The Daly River provides some of the best Barramundi fishing in the Northern Territory, especially during the run-off (early April to early July).  The Daly River is located approximately 230km south of Darwin, and it is a bitumen road all the way.  On our recent trip we stayed at Banyan Farm.  Banyan Farm is a caravan park with a few on-site cabins, good amenities, private on-site boat ramp and the added bonus of an on-site fishing guide.

Navigating the Daly from Banyan Farm during the run-off is quite easy, although other times of the year the river can get quite low with many snags, sand bars and rock bars that you need to watch out for.  If you are there when the river is low and you have a large boat, then you should ask a local for tips on navigating the Daly.

Our first day at Banyan Farm on the Daly saw us catch in excess of 30 Barramundi.  All of these were catch and release as we're in it for the sport.  We had most of our success fishing where the small creeks met the river.  Most of our Barra were between 55cm and 80cm with our largest being a tad under 90cm.

We quickly found that lure fishing far out fished bait fishing during the run-off.  We had most success using small to medium white squidgies, on a light overhead outfit for more accurate casting.  The ideal thing about squidgies is they look like bait fish when they move through the water, and they are quite cheap which means you can afford to risk casting in those tricky snags!  It seemed to work best when we let the squidgies sink a little before slowly jigging and winding.

The only bait we used were live Cherabin.  The Cherabin did work well but every time you catch a Barra, you need to bait up again, and if all you do is bait fish, then you need to catch a lot of Cherabin before you can get started.

In summary the best time of the year is straight after the wet season, which is what we call the run-off, along with a couple of packets of squidgies with a decent casting combo.  If you’re not there during the run-off then the low river can be dangerous, so it is probably best to use a fishing guide or talk to the locals.