my first barra trip, tip's please.

[bar raider]

Hi all, planning my first barra trip in the coming weeks and after some advise please.

not sure if ill ever do it again but hope to make it a annual trip.

I'll be using a 6-8 kg baitcaster with 20lb braid & a 4000 stradic on a 6-8kg snapp/spin with 30lb braid. is this OK.. ? .I dont want to have to get another outfit if i dont have to.


coming up from the goldy, should i go to awoonga or monduran ??

what is a selection of must have lures ?

what lb leader and knot to use ?

any other tips to help make this a successful trip ??

thanks heaps guys. :)

[robersl]

bar raider the rods and reels sound fine but you may need to up the poundage of the line i was recommended to use 40-50 lb briad and 60-80lb leader i landed 2 fish and lost 1 due to frayed leader, they slick rigs in drop bear evil minnow and lorrikeet do well as do the hollow bellies and bomber lures,i would go onto the freshwater section and read the monduran reports from the last few weeks there and they also have hints and tips and the guys are very helpfull to any questons you have
shane

[bar raider]

moved (thanks mods)


righto freshies, let me have it :D

[jayvee]

hey BAR RAIDER
mate i to am having first crack at impoundment barra at the end of march. if you go to the second page in FRESHWATER CHAT you'll see a post there by me called "1st TIME MONDURAN QUESTIONS" from only last week, have a read through that it asnwers all your questions you've asked (pretty well the exact same as what i asked) and then even some more! good luck with it mate

cheers JAYVEE

[Jeremy87]

What baitcaster are you running? Is the drag smoothe and how much pressure can it run? You will probably feel a little bit more comfortable with 30lb on the baitcaster provided it has enough capacity. apart from that you should be able to land a few fish on the gear you have.

Mondy or awoonga. Either is fine, each offers different challenges. If your not confident in your gear stick to the weed beds rather than the sticks, both impoundments have bothe types of habitat just in different proportions.

Leader knots and lures, there is pages and pages and pages on this forum if you do a search. 40-80lb single strand or 20-60lb twist depending on who you ask. As for lures take a variety of depths/colours rattles etc. 4 shallow 4 medium and 4 deep divers a couple of bags of plastics and a couple of surface lures is a good way to spend $300-400 bucks. 6x vmc's or owner hooks and decent split rings will help keep the fish attached to the lure when you hook them

Useful tips. Talk to people who are catching them on the day, its your first time so try everything. It nice to break up a hard session casting by trolling even if its only for half or hour or so at a time. You never know it might land you the only fish for the trip. Your there to fish so fish hard. Up nice and early fish until late morning, have lunch and a snooze to beet the heat then back out there for the afternoon bite. i like to do something like 5-11 then 3-9. Leave the grog at the camp ground, casting barra lures around half pissed is dangerous. When you do get back back to the camp ground remember you have to get up in the morning. You can have a piss up anywhere your here to fish.

Above all have fun, you probably won't catch alot of fish (even on a good day impoundment barra fishing seldom clocks up any serious numbers) but the fish that are in there are big and fight hard, as long as you put the effort in you stand a chance.

[BarraBandit]

For a first time barra fisho, try Awoonga (Stay at the Awoonga Gateway Lodge - About 3mins away from the dam). Monduran is huge and hard to navigate if you dont know your way around.


Must haves:
50-65lb main lines.
80-100lb leaders.
Good reels with good drags.
8-12kg rods to pull those big fish out.

Find a lure you like, and buy 3 or 4 of that colour.

If you are using hardbodies, upgrade the hooks to 4x Owners and Hyperwire Splitrings (120lb).

BIGGEST tip, Dont go underguned... alot of people do and thats their biggest mistake.



Hope this helps,
Bandit.

[Magella]

My advise
30- 50 lb braid
60- 80lb leaders
8kg rod
Good reel and Drags
More fish are lost from trying to muscle up than by actualy fighting a fish

Cheers Foxie

[bar raider]

THANKS ALL, great stuff.


What baitcaster are you running? Is the drag smoothe and how much pressure can it run? .
a new hardrock, mainly use for jacks & bass & trolling for flattys ETC.




and now for a silly Question, any way to target the smaller 'Just legal' barra? to increase my chances of landing one, all i hear is talk about the big ones.

What is the most common size in these dams?

[Jeremy87]

Hardrocks are fine. However like most daiwa baitcasters the drag goes to sh!t pretty quick so it is probably worth chucking the carbonex's in there regardless of wether it is putting the pressure out smoothe or not.

Barra are commonly caught from 60-120cm, i started a thread not so long ago about targeting size classes in this section which should answer your question in the first page, the last two pages are just a fist fight so don't bother reading them.

[BarraBandit]

30-40lb is fine in the open... but going to week or sticks, dont go lower than 50lb and 80lb leaders.

Barra's will cut you off easy on anything (leader) lower than 80lb.

Normal sizes, I found were 80-110cm's in Awoonga.




Give em hell mate!
Bandit.

[Magella]

Bar Raider,
When you coming up?
If you can call in for a chat and we will try and send you in the right direction as at the monent fishing is a bit tough and the areas they are catching them are changing all the time.

Cheers Foxie

[Whitto]

My advise
30- 50 lb braid
60- 80lb leaders
8kg rod
Good reel and Drags
More fish are lost from trying to muscle up than by actualy fighting a fish

Cheers FoxieIf you look at the last line in John's original quote and adopt that approach you will have a very good chance of Boating or netting a Barra....it is not necessary to use equipment that is capable of slowing down the QE2...... that will just create gear failure......Mostly all good advise given.....For me the best advise is handle the Barra horizontally with care and support use a good landing net...support the Barra under the belly and manage the head with a pair of boga grips to remove the lure on a cool damp surface......Not meant to be a lecture, just good basic handling info......Have a great trip and have a ball......If u intend keeping your catch just disregard all of the above....there is nothing wrong with taking a Barra home for the Table,don't letting anyone tell u different......Whitto

[SeekingBarradise]

Whatever you do Bar Raider don't fish near Silver Back Hill. The place is Toxic.

