And I received an e-mail from Ms. Roxsean Edwards.
☆⌒(*＾-ﾟ)v Thanks!! Rocky
☆☆☆
Hi Hiro – it was terrific to meet you Tuesday night and I was surprised at how good your English speaking is. I think you under estimate your good speaking. Below is a write up about my fishing and I have attached the photos of my 3 metre plus fish caught in April/May this year at the Daly River.
I started fishing in 2003 when a team of girls from my office were looking for a new team mate for an upcoming women’s Barramundi competition. The competition being held on Corroboree Billabong 120km east of Darwin heading towards the world famous Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory. I had never fished before, but loved new experiences and jumped at the chance to join my colleagues on this new adventure.
At this time, women were being encouraged into the sport of fishing by way of the Reel Women Barra Fishing competition and you were able to have a non-fishing male skipper to assist with the boat and assist you with your fishing. My first ever fishing experience was in the 2003 Reel Women Barra Classic. The male skipper gave me a one hour lesson in using a bait caster and in my first ever 1 ½ day tournament I caught 8 fish. I was completely hooked. When I arrived back in Darwin, my priority was to get my own gear and I bought a Silstar 4-8kg rod and a Shimano Curado Bantam SF 200 reel.
After fishing two tournaments using a male skipper, my team decided that we wanted to manage everything on our own and in 2005 we entered the “Reel Women’s Barramundi Classic” tournament as an independent women’s team. It paid off as we won Champion team and Champion Independent team and narrowly missed out on taking out the biggest fish and the Champion angler of the event. Fishing was fast becoming a passion for me and it was time to take the next step and I bought my first boat, a 4.5m side console aluminium Blue Fin boat.
Due to our success at the Reel Women’s Tournament my team was invited to enter a team in Australia’s premier Barramundi fishing tournament, the 2006 NT Barramundi Classic held on the iconic Daly River 240kms south west of Darwin in the Northern Territory. This was a very exciting step for our team as this event is an invitation only event and we were privileged to be considered to participate in this major tournament. Our team was fishing amongst some of Australia’s best Barramundi fishermen and the competition was way above our level of fishing. It was a fabulous experience and did elevate our level of fishing and boating.
My ladies team have since parted ways and we have all gone on to do other tournaments. I was fortunate enough to keep at it and was invited back each year to fish this fabulous event. I remained skippering a team of male friends along the way and this year entered another all female team. In 2012, I also entered a team in another major Barramundi tournament, The NT Barra Nationals which is also held on the Daly River and fished the Nationals again this year. I fished this event with my good friend and previous year’s team mate David Green who is one of Australia’s well known fishing writers and an excellent angler. My other team mate was local angler Peter Washington who has more Barra Classic placings and wins than any other angler in the Barra Classic.
For the past 2 years I have camped for 4- 6 weeks fishing the Daly River in and around these two major Barramundi tournaments, it has become my annual holiday. Earlier this year I bought my new dream boat a Quintrex 440 Hornet Trophy specifically set up for tournament barramundi fishing. I opted for a tiller steer to allow more space on the floor to handle barramundi and had installed a Lowrance HDS7 with a structure scan and a 55lb Minn Kota electric motor.
This year was a proving to be a tough year for Barramundi fishing in the Northern Territory due to a poor wet season period and the lack of runoff from the landlocked billabongs that would normally overflow back into the rivers during the wet season. But as luck would have it I enjoyed a dream run in what has been described as a nightmare season.
I was lucky to land a 107cm barramundi during the 2013 Barra Nationals on a 4 inch white Zman Swimmerz soft plastic lure using a barbless and weedless rig. This fish was the second biggest captured overall and helped me secure the inaugural Champion female angler for the event.
A week later I was preparing for the 2013 Barra Classic and did a pre fish with my ladies team and I caught a 111cm barramundi trolling down the middle of the river using a hard bodied Bomber lure.
And during the actual Barra Classic tournament I caught a third metre plus fish that measured 105cm using the same lure and techniques. This fish helped me also become the champion female angler for the Barra Classic.
I currently rank in the top 10 – 20 anglers out of a field of 150-180 anglers in both events.
My favourite gear for the Daly River is a 4-8kg Shimano Raider Yak rod (with the Yak leash and Yak leash Keeper removed) teamed with a Shimano Stradic c14 4000. The Barra Nationals supply the line for the tournament and this year we were supplied Stren Sonic 30lb braid. I used the same braid on my Stradic for the Classic tournament. My Shimano Curado E7 Baitcaster was teamed with a Shimano Mexican Raider rod and I spooled the reel with 33lb ATC Salt Alliance Popping braid. I use various brands of flouro carbon leaders and having been chaffed off using 55lb Schneider leader I prefer to use 60-80lb flouro carbon.
I also fish other events including women’s only competitions such as “Secret Women’s Business” held at Corroboree Billabong and a relatively new event the Broads Barra Bash held at 4 Mile hole in Kakadu National Park. My team won Champion team and Champion angler in the 2012 Broads Barra Bash and I am currently preparing for the 2013 Secret Women’s Business tournament. I use light spin gear in the billabongs and around the harbour and am currently using two outfits simultaneously. I have Shimano Mexican Raider rod and a St Croix Eyecon rod both teamed with a Pflueger Arbor SW Spin reels that are spooled with 10lb Spider wire Ultracast invisi-braid.
My favourite lures on the billabongs are a range of soft plastics that include Gulps, Squidgee and ZMans and my preferred hard bodied lures are Reidys Lucifers and B52s and small Bombers in a range of colours dependent on the water colours.
Fishing is now a very important aspect to my life and mans best kept secret is a secret no more.
Let me know if you would like any other photos or information
Cheers rocky
Please click on the " Fishing of Ranking" link.
Thank you very much.
