Bucking Barra at Awoonga

[Jules1]

Hello
First post so here goes
We have a trip organised to Awoonga from the 12th to 19th Oct with 4 mates and so I have doing some reading on this very infomative site on the lures, the areas, leaders, double leaders, hook upgrades,split rings, fishing lines, reels, rods, what to look for, trust me this all great info, but Ive just realised that I better bring a saddle and stirrups to ride these monsters of the deep
Now before anybody calls me smart-a----e,

After reading how powerful these fish, and how hard they are to catch I am a little worried that maybe we might be outgunned
I just read that you also use twisted leaders of 80lbs for casting with plastics because the fish break you off with single mono of 80lbs !!!! doesnt the Barra see this heavy leader and so put the numbers game in his favour
What would the best allround leader and braid combo for Plastics and Hard Body for trolling and casting
Rods 6 - 8kg spins 8 - 10kg overheads
Reels Abu 6500 baitcaster Dawia Tierra 2500 spin
Lures not enough me thinks, and all a bit confusing whats working at the moment ??
What freaks me out is the wind, if it blows so hard do you use anchors ????
What are the lake levels at the moment????
Is the boat ramp in good nik, can you drive rear wheel drive down without problems ???
Is it very busy at these particular period ?
We are staying at Willowgrove I believe
Thanks guys for any info, and hopefully we might catch a fish, worst case we spend some money and come away dissappointed
but it would be nice to see a Bucking Barra at Awoonga
Thanks to the locals and Gun Fishermen for posting all this info for the blow ins

Cheers Jules

[Mak579]

Jules,

Congrats on your first post.

Regarding leaders, as you've recognized, there are many different terminal systems getting around. Which system you use depends on yourself and your chosen lure presentation. Understanding the stresses placed on a leader will allow you to determine which to chose for which application.

Some of the stress a leader faces include the abrasive mouth of the barra, impoundment structure including sunken tress etc and line tension, which I think is the most important.

To combat the abrasiveness of a barra's mouth or impoundment structure you need to select a hard wearing, high abrasion monofilament or copolymer line. Flouro Carbon is also quite abrasive resistant but IMHO it's knotability is low and it sinks which can be undesirable in applications.

With line tension, I beleive it is the most important of all the above stresses. As you know, when tension is placed on monofilament line the line stretches, when the line stretches the diameter of monofilament reduces meaning the ability of the monofilament leader to withstand abrasive contact also greatly diminishes.

Understanding the relationship between line tension and abrasive resistance will help you decide the best leader for certain situations. ie in the bay or flats with no structure, I'd be comfortable using single 80lb and feathering the drag on the spool using minimal tension as determined. In the tight structure, I'd go for a twisted setup with the drag fully locked to steer the fish clear of obstacles.

I'm a big believer in "the harder you fight a fish, the harder the fish fights" but finding a balance between the right amount of tension to save the tackle and to land the fish in a timely manner is unfortunately up to the anglers experience!

A couple of important things that I believe can't be overlooked before you head out onto the water -

1. Don't compromise the lure presentation for the leader. It's no good having a bullet proof leader if the lure action is ill.
2. Knots - Tie them with the material you chose to fish with and test them before you head out onto the water. Different braids and Mono's have different knotability and what may have worked for one combination may not work for others.
3. Make sure your line is tight on the spool
4. Have fun!

I don't fish Awoonga much but I'm sure the other guys can help you with specifics but, the standard barra lures will work if you put them in the right place!

All the best,
Matt C

[Pete62]

Hi Jules, well done on your first post. Mate, as u can see from Matt's response the like minded folk on this site are only to happy to help with guidance and advise. I to am planning my first trip and I been handed enough information to give a novice like myself a very real chance of nailing a fish.

Good luck on your trip and we look forward to seeing your report and hopefully pics of your first barra.

Cheers, Pete.

