Monduran virgin

[nomad420]

Going to Monduran for the first time this weekend. New to fishing for barra/bass, new boat, new rod&reel.
Any hints on fishing the big M
I want my first Barra ;D

[still_water]

Nomad,
There is a few being caught not to far up the Dam by casting 110+ size Lures . Main thing at this time of year is Water Temps. Spend a bit of time looking for the right spot before you start casting your arms off. This can save you a lot of heartache.
As with any Dam and especially still in the cooler months , do not be dissapointd if you dont pick 1 up. Sometimes it can take a few trips to try and work them out.

Good Luck
Brett

[nomad420]

Thanks brett, your advice will be heeded.

[grenadier]

i've heard 26-27 degrees water temp is the only temp barra will feed in

i'm planning to fish monduran in october never been there so any info onthe place would be handy

where can i get a map of the dam anyone know???

[Harry_In_Toowoomba]

When you get there, make a B line for the kiosk......they have maps and all the info you'll need.

If the water temp is down a bit, head for the area upstream from whiterocks and keep going. Don't get lost. Start with a collection of either mad mullet in silver.red stripes, silver black stripes or gold and red or black. Use lures over 12cm and go to 60lb leader as a minimum on 50lb braid. Work the lure in twitches around the edges or past sunken timber by first up cranking it down then go to twitching it past the snags. Fine tune your drag with a pair of pliers if needed and hold on tight, it's often all over before you knew it started.

Switch your sounder over to degrees in F to show small increases in water temp better and concentrate on those areas where its a little warmer.

Don't worry, the barra will find you.

Cheers,
ABF

[grenadier]

harry p do you fish monduran lots how much sucess to you have or is the dam a bit hit and miss

[Harry_In_Toowoomba]

Not a lot mate, but know it well enough. Will be up there again in a few weeks for a fortnight.

It's good enough to warrant staying away from the madhouse at Awoonga and consistent enough if you can fish.

Cheers

[Mak579]

Seahawk (quote) "i've heard 26-27 degrees water temp is the only temp barra will feed in"

Common myth, as stillwater says find the warmer water or simply a place where they are comfortable!

Pic below is one of three caught in 18 degrees water temp, and they still fight just as hard!

Matt C

[grenadier]

was that caught at night mak579 and what did you catch it on

[davez104]

We used to have a lot of success in Monduran when the dam was low, walking the banks and casting gold bombers. We would use the boat to find the spots we wanted to fish, then bank her and walk from there. When it was still cool we used to head right up some of the inlets, to the really shallow water. Don't take your boat all the way up as they spook easily in the shallows. We caught 70cm+ fish from water as shallow as 2'. A big yes to the leader, 60lb is good. We used to fish 30lb fireline straight to the lure untill that fateful day when the fish where absolutely going off, I ended up with 14 less lures at the end of the session :o Lost more fish than that because about 6 or7 of the lures where thrown nearby by the barra after bust off and we where able to get them back and lose them again! The ones we did get back always had a very short piece of braid still tied to them which told me it was the gill rakers doing the damage. Straight to Salty's that arvo to get some leader, and have used it ever since.

Dave.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a69/Davez104/bigbarra2.jpg

[mylestom]

Monduran is a great dam, Great facilities with great management in the park.
They will help you out with where they are biting and give you a map.
Will be up there again for about the first two weeks in October.
We use 50lb braid with either 60 or 80lb leader and yes you can still lose lures.
You will need various lures, from shallower bombers to deep divers.
The majority that we have caught there where on lures in the 3 to 5 metres range. When casting the lures aren't getting down to your trolling depth.
A sounder and a gps unit are handy in this dam.
When you get up the back From white rocks on, some of the bays take a bit of finding to get right to the back of the bays. A gps to track your way through will help though.
A good quality lure retreiver preferably a pole type will help you get them back when you snag. With all the timber you are every chance of catching one.
Water temps are helpful but have caught barra at all the impoundments in all temps. It is a great impoundment and unlike Awoonga you can fish in most winds.
Also don't forget to pack a few smaller lures for the bass, last trip there were bass up to 50cm being caught.
c u der in Oct.
Trev

[Mak579]

"...was that caught at night mak579 and what did you catch it on"

The twilight zones are generally when barra hunt and become a bit more aggressive, so provided your in the right place your chances of enticing the fish onto the lure are generally greater.

