 90 meters of line on the shallow spool, i decided to keep the $60 worth of braid on the reel, so jerked the lure away as quickly as I could.

Trying to get a fish back into the water ASAP... Action!

Last week I hooked four milkfish - three on the first afternoon, one on the second evening. I am having a quite successful streak with losing big fish of late in circumstances where it is not quite my fault... or so I must tell myself! The first three fish were all lost to leader abrasion thanks to oyster encrusted rocks. I was using a suppler 25lb fluoro leader (Varivas Seabass) than my usual choice, hoping this suppleness would lead to better presentation of my milkfish bait of choice: one dollar loaves of white sandwich bread from Coles. The presentation was better, hence the three hook-ups, but at this particular spot the milkfish tend to run between 50 - 100 yards and then arc into the shore, after which one must fight them back across rocks. If you put the rod low at an angle, pressuring them towards the shoreline they are speeding towards, they will often swim in the opposite direction into deeper, clear water... but the ploy failed me on this occasion, and each time a fish arced towards the shore, my line fell limp. Nonetheless, I landed 2 extra large diamond scaled mullet, my lovely mistress landed another hefty slab of mullet, and a friend landed a very amply sized giant herring that danced across the surface all the way to shore.

Big Diamond Scaled Mullet are hefty fish, and can even get airborne on the end of a line!

Fancy dancer: a Giant Herring on a Bomber and a happy angler's grin.

The following day I switched to 30lb leader, and although fewer fish showed up, I hooked a fish that appeared well over a meter. After it took two long runs, I thought I had the fish fought, slowly zagging left to right only 10 meters from shore. I had loosened the drag of my 2500 Stella, loaded with 16lb Varivas Seabass PE, and was holding my rod tip high, just in case the fish decided on one last sprint from so close to shore. Then the line fell limp.

My first (landed) Darwin Milkfish - from Cullen Bay Rockwall

Oddly, losing the biggest milkfish I have so far hooked, I wasn't as devastated as I may have expected: I had fought the fish well on 16lb braid and a 5-12lb rod, and I really seemed to have the silver vegan monster beaten. The hook had come lose, which is not out of the ordinary with milkfish: they have tiny mouths for their size, so I use at largest a size 4 hook, but generally a size 6 to 8 hook. Still, a photo would have been nice.

The writing desk before a milkfish session. Four loaves are standard.

For those eager to battle one of these magnificent vegetarian athletes, there are a few basic pointers I can give to help make it happen. Firstly, bring at least 4 loaves of bread, and burley constantly. I have tried a double method of using moist breadcrumbs, which you squeeze into a ball and let sink, as well as torn up slices of white sandwich loaf on the surface. This certainly attracts more fish, as well as other species like pikey bream and golden trevally, but it means that the fish feeding is not concentrated on the surface. So now I just tear inch square sections of sandwich bread. The burleying must be constant to attract and hold a school of fish, who will follow the trail back to the source, where you'll have your bait!

Wheat.

Secondly, as I stated earlier, milkfish have small mouths. A trick I like is to make your bread piece smaller than the sections you are tearing off. A milkfish will choose a more mouth-sized section of bread over a larger piece. My technique, again, is to get a one inch square section of bread - not crust, which will break off the hook - and to gently fold it with enough pressure at the folded end to hold the two folds together, You want the bread to float and remain fluffy. Pass the hook through this folded corner, and it should stay on. Quickly and gently dip it in water to partially wet it for some casting weight. As soon as the bread starts sinking, replace it. Don't forget to bring some quality polaroids, as milkfishing means sightfishing, watching your bread bait like and osprey.

Decoy single lure hook.

Lastly, hook size and leader material is very important. Milkfish have excellent vision, and regularly will suspiciously pass up an 'unnatural' looking piece of bread, a very visible leader and a larger hook. My hooks of choice are Decoy single lure hooks in the equivalent of size 6, which are very sharp and strong hooks. I am yet to have one bend on a fish. Leader material should be fluorocarbon or, if you can get away with it in the absence of oysters and sharp rocks, a high-flotation quality nylon. If fishing from a boat in clear water, you could use as light a leader as you liked for the toothless mouths of milkfish (from a boat I'd be using 6 to 8lb fluoro straight through on a 2500 sized real and a 7 ft, 4 - 8 lb rod, making sure I had at least 200 yards of line on the spool). But, unfortunately, from the shore there are too many abrasion hazards when battling such powerful fish, so heavier leaders are necessary.

This meter fish was taken on a Zenaq Seabass rod with a Daiwa 3012 Hyper Exist and 30lb braid after losing a fish on lighter tackle. Outgunned!

A good place to begin any milkfish hunt is from the end of the Cullen Bay rockwall an hour either side of high tide. I have also seen them off east point, and along a few Darwin beaches and sandflats.