Its been a wild ride on the virtual vessel that is Tales from the Tinny.

 The madness and majesty and mayhem and magic.

"It's nice to kick its arse for once after having my arse kicked so many times."

That's not a fishing show! THIS is a fishing show! Sort of. 

"It's been a disgusting amount of fishing-related irreverence."

Five hours sleep over two nights.

"You wouldn't think there'd be any mud this time of year, but I found it."

Just the mayhem the doctor ordered.

"They had me on two drips, it was a close call."

"I'm just gonna sit down and cry."

What are the other 80 lures doing in your tackle bag?

Nobody messes with the mantis shrimp.

"I didn't even have a rod, but I was busy tying these flies out of chook feathers."

The test of a fish called Murphy.

"You just about poop yourself."

Not the swimming kind.

Questionable. But not out of the question.

"We don't know what we don't know."

"We really had no idea what migrations they were making in the Timor and Arafura seas."

"I love you Mud Crab!"

"It's almost more crazy than the mission itself."

"They're not art critics, they're fish."

"It's been steep learning curve in figuring out how to keep water away from things."

Like it was sanded with a brick and painted with a live chicken.

"Ill be up at 3am trying to get a scale just right."

Raiding the cutlery draw probably unwise.

"It's my number one procrastination, and sometimes I gotta pack it all away cos I really should be doing other things."

"No fishing, no life!"

"Freshness and good preparation is very important."

It's a legit hard decision.

The transition can be swift.

"Don't catch the queen bee!"

"It's so quiet, last time I ran right up the buffalo's arse."

Cos it's just the…vibe.

"Even ran the blanket. That was nice for a change."

"How comfortable are you being called an elite athlete?"

No hallucinations from consuming the crabs as yet.

"Yeah we just thought we'd hit the sandbar for good measure."

Where is Deniliquin anyway?

Cos at the end of the day, fishin's just fishin'.

Things can go pear-shaped pretty fast.

I'm the horsepower whisperer...look out at the Katherine Show!

Possibly the best excuse for waking the neighbours yelling "I'm the champion!"

"I've never fished so hard in my life."

It is actually a whole new world...

Got nuff ice?

Just outsource the fish measuring to another boat!

"You gotta be in it to win it. And we are very much IN IT."

"They'll almost be catching barra in the Tanami there's that much water."

Big rain. Big fish.

Can AI do fish talk?

Weird but effective. 

"Less tins sunk, less tunes pumped and less fun had?"

It's always a good time for stingray laksa!

So was the strategy flawed or brilliant?

"We'll be checking the seismic counters next time for sure."

Why settle for stocking fillers when you can have stocking fillets?

"This thing was like a foot across the back."

Possibly the best use of a toilet plunger ever!

"You coulda walked on their backs they were so thick."

"She hath no owner, just a temporary custodian."

"He had to pull me dacks up so I could fight the fish."

Yeah I ate ALL her dumplings!

How you can own your very own Beard!

A confronting moment of self-loathing for Darwin's Land based Sensei, as he considers eating soft serve ice-cream alone. Outpouring of support from fishing community, as they rally around him.

Cos why else would a Territory pollie climb a tree?

Struck by lightning in thongs? 

1200km for three fish and hitting a dozen sandbars? 

The ridiculousness is palpable.

1. Perfect tides for build up barra 2. From Twitchin to the Kitchen 3. Farewell the Mangrove Ninja 4. Build up time 5. A good old Territory stranding, but who is hero and who is villain?

Was this vile treachery? Or just very well-played?

Everyone loves a slow cooked tantrum. 

"It wasn't arsey. It was just... unorthodox."

Notes on barra and the blue as the humidity rises. 

"A foot of it was hangin' out the esky!"

“Doesn’t stop for a good thousand metres. And then it keeps going.” 

“I’d go so far as to call that art.”

"If that's not love, I dunno what is."

Three kilometres of leader?

Welcome to the hall of shame.

"Buy your frozen bait. Throw it in. Catch fish!"

"I was stuck on this mudflat doing squats to keep warm."

When looking at the water really doesn't help.

"It'll be the first of its kind in the Territory."

