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Thread: Winter Barra Tactics

  1. #31

    Re: Winter Barra Tactics

    I have just had my first 2009 winter barra session at mondy & it was tough but I did manage to land 1 barra in the afternoon in 22 deg water temp SE winds .
    It was my first trip there for some months & after travelling all over the dam to suss out the conditions I found the better water to be from white rocks down to the main basin , more baitfish , birds & better water quality.
    I managed to land the fish on a quick stop & start retreive in 3mtr of water jut of a weedy point with timber , the lure was a 12+ rob gaden classic barra in purple.
    Hope this helps.

    PETE MATE

  2. #32

    Re: Winter Barra Tactics

    Quote Originally Posted by McCod View Post
    G'day Chris and fello Ausfishers' long time no see!

    Mate you have lots of unanswered questions there! I have some advice that you may want to take on board?
    Fist and most importantly is do not try and reinvent the wheel to much so to speak but do mix it up a bit with common proven tactics that you already know!
    Stealth and long casts is a top priority!!
    Late morning till sunset fishing is the go!
    There is no doubt that you will find fish when you go….. it’s just getting them to take a lure will be the challenge!
    Do not get stuck in a rut with any particular type of lure , size or style’
    Slow rolled rubbers will work at times in shallow or deep water but sometimes you will get better results from sick fishing them.
    Slowly worked hard bodies are worth trying as well in all depths of water …… now remembering all the lures you have in your tackle box??
    Well pull em out and try a few different ones’ Try dead sticking them for periods of up to a minute!
    One thing a few are getting wrong with winter Barra fishing is that you always have to go slow!!!
    Not true as reaction strikes from fast ripped hard bodies both shallow and deep can still get you plenty of Barra in the winter…. Barra will still explode onto a lure over a short distance in sub 20’C water temps!
    Shallow stuff like Stiffies, Gold Bombers etc are great around the weeds!
    Mate I’m out of time on this one as working night shift ….. so guess I better do a bit of work before quitting time.

    Cheers Les
    Hey Les ..... nice to see you back online
    Lots of holes , lots of theories - Thats why I put it up ......... just to promote discussion from others that have been there & done that !

    Thanks for your thoughts Les ......... & dont remain a stranger on here

    Chris
    Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
    Teach him how to fish
    & he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
    TEAM MOJIKO

  3. #33

    Re: Winter Barra Tactics

    Quote Originally Posted by DEANO68 View Post
    as for lure selection, mmm, i think a slow rolled placcie will do exactly that, slow roll past a big fat lazy barra, where as a nice shiney suspending H.B. will hang in its face a bit, 5 , 10 , 15 , secs, twitch, same again, and again, big fat bitch dont wanna move to much in winter, bit like me..if i can get a feed served up to me with little movement involved, yep i,d. attack it...
    deano..
    I'm not ready to throw away placcies just yet ......... lightly weighted hollow bellies ot slickies rigged weedless thrown into weed edges & dropped down the face of the weed - - - - just cant do that with a hard on ( starting to sound like Daryl )

    Chris
    Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
    Teach him how to fish
    & he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
    TEAM MOJIKO

  4. #34

    Wink Re: Winter Barra Tactics

    Quote Originally Posted by NAGG View Post
    I'm not ready to throw away placcies just yet ......... lightly weighted hollow bellies ot slickies rigged weedless thrown into weed edges & dropped down the face of the weed - - - - just cant do that with a hard on ( starting to sound like Daryl )

    Chris
    Well mate it might motivate you to get a hard on
    if some big mumma sucks in your softie


    Most of my Money is spent on Booze and Fishin.
    The Rest is just Wasted!
    To The Shed.............

  5. #35

    Re: Winter Barra Tactics

    Quote Originally Posted by darylive View Post
    Well mate it might be enough to one if some big mumma sucks in your softie
    As long as its not spat back out
    Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
    Teach him how to fish
    & he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
    TEAM MOJIKO

  6. #36

    Re: Winter Barra Tactics

    Quote Originally Posted by Obi _ Wan View Post
    I guess i should throw my two bob's worth in here for what it's worth

    Most of you guys on here, from what i have read, would not have any trouble locating the fish

    I believe that the problem, as i alluded to in another post about patches, is getting the fish to take a lure

    Over the past year and a bit i have seen this happen at both Faust and Awoonga.

