Why You Should Up-Grade On Barra Lures

[BR65]

Found this classic floating along bankside up in the sticks at Monduran the other day. It looked pretty new, hook rash is minimal and there was no slime or gunk on it so I would say it hasnt been in the water that long.
A pretty good example of the reason why terminal tackle on lures should be up-graded
cheers
brian

[Flattie Assassin]

Solid advice, I upgrade all lures to stingers or gamakatsu.

[Tropicaltrout]

Theres the bugger ha ha, yep there some serious fish that need some serious tackle. I donated a couple last trip up in the sticks but never came across any.

Anyhow good stuff Brian

[NAGG]

Brian , Nice show & tell8-) . & a picture says a thousand words doesn't it? .. Nagg

[TinarooTriumph]

Yeah they can do that to ya aye! But, you either go hard or go home! The fish in all that Monduran timber must really know how to bite down on a Lure when they feel like it.

Still havn't caught fish on that Golden Streak colour scheme... good for the Salt however.

Cheers

Theo

[Franco]

There's nothing wrong with the lure or terminals

Obviously the fisherperson simply likes to endorse hook & release fishing ;) ;D LOL

Poor bugger must have been jacked off when that happened!

[Barraboy7]

Yes and its good to see finally a few Brands are starting to put decent hooks on from the beginning. The lure above, It looks like the hooks were upgraded but not the split rings???
Scorpions come with such crap hooks it beggars me that an Aussie company puts out lures that catch so good with such lousy hooks!
If they take note to Dam barra fishos these companies would do the following

1. Some versions WITHOUT rattles
2. Some versions that suspend, man I would love a suspending Classic!
3. Owner hooks or 4x VMC plus equivlant strength split rings.

Seems a lot of lures are still made with the N. Territory and Trollers in mind

I find it almost amusing that we are so high tech with lure making but still have this scenario. Like putting old retreads on a XR8!

How great are these fish that can rip lures apart tho! Go Barra!
Barrboy7

[Whitto]

The hooks seem to be OK, they just forgot about the rings, Whitto

[BR65]

Piccy is a bit deceiving, hooks liked like the standard vmc to me, plus there was a snap on the front split, anyways I got me a new lure, still on the wrong side of the balance sheet for the trip though.

cheers
brian

[Magela]

Not the first lure I've seen with stuffed trebles and rings, good idea to upgrade but don't think that this is going to stop a big girl in the timber. What we are seeing a lot of lately is 6x hooks and split rings 60 plus braid and 100lb leaders locked up drags. All this is doing, is now ripping the guts out of the lures breaking the lures in half etc and this is happening to all brands local and imported. I suppose what I am saying is yes it is a good idea to upgrade but it won't make our gear bullet proof as Big Barra will always destroy the weakeest link.

[TinarooTriumph]

From where Im sitting the Lure was obviously used straight out of the box. Thats the risk you take... almost like a lucky dip with standard 3X VMC's. You are always a chance with 3X VMC's, but your chances get better by the second when you have Owners or other stronger Hardware on your Lure (yes, there is stronger!)

Franco - Loving your avatar mate... go the Crownies!

Theo

[Roo]

funny how they seem to get it half right!! i bought some Scorpions on the weekend and noticed they have good quality 4xx halco fish rings on them.....with a hook best described as average. My collection of F18 classics come with, as shown above, poor quality rings, but have a 3x VMC hooks, which despite popular opinion, I have not chosen to upgrade(i do change the rings) as anything that bends them out of shape is most likely going to bury me in the sticks anyway. between myself and the missus, we've caught and landed only a handful of these fish (yes, ok, she's winning 4 - 1) we've had the 3x VMC hooks bend slightly but not come out. Never straightend and never lost a fish. I realise its early days in our Barra disease but we fish relatively light (20-30lb) mainlines and 60lb leaders, 3-5kg rods and drags that won't deliver much more than 5kg. I reckon the "softly, softly, catchy fishy" seems to be working for the manageable size fish we've connected to so far but the damage you see in Brian s photo looks like the work of Jaw Pressure exerted to the hook and not just a straight pull. the front and rear hooks look to be intact. I don't think anything would survive the pressure of the jaws of a big barra if you get them in the right spot(or is that wrong spot).

Cheers Roo.

[Franco]

Thanks Theo!
Muddies that drink beer as part of their staple, dietary intake always taste better!
;D

Definitely softly softly lands more Barra in our opinion with the guys I fish with. The thing that opens those trebles and rings is sudden torsional forces on the hardware, mostly when they change direction / jump / open jaws, or when your line is around a tree and they keep going !:-/

I reckon a lot of times its a matter of pure luck wrt which way the fish plays the game, but whenever possible low rod angles and "following" your barra with the rod to avoid startling the fish or sudden changes in forces will always improve your chances of getting that kodak moment holding the fish.

