Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/111460
highlight "Melville is about 30 minutes' flying time north of Darwin and, at 5,700 square kilometres, is Australia's second-largest island." some golden trevally and then went up the river for barramundi. It was a stop-start run as we fished snags and creek mouths. Several kilometres upstream we hit the jackpot: a rich vein of silver seemed to be holding on to a single black stick of timber protruding from the water. The stick was a branch of what remained of a mangrove tree that had toppled and was now lying parallel with the riverbank, covered by less than a metre of water. Trelly cast, his lure plopping on the water's surface alongside the stick. He paused, gave his lure a couple of twitches and started to wind. Boof! Splash! A barra about 70 centimetres long struck, going vertical as it attempted to toss the hooks. One cast, one fish. Very good. Our guide optimistically said, "This is it, boys. This is the one. Reckon we'll pull some good barra off this snag." And he was right. Soon, barra were striking lures on just about every cast. Trelly enjoyed a super run of 12 barra on consecutive casts. It was a rich vein of silver. All good things come to an end, but not before we had reason to motor in to the bank to free a lure caught on a snag. We must have hooked 50 barramundi on that snag, and as we moved inshore we saw why. Beneath the arched roots of the mangrove trees it was like peak-hour traffic in Melbourne: hundreds of barramundi lay nose to tail. I dangled a lure near a barra and got an immediate strike. As one fish moved away from the snag, another moved forward to take its place. The fish were waiting for the next lure as you would for a bus ticket! In another creek we came across schools of mangrove jack. We tossed lures under the green canopy, into the snags and mangrove roots, and then watched these tough, aggressive fish shoulder each other out of the way to get to the lure. Every day is a new adventure on Melville, where the fish are either lining up or knocking one another out of the way to get on the end of anglers' lines. For more information about Melville Island Lodge and Tiwi Islands Adventures visit www.tiwiadventures.com.au. 39