    Last year at Faust i had no problem finding plenty of fish, but getting them to strike, well that was another thing If you could entice a fish to have a go most of the time it would be a half harted swipe, just a bump and nothing, no matter how long you cast or what hour of the day or night, just didn't make any difference.
    Plenty of fish were found by day on the shallow flats soaking up the sun, bite? no bloody way, bump the boat and there would be swirls every where.

    At the begining of winter at Awoonga last year with Trev, fish all day, zip and then cop a five minute bite just on dark then gooonnne.

    At Faust at the moment there are are lot of fish, the DPI just electrofished over 1oo barra to 126cm's. Fishing there now, a day or two good then nothing for a couple of weeks. Good bite today, tomorrow perfect weather no bite, WHY?????

    Trev is not having any problems finding fish at Awoonga at this time, he is just not finding too many fish that will bite. One guide has stopped charters, another has gone pig shooting and another is working Mondy, go figure????

    We are not talking about mugs here either, these blokes are the Guru's of barra fishing.

    What's happened?? the only thing i can come up with is stability within the lake!

    Faust has seen some massive increases in water levels resulting in weed beds dying out affecting water quality, other weed beds are growing in very deep water and at depths unheard of (certainly by me) Trev has told me of weed beds in Awoonga growing in fifty feet of water, they have almost reached this depth at Faust also as i am told. This is caused, i am informed, by the weed continuing to grow as water levels drop, it just lays on the surface and when the water level rises the weed straightenes up to stay at the surface or at a depth where it still gets enough light to continue to grow to reach the surface.

    At Awoonga we had two increases in water level (from memory)that you could state as significient. So with that, what are we left with? massive increases in boney's shrimp and crays all good barra tucker, with the barra gaining good condition.
    Most of all the barra are reluctant to take a lure, now i could be very wrong here but a desperate man with IBD will clutch at anything if i can remember rightly, the golden days i have experienced at Faust came when there was very little in the way of weed beds.

    Mondy i believe, is not the same as the other two yet, why?? no major increases in water level, a more stable lake environment?, no where near as much area covered with weed beds (or not that i have seen) but appears to suffer from a large amount of boat traffic, some driven by some with no consideration for others what so ever.

    So my thoughts for Mondy next week?

    I think we all know that shallow water heats up in sunshine quicker in the daylight hours cooling off again at night, so what does that mean?

    Well the fish will move into the shallows by day to get warm and at night they will retreat to deeper water that will be more stable temperature wise. So i would select a spot where shallow flats adjoined deeper water in an out of the way place so as not to be disturbed by others, evidence of bait would also be desirable.

    Methods?? Stealth will be very very very important, one bump in the boat will see many swirls in shallow water and the big girls will be goooonnneeee. Use all methods, meaning lures and retrieves.

    I hope you can make some sense from this as i am only a silly old bugger who just loves catching barra and i really don't know what i am talking about.

    Cheers,
    John.
    From one silly old bugger to another John...I very much agree with your thoughts on Monduran...have never fished Faust or Awoonga....The Rodeo keeps turning right into Monduran and refuses to go straight ahead....see ya soon Whitto
    Good Mates....Good Food.....Good Fishing....Priceless



  7. #37

    Re: Winter Barra Tactics

    Quote Originally Posted by Obi _ Wan View Post
    I guess i should throw my two bob's worth in here for what it's worth

    Most of you guys on here, from what i have read, would not have any trouble locating the fish

    I believe that the problem, as i alluded to in another post about patches, is getting the fish to take a lure

    Over the past year and a bit i have seen this happen at both Faust and Awoonga.

    Last year at Faust i had no problem finding plenty of fish, but getting them to strike, well that was another thing If you could entice a fish to have a go most of the time it would be a half harted swipe, just a bump and nothing, no matter how long you cast or what hour of the day or night, just didn't make any difference.
    Plenty of fish were found by day on the shallow flats soaking up the sun, bite? no bloody way, bump the boat and there would be swirls every where.

