Barra Masterclass

[NAGG]

Chris
Mate thats ridiculous isn't it.!! Legend my a$%e....not even in the same post code as the 'true legends'......thats Just woodsy hanging some crap on me as he does regularly!! He wrote a lot more regarding my hair stlye and 'stefan' ect....thankfully it got edited out!!!

steve

Steve ..... I like it ! & I'm really looking forward to the canonisation!!!
Did Stefan open up a Salon in GinGin ? .......... Hey I wonder how you'd go barra fishing off that pink boat of his

Cheers

Chris

[NAGG]

As most of you know l am a fan of SPs ... At the moment The Squig is the lure of choice ...So easy to use... they roll, and twist and that tail works just fine ..Just cast them out and wind them in...Jason , Bushy and Starlo did there homework on this product ...Simple...Here you have a product that works in a lot of different Applications Shallow ,deep ,,fast slow. Yes the Squig is multi talented Somewhere along the track someone will come up with a lure that works even better ...it will happen... but untill they do its my go to lure

Trev ... you most certainly opened my eyes to the effectiveness of the Squig .... very adaptable

Cheers

Chris

[warrior]

i saw the leaders trev and scott were using last week and they are very impressive and super neat all the way down i dont like the twisted leadres as i find them too bulky but trevs was not, the finish all round is pretty impressive

[Awoonga]

Gee al where did you catch that fish...? The bloke who took the photo could have done a better job

[BR65]

Just some of my thoughts -

I reckon when a barra makes up its mind to take a fish (or your lure) they'll nail it on the inhale, crunch it and spit out the scales on the exhale (sometimes they may spit the fish as well ) then if all felt good grab again and/or swallow. If some thing's not right they'll reject the offering. I suspect most lures that get the crunch also get rejected but with the number of points on hand to hook the fish it happens on the exhale with middle or rear trebles grabbing the fish. I've seen fish do this a few times to lures, both HBs and SBs

When a fish is not so sure about an object it'll inhale cautiously and from a distance, hoping to draw the fish back in but from arms length so as to speak (maybe to keep the object within it's vision at all times?), often line tension inhibits the drawback on the object and the fish does not connect, this is often felt as a boof up the line, or if you're bare footed you may feel it through the hull of the boat. What can sometimes be felt a split second later is no lure tension at all for an instant as the fish turns and sends a bow wave of water forward pushing the lure ahead of it, you'll see this as a swirl of water rising to the surface.

When a fish is really suss about an object to the point of it doesn't want it around, or is reluctant to put it into its mouth having no arms or legs to give it a flick or kick the fish gives it a whack with its head. If you think about the weaponary of the head, hard, bony and razor gill plates it's the best they have to intimidate anything else. If its a lure once again with lots of pointy bits hookups can easily occur.

The less points on a lure the less chance of a hook up on the external section of a fish. the more lifelike a object feels the greater chance there will be a genuine attempt to swallow it more often.

had a whole essay typed out and the browser or something ate it, man I hate that.
Dick, what youve described above mirrors a couple of situations I encountered last summer almost to a T, very interesting observations.
Out of curiosity, for those that fish SP's regularly, do you still get the atypical HB short strike swirl??

[Big_Ren]

oooooooook, so next question, why is a softy so appealing that it must be inhaled, compared to a HB bait fish imatation that more often than not ends up hooked outside the fishs mouth.
I understand the differant profile/action/size thing, but still.......
Is a slow roll, from what Ive read the most common form of SP retrieve, a more potent fish deceiveing retrieval technique than the the twitch and pause

My $0.02 worth.

Just looking at the physical make-up/shape of the species might unlock some clues.

Firstly, let’s accept the bleedin’ obvious that barra are by-and-large implosion feeders and use this “gift” to hoover down prey with mind-numbing speed – and cough up suspicious offerings with equal gusto. I imagine it would be like being dragged out to sea in a rip.

This, when combined with their ultra-sensitive lateral lines and the high-set positioning of their eyes (and let’s not forget their well-documented ability to adapt to varying light conditions) makes them the consummate lake predator in almost all conditions.

Using all of these attributes, the element of surprise is well and truly with them.