[NAGG]

Hi Jules

Leaders are an important piece of the puzzel ....... & after personally loosing too many good fish to 60 & 80lb mono ......... I went to hand twisted 60lb 10X & 50lb hand twisted Nitline on our last trip ........... I really liked the 50lb Nitline but will go down to 40lb twisted Nitline on my next adventure ............ Using a bimini twist & cats paw connection ........ the system proved flawless -

hook upgrades are very important ...... specially if you fish productive plastics like 110 & 130mm Slick rigs ....... Rip the hooks out & replace them with Nitro 3/8th Oz 5/O , 1/2 Oz 5/O & 5/8th Oz 7/O Saltwater Pro jig heads .......... I straightened a TT upgrade just last week at Awoonga .

If conditions allow ..... by all means anchor to fish points or bays ( just be quiet ....)

Ramp is good ...... but getting busier from what I hear

Water level is OK .....

Dont get freaked out by the wind ......(hopefully your boat is suitable for such a large open body of water) Just use the wind to your advantage.

hopefully some of the locals on here can give you a little more help

Give it a good go & enjoy the place

Cheers

Chris

[dean450]

i was at awoonga 3 weeks back you will not have a problum with the boat ramp at all well under water. anchor out from a point or in a bay and work the hell out off it .

[Barraboy7]

After reading how powerful these fish, and how hard they are to catch I am a little worried that maybe we might be outgunned
I just read that you also use twisted leaders of 80lbs for casting with plastics because the fish break you off with single mono of 80lbs !!!! doesnt the Barra see this heavy leader and so put the numbers game in his favour
What would the best all round leader and braid combo for Plastics and Hard Body for trolling and casting HEAPS OF PEOPLE CATCH ON 60 AND 80LB LEADERS. 50, 30 AND EVEN 20LB BRAID WORKS IN GOOD BRANDS. LAST WEEK I CAUGHT 3 FISH OVER 1 METER ON 20LB WITH 80LB LEADER BLACK MAGIC IS GOOD. NOT SO MUCH TIMBER IN AWOONGA AS MONDURAN SO YOU DO GET A FAIRLY CLEAN FIGHT.
Rods 6 - 8kg spins 8 - 10kg overheads SHOULD BE OK
Reels Abu 6500 baitcaster Dawia Tierra 2500 spin
Lures not enough me thinks, and all a bit confusing whats working at the moment ?? CHOOSE AFEW GOOD RECOMMENDED HARDBODIES FROM THE POSTS YOU HAVE READ HERE, HEAPS OF THREADS DEAL WITH THAT. DEFINITELY TAKE SOME BERKLEY POWERMULLETS 5". TAKE SOME SUPER GLUE WITH YOU TO REPAIR SOME DAMAGE TO PLASTICS. SOME PLASTICS CAN BE TRIMMED DOWN FOR WEIGHT BY MAKING AND INCISION UNDERNEATH, CUTTING SOME LEAD OUT WITH GOOD SIDECUTTERS AND THEN GLUEING BACK SHUT WITH SUPERGLUE. hOWEVER TRY THE FULL WEIGHT AS WELL. THE LIGHTER WEIGHT JUST LETS YOU EXPLORE SHALLOWER WATER AND NOT SINK SO FAST.
What freaks me out is the wind, if it blows so hard do you use anchors ????
I WOULD BE MORE FREAKED OUT IF THERE WAS NO WIND! WIND BLOWING INTO BAYS AND POINTS IS YOUR FRIEND, CAST INTO THE DISCOLOURED WATERS AND HANG ON! WITH HARD BODIES WORK VERY ERRATIC JERKY RETRIEVES SLOWLY, WITH LOTS OF PAUSES, SLOW DOWN!
WITH PLASTICS, WIND THEM JUST FAST ENOUGH TO GET THE TAIL ACTION GOING, KEEP IT SLOW WITH SOME OCCASIONAL WOBBLE OF THE ROD TIP TO CREATE SOME VARIATION.
ANCHOR QUIETLY AS FAR AS YOU CAN FROM THE SHORE AND STILL REACH WITH CASTS. STAY AWAY AND WORK YOUR WAY IN, DONT GET TO CLOSE AND USE MAXIMUM STEALTH WITH ANCHORS, AND ACTIVITY IN THE BOAT. THE REASON WE ANCHOR IS SO WE CAN WORK AN AREA WELL AND STIR THE FISH INTO REACTING. DONT BE AFRAID TO STAY IN ONE PLACE FOR A WHILE. LAST WEEK WE FISHED ONE SMALL BAY AND NO STRIKE FOR 15 MINS AND THEN TWO FISH AND THEN 20 MINS LATER 2 MORE.
What are the lake levels at the moment???? HEAPS OF WATER
Is the boat ramp in good nik, can you drive rear wheel drive down without problems ???NO PROBLEMS AT ALL WITH A REAR WHEEL DRIVE, VERY GOOD RAMP
Is it very busy at these particular period ? IT GETS BUSY NOW, BUT ITS A BIG BODY OF WATER. STAY AWAY FROM OTHERS IF POSSIBLE AS TRAVELLING TOO CLOSE CAN SHUT A BITE DOWN QUICKLY, DONT CROWD PEOPLE. LAST WEEK SOME DONKEY CAME OVER TO US AND ASKED QUESTIONS AND THEN PROCEEDED TO MOTOR DIRECTLY BEHIND US WHERE WE WERE CASTING. IT WAS UNBELIEVABLY IGNORANT.