    At the begining of winter at Awoonga last year with Trev, fish all day, zip and then cop a five minute bite just on dark then gooonnne.

    At Faust at the moment there are are lot of fish, the DPI just electrofished over 1oo barra to 126cm's. Fishing there now, a day or two good then nothing for a couple of weeks. Good bite today, tomorrow perfect weather no bite, WHY?????

    Trev is not having any problems finding fish at Awoonga at this time, he is just not finding too many fish that will bite. One guide has stopped charters, another has gone pig shooting and another is working Mondy, go figure????

    We are not talking about mugs here either, these blokes are the Guru's of barra fishing.

    What's happened?? the only thing i can come up with is stability within the lake!

    Faust has seen some massive increases in water levels resulting in weed beds dying out affecting water quality, other weed beds are growing in very deep water and at depths unheard of (certainly by me) Trev has told me of weed beds in Awoonga growing in fifty feet of water, they have almost reached this depth at Faust also as i am told. This is caused, i am informed, by the weed continuing to grow as water levels drop, it just lays on the surface and when the water level rises the weed straightenes up to stay at the surface or at a depth where it still gets enough light to continue to grow to reach the surface.

    At Awoonga we had two increases in water level (from memory)that you could state as significient. So with that, what are we left with? massive increases in boney's shrimp and crays all good barra tucker, with the barra gaining good condition.
    Most of all the barra are reluctant to take a lure, now i could be very wrong here but a desperate man with IBD will clutch at anything if i can remember rightly, the golden days i have experienced at Faust came when there was very little in the way of weed beds.

    Mondy i believe, is not the same as the other two yet, why?? no major increases in water level, a more stable lake environment?, no where near as much area covered with weed beds (or not that i have seen) but appears to suffer from a large amount of boat traffic, some driven by some with no consideration for others what so ever.

    So my thoughts for Mondy next week?

    I think we all know that shallow water heats up in sunshine quicker in the daylight hours cooling off again at night, so what does that mean?

    Well the fish will move into the shallows by day to get warm and at night they will retreat to deeper water that will be more stable temperature wise. So i would select a spot where shallow flats adjoined deeper water in an out of the way place so as not to be disturbed by others, evidence of bait would also be desirable.

    Methods?? Stealth will be very very very important, one bump in the boat will see many swirls in shallow water and the big girls will be goooonnneeee. Use all methods, meaning lures and retrieves.

    I hope you can make some sense from this as i am only a silly old bugger who just loves catching barra and i really don't know what i am talking about.

    Cheers,
    John.
    Quote Originally Posted by McCod View Post
    G'day Chris and fello Ausfishers' long time no see!

    Mate you have lots of unanswered questions there! I have some advice that you may want to take on board?
    Fist and most importantly is do not try and reinvent the wheel to much so to speak but do mix it up a bit with common proven tactics that you already know!
    Stealth and long casts is a top priority!!
    Late morning till sunset fishing is the go!
    There is no doubt that you will find fish when you go….. it’s just getting them to take a lure will be the challenge!
    Do not get stuck in a rut with any particular type of lure , size or style’
    Slow rolled rubbers will work at times in shallow or deep water but sometimes you will get better results from sick fishing them.
    Slowly worked hard bodies are worth trying as well in all depths of water …… now remembering all the lures you have in your tackle box??
    Well pull em out and try a few different ones’ Try dead sticking them for periods of up to a minute!
    One thing a few are getting wrong with winter Barra fishing is that you always have to go slow!!!
    Not true as reaction strikes from fast ripped hard bodies both shallow and deep can still get you plenty of Barra in the winter…. Barra will still explode onto a lure over a short distance in sub 20’C water temps!
    Shallow stuff like Stiffies, Gold Bombers etc are great around the weeds!
    Mate I’m out of time on this one as working night shift ….. so guess I better do a bit of work before quitting time.