The one above was caught as the sun was going down, the one below as the moon was coming up. The lure is obvious in the pic below and it's no secret that the squidgy slick rigs are accounting for many impoundment barra.

Matt C

[still_water]

Seahawk, The Barra will chew all year round with the warmer months giving you more of an easier time finding them.
Dont go past Whiterock withput a Gps , Last year I had to bring 6 boats back to the main Bsin and 2 in an hours period.

You will find a lot of helpfull information from what the guys can tell you , I just know we do catch them all year. 16 deg has been the coldest with fish in the boat.

Google Earth is a good place to have a look at the Dam from Sattelite. The Map at the Kiosk is enogh togive you an Idea on where you are but dont use it as Gods word.

Also watchout for a lot of Logs just beneath the surface as the water level is getting down.

Good Luck ;)
Brett

[black_sheep]

Monduran is one of my favourite dams. Will be fishing Awoonga in October but Monduran is the better challenge. Finding fish can at times be the easy part but stopping these athletic fish in thick timber is tougher than stopping the biggest one in the main basin at Awoonga.

Last trip we did in May accounted for 28 fish on baord and about 30+ dropped or busted up. We found them in the cooler water??? Barra are fussy and prefer a certain range of temps depending on the time of year. I have found bays with water temps over 34 degrees and caught jack shyte - just too warm for barra.

Don't go undergunned though - you will get found out, but donating lures is all part of the experience.

My suggestion is if it all gets a bit too overwhelming with where to fish, find spots that look fishy, flog them for an hour or so and if nothing, move on. Once you get a few fish, try and work out a pattern (temps, depths, wind direction, time of day....) it all adds up.

In saying this, when we fished it in May, we basically fished a different spot everyday and landed fish. One day we travelled way up the system were we use to catch a lot of fish but that was the day we only got 1. As Stillwater mentioned, if you going to head up the system, take your time and a GPS. It can be long way back to motor on electric if he snap your prop off on sunken timber.

3 things I always employ - patience, perseverance and a bit of luck.

So GOOD LUCK!

[nomad420]

Thanks all who responded, took the missus up on saturday.. no luck but after reading some of the advice given I now know why.

A few points
1. yes the management of the park are nice very helpful
2. Hope to fish in the family classic, how many usually turn up for this
3. noticed a bay about 500 mtrs from a Big tree in the dam with an eagles nest in it, saw some fish surfacing but no luck on shallow or deep lures , even tried plastics for some bass.
4 still keen gunna keep trying and learning.
5. water temp ranged between 19 and 21 degrees in the shallower water.

[black_sheep]

Keep trying nomad, we still have fishless trips, so it's all part of it. It can be one of those dams - when they on, they on. When they shut down, just keep tyring.

One trip we fished for 4 days without a barra. On the last morning we were still fishless (other than catties) and was motoring back when I came across a line of timber off the main channel that just looked good. Stopped for a 5 min flick which turned into a 45min session of madness - landed about 7 barra and dropped about the same. All between 60-75cms but tonnes of fun.

[still_water]

Had a client ring me today with some update info for me and he had found a huge school of Barra in a couple of Bays, he only ended up with a couple as the rest were just sunning themselves and not interested in eating.

I will have my Boat back together this week and will be heading for some trips to hopefully get a few ourselves.

As Blacksheep said keep tryin until your arms fall off.
Regards
Brett
Still Water Charters

[barra_fever]

Good tip is to get out of the boat and walk the banks. Find the snags sitting in 5 - 8ft off the bank and work them hard. Shallow runners like Tropic Angler Large Floaters, River 2 Sea etc are the way to go.