And look, that may change over time as well.

Yeah.

Now, other things I want to touch on too is tagging.

We as a club don't tag anymore.

We believe get the fish in, get it processed, get your photo, put it straight back in the water.

Whereas having that on on the on the boat out of the water for another half a minute or so where you tag in and take all those details now uh i think darwin game mentioned that they've tagged over 9 600 fish through there sounds about right yeah probably more at the classic which is which is great i know one year we fished a couple weeks after the classic and they tagged for argument's sake 1200 fish Then we come along, we caught another 1,200 fish.

We only recaptured two of those tagged fish.

more.

So we've

got our favourite spots out there.

You've got Watermelon Creek, Trevally Alley, Queenfish Corner.

got the brain coral where you catch some good mangrove jacks on certain tides so but we're not only just fished the vernes over the last 30 odd years we've fished what the vic the towns the lemon the roper we had a good session down the rope one year i remember that that was amazing yeah it was a easter weekend a nice low came in there was no sun it was just drizzly rain it was good and we had some i mean our friends friends come up from south australia and put on one of those big oh you just call it a gay nilsey one of the elton john one We said, yeah, you won't catch a fish on that.

And he dragged a 50-pounder out of the mouth of a Hudson.

So it comes through in waves.

Yeah, well, the vernal's are a bit of a hatchery too.

We've got the spot called the aquarium where you sort of beach on the incoming tide against the coral, and then you just watch all these little fish just swim around.

It's a very similar sort of computer game, but it's much better for you, much more healthy, and they're catching some big fish.

It did come in handy, a young bloke actually spending time on those games on TV, because he gets on the boat and he sets up the sound and does what he has to do, and I'm like... mate, what have you just done? How do I undo it? And we're good to go.

But yeah, it is an art.

And as you say, it's a good tool for finding fish.

But whether it helps you catch fish again, look, I don't

I do a lot of jigging there and use vibes and catch plenty of coral trout and blue bone and all that sort of stuff.

Yeah, and there's some good barra there too.

We've got the main blue hole and we've got Watermelon Creek because we sat there and had watermelon for lunch one day, so that's how it's got a name.

But what makes the Classic and the previous Nationals event special, Daryl? Because the Palmerston Game Fishing Club does the Nationals as well on the daily and it runs before the Classic.

Yeah.

It does this year.

Before, I think, next year, you guys got first run on the river.

That's right, yeah.

And some good tides and good moon phases.

But, yeah, it's just the Nationals was brought about, and this is going back into the history of the club, is to give the average amateur fisherman an opportunity to fish a tournament.

good.

Daryl, do you think that we've got any other teams that have come out of the Nationals going into the Classic? Do you think the Nationals is a practice run?

Yeah, I think so.

We do share a lot of competitors.

A lot of teams go and fish both, and I'll fish the Classic as well.

I think if you want to get a good feel for barramundi or tournament fishing, you do both comps and pick your mind from there.

But then I had a quick sneak at the weather that you've got next week, and you've got 17, 18 overnight and 32 during the day, so you couldn't ask for better weather and hopefully no rain like we've had this week.

It's

interesting to note too, one year I think the classic went before the gnats and you got, say, for argument's sake, 1,200 fish for the week.

the Palmerston Game Fishing Club going down to Palmerston with those lakes.

Yeah, look, it's a fairly popular spot for younger anglers to go there.

We normally have a Febfit or something like that where you fish those lakes in February, which gets you off your bum and out of your boat and whatever else.

You get to watch the golfers golf, and I can assure you fishing's a far more relaxing sport than golf.

But the beauty of stocking those lakes is, as we know, during the wet season, the water flows through there, it flows out to the ocean.

So inadvertently, you probably are restocking the Darwin Harbour.

in a small percentage of ways.

What are your tips this week, Daryl?

And if anyone wanted to get on the daily, it would be this weekend.

Oh, for sure.

And the whole river system is fishing.

We had one team that couldn't get on the water on the last day because they had car issues.

So once their car got moved, they grabbed me a work kit and put their boat in, and they got their bag limit between Banyan Farm and Wooliana.

So there's fish all up that river system.

They'll all come on as the moon phase changes and the tidal phases change.

Yeah, right.