Seriously though you can have some of my barra plastics. If you are in brissy just pm me and come over for a yarn and some tackle talk.

A good thread to read up on is Whitto's in the reports section. It was the Australia Day trip where there were a stack of us up there. Some good tips are floating around on that thread.

If thats not enough there are 50 free articles and 20 000 words on JM's site.
www.fishawoonga.com.au (http://www.fishawoonga.com.au)

I hope all this helps you out.
Good luck cheers lyndon.

[bar raider]

Bar Raider,
When you coming up?
If you can call in for a chat and we will try and send you in the right direction as at the monent fishing is a bit tough and the areas they are catching them are changing all the time.

Cheers Foxie
either next weekend (27th-2nd) or the weekend after (6th-9th) ANY PREFERENCES?? moon etc??

yep im pretty sure i will pop in and see you.


Whatever you do Bar Raider don't fish near Silver Back Hill. The place is Toxic.

Seriously though you can have some of my barra plastics. If you are in brissy just pm me and come over for a yarn and some tackle talk.

.
where is silver back hill??

havent used plastics yet :-[ so they would be wasted on me till i learn. but thanks. i havent gone past the hardbodys and surface lures, dont know why just havent bought any plastics yet.

[bar raider]

going for 4 days either next weekend (27th-2nd) or the weekend after (6th-9th) ANY PREFERENCES?? Moon etc?? from those in the know, both is fine with me.

when does barra fishing slow down in these dams?


and sorry to say i dont think im gunna buy some lip grips and a huge net just for one trip so what are the alternatives??

and i dont eat fish much anyway so i will be letting them all go.

[robersl]

and sorry to say i dont think im gunna buy some lip grips and a huge net just for one trip so what are the alternatives??

try and borrow some for the weekend and then buy it if you like the fishing

shane

[PNG1M]

I've only ever caught wild barra. Never had a go at the impoundments ones yet.

But, make sure you have the following lures in your tackle box:

1) TILSAN 'Big Barra' in the Green Mackerel pattern (a great mid depth balsa wood non-rattly suspending lure)
2) Rob Gadon 'Barra Classic' in the Glittery Gold/Black patttern

3) My mate swears by Reidys & Nilsmaster lures for barra and he's come up with the goods too.

If you can afford the outlay: YGK Jigman X8 ultra braid (20 - 24kg) is the way to go, even though most of the best quality fish I've caught (barra n bass) was on the YGK Jigman Powerhunter x4 braid before the x8 stuff came out (and it's cheaper).
I've never used more than a 60lb nylon leader or 50lb fluero.

Rotary-hoe...

[BarraBandit]

going for 4 days either next weekend (27th-2nd) or the weekend after (6th-9th) ANY PREFERENCES?? Moon etc?? from those in the know, both is fine with me.

when does barra fishing slow down in these dams?


and sorry to say i dont think im gunna buy some lip grips and a huge net just for one trip so what are the alternatives??

and i dont eat fish much anyway so i will be letting them all go.




1. Cold water (I find under 26degrees water temp or so everything goes sluggish). Full moon helps in barra fishing.

2. You dont NEED lip grips... try to use an Environet, knotted nets really do alot of damage to these beautiful fish.

3. No point eating dam barra, really claggy... doesnt taste good... But there is 1 way to make em' taste ok, but thats more a family secret. ::)




Hope everything is going to plan and that you will get some big barra,
Bandit. 8-)

[chewy01]

br , you can just comfort lift them in if you want,do a search to find more info, just make sure they are tuckered out a bit.Iv got them in as cold as 20 degrees in monduran,you got plenty of time.Moon,imho,fullish moon you get a better night bite, dark moon you het a better day bite,in saying that dawn n dusk are best iv found.you should be able to pick up a set of lip grips for 20 bicks or some of the boys use a garden glove to protect their delicate hands.....:)

[bar raider]

ok going from the 6th to 9th.


i upgraded line class got some heavy leader and now taking my heavy combo as well. will be stopping in at gin gin for a selection of lures and advise.

all set.

one more Q, are there battery charging facilities or do i have to get a powered camping site?

[nipsta]

mate good luck onceyou catch ya first you will catch a very contages illness called IBD only cured by tempary chat on this forum and return trips to the dams
hope ya strike it lucky first trip awsome dam you can get lost that is for sure

[BR65]

1. Cold water (I find under 26degrees water temp or so everything goes sluggish). Full moon helps in barra fishing.


Hope everything is going to plan and that you will get some big barra,
Bandit. 8-)


Bring on winter, less crowds, better sleep in, not so stinking hot during the day, cant wait!

[Pete62]

No charging facilities that I know of, unless u have a generator u will need a powered site.

BTW don't listen to Brian, he is a freak, can catch fish in a coffee cup.

Good luck, look forward to your report.

Cheer's Pete.

[Whitto]

ok going from the 6th to 9th.


i upgraded line class got some heavy leader and now taking my heavy combo as well. will be stopping in at gin gin for a selection of lures and advise.

all set.

one more Q, are there battery charging facilities or do i have to get a powered camping site?There are battery charging options at Mondy.......Speak either to Kel or Rob at the Kiosk and they will accommodate you......or pay for a powered site....or If there is an Ausfish member up there on a powered site......no worries.....Whitto