When a second arrow's not gonna do ya much good.

Where 150lb braid + 20/0 hook + 4kg bait = A good time.

“Is that dedication? Or just stupidity?”

“It’s man on fish. Doesn’t get much more exhilarating.”

Go on. Get one up ya.

"I was completely upside down for a bit there."

"Your life as you know it is now over."

Is the Tinny's revered brag mat actually on the piss?

"If your choice is dinner in the desert or the RSL buffet, what are you gonna choose?"

"In all my years, nothing's come close to that feeling."

How accurate is accurate enough?

“It’s a bit like listening to porn on the radio”

"You can go out fishing for barra and come home pissing blood. It's worse than rugby."

"I've only come close to losing digits a couple of times."

“All in all a pretty devastating trip.”

"I'm just using every single cent I have on fuel and just SENDING it!"

Bagging out on metre jewies and leaving 'em biting.

"It's just the best tasting pie you can get."

"Like pulling up a bag of concrete on your line."

"My new partner thought I was some kind of fishing psychopath."

"Is there anywhere else where this cowboy can pull their trigger?"

"I'm not stranded. I'm meditating!"

When they're too big to even jump.

Even just one less diabolical stuff up would’ve been nice.

Less soothing - more heckling.

How to target build up barra on the flats

This is that show...

The doof doof gets the boof boof.

“It’s like a unicorn fish to me.”

All ya need is a hook and a chunk of backstrap!

"He said 'It can't get any worse'. It got worse."

"My life will never be the same again."

'Twas a relationship problem that only more fishing could solve

"It's a bit like Jumanji this thing."

"I'm trying to catch something decent, and instead I keep landing the world's most venomous fish."

A tide 18.6 years in the making!

“Embarrassed. Humiliated. Deflated.”

“If ya wanna catch a big barra, that’s what ya use.”

“I just went to my shed, whipped this up and caught fish straight away.”

Because...well...YOLO.

"Lure, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Go big or go home.

Holy saratoga!

Just let the drone do the casting.

The only possible reason you’d have to freedive in notoriously croccy Buffalo Creek.

“I couldn’t move.”

Bringing The Ashes (of Burping) back home.

One of the greatest displays of athleticism the country has ever seen.

The strange links between fishing and pumpkin-growing. "It wasn't a bait ball, it was a BARRA ball!". How a ladder will improve your catch rate. Kids catching tuna from a jetski.

"If there's heaps of boats, we're usually the first ones to get to the tuna."

The fine art of making timber barra lures. "I wasn't prepared for how much the boat would look like a murder scene." Divorce looms if metery isn't caught. Front-runner for best fishing tattoo ever.

"If someone's seen a barra eat it, I can make it."

Lockdown fishing fallout, morning mackies, nitro drags vs jewies, and an important lesson in foliage selection.

Nhulunbuy provides, an unwanted hattrick, and an important lesson in boat sharing.

Offshore overnighter, Darwin bluewater update, mudcrab redemption and tagging barra on the Roper.

Big fish on the sounder as temps go south; Corroboree turns it on (and off); new fisheries sustainability data; and jewies caught under a pilchard ban.

Mini-mini gold, a hard lesson at Mandorah… and (half) a harbour barra report.

Tales from the Tinny is a fishing show - sort of.

Tuna a la kayak, harbour gold, TWHF, take the kids billfishing, and the Darwin mackerel maestro gives a few of his tips.

Crabs back on in Shoal, bluewater with Charlsey, Daly River night sessions, the "million dollar fish"... and portrait of an epic runoff.

Tail end of runoff, sailfish research, underwater baited cameras and drone fishing Territory style.

The annual Roper trip, Corroboree on fly, barra fishing blind, and old school fish printing.

"It brings out details of the fish you'd never notice otherwise."

Croc attack on the South, Machiavellian comp skullduggery, the romance of the pig sticka and in the octane booster we trust

"From the gash mark on his back it had to be four or five metres."

Daly comps continue, man tames horse... and does the mullet maketh the mojo?

Girls Gone Fishin' kicks off run of Daly comps; and billfishing begins in earnest at Dundee.

