Fresh Water Freight Trains

[LOCKEDUP]

Hey Crew, Just Chasing A Few Tips For Barra Fishing Lake Monduran Through The Summer, Been Fishen It With Good Catch Rates Most Year Round, Always Find It Harder To Find Them When Its Really Crackin Hot, Keeping In Mind That I'm A Cast And Retrieve Lure Fisherman 90% Of The Time. Any Tips On Lures,lure Depths,water Depths,techniques, Water Temps And Areas That Produce Good Numbers Of Fish During These Times Would Be A Big Help. Cheers Trenno!

[LOCKEDUP]

Does Anyone Fish Monduran???

[Barraboy7]

Welcome to Ausfish Mate
Just do a search on Monduran thru hundreds of posts and you will get all the info you need! A lot of newbies (inc. myself a while back) take a while to catch on that heaps of our questions are already answered over and over again in previous posts.
Between all that is written on Awoonga and Monduran on this forum there is enough to write a thesis. And by incredibly experienced fishos.8-)
Barraboy

[artesian]

what works for you in the cooler parts of the year?

[LOCKEDUP]

CHEERS BARRA BOY, BUT MUST SAY i'M ONE STEP AHEAD OF YA. I'VE NOT BEEN A MEMBER FOR LONG BUT BEEN READIN ALONG FOR QUITE SOME TIME. I'M A MAD KEEN BARRA FISHO AND TRY TO KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST INFO I CAN FIND, BE IT NEW LURES OR PRODUCTS OUT, OR NEW FREAKED OUT TECHNIQUE SOMEONES TRYING. PLUS THE OLD BARRA HAVE A HABIT OF SIFTIN ABOUT A BIT FROM SEASON TA SEASON, NEVER HURTS TO KEEP THINKIN A HEAD OF THOSE BIG GIRLS!

[LOCKEDUP]

Hey Artesian, Try Firstly Ditchen The Boat And Walk The Real Skinny Back Creeks And Just Hammer All The Corners Where They Shallow Out. Normally This Time Of Year U Can Sit Back And Site Cast The Big Girls. Finding Them In Winters The Easy Part, Its Getting Ta Have A Chop At Ya Lures The Hard Part. Stick To Ya Super Shallow Lures And Work Them Dead Slow. Like Workin Soft Plastics For Bream Or Flathead Just Get A Bit Of A Shimmy Up. Hopefully That Works For Ya.

[LOCKEDUP]

Also Probabley Better Off Try Mid Arvo Sessions, That Way The Water Temps At Its Peak.

[nipsta]

leaving for monduran tomorrow morning let you know when i get back how its fishing

[Steve B]

Hey Artesian, Try Firstly Ditchen The Boat And Walk The Real Skinny Back Creeks And Just Hammer All The Corners Where They Shallow Out. Normally This Time Of Year U Can Sit Back And Site Cast The Big Girls. Finding Them In Winters The Easy Part, Its Getting Ta Have A Chop At Ya Lures The Hard Part. Stick To Ya Super Shallow Lures And Work Them Dead Slow. Like Workin Soft Plastics For Bream Or Flathead Just Get A Bit Of A Shimmy Up. Hopefully That Works For Ya.

Locked up, welcome to the site. I have been reading your posts with interest.
You have answered your original post with your advice to others.;)

Tell me where in the dam you can sight cast them this time of year??? I would like to see this...and have a go too. Winter yes, I have seen plenty of barra 'sunning' in the shallows...never had a hookup, just spooked them as do 95% of fishermen who have experienced the same situation.

good luck..and feel free to post a couple of pics. Every one loves a good photo!!

steve

[LOCKEDUP]

Sorry If That Read Weird. Was Replying To Artesians Question About Winter, Not This Time Of Year. But Was Site Casting Two A Number Of Fish In The Back Of B Around Three Weeks Ago And We Picked Up Three. I'm A Bit How Ya Doin On The Computer But I'll Get Me Bro Ta Help Me Get Some Pics Up During The Week. Got Tones Of Barra, Jacks, Flatty, Gulf Trips And A Few Hikein Trips For Cod. Hope Yas Like Them. If U No The Dam Well U'll Pick Up Where We Fish In The Pics.

[LOCKEDUP]

So Steve U Live Up That Neck Of The Woods, Have U Got Any Tips For Me Ta Try Through The Really Hot Times. Anything New Would Be Helpful And Appreciated.:)

[the_matrix]

, Always Find It Harder To Find Them When Its Really Crackin Hot, Keeping In Mind That I'm A Cast And Retrieve Lure Fisherman 90% Of The Time. Any Tips On Lures,lure Depths,water Depths,techniques, Water Temps And Areas That Produce Good Numbers Of Fish During These Times Would Be A Big Help. Cheers Trenno!

