The Truth is Sometimes Stranger than Fiction

[Awoonga]

This happened out at Awoonga yesterday...A mate and l had just finished fishing for the Day.. He had never even seen a Barra..... let alone caught one.... Well try as he might he couldn,t hook up.... same lures same spot....I was not having any problems..one after another to the boat..... not even a missed strike... Well it was getting dark...Barra o clock was well and truly gone.... Time to head for home .. Now its quite dark...Just a sliver of moon l start to motor out of the bay...Just increased my speed to about 20ks when Bang... Crash ...thump.. What the hell Have have l hit.......Another boat... trees....But the noise is behind me ???? Cant see.....wheres that bloody torch.. My mate that was seated beside me has been pushed forward and he is on his knees... theres seems to be something quite large in the boat with us......its thrashing around... Time to abandon ship ...well not quite.... We both scramble up to the bow and l shine the torch on this thing.......Barra... rather large barra....very unhappy barra ...A 107.....50lb thrashing machine....I have a hornet with a pod on the back... This fish has come over the pod over the rear casting deck into the back of my mates seat... Thump..And now its doing a good job of wrecking the fittings on my boat...Time for action ... Just grab it..Fingers in its mouth..... Fish has other ideas...ouch... one sore wrist...Remember this fish is green ..full of fight at least 50lb....There was not much we could do...but wait a while...The sad part about this is that it was losing scales and bark....So its chances of survival wont be good Photos to follow

[Big_Ren]

Bloody hell :o :o A metrey doing a 20 knot troll ;D That would scare the crap out of you and your mate but what a finish to the day. Can't wait to see the pics.

Paul

[Mak579]

Holy cr@p...

I can just picture it at the ABT comp

Barra - 107cm
Lure - Quintrex Hornet!!


Matt C

[hardb8]

Hi Awoonga,
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;DMan you are good!Don't even need a line in the water ta crack a meter.LOL.Maybe you should call ya boat,Barra Magnet.....And start guideing?Cool story,And nice title.With regards to survival....At least ya gave it a chance.Even at 30%,It's got a lot better shot than those caught by the freezer brigade.Good on ya m8.

Cheers hardb8 ;)

[Canoedle]

That's a hell of a funny story Trev, can't wait to see the pics. ;D

[Fishin_Dan]

HA HA HA! That's gold Awwonga!!! ;D

[Big_Ren]

I never want to go fishing with you offshore when sharks are around ;D

[Stumpthumpa]

Another true story in the same style, this time from Prossie.

Two years ago my wife and I were up there on our first trip. I had managed to snag a few Barra in the sticks and she had bravely put in a great effort for absolutely nothing... not even a touch, all the time casting, casting - you know how it goes I am sure.

It is the last morning and we are still trying to get her a Barra and by then she is very over the whole thing, just casting out and winding back. All over a sudden she says "look at that" and there is a huge Barra jumping out of the water off to one side of the boat. She is still just slowly winding, when I spot a familiar lure hanging out of its mouth. "Wind" I yell and so she increases the speed, but still no weight, no line going off - nothing.

The next minute this silver missile has launched itself out of the water and there is the hugest, liveliest monster Barra thrashing around in the back of the boat on the rear casting platform. This thing has hit the transom and motor and skidded into the back of the boat green as hell with a 6" Barra Bait hanging out of its mouth. We are both just staring in total disbelief and not game to get near it. The Barra thrashes around for what seemed like forever, but was really only a second or two and then slips back off the transom, runs under the boat and cuts the line off on the keel.

We sit there is total shock at what has happened and begin to laugh when there is a huge crash about 30 metres away from us and leaves are showering off a dead tree. The Barra has just charged full tilt into the base of the tree to try and dislodge the lure.

I only wish I had a video camera going. This was witnessed by a few people including McCod, and some of our fishing buddies. I have never seen such an aggressive fish. My wife now has the bug and has gone on to catch a few now, but nothing comes close to her first hit.

[tiges]

Sounds like you've cracked a new pattern. Really big surface lures with a prop on the back, on a very fast retrieve, in........what colours your boat Trev?

[Awoonga]

This is the beast

[Awoonga]

And after it calmed down a bit...... What a way to catch your first barra

[flyfisho]

my god :o
over the transom and into your lap what a freak

[scott_b]

So whats the go Trev ???
Do you think it was having a chop at your prop ? or just having a bad scale day. :-/
wamjam

[McCod]

Top yarn mate.... could only hapen to you ;D


Cheers Les

[Awoonga]

Scott...Dont know... what the go was....Just one of those things....Went back to the same spot last night...The Barra where booffing like mad...Three casts and l am on...The fish where so agressive....Les that lure l found works a treat....... ;) Its seems that something new is what they want....

[ele-phrez]

What a ripper story, Iwould of shit myself.

[rtranter]

Hi,
Great story could you tell me the nearest town so's I can plan a trip to your neck of the woods would be coming up from Grafton area. Is there a best time of the year. and camping etc.
Regards
Rob

[Awoonga]

Rob Nearest City is Gladstone.... Nearest Town is Benaraby Best time well.. anytime really Winter time has been tops....Summer time lots of people.... Camping at the Dam or Benaraby or even Calliope Look up the posts there is lots of info about Awoonga

[woolybugger]

Holy cr@p! is definately the word to use. I remember when I was on Operations with the Army in East Timor and was with 3 other in my team in a Zodiac. We had two 60hp's on the back so travelling at quite a speed approx 40 kms out from land. It was about 3am and very still and "WHAM!" a 12lb Spanish Mackerel landed in the boat and sconned my team mate in the head, no harm done, but definately woke us all up and we ended up trading it with a few locals for some local inteligence.

[Toppy]

;D funny stuff Trev!

[TonyM]

lmao What a cracker Trev! (and your Mrs fish too Stumpa).

I've had this happen with mullet (haven't we all) :) Although a metre + Barra jumping in your lap! :o

[agnes_jack]

Your a legend Trev!! ;D
Who says they can be hard to catch ;)
We should rename you the 'pied piper"
You'll have em lining up at the boat ramp soon, so ya don't have to get your boat wet!! ;D ;D ;D

Regards, Tony ;D ;D ;D

[KelvinH]

Great story and very nice fish :)