    Cheers Les
    Your right Les it has been far to long since we have heard from you...but we do what we have to do....as always good easy to understand advise.....for any new or first time Barra fisherman you will do well to read anything that Les.....Trev......and John on what you may very well have to adopt at this time of year......Just a heads up Les keep in mind The Muster in September (week after Fathers Day) would love to see you there if possible......Whitto
    Good Mates....Good Food.....Good Fishing....Priceless



  8. #38

    Re: Winter Barra Tactics

    Quote Originally Posted by Obi _ Wan View Post
    I guess i should throw my two bob's worth in here for what it's worth

    Most of you guys on here, from what i have read, would not have any trouble locating the fish

    I believe that the problem, as i alluded to in another post about patches, is getting the fish to take a lure

    Over the past year and a bit i have seen this happen at both Faust and Awoonga.

    Last year at Faust i had no problem finding plenty of fish, but getting them to strike, well that was another thing If you could entice a fish to have a go most of the time it would be a half harted swipe, just a bump and nothing, no matter how long you cast or what hour of the day or night, just didn't make any difference.
    Plenty of fish were found by day on the shallow flats soaking up the sun, bite? no bloody way, bump the boat and there would be swirls every where.

    At the begining of winter at Awoonga last year with Trev, fish all day, zip and then cop a five minute bite just on dark then gooonnne.

    At Faust at the moment there are are lot of fish, the DPI just electrofished over 1oo barra to 126cm's. Fishing there now, a day or two good then nothing for a couple of weeks. Good bite today, tomorrow perfect weather no bite, WHY?????

    Trev is not having any problems finding fish at Awoonga at this time, he is just not finding too many fish that will bite. One guide has stopped charters, another has gone pig shooting and another is working Mondy, go figure????

    We are not talking about mugs here either, these blokes are the Guru's of barra fishing.

    What's happened?? the only thing i can come up with is stability within the lake!

    Faust has seen some massive increases in water levels resulting in weed beds dying out affecting water quality, other weed beds are growing in very deep water and at depths unheard of (certainly by me) Trev has told me of weed beds in Awoonga growing in fifty feet of water, they have almost reached this depth at Faust also as i am told. This is caused, i am informed, by the weed continuing to grow as water levels drop, it just lays on the surface and when the water level rises the weed straightenes up to stay at the surface or at a depth where it still gets enough light to continue to grow to reach the surface.

    At Awoonga we had two increases in water level (from memory)that you could state as significient. So with that, what are we left with? massive increases in boney's shrimp and crays all good barra tucker, with the barra gaining good condition.
    Most of all the barra are reluctant to take a lure, now i could be very wrong here but a desperate man with IBD will clutch at anything if i can remember rightly, the golden days i have experienced at Faust came when there was very little in the way of weed beds.

    Mondy i believe, is not the same as the other two yet, why?? no major increases in water level, a more stable lake environment?, no where near as much area covered with weed beds (or not that i have seen) but appears to suffer from a large amount of boat traffic, some driven by some with no consideration for others what so ever.

    So my thoughts for Mondy next week?

    I think we all know that shallow water heats up in sunshine quicker in the daylight hours cooling off again at night, so what does that mean?

    Well the fish will move into the shallows by day to get warm and at night they will retreat to deeper water that will be more stable temperature wise. So i would select a spot where shallow flats adjoined deeper water in an out of the way place so as not to be disturbed by others, evidence of bait would also be desirable.

    Methods?? Stealth will be very very very important, one bump in the boat will see many swirls in shallow water and the big girls will be goooonnneeee. Use all methods, meaning lures and retrieves.

    I hope you can make some sense from this as i am only a silly old bugger who just loves catching barra and i really don't know what i am talking about.

    Cheers,
    John.
    Bingo John. the rest is history....look to history.

    summer feeding fish
    winter reacting fish

    Steve.

    If you see them, you wont catch them. leave them alone....they need to be left alone as tempting as it is to annoy them or attempt to hook them.