The stage set on the Daly and Chambers Bay, plus runoff workout tips for the proactive fisho.

With everywhere primed to fire, ahead of Easter the boys look at the state of play around the Top End. And a familiar character makes another vulgar appearance.

Warren De Witt looks at the big picture around the Top End, barra guide Jarrod Godson pipes in on Shady and Beard heads to a very flooded South Alligator.

TEBs kicks off, MDF season 7 almost wrapped, envy vs congratulations at Marsh, and a fisho's suspiciously good session raises questions.

The Daly, The Sampan, The Finniss, The Adelaide – all share the spotlight as the runoff gets into gear.  

It's green light for runoff fishing! Really what more is there to say this week on the Tinny?

NLC and Minister for Aboriginal Affairs discuss new registration process and closures; and Sampan stonkers steal the show again.

Up the big rivers rise!; the Culvert Crusader hits the road; and TFT Enterprises dips its toe into reality TV matchmaking.

Two centimetres short of marriage, making lures when you're 11, down to the undies in Shoal Bay, and TFT survives The Great Purge.

Because things go pear-shaped faster in Shoal Bay.

The monsoon takes a breather, a fisho's partner corrects the record, a religious reimagining...and commercial crabbers back in Shoal Bay?

A mission to the rig, mullet theme park imagined...and trolling Dawson's creek?

From the monsoon hope springs eternal, Kakadu and Daly reports, the most disciplined fisho in Darwin nabs a metery, and a high order Church member pops in.

The last Tinny for 2020, which the Tinny reckons might actually have been one of the best years for Top End fishos, despite a global pandemic!

Bynoe, Dundee and a monsoon on the way? And what's that rumour about a massive barra caught by someone, somewhere? Tales from the Tinny is a fishing show - sort of

Backyard barra bounty, harbours fishing well despite the heat and a Xmas frothy and waffle.

Lawnmowers, fishing trip toilet dilemmas and the most committed barra tattoo yet?

Big Roper barra, Groote billies update...and a bustup of goldies?

The heat is (still) on, fishing the 1970s part 2, and the red tags keep falling.

The heat is on, the (TEBS) race that stops the nation!...and 1970s Daly River reminiscences.

"The motor was so small if you caught a big barra you couldn't get back up on the plane!"

The fine art of handlining big jewies, The Maggot hits Shoal Bay and the Tiwis brings smiles and tears.

The importance of leadership, some billfish hijinks...and hardcore GT lures from recycled timbers.

"I don't mind making lures out of my furniture."

That early build-up persistence, the allure of the NT GT (not BT), and the correct way to spend your 21st.

Red tags go off, a 104 with a bad back, the hunt for the enigmatic Permit and why wedding rings and fishing don’t go together.

"It dragged me 400 metres - I was winding the reel underwater.."

40kg land-based GT, croc encounter circa 1983, long trolls for big barra, Million Dollar Fish kicks off its sixth season, and waaahooooo!!

Alex Julius has had a few close calls with crocs. But the Kakadu incident in 1983 still takes the cake.

Attack is the best defence, Dundee rescue, billfish weekend, chinaman fish... and a few mangoes.

Harbour metery, a tantalising fallacy, early red tag blues...and the ultimate daily double.

Barra-Toga comp wrap; the billfish are back; an actual NT Minister for Rec Fishos; and a worm of... death?

A trip to the Mini Mini; beneath the manta lies the cobia; and to catch the marlin you must first catch...the mini-marlin.

The harbour provides as the wind picks up, and a champ hits the 'bong for comp pre-fish.

Build up kicks off, Dundee spearfishing innovation and why golf when you can fish-and-golf?

Billabongs continue to perform, the mullet continues to inspire...and the Tinny reestablishes its election policy platform.

Cold water horses/donkies abound, and the cast deck ladder pays for itself in fish.

Two of the old guard pipe in; the link between fishing and champion pumpkin-growing; and a boat is named something strange and oddly sinister.

When landing too many metre barras is a bad thing.

“Dunno if you’ve tried to reverse a boat that far but it’s not that great.”

Chris Errity has spent decades fishing for big barramundi. But it’s the one from 1991 that still takes the cake.  