PS. Dont lift fish up by the head... support their body weight well, get them back in the water asap.
Hope this helps. Read posts by member A_ Diff_ Perspective. He is a top guide at Awoonga there and you will learn heaps from what he writes.
Hope this helps mate, I am sure others more experienced will give you some great advice. Do read as many posts as you can on here as many of your questions will be covered. Many will give you differing advice tho, due to different experiences, some swear by some things like doubles for eg., while others never use them.
Regards
Barraboy7

[chewy01]

jules i tried to pm you about that rod but you need to empty your inbox

[phatty]

yesterday afternoon the wind was blowing 20knt+ with gusts serpasting 25.
if your anchoring back onto some ponts and bays in the open wind and chop its proberly a good idea to take a bungie setup for your anchor.
its really fustraighting when u finally get a good anchorage off a point and the chop forces your boat up and down bouncing around and dislodges the anchor off your fixed point. Then get slowly pushed into the point spooking fish.

it just involves getting a metre (or two) lenght of spear gun rubber, doubling it over into a loop, (or anything that is durable and stretchy) and tying it between the boat and the anchor line. This just takes the shock out of the contance bouncing from the chop.

it might sound like abit of fiddling around but it saves ALOT of hassle when your in exposded areas.

braid and leaders- impoundment barra arnt a leader shy fish. you can just about run as heavy as u can cast but the heavier the leader the more restricted your lure movements going to be. Ive never used twisted before.

Rods and reels- they sound fine. alot of people might tell you that a diawa 2500 is to small but i run a 2500 sol with 8lb fireline on a 10-17lb Inshore Coastal and it handles them fine.

the boat ramps fine. its not heaps busy yet. the last few afternoons by the time ive prep'd my boat ive taken it straight down.


Just remember.. a little bit of water etiquette. Dont come within 50m of another boat anchored off a point or in a bay. Its just abit of politness. Last night had some idiot drift into this bay we had been working whist anchored with his old 2-stroke outboard in netural and drifted within 10 metres of us, then preceeded to reved his motor went back out of the bay then drifted it AGAIN even closer this time.

so alittle bit of etiquette goes along way.

[Jules1]

Thanks to all you guys
Excellent info and great advice hopefully we can get off on the right foot, and get that elusive Barra and take some happy snaps and send them on there way
Again great info
Cheers Jules

[Jenny VI]

Jules1,

I too am a first timer on this site, and will be up at Awoonga over that weekend (10th to 13th). We try to fish there monthly but this year we've been a little slack 'cos this will only be our 4th trip for the year.

