Barra Theory Time

[Awoonga]

Lets see if you can get your head around this one...Just thought that l would share this gem with you....And yes l would like your thoughts... ...Ready....Ok when we are go fishing we are trying to catch fish.... yea l know a no brainer that one..Take it one step further.You want to target large fish .. You are not interested in little fish... meter + are the ones you are after... Now take a Typical Bay at Awoonga ...Cut this bay up So what have we got ? edges, deep water and what else...Comon you with the pink shirt on...Trans...Transitional water... Each area contains fish...Year classes or maybe three year classes or lets put it another way size dependant... Each zone has a "class "of fish and those fish that are in that zone feel comfortable there...Now l believe that a lot of Awoonga fish are transience moving from one area to another when they enter a bay they keep to there "zone"... you may get three fish groups moving in and out at the same time...The tricky part is finding out where the big girls are in what zone..For me Deeper water holds bigger fish What l have found is the young males tend to be along the edges . These fish are the bucks with a attitude anywhere from 50 to 80 cm They will move quickly though the area and onto another.. The next size up tend to keep to the Transitional water. Areas that have dropoffs Somewhere to disappear to real quick at the first sign of trouble.. And in the deep the large ladys some that have been caught before and understand they are not the apex predator and have learnt cunning and are not easily fooled... Do they cross over ? yes If the young males have pushed the boneys into the shallows the large fish will be in there to get a feed...But they wont stay there...Moving back to the deep water as soon as the food source has gone...Ok guys over to you

[NAGG]

Yep .... No worries Trev

Cheers

Chris

[darylive]

yeh thats great so did you catch any fish on the weekend?

[NAGG]

No really ..... I can only speak of limited observations but taken from several impoundments!
I agree with transient fish ...... small groups of bigger females move around big open lakes like Awoonga , Tinaroo & Faust .... rather than holding station at a prominent piece of structure where the smaller males can often be caught.
Prior to the increase in water levels at Faust a couple of years ago ......... Clear lane ways could be seen in the weed ....... very much like a goat or cattle track .. We actually saw several big girls move through as a pack one morning ..... Certainly a year class.
At Tinaroo ..... sitting off a point 1 fish landed & 1 lost within 30mins while sitting off a point ....... an hours casting either side ........ This was repeated again the next day
Awoonga ...... Big girl bay ..... You know what happened there - lost fish & a couple landed in a 30 min rush.
This behavior is much like how Yellow tail kingfish patrol a rock ledge.

with regard to the males ..... The 70-80cm fish
They do seem to hold in an area......quite often around a certain piece of structure ( as we saw at Awoonga...... at our special anchoring spot ) ..... Over 30 fish landed from the one area over 4 days ...... with only 3 or 4 better fish either hooked or landed ........ 65-80cm was standard
We had the same situation a Teemburra ( a protected little area with some great structure) ....... All the fish were 50cm ish !

So from my little experience ...... if I wanted to give myself the best chance of a big fish ....... i'd position myself off a prominant point or edge of a weed bed that is close to deep water & leads into some shallower exposed wind blown cove , bay etc & flog it to death!
A known place ...... would be the point off the cattle yards at Mondy

Good thinking thread .... Trev

Chris

[BR65]

Bang bang Trev
how did you go in the hook up???
bait is the key, those big fat girls dont get big and fat by starveing themselves.
But what about in the cooler weather?. I havent fished Awoonga much, are the bays predominately open like I see on the tube, or is there a bit more timber structure?
In the open bays in the cold, are the bigger girls still siting deeper, or up shallow sunning themselves like elderly matrons on the promenade deck of a cruise ship?
The fish I see down at Monduran do seem to be in year group/size "gangs", but most of mine were comeing from snag bashing, since the inflow earlier this year Ive started fishing more points and open water, good example was a trip a couple of months ago, small bay with internal points, one point had a 115, next point 30 meters away had a couple of 80's and a 102 on it. Definately transient fish with the movement of the bait, Ive fished that same spot 3 times since for didley squat.

