Helifishing Explained

What is Helifishing

Helifishing is simply accessing remote fishing spots in a helicopter and in doing so being able to see and do things that no other form of transport can offer. Firstly a flight in a helicopter for most people is one of the most amazing experiences that flying has to offer. The ability to fly slowly, hover, ascend and descend vertically are only some of the flight characteristics helicopter flight offers. A helicopter gives you the ability to access many places that cannot be easily accessed any other way. So for fishing this gives you the ability to get to isolated and often untouched locations where the fishing can be totally brilliant and the areas are usually spectacular.

Helifishing is more than just fishing. The flight to your fishing spots will take you over some very spectacular and isolated country including vast floodplains, rivers, wetlands and billabongs. Flying in the top end of the NT offers scenery that rates up there as good as any in the country. Due to the unparralled visibility of our R 44 helicopter your visual experience and photo opportunities are second to none particularly with the doors removed. Helifishing is suitable for all ages and children of all ages are very welcome as long as they are accompanied by an adult and supervised

Where do we go fishing?

Now that’s a secret. We take you to fishing spots that offer you the best chances of catching fish on the day with season and tidal influences taken into account. Due to the fact you will be fishing from a bank or beach of a river system, billabong or estuary we need to choose our fishing locations to give you easy access and safety. As our primary target fish is the mighty Barramundi you will usually get to experience multiple locations on your Helifishing trip so if one place isn’t catching fish we get back in the chopper and in minutes we are at a different fishing spot. We try to take you to unique and isolated places where you can only get there by chopper but sometimes we may need to fish at locations where you may see a boat fishing in our attempt to get you onto the fish.

Are we guaranteed of catching a Barra?

Absolutely....if you do our Guaranteed to catch a Barra Tour. All other trips there is no guarantee you will catch one but to date we have only had one trip where we didn’t catch at least one Barramundi and we have never had a trip where we didn’t catch fish. We also catch plenty of other species such as Thread fin Salmon, Golden snapper, Queen fish and GT's. Helifish offers a cash back guarantee that you will get to catch fish. See our Helifishing tours page for details. 

Fishing for Barra is an impresice science. The odds of catching barra and how many you catch depends on the day, time, season, tides, weather and your fishing ability. It is often about being at the right place at the right time. For that reason we use our experience to guide you where necessary and suggest how to fish if we think a change in tactics will improve your catches. We catch fish all year, but some times of the year are better than others so you need to discuss this when booking a trip if you want to maximise your chances and number of Barra you will get on the day. Some days we might catch 20 Barra at one spot and the next trip at the same spot only get 5. The truth of it is also the fact that you will catch small fish as well as big. Just because you go Helifishing doesn’t mean you will catch monster Barra...but we often do. That’s just fishing.

Why is Helifishing expensive compared to boat fishing?

The cost of Helifishing is underpinned by the cost of operating a helicopter. Helicopters are very expensive and complicated aircraft. Maintenance and operating costs as well as the purchase price of a helicopter unfortunately make it one of the most expensive forms of transport probably only second to space travel. Due to strict regulations these costs are mandatory and ensure the aircraft stays in a safe and airworthy condition.

We think helifishing offers fabulous value. How else can you spend a day seeing the spectacular scenerary, the amazing exhilaration of flying, accessing otherwise impossible to get to spots to tangle with the iconic wild NT Barra. The experience for many has been a highlight of their life. Check out the Video and see what it is all about.