Barra - pure gold!

[Mak579]

Well almost, caught this little guy the other day and the colours were quite remarkable - a brilliant gold! The picture does it no justice.

[Mak579]

A quick look at a few of the other fish caught within a same general area around the same size shows just how much these fish change according to the environment and there surrounds.

The bronze/gold fish are generally tight to structure (being weedbeds) in clear water while the more silver fish are in open flats or cloudy water.

Even different techniques were used to catch the different fish!

Something a bit different,

Matt C

[roydsy]

Nice pics Mak, just wish i could have me one of those....... I guess i will still dream of my next barra trip.

[RayB]

Excellent pics! The guide at Awoonga was telling me that the darker / gold coloured Barra spend most of their time down deep and lights colour Barra are more surface feeders. Maybe I got that the wrong way round, maybe someone can confirm this for me.

Neverless, they are a beautiful fish aren't they!

cheers
Raymond

[TinarooTriumph]

Nice colour in that fish Matt, havn't seen one that gold before. I have seen alot of Golden coloured Barra come out of Lenthall's in pic's, don't know what the story is with the colouration though... Any theories?

[barramad.]

Nice pics Matty.

Adaptation to habitat, like most predatory fish, Barra "adapt" to spectrums consistent with their environment.
Water colour, clarity, weedbeds and food sources can influence the "battle dress" of many different species.
Matt has showed some great examples of this.

In my experience the Gold Barra are calling weedbeds home, however we know barra dont stay in one particular environment too long, so its possible to catch them in other locations while they are still coloured up.
Dark purple Barra (Impoundment ) have a habit of coming from steep drop off's, but once again this can vary also.
Cheers
Jas

[Obi___Wan]

G'day Matt,

When i was at Faust a few months ago we got a lot of little fish (60 to 70cm's) that were all different colours and intensities of colour. Although none were gold, some were almost black and all were caught in the sticks.
Some had very distinct patterns on the scales, very pretty fish.

Cheers,
OBI_WAN

[Mad_Barry]

I know where you've been fishing Matt :-X ;D There seems to be a fair variety of colours up there.

One night a couple of years ago, we got this gold one, a 'normal' coloured one for that area with a darkish back & silver sides, and then a platinum silver specimen that wouldn't look out of place down in the salt, all from the same couple of hundred metre stretch of bank.


This pic is a pretty accurate colour, not the effect of a wierdo flash on a cheapy camera.
At least it matches the gold popper, after all it pays to be fashion conscious by selectively accesorising, even on the water ;D

[Paul_Dolan]

Matt and Dicko nice gold there!! here's one of our lil local gold ones.
Paul

[Mak579]

That's a healthy critter Paul, awesome colour!

Dicko, your pic is a better representation of the colour...it was literally glowing! Look forward to go fishing with you again soon so you can edumacate me on accessorising! ;D

Dark Purple one below Jas, although I dare say you've one or three hundred of them before ;D

[McCod]

Neat stuff Matt! Ya see the same sorta thing with the Golden Perch.... can catch 3 or 4 different coulours in a day.... from black ones thru to pure white. Can get hundreds of male fish bunched up over a sandstone bottom and they all turn white.

Cheers Les

[barramad.]

Matty,
Theres also another colour that Impoundment Barra take on, a dark green hue which is consistent with fish that call the slime beds home. I'll dig through my pics and see if I can find one.
Really stands out on the flanks and top of the head, almost looks like a mossy coating.

Give me a call when you get a spare moment, new phone and a lot of my numbers didnt store in the sim card.
Organising another trip to Arnhemland, will give you the details when I speak to you.
Cheers
Jas

[griz066]

Great pics mate keep em coming 8-)