Your chasing the golden goose here mate, as we all are.:D
Steve is a local down there and knows the area well so what he knows is worth knowing.

Summer daytime Barra can be a difficult period to fish, esp sustained hot days.
Water temps rise quickly, and it makes it hard to isolate good populations.
I cant speak from experience at Monduran, my local is a little further north but the species will certainly go to great lengths to find comfort and also peace and quiet.
Hot water can be just as damaging as cold water to Barra, and if you take a swim in the dam one hot day, swim down as deep as you can, feel the temp changes as you slip deeper below the surface. It feels great in the deepest stuff eh?
Fishing deeper is a method that works well for me when boat traffic is heavy, and the water temp is high.
They are experts at finding these area's, and nothing will give them away. They dont need structure, and the bait will be holding in similar area's for the same reasons.
That may be in the basin or in deeper flooded timber, but using your sounder to locate fish then presenting plastics of HB's deep is a favourite way for me.

Lures like crazy deeps, barra bait 20+, lively lure blue pillie deeps, river ratz/flatz ratz etc, as well as lipless crankbaits like Jackall Doozers, Rattletraps and even Halco tremblers work well.
Plastics, well theres a tonne out there but none are as effective as slick rigs in my opinion, and 130mm slickies are specials for fishing SLOW and deep.
Hope that helps.
Cheers
Jas

[LOCKEDUP]

Thanks Jas, Your A Trooper. Really Appreciate A Bit Of Input.

[moggy1]

Was up there last weekend and i have never seen that many barra in the main basin before. All the big girls are trying to get to the salt this time of the year to breed. Im a cast only man and caught about 9 rats up in the timber but couldnt compete with the big girls the trollers where pulling up. Some of the fish caught on sat were not handled properly and as a result about 10 big girls where floating against the wall come sun morning.(not a 130 there joe done well) Try any where in Monduran you will get fish but as SB knows there are some better spots than others and the joy of fishing is for you to discover these spots and enjoy.
Cheers Moggy

[Steve B]

Hey Locked up, When it gets REALLY hot down here......I head to Awoonga;D Seriously!!! I love fishing Awoonga at night and late arvo.

But to answer your questions about monduran, I find similar patterns to what Jas (matrix) described works well here. particularly in the basin around the thermocline. (currently about 10-12ft down). If you like heading up the dam, work submegered trees on the edge of the main river bed. you can locate them on your sounder about 15ft below the surface and in about 40-50 ft of water.
Also casting the shallow bays, however, concentrating on the deeper creek bed which usually runs thru most of them. (say 8-12ft deep) and any deeper submerged structure. I usually only go out for an early morning or late arvo quick session and this seems to be the best active time when its really hot.

I generally havn't had great success fishing day time when the water temps are consistantly high during the day and value my life too much to tempt travelleing up and down monduran at night:D . Awoonga is my favorite for night fishing, just love it!!

Moggy, I noticed what you said about poor handling techniques and totally agree. I had a chat with the president of the local fish stock assoc and organiser of the event regarding this matter. We discused incorporating an information session on the Friday nite breifing regarding safe handling proceedures and release etc at next years comp. Hopefully it will reduce the death toll next year. There sure were some big fish weighed in, and killed too:-/

cheers steve

[LOCKEDUP]

CHEERS STEVE, I'LL BE KEEPIN THAT INFO IN MIND NEXT TIME I HIT THE WATER. IF I SEE U UP THERE I'LL BE SURE TA SAY G'DAY. I'M NORMALLY FLOATING ABOUT IN A MATES 5m GOODWIN LONG BOAT, CENTRE CONSOLE WITH MINN KOTA BOW MOUNT ELECTRIC. TILL THEN KEEP US ALL POSTED ON ANY GOOD CATCHES. THANKS AGAIN TRENNO!:)

[darylive]

All Good drum. ;D
So you don't bother at all during the day Steve B? :-/

I suppose thats the advantage of being local but when I travel hours to get there i like to spend my time fishing. 8-)

How about up the the creeks in the shadows? ;)

Although I know from experience the late shift gets the fish ::)

[Steve B]

Darylive,

Yeah I fish during the day too! Usually have to work up brownie points in the morning doing houshold chores so I can get a leave pass to fish in the arvo;D .;D later in the arvo is definatley more productive when its really hot. Same theory as most fishing I guess! You have a good point about trees. BIG trees BIG shadows. The fish definately hug their shadows when its hot. Doesnt make them any more active though!!;)

good luck on your trip, hope you get into them

steve

[darylive]

