Crocs, sharks and an Aussie cricket legend: All the action from the Barra Classic

Crocs, sharks and an Australian cricket legend have all spent the past week battling to catch a barra in the Northern Territory.

For the second time this year, a small tourist park on the Daly River has been transformed into the centre of a major fishing tournament.

The week-long Barra Classic has been held annually on the same stretch of the remote river since 1982.

Anglers travel from around the country for long days of fierce competition and long nights spent catching up with mates, including Australian cricket legend Merv Hughes.

The community that comes with the tournament — and the opportunity to escape Melbourne's cold winters — have been drawing him back to the river for nearly 20 years.

"The first time you do it, you just fall in love with the place," he said.

"This is the premiere fishing competition in Australia — the Daly River, Northern Territory, chasing an iconic fish. It doesn't get any better than this."

Sharks clued in to benefits of tournament

While the Top End may be best known for its saltwater crocodiles, anglers at this year's Barra Classic are talking about a different threat.

Skipper of the team Bad Karma Rohan Short said sharks have been adding a new challenge to the competition by eating fish as anglers reel them in.

"We've lost a lot of good fish to sharks, just can't get them in fast enough," he said.

Judy Ward, who  fishes the Barra Classic most years with her team the Angry Birds, said she also lost a fish to a shark.

"It took off and I was like 'this is bigger than I thought', but really the shark had it," she said.

"Wound it in and all I had was the head … it was pretty funny."

Charles Darwin University marine ecologist Joni Pini-Fitzsimmons specialises in sharks and rays, and said the rise in shark sightings could come down to the record-breaking floods that hit the Daly River region in March.

"We got a lot of runoff, that could be improving bait and different prey of sharks, so we could be seeing a little bit of an uptick because of that," she said.

"It's also the breeding season for a lot of the species that we get in the Daly River so we would normally expect to see good numbers of sharks at this time of year anyway."

Dr Pini-Fitzsimmons said sharks might be clueing on to what a fishing tournament means for them.

"Sharks are smart. They can very quickly learn associations between boat noise, struggling fish, and an easy meal," she said.

"There might not be more sharks, but instead more people fishing and lots of smart sharks showing up for a quick feed."

New technology for a changed river

It is not just the sharks that are adapting.

A new app has been implemented on the river to help anglers log hazards that have popped up after the floods.

Veteran Daly River angler Alastair Shields said the floods had made it more difficult to get to the fish.

"There's lots and lots of fish … and they're fat, healthy, silver fish but it's a bit treacherous with all the new snags and logs," he said.

Flood debris in the river wreaked havoc on boats at last month's Barra Nationals — the Daly River's other major fishing competition.

Ms Ward said the app is great and should have been introduced "years ago".

"If you see a snag, you flag it and get the co-ordinates," she said.

"Then when you get back you just scan a QR code … and they'll come out and put buoys on there for us."