Australia’s biggest fishing tournament is back in full swing

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Northern Territory’s love of fishing is being celebrated at the annual Barramundi classic on the Daly River. Apart from the occasional saltwater crocodile, heat stress is also a real threat to competitors spreading long days on the water. This years, the tournament’s organisers have created a modified version of the event to accommodate senior entrants.

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00:00With the wet season rains long gone, and the floodplains drying up on spectacular Malak

00:08Malak country, fishos prep their boats for another long day on the Daly River, chasing

00:14the elusive barramundi, with the salties prepping for another day hunting the same prey.

00:22But for the warm-blooded hunters, even with the right precautions, hours in the top-end

00:26sun can take its toll, especially for those more senior anglers.

00:31A lot of the older guys that have been fishing for a long time, they, oh the days are getting

00:36longer and hotter and you know, we can't sort of keep up all the time.

00:41Five days does take it out of you, even if a young fella, five days fishing.

00:44You're up at five every morning, you don't get to bed till ten, eleven at night.

00:48A couple of tournaments ago, organisers made adjustments to keep older members fishing.

00:53I said, well how would you like it if we had a Masters competition that ran for only like

00:59the first three days of the Classic, and had shorter hours.

01:04So you're on the water at the same time as everybody else, but lines out is a couple of

01:08hours earlier.

01:09Gives us a chance to win something maybe, and just be a bit more relaxed about it.

01:15Two years on, and the over-60s competition is a screaming success, with twice the number

01:22of Masters teams competing this year.

01:24They bring an asset money can't buy, years of experience on the river system.

01:28I think the longer you fish it, the more you understand the river, and you learn a lot

01:33more about where the rock bars are, where certain snags are, where certain eddies may form.

01:38They've also seen a cultural change.

01:41The old days, well people used to try and blow you up with crackers and bombs and all that

01:45kind of stuff.

01:46They used to float down the river, that's all long and gone now.

01:51As young and old, creating new memories.

01:53Sweet.

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