If the lure has 2 trebles caught either side of the mouth then there's nothing you can do about that. In the barra classic Greenie has used double split rings and experimented with braid attachments to trebles to minimise torsional forces but I must admit I haven't ever seen him use those modifications when we go to Awoonga, and I don't know that the team He fishes with actually do that anymore.
Seems like a lot of pissing around to me anyhow.

I guess if you've caught plenty barra before and aren't too fussed on getting the next one to the boat then you can get complacent, as I have before. However when the chips are down and your boat is experiencing a bio-rhythm fallout (as mine was after 3 days no fish at Awoonga recently), then the worst thing that can happen is losing that next crucial barra to shitty terminals. Thanks god I realised this on that trip and changed the rings & trebles - the fish I finally hooked was a 121cm, 30kg pig!!

My 2 bob, tight lines boyz

[Mayney]

Purely a novice on this subject but I recently purchased a couple of lures for my next trip to Monduran and was advised that in addition to upgrading the rings and trebles, I should in fact remove the centre set of trebles and the ring.

The reasoning behind this was not only to avoid them being opened up as above but also to allow easy retrieval over the trees. It appears to always be the centre hooks that grab the snags?

Any thoughts?

Mayney

[BR65]

Dunno bout the snag theory Mayney, but there is a school of thought on removeing center trebles and up-sizeing the front and rear treble, useing 2 splits per treble, it makes sense in more hook gape exposed to the fish, plus 2 trebles are likeley to cause less damage to a face hooked fish than 3 trebles.
I dont know, havent tried myself, once I get a few more fish on the board I might start experimenting
cheers
brian

[Barraboy7]

Yeah Harro in his book puts out the idea of taking the center treble out and running two splits on the front. I guess it works OK as he would have given it a good tryout.
I have taken out the center treble on my classics and beefed up the front and rear and caught ok. I remember leaving 3x VMCs on the center of big B52s and they bent while the stronger ones didnt, so changed that quick.
No doubt the best chance is t seriously beef up every lure splits and trebles to give yourself the best chance on that fish of a lifetime!
Barraboy

[Tropicaltrout]

Foxie's right those big suckers will bend rods hooks, split rings, backs etc and I see my two lures get dee bibbed they have such power and rapped up in the sticks just give them more of a head start to break everything but your will to cast another lure in there to do it all again!!!!

Nath

[Steve B]

Franko, Orbyroo and dare I say it Foxie have all hit the nail on the head.

The 'softly' approach is the key to all these problems. I have suggested this plenty of time before, so here it is again.

Big muscle up trying to turn that big one = straightened trebbles/splitrings
Big Muscle trying to turn that big one = pulled hooks
Big Muscle trying to stop the big fish heading for the trees = broken line/leader/knots/ even lures!
trying to drag a fish back around a tree = stupidity and freyed line = bustoffs.

The biggest excuse for losing fish = terminal tackle failure.

Anglers blaming terminal tackle 99.5% Anlgers blaming themselves 0.5%!!

Terminal tackle failure causing lost fish = 90% poor angling 10% bad luck

I can only base these stats on the endless hard luck stories I have heard about the 'bustoffs' etc.

Since adopting the 'softly' approach I have landed 41 out of 47 fish hooked since Sept 14 at Monduran, casting in timber, no trolling. Yes I keep a diary. Sad isnt it!!!:D

[nipsta]

Franko, Orbyroo and dare I say it Foxie have all hit the nail on the head.

The 'softly' approach is the key to all these problems. I have suggested this plenty of time before, so here it is again.

Big muscle up trying to turn that big one = straightened trebbles/splitrings
Big Muscle trying to turn that big one = pulled hooks
Big Muscle trying to stop the big fish heading for the trees = broken line/leader/knots/lure even.
trying to drag a fish back around a tree = stupidity and freyed line and bustoffs.

The biggest excuse for losing fish = terminal tackle failure.

Anglers blaming terminal tackle 99.5% Anlgers blaming themselves 0.5%!!

Terminal tackle failure causing lost fish = 90% poor angling 10% bad luck

I can only base these stats on the endless hard luck stories I have heard about the 'bustoffs' etc.

Since adopting the 'softly' approach I have landed 41 out of 47 fish hooked since Sept 14 at Monduran. Yes I keep a diary. Sad isnt it!!!:D

i agree steve i too tried the hard method and snapped my rod as well end result no fish and no lure also. so i too use the softly softly approach now there ( im my opinion) there is on fish that need that hard approach and thats mangrove jacks or any fish in the Lutjanus family. i reckon just give the barra abit of time to settle and it all pans out in the end fish in boat hooks not bent knots still tied and lure still connect all good .

