EmmaLou Fishing

EmmaLou Fishing Creating safe, fun spaces for more women to fish, connect, and thrive.

💙 NT-based angler with a thing for Toga & tackle
WRFL Siren & NT President | Bass Electric competitor | Corroboree Park Challenge coordinator | Palmerston Game Fishing Club member.

09/09/2026

Where it all began for so many women in fishing… the SWB Barra Challenge

And now here we are, with the first Women’s Recreational Fishing League team fishing SWB in the NT.

Having the very knowledgeable Jo Starling on board, alongside our newcomer Charlotte Reiter, makes this one pretty special for me. Three women with different fishing experiences, coming together as a team and getting amongst one of the Top End’s great barra comps.

We’ve landed, set up our Taj Mahal thanks to Murrumbidgee Outdoors Australia

The weather is extra hot 🥵 and the waterway is definitely going to make us work for it… but that’s SWB.

For me, this is also a bit bigger than three women going fishing.

SWB has been part of the pathway into fishing for so many women. It was part of my own journey back to the water and into a community where I felt like I belonged.

So to now be here representing WRFL, fishing alongside Jo and Charlotte, feels like a pretty bloody good full-circle moment.

Team WRFL is officially on the water.

Now we fish. 🎣

About ten years ago, one step could have changed our family forever. I still think about it.We were camping at Mount Bun...
07/09/2026

About ten years ago, one step could have changed our family forever. I still think about it.

We were camping at Mount Bundy. Just a normal family trip away.

When we arrived, we wandered down to check out the local fishing spot. There was a track leading to a reasonably level bank that looked like it had been used plenty of times before.

The kids came down with us. We looked around, talked about being croc wise and went about our afternoon.

Nothing about that first photo felt particularly remarkable at the time.

Later that arvo, the fellas threw a cherabin pot in.

That evening they went back down to check it.

Thankfully, they took a torch.

Because sitting right on top of the pot was this.

A bloody huge crocodile. Easily 4+ metres. 🐊

The rope to the pot was out near the tree. Without that torch, it would have been so easy to step out, reach down for the rope and…

I don’t like thinking about what could have happened next.

What still gets me is where that croc was sitting.

Right on the pot.

Waiting.

Did it actually know someone would come back? I can’t say that. But standing there looking at where it had positioned itself, it certainly felt like it did.

These animals are incredibly good at what they do. Quiet. Patient. Almost impossible to see when they don’t want to be seen.

And that’s the bit that has stayed with me.

Look at that first photo again.

Kids standing beside the water. A spot that looked well used in camping ground. Nothing screaming danger.

Then look at the second.

It was there.

We were lucky that night. Really bloody lucky.

Be croc wise. Take the torch. Stay back from the water’s edge. And never let a familiar-looking fishing spot convince you it’s safe.

Sometimes you don’t see them.

Sometimes they’re already watching you.

03/09/2026

Everyone sees the sunrise and the fish.

What they don’t see is the boat full of gear, the scrub-down, the vacuum, the reload... and the stupid o’clock alarm to do it all again.

A little reset before heading Corroboree bound for the SWB Barra Challenge.

All that work just to get her dirty again. Go figure.

Thank you Blahst for supporting SWB Barra Challenge. 🐟

This is coming around bloody quick… 10 days to go! 🎣I’m genuinely so excited to get back on the water for SWB Barra Chal...
31/08/2026

This is coming around bloody quick… 10 days to go! 🎣

I’m genuinely so excited to get back on the water for SWB Barra Challenge. There’s something pretty special about this comp, the people, the energy, and a whole lot of women getting out there and having a crack.

Bring on the early starts, the fishing, the laughs and whatever chaos comes with it.

SWB 2026… nearly time. 💛🎣

Small fish. Big attitude. 🎣This little archerfish gave me a hurry-up while I was flicking the pandanus.Definitely not th...
25/08/2026

Small fish. Big attitude. 🎣

This little archerfish gave me a hurry-up while I was flicking the pandanus.

Definitely not the fish I was chasing, but these little things go hard and put up a cracking fight for their size.

An unintended catch, but loads of fun nonetheless.

And how good are archerfish? The little snipers of the waterways, famous for shooting jets of water at insects above the surface to knock them in.

Never underestimate the little ones.

I am not against good gear. I use it and I understand why people love it.What I am against is the idea that expensive ge...
18/08/2026

I am not against good gear. I use it and I understand why people love it.

What I am against is the idea that expensive gear is the ticket into fishing, the thing you need before you are allowed to call yourself a fisher. I see that idea put women and beginners off more than almost anything else.

I would rather see someone out fishing with what they can afford than waiting for the outfit they think they need. The fish do not check labels.

Couldn’t sleep, so no point wasting that time. Headed out for a fish in the wee hours of the morning with Shane, there’s...
17/08/2026

Couldn’t sleep, so no point wasting that time. Headed out for a fish in the wee hours of the morning with Shane, there’s no better way to spend it. Some nice Barra out and about.

I get asked a lot what lure I am using, and I just hand it over. Some people find that strange. In a lot of fishing circ...
14/08/2026

I get asked a lot what lure I am using, and I just hand it over. Some people find that strange. In a lot of fishing circles, what is working stays close to your chest.

I have never seen the appeal of that. Keeping fishing secrets has never interested me as much as watching someone catch their first Saratoga. If a lure I hand across the boat does that, I have not lost anything. I have gained the best part of the day.

I have volunteered at a few Junior Angler Education Clinic's over the years, and this year's group of kids stood out. Yo...
11/08/2026

I have volunteered at a few Junior Angler Education Clinic's over the years, and this year's group of kids stood out. Younger than the cohorts I am used to, and genuinely well mannered with each other.

No one had to remind them to help a mate rig a line, or make sure everyone in the group actually caught a barra before the day ended. They just did it, over and over, without being asked.

If that is the generation coming up behind us, I like our chances.

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Darwin, NT

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