There is allot of good advise from other members here, and I might as well throw in my 2 cents worth.

I use 60 or 80 lb leaders (30 lb braid main line), straight leader - no twists or knotted dogs. I've tried just about everything (as we all have) and I personally prefer this method. Twists, knotted dog, etc we tend to use past there used by date because of the cost or time to make them so fish are lost due to fatigued gear. If you use a good quality leader and trim the "used" part or check the quality after each fish it's more than enough to hold these fish. Lets face it, it's a long way to go to loose a fish to laziness so replace it often. I also found the hook up rate was slightly less with the bulkier doubles and twists, I proved this theory to myself when fishing one with and one without (two guys in a boat) in many sessions.

The boat ramp will be crowded, always is weekends around a full moon. You'll find most are accommodating but you will have to walk up that god awful hill a few time...

Every thing else sounds good, lure - methods - spots etc will all come after a session on the water but if you follow the basics freshwater barra logic you should find fish at Awoonga.

I also use a bungie when anchoring like Phatty, it's a must at Awoonga when the wind picks up. I use a couple of metres of the material cover stuff you get from the chandlery with a brass crimped loop and a clip at either end so you can attach it anywhere on the rope, with a little granny knot loop on your anchor rope. It's worth it's weight, get one.

I have a white and silver 460m tiller, so if you see me stop for a chat.

Cheers,
Tony.

[Big_Ren]

Dont come within 50m of another boat anchored off a point or in a bay.

I'd even go a little further than Phatty and suggest 100 metres is a good buffer zone.

Cheers
Paul

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

I believe 100m is the imaginary line.

[TinarooTriumph]

Id say 200m for me Paul. Boat Traffic is not your friend... but a little bit of ettiquette does definetely go a long way!

Best of luck on your trip Jules... you have been given some fantastic info above. I like the questions you have asked, and I think they have been answered well enough for you to have some success for sure. If there is one further thing to add/talk further on its Stealth. For newcomers this is often where the ball is dropped. Main considerations are the approach to locations, positioning the Boat and the depth of water you are in. If you can do this well every time, then its a tick in another box and your on the way. Two things that aid this are an Electric Motor (Minn Kota, Watersnake etc) and a Four Stroke Outboard (if you fancy a bit of trolling).

Again best of luck. Fish or no fish, I guarantee you'll be hooked!

Keep things simple.

Theo

[Big_Ren]

Gidday Theo, I'd love to think 200 metres would be the "etiquette line" but it's probably only applicable in more open waterways. Bit hard to maintain down at Mondy.....The imaginary 100 m line as Johnny puts it is probably more workable in more scenarios.

Courtesy and respect are the forerunners of common sense though. For some of these snoop dogs, curiosty just kills the cat (or a good bite period as the case may be).

I see you have to put up with Navi and Vinny at some stage over the next two weeks, you poor bugger Watch your rod around Navi mate...only take your el cheapo combos out if you share a boat with him Have fun mate....I am sure they'll be right in their element.

Cheers
Paul

[TinarooTriumph]

Gidday Theo, I'd love to think 200 metres would be the "etiquette line" but it's probably only applicable in more open waterways.

I see you have to put up with Navi and Vinny at some stage over the next two weeks, you poor bugger Watch your rod around Navi mate...only take your el cheapo combos out if you share a boat with him Have fun mate....I am sure they'll be right in their element.

Cheers
Paul

Ahhh... your thinking mate! We've both said too much here. Can't let the cat out of the Cage too much...

Thanks for the mental note about Navi - Joe was telling me about a few stories of the recent trip down at Monduran... couldn't help but chuckle (kind of). They are in for some red hot fishing. The stable pattern of weather kinda tapered off the other day and its been typical October weather since (I thought it was going to start alot earlier then it did) so I just hope that the drizzle and whirly winds die off a bit for them. Should be good.

Cheers.

Theo