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Good read as always Lyndon & congrats on the 112 - sure to bring a smile to anyones face
So did you end up with the 3 cartons
Chris
112cm Barra caught on a lure worth 3 cartons!!!
A Sandgroper goes Sunny!!!
Short 5 Page Report: Hi it’s been a while since I put up a report. I’ve been playing catch-up with my reports after travelling around our great barra country. Here is one report from Lake Awoonga in the middle of winter, I hope you enjoy it. I’ll post a couple of pages first for those that don’t like to read much or don’t like hearing about the whole experience e.g. the trip up, camping and the people that go fishing (characters) and so on.
The second part of the report is straight from my barra diary and is long with more detail; if you don’t like it don’t read it, pretty simple really. It’s been a year since I put up a full story post which was the filming of Fishing Monduran DVD with the Taylors & Mitchell, Scotty & Team orange etc. People enjoyed that yarn so I’m having another crack at it. I hope you enjoy the read and I hope the extra pages of writing trigger memories on a barra dam for you and motivate you to plan your next trip. All the best have a good read.
Where: Lake Awoonga
When: Middle of winter
Characters & usual suspects: Harro, Mitchell, Trev, Lachy, Scotty & a W.A. ring in Dick.
Boat: Purple Haze
Sponsors: No fish lures, Silver bullet soft plastics, Dim Sims, Chiko rolls & Gravox. Oh I nearly forgot corn meat and potatoes. Dare I mention Garlic…
Master class: How not to land fish by yours truly & how slow can you drive a skeeter. Skeeter trolling classes were also entertained!!!
Lachy ran a class in how to spot things before everyone else on the boat.
Dick ran a class in cheeky W.A humour that was unleashed on tired unsuspecting fisho’s with many a comment running right through to the keeper for the first day or 2. He also chipped in a lot of ideas on how he would fish Impoundment systems which was interesting.
Trev ran a class of happiness/frustration with all the barra stories floating around via text msg, calls and in person over the weekend while he was at work, it must have been killing him.
Mitchell ran a class in observation with his interpretation of data collected by Dick in W.A. He ended up sitting right next to the projector spotting things I don’t know how many people would.
Harro was like a grandfather proud to see good blokes from all backgrounds and all ages passionate about barramundi. From Teenagers to old timers good times were shared on the water and around the campfire. It was a weekend to remember.
The Fishing
Well fishing had picked up from the 8 month doldrums Awoonga had gone through since October 2008. To be fair it only had one way to go really. A couple of fish reports were starting to make the airwaves.
The People
Mitchell: With the year before being truly massive with 565 salt and fresh fishing trips last year, a book written, DVD made, a Web page upgrade and another book being written plus helping people on the net for free you could excuse him for going walkabout for several years to get some serenity. He has been off saltwater filming and catching mud crabs, barra & mackerel as usual, but is now filling up bookings with 2 charters a day mounting up and people booking charters right up to the end of the year. So it shows many are still interested in barra fishing as the phone is still ringing.
Harro: Harro had put his clients on to fish but at times had to use every trick in the boat so we were not expecting a free ride on this trip. He has very been busy guiding over the last year with the best business ever, even in the tough period and has really had to nut out different game plans to counter the fickle impoundment barramundi. Conversations worth their weight in gold, he is a walking encyclopaedia.
Trev had been working hard fishing Awoonga & Monduran right through the tough period for some mind numbing hard fishing. To keep going back in this period shows a lot of passion. To his credit he has never given up. Thanks for a great trip Trev.
Scotty had time off which was probably a good idea as at times it was near pointless fishing on Awoonga over this period. He has been saltwater bashing the reefies.
Lochy has been busy working and doing a spot of fishing on Awoonga & Salt.
Dick has been busy fishing W.A and collecting data on his barra captures.
The Fishing
First Day
Fished late arvo to early night.
Water temps from 18-19 degrees to 21ish in sheltered areas.
Wind from the Easterly direction which got up touching 20 knots.
Water was fairly clear in sheltered areas. Weed looked in good condition.
Baitfish was abundant. A few more birds seemed to be back.
Still not a lot of boats out fishing with about 5 on average at the ramp.
Waves were rolling in to the westerly shoreline.
We fished windward for 3 hours using the electric for nothing. It wasn’t really thorough work as the wind was blowing us all over the shop.
Got out of the wind but were still placed windward and anchored up to really get into our work for barra o’clock.
Strategy
After we found a good fishing area listed above we got into our work.
The usual stuff with 3 different presentations from all 3 fisho’s, 3 different retrieves put on 3 different outfits.
A planned hard bodies and soft plastic rotation.
Systemised rotation of retrieves to hopefully find a key that worked on the day.
Ideas swapped on how to best work the areas and how Dick would work the areas in his W.A fishery then I added how a lot of bass fisho’s fish and barra guys as well to compare notes in a great conversation topic.