[Awoonga]

How did l go ? Does that answer the question... there is a bit of a story under Johnnys Awoonga thread in Reports

[Steve B]

All my theories will be in my upcoming book to hit the shelves called "how to catch barra without leaving your computer" and the sequel book "101 recipies for big impoundment barra" is currently in production.

Available at all good tackle shops soon.

[BR65]

Future best sellers Im sure, though for ease of use may I suggest a spoken word version for us lazy sods

[NAGG]

All my theories will be in my upcoming book to hit the shelves called "how to catch barra without leaving your computer" and the sequel book "101 recipies for big impoundment barra" is currently in production.

Available at all good tackle shops soon.

ahhh so that's what it was that had you hanging over the bucket last week ...... You cooked some Mondy barra soaked in lemonade , soy sauce & battery acid marinade

nah mate ....... I read the review
Nagg

[SQUIDDA]

Pink shirt?Thats Metro not Trans isn"t it???

[Tropicaltrout]

All my theories will be in my upcoming book to hit the shelves called "how to catch barra without leaving your computer" and the sequel book "101 recipies for big impoundment barra" is currently in production.

Available at all good tackle shops soon.

Don't forget "The Basin Of Trollers" and this best seller comes with a cd single called "Big Girls Don't Go Back"

[Steve B]

Don't forget "The Basin Of Trollers" and this best seller comes with a cd single called "Big Girls Don't Go Back"

Love it Nath, It would make a good read whilst trolling around aimlessly!!

On a serious theory note, thats what this thread is about, and a good idea at that. I have really not got too many theories. I haven't studied the fish and its behaviors very deep at all in the past, nor do I fully understand thermal water currents and movements, and how they occour, but I do understand its importance. i firmly believe lunar cycles have a positive affect on fish feeding patterns at certain phases, positions and times. I have difficult 'reading' the water to identify the key important information it hold. Thats why I am only now beginning to concentrate my attention on learning about these variables and their impacts on feeding patterns.

There is a reason why some fishermen/women are heads and shoulders above the rest of us, and its their superior understanding of these factors and knowing how they affect fish feeding. Then acting and adjusting this knowledge to suit any given situation.

Me at the moment, I concentrate on 5 basic principles to locate 'fishy' areas, I then apply about 5 different methods (lures, casts, retrieves etc) . To explain every theory for every circumstance would require a novel from me. The likes of Jas, Johny Mitchell etc would be volumes of encyclopedia' for their theories.......Its just too many different things for different days, weather, dams, techniques, fish and moods to explain in a post.......I love sharing info, but I really am not that knowledgeable. I most of the basics in order, but deeper understanding is still in progress. I am just really fortunate to get more opportunities than most to get out and fish....thats where theories evolve for me.

One other thing.....this may sound strange...but I often just get a 'feeling' about certain areas for fish. Sometimes when an area is quiet, something just changes and you can feel it...I dont know how to explain...but fish often bite then for me.

cheers steve

[Tropicaltrout]

One other thing.....this may sound strange...but I often just get a 'feeling' about certain areas for fish. Sometimes when an area is quiet, something just changes and you can feel it...I dont know how to explain...but fish often bite then for me.

cheers steve

Yep you are spot on there Steve I know that feeling too, I am sure we all have from time to time, but its weird you will work a shore or a series of trees and nothing but you get this emence gut feeling and bang it all changes.

Nath

[Dick Pasfield]

one other thing.....this may sound strange...but I often just get a 'feeling' about certain areas for fish. Sometimes when an area is quiet, something just changes and you can feel it...I dont know how to explain...but fish often bite then for me.

A subliminal response to a set of circumstances that provoke animals into hunting and feeding. As humans and fish are animals it stands to reason that these triggers would have a similar affect on both.

Providing that enough of the triggers coincide the human predator would be capable of picking up on them (even though our predatory urge has been somewhat dulled by lifestyle recently)

[Gordie]

I think I have sorted it out fellas.

I am putting Polycarbinate panels in the bottom of my boat.

Regards Gordon