All being well well I will head up tomorrow. 8-)

The point is to go fishin catchin fish is just a bonus :)

A BLOODY GOOD BONUS ;D

[darylive]

By the way, I like the title of the thread. In case anyone is interested I wrote the article "bARRA tRAIN" in the QFM a coupla years ago. Referring to the fish in my pic.;)

[LOCKEDUP]

Hey Dairylive, Great Minds Think Alike Ey, Can't Say I've Read Your Article Though. The Title Came From Another Sport I Under Takein When I'm Not Fishin. Surfing, Freight Trainnings A Term We Use When Some Ones Screamin Through The Water As Fast As Possible, Just Related It To Fishen And Thats How The Title Came About. Pop Us A Post When U Get Back And Let Us Know How Ya Trip Went? Cheers Trenno!

[vet]

gudday moggy and steve b, it's sad to hear about big fish dying. Were most of the big fish caught trolling in the deep and if so do you think they might die because of being pulled up from the deep and suffering barratrauma rather than just poor handling. I know that a lot of poor handling goes on as well, but large fish have big swim bladders and are quite susceptible to being pulled up from the depths, just look at how hard it is to release a big old cod. Just a thought.
I have to agree with you steve about fishing later at night in awoonga when it's hot, I can't see the point in getting sun burnt for not much reward. Maybe I'll see you out on awoonga late one summers night. cheers scott

[Steve B]

Hey Scott,

Regarding the dead barra after the comp. Majority of fish were trolled up in relativley shallow water (10-15ft) so I dont believe barotrauma is the cause.

The majority would have died after a long drawn out fight .... dragged into the boat in old style nets (or by the gills)...... lifted up by the gills...... dropped in the hot floor of the tinnie....then have a few photos taken with every person in the boat because its the biggest barra they have all seen....... then chucked back on the floor again.....driven into the weigh station.....lifted by the neck again out of the boat AGAIN....carried up to the weigh station where its put on the scales (this comp is still a weight comp)....... If its not stabbed to death at this point beacause the MASA recommended all fish over 95cm be 'removed' at the breifing on the friday nite........ its gets a couple more quality photos taken with the boat ramp as a backdrop whist being hung up by the gills AGAIN...... then released into the churned up dirty water next to the boat ramp.... If the poor fish manages to plough thru the churned up weed out to deeper cooler water it can live happily ever after.

I know that isnt what happens to every fish, but I saw plenty which suffered this cruel fate. I am certain this is what killed the fish at the comp, and a couple since.

You might be able to tell that poor handling and killing big impoundment barra is a pet hate of mine.

definatley keen to get up to awoonga before the ABT for a pre fish. I will send you a pm if I get up there. I have recently had a new bub which is putting a holt on my fishing plans for now!!!

cheers steve

cheers steve

[darylive]

Well got two good'ns. Thursday night 92cm in 'A' bay trolling after flogging the stick to no avail. Then Saturday morning trolling the wall I picked up a 94cm 25lb. Word soon got around and Saturday arvo and night there were 25 boats trolling the Wall! I have never seen so many people at Monduran as there was last weekend. I am pleased to report most were well behaved and quite in the camp. As alway there were a few yobbos but even they were pretty well behaved for yobbos. There were plenty of reports of no fish from a lot of people.

A coupla blokes came down from Awoonga for the day one day saying they had no luck there so made a day trip Monduran but still caught nothing.

[Langey]

hey steve,Langey here....another x tba boy.heading up to monduran9 10 11 nov.hoping to drop in on the way and have a chat on the way.rumour has it youve got the place wired.im getting your ph no. off gerry.call you in the next few days

[Steve B]

Hey langers,

long time no hear!! Have you finally cleaned out the brissy river of snapper!! Good fisherman like you wont need any help! Will be good to catch up. talk soon.

Gerry and i are fishing ABT at Awoonga, should be interesting!

steve

[vet]

yep steve, the scenario you describe will kill them every time. It's sad to hear that that sort of thing still goes on. I hope to go to monduran next friday for three days, for a bit of a prefish for abt. I'll be in a green polycraft boat with a 40 honda, if you see it than don't be afraid to drop over for a chat. cheers scott

[Langey]

8-) yeah cleaned em out mate....not.they r getting thicker as the pollution is definantly getting better over there.boys have even getting into plenty of big threadfin salmon down there over the metre.been bank bashin north pine a bit lately.really cool place to fish....but doesnt quite compare to latching on to 1 metre+ of "lates calcarifer' in 2 foot of water though.8-)got your no. now.call u soon.