Barra can shimmy into a position slightly below the limited peripheral vision of bait, at a distance where they can remain under the radar of their unwary victim, yet within a comfortable striking distance. The sheer volume of water displaced (whirlpool-like) would indicate that barra do not have to snap at the ankles for an implosion strike to have the desired effect.

To add even more impact, it would make sense to attack from the broadest possible angle, and therefore maximise the efficiency of all that water (and food) being vacuumed back into their cavernous mouths. Maybe this is why it seems they have performed a sharp about-face when they eat our lure……the instant thrust of their big paddle tail would no doubt accentuate this effect. Next time have a closer look at the way a pet barramundi lines up feeder fish in an aquarium situation.

Maybe this is also why so many HBs get pinned by one or more trebles in the jaw hinge or outer mouth area. The HB is sucked more-or-less sideways and gets caught before being completed inhaled. Conversely, a soft plastic offers a path of less resistance as it is armed with less hardware, usually just a single hook on top. The barra only senses something is wrong when the SP is half way down its gullet, and if the hook doesn’t find its mark down deep, it is far easier for it to be cleanly ejected straight back along the same route.

To take one final tack, the differing retrieve styles of HBs and SPs might also dictate the success of comparative hook-up rates. I would think that the twitch/pause retrieve of a darting hard body is more likely to contribute to a mouth hook-set through a reaction bite than the slow, purposeful roll of a softie that tracks straighter and lends itself to a more measured attack (straight down the throat).

Cheers
Paul

[Little grey men]

I'm loving this thread...top marks and a happy face stamp on the back of Nagg's hand for this one

Sure makes a lot of sense reading Big Rens 2c worth. I wonder if this is part of the reason that plastics seem to be so effective on barra. I've only ever had one chance to experience these fish up at Awoonga. The first bit of action I saw really made me think more about how fish inhale lures and how important the strike really is to help land more fish. And I guess if a plastic is heavier and moves through the water easier, it simply has to spend more time in the fishes gob, which means more time to strike. Even a fraction of a second would make a difference.
I've since used the things explained to me by Jas for my bass fishing ( which relates quite well since all of the perch like fish share a lot of similat traits ) My hookup rate has improved out of sight and one thing I've noticed is that I rarely hook a fish anywhere ouside the mouth now. Because I pay attention to whats happening and I guess for want of a better term..reading the bite.
I have to share my first experience with you.
Jas hooked a BIG fish not long after we started and it did a jump and spat the slickrig, he wound the plastic back in and showed me the scuff marks on the leader that would have went a full foot up the line...I have to admit that I was crappin myself taking it all in. My first thought ( WOW !!!Bass sure don't do that )
I want more....

[NAGG]

I'm loving this thread...top marks and a happy face stamp on the back of Nagg's hand for this one

Sure makes a lot of sense reading Big Rens 2c worth. I wonder if this is part of the reason that plastics seem to be so effective on barra. I've only ever had one chance to experience these fish up at Awoonga. The first bit of action I saw really made me think more about how fish inhale lures and how important the strike really is to help land more fish. And I guess if a plastic is heavier and moves through the water easier, it simply has to spend more time in the fishes gob, which means more time to strike. Even a fraction of a second would make a difference.
I've since used the things explained to me by Jas for my bass fishing ( which relates quite well since all of the perch like fish share a lot of similat traits ) My hookup rate has improved out of sight and one thing I've noticed is that I rarely hook a fish anywhere ouside the mouth now. Because I pay attention to whats happening and I guess for want of a better term..reading the bite.
I have to share my first experience with you.
Jas hooked a BIG fish not long after we started and it did a jump and spat the slickrig, he wound the plastic back in and showed me the scuff marks on the leader that would have went a full foot up the line...I have to admit that I was crappin myself taking it all in. My first thought ( WOW !!!Bass sure don't do that )
I want more....

