Barra -Bigger in salt or fresh??????

[Plastic_Magic]

Just wondering your opinions wheather Barra grow bigger in fresh or salt....

Is a argument i am having with my teacher at school.............i said they grow bigger in fresh.....What your thoughts.

Cheers Plastic_Magic

[McCod]

Growth rate and weight gain are accelerated some what in most fresh water circumstances, compared to saltwater barra due to the abundance of food and lack of energy output per calorie intake..... salties have to work harder for food and always need to move there tail even to stay in one spot. Mind you i have not seen a 1.5 meter impoundment barra yet but seen a few salties over that mark and up to 1.7 mtrs....... I guess time will tell when the impoundment barra seen has matured.

Cheers Les8-)

[NAGG]

Bigger as in heavier ..... Impoundments for sure! ( as per McCods reasoning) .... couch potato fish

Bigger as in Length ...... I'm thinking SW ..... ( athletic gene pool) _ I've seen a couple that would have gone 140-150cm up the Russell/ Mulgrave

Nagg

[Plastic_Magic]

Thanks Fellas i meant hevier.. This is good proving a teacher wrong. thanks for you input.

Cheers Plastic_Magic

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

Two things to consider. Fish age is one major.
Salt fish can poke 30yrs whilst our lakes like Proserpine, Monduran and Awoonga are less than about half that 30 yr figure. We have 30 kilo fish in these lakes and they will struggle to reach 40kg because of numerous reasons. Tinaroo has had big fish for a long time, probably the oldest in any impoundment, the most historical of stockings. 40kg+ fish in Tinaroo, yea!
The salt has 60kg + barra, but it is hard to compare two fisheries of different age. The salt has been rolling on and on for generations, the lakes are just a splash in the pan in reflection of fish potential and age maximum.
History shows that barra in the salt still hold the records for the longest and heaviest.
If we had unfished giant stocked lakes that were 20 yrs old or more, similar to the size of the salt regions I'm sure some mega giants would come out of lakes, but all variables aligned, we do not have that, so in my experience, the salt is still the winner. My 7 best barra are all from the salt. 130-138cm. Truth be known, they are not big by salt standards. The targeting of large salt fish is not equal in lure fishing standard to that of lake fish that select more smaller prey than the wide range variation of salt fish. More 30-40kg lake barra would be landed on 5 inch lures than if the same effort was applied in salt environments.
Salt wins,,,,,,,,,for the time still being.
Johnny