The result was positive with a strike occurring every half hour or so with hook ups spread out in between.
Lochy boated a nice fish to kick off proceedings caught on a 4 inch hollow belly with a slow retrieve pattern and a few twitches. He stuck it to this barra and boated it in no time. It was great to see the smile on his face after many hard sessions on Awoonga you will take a fish in your first session on any trip. Well done mate.
Observation: Lochy and his soft plastic was getting the most interest from the barra on this afternoon. He had figured something out and Dick & I needed to adapt from this quickly. We did and slowed our retrieves even more with soft plastics and hard bodies that allowed us to do this yet remain up in the water column e.g. not too heavy they hit the bottom. They had to be lighter and still retain a good tail action at a very slow pace, something I thought would be picked up on another thread I started. E.g. it’s a big reason in my opinion why certain plastics work well on impoundment barra. Food for thought hey.
Dick got a touch on a laser pro that looked like it had 200 fish to it’s name.
Lochy got another touch.
The second hour rolled on and I got a hook up on a storm soft plastic and landed a nice barra. Few a barra on the first session, always a good moment.
Observation: Dick thought the barra made a good account of themselves.
I got another tap.
Lochy another touch.
Action
Dick was on with a nice fish giving him heaps and heading for structure where he pulled it up and turned its direction well. Did a couple of laps around the boat and finally got to the netting stage where I proceeded to give a master class in “ How not to land a Barra” and we watched it swim away after being perfectly released…….The barra was approx 90cmish and gave a good account of itself. The barra hit a halco laser pro that was twitched and paused with a fairly slow retrieve.
Stumps on day 1
At 7.30 ish the wind got up even more and blew it’s ass off. Trev and Scott wandered over for a fish and yarn then we decided to call it a night. Scott had 4 fish over a metre caught by himself all done in the afternoon, a very good effort indeed and being part of team Berkley they were all caught on a 4 inch Hollow belly. Trev didn’t fish as he was working and met Scotty at the ramp then decided to motor out and see how we were going, he just couldn’t resist.
Campsite: All the usual suspects talked for half the night on all topics barra. What a place to be and soak up every second.
Next day: Everyone got donuts so not much to report here. Trev took Purple haze and us for a tour right up Futter and down the back. I managed to keep my diet away from the bug laden one I had on the last trip with Trev.
We fished hard for no return.
Found more of that weed that was supposed to be eradicated.
Dick got the only good hook up after persisting with his Shadalicious hollow type soft plastic with a weedless worm hook rig and he fought the fish well then it jumped next to the boat and dislodged the hook.
Dick then talked at length for hours on his fishery and we compared notes past midnight in the barra conversation of a lifetime. Mitchell, Harro, Trev, Lochy and I chipped in on topics from moons, water movement, to rod, feet, body position and environmental factors influencing barra. I recorded footage and pages in my industry barra diary summaries for future use. Of real interest was the approach of Dick as he is someone completely away from our scene and is a person that may spot whether we are a little brainwashed in our approaches as we are right in the middle of the industry scene over here. I’ll post more up on this thread later if people aren’t bored already.
Next Day: Trev said the fishing had been hard in the mornings so we met in gentlemen’s hours and started after 9am. Fished where the winds originated which was a reverse approach to the other days. A couple of hours went by for nothing, not even a touch.
Strategy: I changed to a hard body as we had no interest on plastics. I looked for a lure that would really slow down my retrieve down, and a lure I got as a present was sitting quietly in the tackle box talking to me. I tied it on as Trev said “There is usually a fish hanging on that spindly bit of timber”, after which Trev landed a cast right on the tree with easy, I cast a metre to his right and Dick cast a metre to my right. A slow 2 minute retrieve started with a side to side action imparted on the lure.
We had a 3 lure trolling run as we retrieved our presentations side by side, then crunch I was nailed by a big girl launched like a missile from a submarine. Trev then gave a “Gee that’s’ a big girl”. Mayhem followed as Dick was trying to get the video camera going, so I had to give the rod over to Trev to fight the barra while I got the video going for family fishing memories. A quick change and Trev did well handling the fish in my absence. As we were rolling Trev adds his commentary “Don’t lose that lure it’s worth 3 cartons”, as if I didn’t already have enough pressure on me and as if I wasn’t already thinking that, thanks Trev.
I was now sweating bullets.
Each time the barra got close to the bogas she went on another run showing lots of energy. Eventually after a good fight we had a dream barra on board which was just magical. Handshakes all round then a battle to get well stuck trebles out and the fish was swimming off safely.
I made the call” Well I’ll love you and leave you guys I’ll not throw another cast and go home on that one” said cheekily with a grin.
The boys dropped me off at the bank and I showed the footage to Ryan at the Caravan Park and Harro who was happy for us.
More handshakes with a legend and I was off driving and dreaming of a great trip and a nice fish on my final cast with a lure worth 3 cartons, you don’t get to do that every day, which makes it even more special.
