Some classic Aussie Barra.

[hairymick]

G'day guys,

I would like to share some piccies of some barramundi that some mates got recently up near Dave"s place (D.A. WALLACE).

Feeling the need for a lil road trip here. :twisted:

 

[a Bald Cypress]

C

Build a bigger boat before the road trip.


Thems some fine looking fish.

Most likely make one meal for a Cajun.

 

[dawallace45]

Mick

As you know Lake Awoonga is just up the road from me , about 30 minutes or so , , they take some great Barra out of there for most of the year , but it does shut down at times , spent 4 days fishing there about a month ago and it was shut down , heard Johnny Mitchell was managing to find one or two for his clients but had to work very hard and all day for it , was talking to Rod Harrison at the ramp and he reckoned he was getting the odd one for his clients but it was bloody hard going , there was plenty around but they just weren't biting [ for those who don't know Johnny M runs a guided fishing business at Awoonga and is very good , Rod Harrison is a fishing writer , makes fishing movies and has written several books on Barramundi , there are few people in the world who know more about the fish than him ] , but any way we fished hard for 4 days and didn't get a scale , saw plenty of fish and was able to sight cast to them but they wouldn't take , tried pretty much every lure I had

I don't like fishing the main basin at awoonga as the wind comes up mid morning and makes it extremely rough right across the basin , but the basin is the main trolling area and they get great fish there , I prefer casting to trolling and like the gentler water as the pounding in the chop even at walking pace makes my already sore back just a mass of pain , these days I take codeine before I get in the boat if I know I'll be fishing the basin , the thing with the basin is that it goes from glass smooth to having the entire surface of the water just a mass of white from the rough water , I've been out there once in a kayak and I just simply won't go out there again , just too rough on my back , and it's not a whole heap better in my Jonsboat , but where is a great area for kayaks , the Boyne arm , miles and bloody miles of calm water with plenty of snags to fish and still good deep water and plenty of features to troll , and if you don't want to have to cross the basin then what you do is go along the Monto - Calliope road and turn off at the Boynedale bush camp and there is a dirt ramp you can put in , that is what I'll be doing from now on , for me I can just go south of town here and turn onto Blackman Gap road and go over the range and turn right on to the Monto - Calliope road and keep going until you reach the Boynedale bush camp turn off [ it's not well posted and very easy to miss ] and it's the same distance as going up the highway and going to the main basin boat ramp but it puts me right up the Boyne arm where I want to fish

Got this information off Johnny M some time back thought it may be helpful

You can spend a million dollars and still catch nothing if you do not know how to use any of your selection. Keep it simple and you will find better success.
Trolling Deep Water- (use an 8m halco scorpion crazy deep from October to April)-troll dead slow, walking pace or slower.
Trolling shallower water- Possibly use a halco scorpion of a lesser diving ability such as a 3 metre version for trolling in 10 to 20 ft, day or night.
Deeper Casting by Day- any bigger barra lure that will dive around 15 feet, like a Barra Bait, or something similar. Hold your rod tip low and wind quite slowly also. Add into the retrieve a slight twitch and a stop!
Shallow casting - Go for the B52 bomber or again something very similar that only dives shallow and has a small bib. Fish weed edges and areas close to the bank late arvo and evening. Add life to this lure by constantly 'flicking' the rod!

Keep it simple they say,,,,,,,,if you armed yourself with just the above mentioned, and stayed focused on technique for your fishing holiday, you should be able to come up with the goods! Take 10000000 lures and the confusion has certainly set in as what to do with them all. Stay confident and positive with a small selection. All barra lures work, all colours work. No colours are better than another. Filter out the confusing stuff and keep a basic approach. 12 months ago my tacklebox consisted of about 4 lures! It is all you need.
and lastly,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, the lure you catch most of your barra on is the one that is tied onto your rod!!
Keep it very basic, and have faith in what I said!
Trust me,,,,,,,,,,I'm not a used car salesman!
Regards,
Johnny M
Lake Awoonga

David


When politicians pass laws that will be obeyed only by the law-abiding, they content themselves that
they have taken action.
As a consequence, while our leaders are absorbed with media interviews and mutual congratulations,
the original problems are left to fester.
Sanctimony never stopped a bullet, or prevented an overdose and no criminal has ever been
frightened by a photo-op...

 

[jimsong]

Mick, you are a cruel, evil and hard hearted blackguard! You should be ashamed for showing pictures of my bait on the internet! Now how will I keep my edge whilst catching the big ones around here, now that you have given away my secret?
Those ae some beautiful fish! How much does Australia charge a furriner to fish in your waters?
And how did they drag those monsters up on such tiny craft. A couple of those lunkers looked about half the size of the boats the the fishermen were sitting on!
Thanks for the pictures!

 

[dawallace45]

Jimsong

There is no fee for fishing Lake Awoonga , for most of our stocked impoundments you need a licence but not for Awoonga , like wise we have no closed season for barra in lake Awoonga , of course if you go with a guide then it costs but many consider the cost worth it ,

David

 

[Kayak Jack]

Dang you Jimsong! That was gonna be MY line. You got in an hour and a half before me. Slick dog, you.

Good fishing, Mick.

 

[jdupre']

Awesome fish. Kind of looks like a cross between our largemouth bass and a tarpon. Heck of a catch from a kayak.

Joey

 

[Wannabe]

Dang Baldy,
That would have to be one hongry Cajun. :lol:
Bob

 

[hairymick]

Guys,

Barramundi or barra as we call them are probably our most prized easturine sport fish. They rarely grow that big in the wild, but in stocked impoundments like Lake Awonga, they turn into animals like those and bigger. A 40 pound wild barra is considered to be a very good fish and when taken from salt water, one of the best eating fish we have.

They can live in both salt and fresh water and run to the salt sections to spawn.

Barra taken from the fresh water are at best, in my experience ordinary table fare, at worst so weedy in taste as to be virtually inedible. the black fellers prefer cat fish and so do I.

I don't think any amount of Cajun creativeness would make them taste nice.

Untill the very cold patch we had here last year, my local lake also had barra that were allmost approaching the size of the ones in the piccies. Barra are however a tropical fish and the cold snap killed most of them. The ones that survived, went over the lake wall and are now wild barra, enjoying life (for now) in the salt water in my Burrum River 8) :twisted: Gonna be doing my best to rectify that as soon as the closed season finishes. Tooling up right now.

As Dave Said, Lake Awonga is a pretty big lake (by our standards) with some wide open and exposed stretches. Not at all suitable for a flat bottom kayak in my opinion and is part of the reason for my predjudice against such craft. Though, I love my pirogues in the skinny water.

These guys who caught those fish are part of a small kayak fishing club and allready planning another assault on the lake next year. Guess who will be going with them.

 

[Cracka]

Bloody hell Mick, nice fish on any account let alone out of the yak!

A few of the blokes from here in Merimbula went up to Awonga, I think it would have been just before Dave was there, time just seems to blend, lately. Mate they had a cracker of a trip, boated about 60 odd fish between I think, 3 boats. They tend to fish mostly at night, looking at their photos.

They make the trip about twice a year, going back in May, 09 and trying to get me to go with them, hmmmm might be a plan yet.

Mick