Just on those scuff marks ....... which puts it into prospective! ... One day @ Awoonga , Mighty Whitey was using one of my outfits which ran a 6' -6'6" wind on 80lb leader Now ... he fished exclusively a slick rig ( no losses) , but by mid session & maybe 6 barra landed & that many again missed ....... That leader was down to around 1 foot in length Now these were not big fish 70s & 80s ...... but they were able to cause enough damage to the leader that MW had to cut & re tie! ........ Some of these scuff marks ran 8-12" up the leader...... so well beyond the depth of the hook set

Cheers

Chris

[Awoonga]

Most of the fish Scott and l have caught using SPs in the last couple of months have been in the side of the mouth.. with the odd fish having the hook down the hatch...My take ... The Fish is Expelling the plastic and getting the hook caught in the side of the mouth... Scott and l have changed the way we fish SPs and turned Hits into hookups ... Its taken hours and hours of time on the water where we trial different things. Read LGM post then go out to your local puddle and do the same

[Nomad62]

When a fish is really suss about an object to the point of it doesn't want it around, or is reluctant to put it into its mouth having no arms or legs to give it a flick or kick the fish gives it a whack with its head. If you think about the weaponary of the head, hard, bony and razor gill plates it's the best they have to intimidate anything else. If its a lure once again with lots of pointy bits hookups can easily occur.

Hi Dick,
All great points there mate. On this particular one above, i myself have observed the same thing on a couple of occasions.

Once, while fishing at Peter Faust Dam i had located a large fish in about a metre of water hovering in a semi circle of thick brush. I had repeatedly cast different offerings to it with a variety of actions and speeds all with no interest from the fish. I had now drifted too close to the snag but opted for one more cast before moving the boat.

I had switched to a HB with the tow point attached to the bib. As i cast, the bib broke away from the lure and as luck would have it, the lure landed motionless in front of the barra, disconnected from my line.
What happened next was amazing.

The fish came up beneath the lure and sat motionless for what felt like an eternity, just eyeballing the lure. Suddenly it moved forward and smashed the lure with the side of its head (on this occasion not hooking up). Once it had completely turned around it followed through with a massive swipe of its tail which sent the lure up and over my boat. After this the fish returned to its original position in the snag.

This happened just a few feet from the boat.....the fish made no attempt to eat the lure, it was just sheer aggression. The fact that the fish returned to its original spot makes me think that this fish was after some time out and did not want to be disturbed.

Enjoy reading your reports mate, keep em coming.

Hey Nagg excellent thread.....something for everyone.

Cheers Nomad

[Whitto]

I was once told years ago by a well known Bream fisherman on how to catch bream and how the bream deals with a baited hook...he explained it this way....First the bream touches the bait.....quite soon after the fish will mouth the bait, at this point most people will strike and just pull the bait out of the fish's mouth, do not strike......again soon after the Bream will ingest the bait and is clearly felt, at this point apply steady weight by lifting your rod....you will catch a bream everytime......I have tried this method and it works well.......I have yet to apply this method on Barra using SP's.....it should work at this time of year.....Now we all know during the warmer months lures are attacked and smashed as the girls are in another frame of mind......just my thoughts........Whitto

[the_matrix]

There is no fish quite like a Bream when it comes to procrastination.
How the hell they survive in the wild has me buggered, they think about what they eat for that long it has time to swim away before it gets eaten!
Anyone who has fished for Bream with lures knows that they bloody wont eat the thing unless it stops. Even then, they think about it for half a bloody hour before deciding what to do.

Whitto, summer or winter mate, it wont matter. Barra are distinctly catagorised in the centropomidae family, which means they are implosion feeders. They wont bite food, tap it or mouth it, because they do not know how. It is either boofed or it is not.
Winter time is still agressive feeding time, its just certain factors need to be aligned, and if they are not different attitude and strike methods come into play.
Cheers
Jas

[warrior]

hey trev pics dont mean a lot when you learn more in a few hours that would take me ten trips to learn when fishing with one who is switched on to the place .am very pleased on the outcome too.looking forward to a couple o beers and a few hours on th water soon

[NAGG]

Gee .... If impoundment barra went the way of bream lure fishing , we would all want blokes like Steve B fishing with us + be fitting a defibrillator along side the sounder / GPS .........
Watching a bream hovering 6 " below a suspending lure in gin clear water - in a mesmerised state is bad enough for the ticker!!!

Nagg

[Whitto]

Gee .... If impoundment barra went the way of bream lure fishing , we would all want blokes like Steve B fishing with us + be fitting a defibrillator along side the sounder / GPS .........
Watching a bream hovering 6 " below a suspending lure in gin clear water - in a mesmerised state is bad enough for the ticker!!!

Nagg

Yah it would be great the old clacker would be going hammer and tongs not to mention the ticker.......Whitto