  9. #39

    Re: Winter Barra Tactics

    Lower down a bony. If you need to add some sophistication to as a means to justify such barbarism bridal rig it and ultra slow troll it on a downrigger. Use your pelagic nous on where and how. I'd pass on the outriggers though

  10. #40

    Re: Winter Barra Tactics

    Quote Originally Posted by Dick Pasfield View Post
    Lower down a bony. If you need to add some sophistication to as a means to justify such barbarism bridal rig it and ultra slow troll it on a downrigger. Use your pelagic nous on where and how. I'd pass on the outriggers though
    Thats right Dick ....... Barbarian tactics
    And you can rest assured ..... live baiting has been talked about - Recently ! ..... & I have no doubt that it would bring success.

    However

    Chris
    Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
    Teach him how to fish
    & he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
    TEAM MOJIKO

  11. #41

    Re: Winter Barra Tactics

    Nothing more than hillbillies across this way Nagg so the peer pressure is somewhat different......however we don't go hungry

  12. #42

    Re: Winter Barra Tactics

    Dick been there done that... Gar. Boneys even a perch....Catfish after catfish and some big ones too ! Day two of the Hookup been and gone and l am on the board with a 840 .Yesterdays winner was a 970.. Biggest fish still a 103..Lost a good fish on a frog. Meter+ At least l have found them. They are playing in the shallows in the warm water...Hoping that they are still there today...But its raining and cold today .Today is the final day its all or nothing...Now where is my raincoat ?

  13. #43

    Re: Winter Barra Tactics

    Go get-em Trev......Surprise Surprise the Barra are in Shallow water trying to warm up.....despite some opinions Hammer them and keep hammering one or two or more will get shitty enough to attack
    Good Mates....Good Food.....Good Fishing....Priceless



  14. #44

    Re: Winter Barra Tactics

    G’day Chris
    Cant really comment on the dam you are heading to as my record there is abysmal in summer let alone winter, but up here since the water temps have dropped I have noticed a few things that have changed.
    I’m finding up here that the barra are still around the open points and bays, but are easy to spook and hard to entice. Finding these areas very frustrating, trying to do the right thing by lining up with the breeze and drifting in from a long way out just to see fish scatter due to the ripples of a cast or a small wave slap on the boat. So at this stage I tend to try this approach once a session to see if anything has changed (it will eventually) and then move on to plan b.
    The fish in the hard structure by contrast seem to be actively feeding and stacked in numbers against that structure be it lantana or submerged logs. But they seem very particular in what structure they sit around. Flog one snag to death for nothing, move 20 feet to a similar snag and you pull fish in numbers. Most productive snags seem to be in 6 to 10 foot of water and clear of the weed bank that extends from the bank. Obviously fish are always around these types of snags but I haven’t come across it before when they are there in these numbers once found.
    Also finding these productive hard structures are located in areas that are not overly affected by wind. They get breeze but not the full wind effect and the water still looks good, it probably gets current too, but I have yet to figure out how to spot current with any sort of confidence. I think being out of the full wind this causes the water to be that bit more stable at this time of year, not the warmest water but a bit more consistent in temperature throughout all the wind directional changes we have been having.
    As for the lures I have had most success on plastics. The active fish are hitting them as always and given that the fish are being a bit fussy about which snag they hang out in, the plastic is a quicker way to suss out a snag verses snigging a suspending hard body . Once the active snag is found I guess it might be well worth changing over to a hard one.
    So pretty much I have taken a run and gun approach, but between snags and only in certain bays that are a bit wind protected with good looking water. It hasn’t worked for me every session as a number of doughnuts have been recorded but it the most consistent pattern that I have come across since the temps have started going down. The fish are probably smaller than most would like to see but I did get my PB a few weeks ago (still yet to crack that metre fish).
    I also have an intention to try jigging in the deeper water, but need to gather a bit more info on techniques, presentations and get much better on the sounder interpretation before giving it a go, but I think there is a bit of merit to it in winter and will try it before winter is gone.
    Anyway I hope you have a blinder up there.

    Craig

  15. #45

    Re: Winter Barra Tactics

    Good read there Birko ....... Are you just sticking with Teemburra or hitting Kinchant too

    The water depth (6-10ft) combined with structure away from the weed edges is interesting ! - stable water (away from the direct exposure to wind) - Sounds like what I need to look for of a morning.

    Chris
    Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
    Teach him how to fish
    & he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
    TEAM MOJIKO

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