IBD meets ABT (Teemburra)

[NAGG]

Chriso

Hasn't been too bad of late. The Barra Bash hasn't slowed the fishing down like it has in the past but still a lot of casts to be put in for results. Got quite a few nice fish whilst the Tour was on but since then we have had some very inconsistent weather and tricky winds. Fished with Matt Sunday morning... just rats. He said he got a stack of them on Saturday (9 or 10). You can tell he missed Kim on the Tour... he even pulled the pin at 9:30am to go and help her pack up... the Barra were laughing at him.

Cheers

Theo

Good to see your getting some Theo.
Yeh I could see Matt was missing Kim ....... I just had to let him be , theres not much you can do.
I reckon that first fish would have been polled into the boat

It feels funny ..... taking out the barra gear & replacing it with 4 & 6lb bream & bass gear .......hopefully I'll go for a flick this weekend

cheers

Chris

[NAGG]

seems like yous all scared him off i think he must be buy more lures and 1 kg line

2 many

[Obi _ Wan]

Sorry guys i have been away for a while------ Stocking Assoc. xmas parties and most important of all,------Jack fishing

It was my post that started all this rubbish that has occured, mentioning, "Dropped Fish"

I feel that Dick Passfield was one who was closest to picking up on the intent of that line

That is, i was reffering to dropped fished through the present way, in which the fish are only, less than half heartedly striking the lures be they hard bodies or soft plastics, i know that 99% of you will know what i am saying here, that is anyone who has fished for barra. In these circumstances it is very difficult to get a solid hookup that stays hooked up.

I too have fished extensively for trout both in NSW and Tasmania, back in the seventies i held the NSWAFCA records for both brown and rainbow trout, both of these fish actually graced the Front Cover of the Modern Fishing magazine.
During this time i too started to fish with 2lb line (mono) and sure, you can catch them with this gear as long as you have clean water, but i gave it away as i was not happy with what it did to the fish, most were completely exhausted when eventually landed and many did not survive on release. I decided that the 2lb mentallity was a bit of a wank and refused to use any thing under 6lb, both the record fish were caught with 6lb line

Back in the 80's while fishing for mackerel (spotties) off Mooloolabah with 20lb main, 45lb trace with 3 5/0 ganged hooks with a pillie all connected to a 650 A3(no drag only the palm of the hand and crook of the elbow) Alvey reel, i hooked a whaler shark that i fought for 5 hours and ended up about 6 klm's from where i hooked it. When the fight was over the shark was dead, when the trace was cut the shark went to the bottom like an elevator, estimated to be between 400 and 450lb. I could not lift my left arm for many hours after that, i was finished too.
Also in my time i too have caught, marlin, sailfish, all types of tuna as well as most other species caught from Darwin through the gulf and down the East coast to Hobart

There is something i can tell you, "THERE IS NOTHING ANYTHING LIKE BARRA"

They will chew you up and spit you out, i have seen grown men trembling, to the extent that a brown jocks were the order of the day.

We all know, (that is people that have actually fished and caught barra) that the pressure that a barra can exert when opening its mouth, either to expell a lure or a bony bream that might be a tad to big or in the mouth the wrong way. I have seen 6x VMC trebles straightened irrespective of what line is being used

And of course the territory that we are fishing demands how much pressure we put on the fish. I believe that we all know that the timber we see above the water level is only a small portion of just what is beneath the water level, we are aware that if you ease off on the pressure a fish will also ease up.

But when you fish in territory like i do quite often, heavily timbered so much that you could not even follow in a canoe you have to exert as much pressure as can can to try and steer the fish where you need them to be, in fact i quite often try to keep them on the top jumping, i find this tires them out a lot quicker. Sure i lose some fish throwing the lure but i also get a lot of fish. If i did not do this i would not get any fish in these situations. I can also tell you that some hookups are so incredible that the only way to describe it would be to imagine hooking the back of a BDOUBLE flying down the highway, just unstopable.

But remember all this comes from sessions where the barra are striking the lures in a hungary mood not crapping everyone off with their half hearted swipes at the lures.

Once again, guys, sorry to have been the cause of this stupidity and feel the chap would be better off trying to save the impending closure of the Gaden Trout Hatchery.

Cheers,
John.

[nipsta]

you hit the nail right on the head well said let see a particular reply for this one

[Tropicaltrout]

You got it John, top stuff. Its amazing isn't it between all of us we have a common link, we have all caught prized fish from 1000lb marlin, broardbill, up to 300kg tuna, a heap of different palegics, 60+lb cod , 15lb trout, brown and rainbows.

Yet we all get the fuzzy gut and nervous twitchin in the fingers when we talk about BARRA. They are a class all of there own no matter the size or location they are just IMHO the pinical Australian Sportfish and I grew up dreaming to one day catching one and to be 3 or so hours from them I am in heaven..


Nath

[Obi _ Wan]

Yet we all get the fuzzy gut and nervous twitchin in the fingers when we talk about BARRA. They are a class all of there own no matter the size or location they are just IMHO the pinical Australian Sportfish and I grew up dreaming to one day catching one and to be 3 or so hours from them I am in heaven..


Nath

You got it Nath,

I like to refer to Barra as the "Jewel in the Crown of Sportfish"

Cheers,
John.

[NAGG]

You got it Jas, top stuff. Its amazing isn't it between all of us we have a common link, we have all caught prized fish from 1000lb marlin, broardbill, up to 300kg tuna, a heap of different palegics, 60+lb cod , 15lb trout, brown and rainbows.