Alex Julius attended the first Barra Classic in 1982. But it wasn’t just the barra that saw his drag screaming that year.   

Goldies and jewies dominating reports, the glee of a barra PB upgrade, and the strange appeal of preserving fish dentures.

Tips on catching muddies, saratoga and Mandorah pelagics...plus a coupla Vic River stonkers.

The Tinny launches its bid for the best Territory song of all time, and takes you onto the blue for a beautiful looking weekend.

Fishos hit the reefies, biosecurity zones lifting, nailing barra with a bow and arrow...and one epic vintage lure collection.

Shady continues it's run, the humble grunter...and ol' catty finds another victim.

"They just get uglier the deeper you go... but I love 'em."

The surprising benefits of midnight strolling, an epic run of stuff-ups continues, surreal numbers of meteries...and the mudcrab's return gives rise to an uplifting hypothesis.

Epic mullets, epic purple patches...and more point-blank boofs than you can probably handle.

Sampan goes orf (again); fish already on the artificial reefs; and catching fish the Groote way.

Harbour fishing canoe-style, how to catch a barra in a puddle, and the unsurprising perks of living inside a highly fishable biosecurity area.

Fishos continue to find silver linings to covid-19

Good harbour barra reports…and the Top End still the premier location to host a fishing disaster.

The Easter Show: how guides are handling covid-19; the trials of landing big barra solo; and Beard’s socially-distanced interview methods go next level.

The boys explore some unconventional, physically-distanced interview methods.

The Tinny boys have been kicked out of HQ and forced into isolation at home. Broadcast to you this week from a hot and humid Top End backyard amidst the confusion that is COVID-19.

The time has come fishos. Payback time. Three key words 'flu-like-symptoms'. Then self isolate on the billabong, big river or deep blue. Just make sure you keep your distance from one another. Which won't be hard...

Not quite run off conditions but the switch has certainly been flicked this week with good barra reports from the Adelaide, Daly, Shoal Bay, Shady, East and South.

How to target barra from a cherry picker, why fishos are ahead of the curve as toilet paper shortages grip the nation and how to tackle one of the Top End's most powerful sports fish

Three meteries in a row brings fisho out of funk...and could this rain herald a new dawn?

Rumblings of big rain...and calls for quarantine as fishless contagion spreads.

Wild croc encounter in East Arnhem, the thrill of the bowhunted barra...and some half-decent rain - but is it enough?

The missing monsoon continues to tease with the odd big barra landed. And a fishing disaster ends in triumph... relatively speaking.

The Tinny is back for 2020. Barra-stickin' stickface, the state o' the Daly, a barra plays hard-to-get with a lovestruck fisho...and a new song destined to top the charts.

Mixed bag this week sees big barra, big predictions, and the mother of all mother-in-laws.

Top End artificial reefs almost doneski, jetty-caught red tag... and waterspout off Dundee raises concerns over alien fish theft.

Rain on the horizon, techniques to hook reluctant barra, new 2020 Billfish comp... and stolen freezer fillets spark community outrage.

Getting hot and hectic this week with intense situations, intense genius and intense... not-genius.

More meteries, East Arnhem LBG, and the turmoil of a good ol' fashioned sandbar stranding. Oh, and the best croc-induced screaming we've heard in some time.

The pain and glory of billfish comps, first season 5 red tag goes off, and the big barra reports continue to excite, entice and befuddle.

The Magnificent Bastards strike again. And as the clouds roll in, so do the big barra reports.

A relatively lucid retrospective on dry season fishing, before the build-up-proper forcibly removes our normally calm dispositions.

The Adelaide River still fickle, catching barra landbased on fly...and a spearo's return to fishing a year after shark attack.

Bigger Barra on in the Tiwis, and once again fishos start to go Million Dollar Fish comp crazy.

Avoid the fight fishos! Download, print, and sign BEFORE you catch a Million Dollar Fish! You’ll regret not keeping a few under the console ...download the PDF below!

The epic billfish run continues off Dundee, and the build up finally drops.