I hope everyone on here gets the chance to catch Barry the Barra this summer, whether it’s trolling, live baiting salties or casting spin outfits, just live the dream and get out there & explore OZ. Keep an eye out for Sweetwater and Ausfisho’s on your next trip, they are usually keen for a yarn and info swap and have been known to like a cold drink or 2….
After a while and a few comments I’ll start adding the rest of the trip for those interested in the Awoonga Crew. At the end of the day the info should help people.
All the best cheers Lyndon.
Last edited by SeekingBarradise; 27-08-2009 at 10:52 AM. Reason: Found a better photo to add x 2
Good read as always Lyndon & congrats on the 112 - sure to bring a smile to anyones face
So did you end up with the 3 cartons
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
sounds like you enjoyed your time, with great company.
all memorable moments to put away for later dates.
keep it coming
thanks
Robert
0pen minds, open doors....
Hi Chris i was able to keep the lures as it was a family Bday present etc. If i lost it i wouldnt' hear the end of it. I'd have to stock up on vouchers to get another one...
I'll try and get Dick to post the 112cms photo as he has photobucket and the bigger photo will do justice to such a nice barra. I've posted the 70-80'cm's photo's.
Rob yeah this trip was one of those for the vault, memories everywhere. It doesn't get much better on impoundments with good company, a great lake and backdrop (mountains) a fireplace and plenty of yarns for everyone to learn from.
Cheers Lyndon.
Good onya' Lyndon! Great informative report and it sounds like a very successfull trip for yourself and everyone else involve. To have a bloke like Dick come over from his waters to Awoonga and share his experiences with the Awoonga boys must have been of enormous value. Hows that... Dick, JM, Harro, Trev, yourself, Lachy etc... you do the maths and tell me how many years of barra experience that is.
Well done on the 112cm fish. One of those every trip makes all that travel and hard earned time in the shed worth it.
Well done again. Very, very jealous NQ'er reading your post!
Cheers
Theo
TT
Well done Lyndon a well written post. Looking Forward to the in depth topic.
For me this weekend was the most memorable and enjoyble learning experience i have shared on Barra fishing in my life. The crowd was absolutely brilliant. The laughter and the information shared was brilliant. Awsome weekend and sure there will be more to come.
For now ill just go for a play in my back paddock and inform you guys of the results.
Cheers Lachy
Thanks Lyndon, once again theres a little more in the report than first appears - good stuff.
Here 'tis
C'mon Lyndon, If we wanted to read old news, we'd buy Fishing World
Sorry mate! Top report,
and Dick, that is a terrific photo. I didn't know Lyndon was fishing for team Shimano though
Cheers,
Matt
Nice pic, Dick...
Is it just me or are all the recent pics of Mondy barra showing healthy but rather skinny barra compared to the fat kegs many caught last year?
This report plus reports from Awoonga, NAGG, setthehook and me in recent weeks all show a trend of skinnier fish.
Hopefully the barra will be real hungry in around two week's time....
Regs
Pete
Pete ..... Thats an Awoonga fishOriginally Posted by Peter4
Nice pic, Dick...
Is it just me or are all the recent pics of Mondy barra showing healthy but rather skinny barra compared to the fat kegs many caught last year?
This report plus reports from Awoonga, NAGG, setthehook and me in recent weeks all show a trend of skinnier fish.
Hopefully they will be real hungry in around two week's time....
Regs
Pete
All the Mondy fish I have seen have been in great condition
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
Oops - my bad! For some reason I have Mondy on the brain ATM...
Still, I reckon they are skinnier than last year. Healthy yes, but not as fat...
Peter4,
The 'skinnier fish' thingy will happen for numerous reasons; Monduran's turn will come eventually. Like you said, you can see it already with some fish.
Cheers,
Johnny
ha ha Matt,C'mon Lyndon, If we wanted to read old news, we'd buy Fishing World
Sorry mate! Top report,
and Dick, that is a terrific photo. I didn't know Lyndon was fishing for team Shimano though
Cheers,
Matt
Yeah he looks like has the winning fish for 'team shimano' in AFC....maybe thats the conspiracy....Lyndon is the wildcard for AFC
Well done lyndon, thanks for the report too..the depth of info is exceptional...thats an awesome looking fish mate...big smile!!!
cheers Steve
Hi Peter, the skinnier fish thingy is a good sign for mondy as it usually indicates that the stocking rate is getting up there enough that the pickings are getting a bit harder for the fish. Also usually shows up when the water levels are getting lower and the baitfish haven't had a good breeding season. Happened at Faust which once had huge fat fish and over recent years, 120cm fish that I have caught there have only weighed 35lbs, awoonga fish also got thinner when the water level fell to very low levels, now since the inflow they are getting fatter again. So thin fish in Monduran suggest a good stocking rate has been achieved.
cheers scott.
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