Yet we all get the fuzzy gut and nervous twitchin in the fingers when we talk about BARRA. They are a class all of there own no matter the size or location they are just IMHO the pinical Australian Sportfish and I grew up dreaming to one day catching one and to be 3 or so hours from them I am in heaven..


Nath

Hopefully thats a bit of tongue in cheek Nath ,,,,,,,, otherwise I need to do some more Marlin , tuna , broadbill & trout fishing ....... never caught a sweetwater cod

But those barra...... they are just something else

But I do want a big toga

Chris

[Pistol_P]

You got it Nath,

I like to refer to Barra as the "Jewel in the Crown of Sportfish"

Cheers,
John.

Sounds like you need to come and chase some HUGE GT's.....

Barra are certainly an 'Aussie Iconic sportfish' but as for the 'Jewel in the crown of sportfish'.....That title most certainly belongs to the GT's or Yellowtail kings.

Pete

[DEANO68]

Hopefully thats a bit of tongue in cheek Nath ,,,,,,,, otherwise I need to do some more Marlin , tuna , broadbill & trout fishing ....... never caught a sweetwater cod

But those barra...... they are just something else

But I do want a big toga

Chris

big toga cummin your way next year chris, got some info off a mate, also talk to nath he is pretty schooled up on them and the dam also..

[NAGG]

Sounds like you need to come and chase some HUGE GT's.....

Barra are certainly an 'Aussie Iconic sportfish' but as for the 'Jewel in the crown of sportfish'.....That title most certainly belongs to the GT's or Yellowtail kings.

Pete

Hey Pete

How have you been

Mate ..... I'm going with John on this .......... I love catching Kings & GTs - but they fall into the pelagic category dont they ...... Regardless while they both go like trucks , they dont traditionally jump or have the ability to throw lures or slice leader like Mrs Barra .... (yes GTs bite through) ........... both will brick you as a barra will stitch you up
I guess there are many fish that are special & demand respect ....... but nah BARRA for me as they have it all (looks , cunning , acrobatics , size , power ..... accessibility)

Chris

[NAGG]

big toga cummin your way next year chris, got some info off a mate, also talk to nath he is pretty schooled up on them and the dam also..

Oh I hope so Deano ........ Might have to catch up prior to the Trip (Feb) & talk tactics

Chris

[DEANO68]

Oh I hope so Deano ........ Might have to catch up prior to the Trip (Feb) & talk tactics

Chris

sounds good, you be in brizzo by feb..? we could do a recon mission, have a look..... ..

[Pistol_P]

Hey Pete

How have you been

Mate ..... I'm going with John on this .......... I love catching Kings & GTs - but they fall into the pelagic category dont they ...... Regardless while they both go like trucks , they dont traditionally jump or have the ability to throw lures or slice leader like Mrs Barra .... (yes GTs bite through) ........... both will brick you as a barra will stitch you up
I guess there are many fish that are special & demand respect ....... but nah BARRA for me as they have it all (looks , cunning , acrobatics , size , power ..... accessibility)

Chris

Hi Mate,

To many factors come into it to talk about it really.....
Depends largely on location....also whether you are landbased or boatbased.
A landbased king of 20kg plus will bring a grown man to his knees....
I was on the receiving end of numerous bust ups on 100lb mono straight through.
Both kings & GT's are just such dirty fighters....Both will slice through leaders in an instant....I hooked one recently in Fiji that spun me around and sliced through a 100lb twisted leader...under 15kg of drag...!!!

The boys on Nomad are now fishing 170lb braid to try and stop some of the beasts up at Shoalwater Bay.....The power they have is just unbelievable and the country they reside in isnt friendly.

They are all great fish at the end of the day but for me watching those big black GT's smash a 150g popper is just about as good as it gets.

I can see you love your barra....What about the bream?....you have left them alone for a while....

Cheers
Pete

[NAGG]

sounds good, you be in brizzo by feb..? we could do a recon mission, have a look..... ..

Yeh mate ...... i'll be in Brissy by mid Feb ....... Recon sounds good

Chris

[NAGG]

Hi Mate,

To many factors come into it to talk about it really.....
Depends largely on location....also whether you are landbased or boatbased.
A landbased king of 20kg plus will bring a grown man to his knees....
I was on the receiving end of numerous bust ups on 100lb mono straight through.
Both kings & GT's are just such dirty fighters....Both will slice through leaders in an instant....I hooked one recently in Fiji that spun me around and sliced through a 100lb twisted leader...under 15kg of drag...!!!

The boys on Nomad are now fishing 170lb braid to try and stop some of the beasts up at Shoalwater Bay.....The power they have is just unbelievable and the country they reside in isnt friendly.

They are all great fish at the end of the day but for me watching those big black GT's smash a 150g popper is just about as good as it gets.

I can see you love your barra....What about the bream?....you have left them alone for a while....

Cheers
Pete

Yeh pete ...... I know where you are coming from - I got to play with VW size GTs off Madang PNG - no denying their power. Caught some good kings off the stones back in my LBG days ....... but any big fish off the rock is something

As for bream .... yeh I have left them alone ...... probably late August was my last trip....... after that , I prepared for the Sept Mondy muster ...... then got back & prepared for the ABT barra tour

Now ... back to reality , Put my bream gear into the boat tonight & packed away the barra gear . with a little luck I'll have a session this weekend & plan to do a few days between Boxing day & new years at Hawkes nest.
Once I'm in Brissy ........ The old breambo might get the flick in favour of Jacks , GTs , Bass , threadfin etc etc etc ...... Oh & then there are those barra

Chris