Into the deep blue on a five day remote charter, over to North East Arnhem Land and meter barra still to be found in Darwin Harbour

Toga in the bongs, beers on the boat and baby barra fail to breed on the Daly

It's all about the Sailfish this weekend with a huge upsurge in numbers off Dundee, and some of the stats are mind blowing.

Billabong blues, bonza billfishing tips...and bluewater biceps. The build-up approaches...

How to target barra on Darwin harbour flats, billfish resurgence off Dundee and how being wheel chair bound doesn't stop one man from fishing the Territory - hard!

Trevor poppin', squid jiggin', midnight metery boofin', mackie drag screamin'...and why a knife got taped to a gaff on the South Alligator.

Dry season continues to produce good barra, don't forget the humble NT squid...and why weld when you can use a tree trunk?

Numerous reports of harbour flats barra, with dozens sighted and numerous boated. And blue water reefies and sail fish show up for fishos in the calm windows.

All the action, in and out of the (lure testing) pool.

A comprehensive two part rundown on catching Mackerel off Lee Point, billabong dry season horses and competitors go head to head for the best lure at the Royal Darwin Show.

A mid-year hiatus of self-reflection (read: chance to go fishing), looking back on some of the year's top fisho yarns. The characters, the disasters...and a tackle box of stuff we just thought was pretty funny.

Billabongs are slow. But blue is still firing, Mackerel are still attacking, fishos are still getting married, and Paki Andy is still complaining.

"I did wonder why there was fibreglass in the bed."

Barra from Shoal in 23 degrees, a daughter exacts fishing revenge on her mother and how fishing helps recovery from open heart surgery

Tales from the Tinny is a fishing show - sort of.

Progress on Blue Mud Bay negotiations that could see fishing access to more of the Top End coast. Crabs are plentiful through the harbour, and blue water conditions remain the best bet for a feed.

Dundee continues to produce quality reefies, coastal areas turning up barra for the persistent and beware the razor sharp teeth of the Spanish Mackerel.

"Just goes to show - you can make a lure out of almost anything."

The nude jewie pose returns! Plus the future of NT fishing protection areas... and high school lure making at its best.

Goliath tripletail (again), stacks of shady threadies (again), new artificial reefs on the way...plus tuna, chooks...and what it's like to spend 21 hours clinging to your upturned hull.

Fishos aghast at multiple hundreds of dead fish off the Dundee coast, in what appears to be by-catch from a nearby prawn trawler. Angler Jon Bloch and Adrianne Laird from the Northern Prawn Fishery spoke to Adam Steer.

Threadies still thick at shady, stonking reefies on the spear at Dundee, Lee Point pelagic cuisine tips…and how it feels to drop a 150kg-plus fish.

It's the Tinny all Over this week as we try to hunt a place out of the wind to find a barra, while some fishos find the south easterlies are just blowing their lures straight in their face!

The Tales from the Tinny Fishing First Party releases its first, and only, election policy to resolve the age old quandry of the adventurer; too many toys, not enough towbars. Vote 1, Vote Often for the TFTFFP DRT

Beer, Barra & Budgie smugglers. Vale Fisho & Former PM Bob Hawke. 1979 Mary River, NT

1979 Mary River, NT

Rivers are low and blue is blowy. But top of the South is producing fish as is the harbour.

"Where other people might see a bit of timber to throw in the fire, I see a lure."

Kakadu rivers start to turn it up, and the going gets tough (and shallow) on the Daly for the Barra Classic.

Over 20ks out to sea and he arrived tired, lonely and in need of a rest. So these boys followed the law of the sea and came to his aid.

Blue water continues to produce across the Top End, but here come the South Easters! How it feels when your first fish is a 105 Barra and an outlook for dry season fishing the big rivers.

It's Easter and weather is looking fine for the bluewater, and some of the upper reaches of big rivers could fire as well.

The wet is done, the dry season is on its way. As are the billies, the mackies and even Corroboree is starting to fish. But forget the Daly for the moment.

Shoal Bay, South Alligator, the Tiwis and Daly River all feature on the Tinny this week. And how to be a better deckie!

Tales from the Tinny this week celebrates the finely tuned athletes, the ninjas of the Top End fishing community.

Daniel was onto a donkey of a fish, until a local resident staked its claim.