What can a barra bend?

[Dick Pasfield]

Mostly rods get bent and a few broken, next would come hooks, the bane of anglers all over.

I thought I may have finally ended my hook bending days when changing to singles on some lures until this got done last night. The second hook saved the day but I can remember feeling the trailing one let go, though at the time thought it may have been something else.

For the record its a 7/0 hoodlum that I was convinced was strong enough for a mere barra, wrong again. Must be some incredible strength in a big barra's mouth and head, hoodlum's aren't exactly thin hooks.

Had the drag up tight and palm on the spool for a while but I reckon I could tow a car with the hook if careful.

Back to the drawing board:'( any suggestions?

[Steve B]

Wooohoo Dick, thats a great photo!! mate I bet the heart was in the mouth when you felt the first hook pull!!

Only suggestion, maybe back the drag off if the situation allows.

cheers Steve

[NAGG]

I think you're looking at a top & bottom jaw hook up there Dick ....... probably wouldn't have mattered if you had backed off ....... The jaw pressure was obviously enough to open one up :P Mind you ,you're using a pretty good hook ......... time to move up to a Owner Jobu me thinks::)

Cheers

Nagg

[TinarooTriumph]

G'day Dick,

Mate... they can bend anything. Im fearful sometimes of my Quintrex being turned into a collapsable Ping Pong table some days!

Last week between me and a mate we lost 4 fish, all to them straightening Size 1 Owner trebles. These were on our favourite plastics, which, 9/10 hook the fish deep in the throat and they jump and they jump and they jump and the fights over pretty quick. Rip plastic out and see them kick away hard. But last week they were slamming these baits... we were fishing with Twisted leaders so we did crank the drag a little too much but from what Ive read and saw first hand alot of it has to do with where they are hooked. You look at these hooks when they come back to the Boat and you shake your head. Owners a still my favourite and no trebles comes close. Decoy's I use a bit on these plastics and they are good but Owners are just so dependable.

If your after a single hook, whatever style hook, then go and look for Youvella's Dick... they are a dam good hook. Heard many, many good things about them and I have had the pleasure of nailing Spaniards with em.

Cheers

Theo

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

Dick,
Looking at your rig and the size of the fish and the story of you feeling the back hook pulling free during the fight it would be fair to say that 'all' the load was on that rear single even though the front hook made it's mark, possibly first of all. There is extreme length between the front hook and rear hook on those dog leads which should (by the looks of the photo) eliminate the chances of jaw pressure alone wrecking that rear hook. The distance is too great. Was that rear hook foul hooked in the high gill, neck or shoulder or somewhere strange? I could see the solid fish pulling hard on the rear hook in that instance with wierd angles increasing said direct pressures on the hook point. For you to say you felt that rear hook let go means that no load, or very little was on the front hook during the fight. If the front hook had load on it, the long dog lead on the rear would have had slack and never have pulled free,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,unless it was foul hooked away from the mouth. If that fish jumped, shook underwater or so on the damage to the wide gaped hooked could have occurred. Hooks with wider gapes will bend more as there is a greater leverage advantage when the hook point is loaded.
Where was that rear hook when you landed the fish,,,or where was it pinned prior to it falling out? There should have been a mark. Do you need such a long lead or is this just a bad luck story where it may take another 57 big fish before it happens again? That long lead would allow the swinging hook to floppity flop about until it maybe grabbed in a bad position.
I'd be keen to hear if it happened again as it would be rarer than rings, trebles and 3 sets of hooks bending and busting. You have done a lot to limit accidents, but 1 in a million type is hard to fix.
Theo,
Owners are good, but they too have a wide gape that contributes to straightening. If we go a narrow gape we can miss fish so it is a happy medium hey?!
Cheers,
Johnny

[Whitto]

Thats a classic Dick....Although the lure still has a lot of life left in it....if it were mine it would be straight to the Pool Room....You know what I mean Steve;D;D;D

[Dick Pasfield]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Unfortunately I didn't notice the bent hook on the night, just thought it was pinned on the first one and the slip I felt was line wrap coming free. It wasn't until I made someone's (who knows a bit about making lures) Monday with a fish pic, he pointed out the hook to me.

I didn't notice any damage on the fish but to be honest it was out and back in in quick time, the pics I took prior to lifting the fish show no damage and the hook free.

What I do know is that I held the fish on a good strong leash to keep it from the timber, using the boat to drag it away. I was using about 3kg of drag off the rod but who knows what it went to when I palmed the spool, maybe 5kgs or a bit more?? That alone would not come anywhere near bending the hook but in conjunction to another issue who knows?

That lure in that configuration has caught at least 20 fish and maybe close to 10 of them would have been over the metre. The length in the dyneema is pretty good as the lure wobbles on its own without much, if any influence from the hooks, looks very seductive as it flows in the current by the boat.

I do recall another of those hooks being bent one night, the setup was different where the singles were attached straight to a ring, was playing around a bit with hook sizes and how they were attached. That hook pulled as an unstoppable headed for the snags, probably lucky it did the fish didn't even look like slowing. In that instance I put the hook straightening down to being locked up on the body with a single ring.

Regardless I never cease to wonder at the power of a barra's mouth8-)

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

Evil fish Dick. Sounds like bad luck and big fish mixed together. Heavy handidness will bring those bend and bust issues to the fore. Not much more you could do without too much serious thinking.
When barra punch commercial nets they poke their nose through, panic, forcefully open their mouths, shake and drive their powerful tail. They pop 250-300 lb breaking strain mono in short 4-5 inch sections in 8 inch nets and once they get their shoulders through, they just wag their tail and swim away. That's incredible force to break such a short piece of mono without a run up. The opening of the mouth is the danger period, not the closing, same when connected to a lure.
A man of your calibre will surely find a sloution if it becomes too much of a problem. Nice fish. Are you fishing freshwater way up a river? Salt fish, or are you landlocked somewhere?

[Dick Pasfield]

A man of your caliber will surely find a solution if it becomes too much of a problem. Nice fish. Are you fishing freshwater way up a river? Salt fish, or are you landlocked somewhere?

Solution? That'd be Semtex;D

Fishing freshwater sections of the Ord River anywhere from a couple of ks to 15 ks downstream of the Diversion Dam.

btw once I had a large fish take a bigger of the two Stalwarts down its gob. got lodged in sideways. The fight was a non event as you'd expect. When I stuck my hand in to dislodge the lure the fish boofed, or reversed boofed, whatever, to expel the lure. The action was impeded by the lure but the jaw snap was so quick took my breath away.

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

Dick,
I remember as a child filming a small barramundi in a tank. When it inhaled food it was lightning quick. When the film was played back at 1/20th of normal speed the jaw movements were still blurred.
Amazing system that Ord, amazing fish you have there too. They look in good condition- great photos, nice coloured fish. It's funny how hard body lures ocassionally jam verrtical or horizontal in a mouth and stop the fight. A choking fish can't do much hey? I once boated a 21 kg salty that didn't even jump, let alone wag it's tail. The lure couldn't even be pulled free without busting the timber lure. All hell broke loose on deck as you could imagine when that lure came out!
Cheers,
JM

[Dick Pasfield]

Here's a pic of the lure stuck sideways in the fish:o

[Whitto]

Mouth Almighty, Just nailed it....Great Photo Dick