[Roo]

I think Barra don't play the game quite the same way as the red devils. I've read that barra seek deeper water if it is available rather then structure when they are hooked. I guess if your fishing a weedy flat then structure would be the first choice for a hooked barra. Apparently most bust ups in the trees occur when the fish is heading to adjacent deeper water and rounds a tree rather than deliberately stitching you up in the woodwork like a Jack would.
The missus hooked a 99cm fish while trolling a channel in the sticks of section B. the deeper water was directly behind and to the left of the boat and hav a guess which way the fish went. to our immediate right was a fairly obvious tree top with plenty of snag-ability and in the sounder below was another submerged tree but the fish ran away from us and toward the deeper(clearer) water. we won, and using pretty light gear you would normally target bass with. Bent the 3x vmc on the front and middle, but it held tight. The rod is a River Raider 3-5kg and reel is a Pflueger Echelon with 20lb platil braid and 60lb 10x leader. little chance is turning this fish if it wanted to go somewhere, but enough pressure to lead it where you can tire it out safely.
Cheers Roo.

EDIT: i just realised i didn't upgrade the splits on that lure:-[ oops. but we still won;D

[Franco]

Hey Roo,

Nice photo! Man you are gunna upset some people with that pic of the lure ..... breaking all the rules!!

Snap connection to the lure, weak trebles , weak split rings ....... I love it!

My biggest salty of (122cm, 50lb) from weipa was caught land-based off the rocks(!) It was on similar sub-standard terminals (except no snap swivel) and all the hooks came back bent and stuffed after She wrapped me round a pylon, but with steady constant pressure the big girl just came back out!! Very arsey!
Sometimes you get lucky ........ and that lure is now retired in the ultimate hall of fame lure box!

PS nice boat by the looks of it, what is it?

[Roo]

Ha ha, Look out!!! Good Aussie designed lures aren't too bad out of the box.....could be better but they still work. those snaps are 80lb Halco crosslocks....tough stuff!!I was using Hawaiian snaps but they can be a pain to change lures with the Halco 4xx fish rings being pretty bulky.

Well done on your Weipa win!!Goes to show there's always room for (cl)ass when there's serious fishing to be done!!!;)

We still have that lure in action, but i've also put a few clones in the lolly box too, just in case I lose it, the missus will kill me.
Boat is a 4.55 polycraft.;) great for bumping around the sticks!! oyster racks, rock walls.....nothing will hurt it and any scuffs come out with a light sand and a heat gun to shine her up, too easy (if i could be bothered)!::)

Cheers Roo.

[BR65]

Tried the softly softly method last trip and a couple of those fish put me thru, under, around and into every bit of timber there was in the immediant vicinity. You know the scenario, line enters water here, huge fish jumping over there 15 meters away, grateing feeling thru braid, blah, blah, blah.
Dont think it was purposefull, like a jack or a kingy would do, these fish were just trying to depart the immediant area of concern, and not heading towards the deeper water either, they went straight back into the sticks away from the channel where I was casting from, still the end result was busted leader, both times at the end of the loop in the leader to the split at the front of the lure. Hooks and splits are holding, braid is bloody tuff, so somethings gunna give.
I think broken rods are more often the result of bad angles, I know, happened to me a couple of trips ago, got smacked boatside, barra dived under the min kota and I couldnt get the rod down deep enuf quick enuf, must be getting old, or the hangover was kickin in that morning, end result of that escapade was a new 2 piece stick. Rods arent designed to bend at angles like that.
I can see the merits of a calculated, lead the fish thru the structure technique in lightly wooded areas, or open creek channels between the sticks, but in that gnarly stuff, the channel up into H, where your belting a lure 20 meters back into the jungle, twitchin and flickin and pausing past every tree you can see, let alone the ones you cant see that are laying down under the surface, I dunno.
On a side note, I reckon keepin a diary is a bloody good idea, just means Im not the only obsesive compulsive out there.
cheers
brian

[Franco]

Brian I reckon in the scenario you mention you got no choice but to put on the brakes and go hard. I ain't done too much of that since a few years ago in Awoonga, but I'd say super quiet sneak-up techniques in the boat combined with shorter casts in order to avoid too much timber between you and the silver bullet might improve your chances. (?)

Better still find the fish somewhere else near the clear, sit back, and use the whiting rod! LOL

[Roo]

Yes well, 20 metres back into the jungle is always going to be a "stop 'em or pop 'em" affair:P :D but it does sound like fun!!

[Tropicaltrout]

I have never seen a rod break what is it like?

I tried the soft method it works but all methods do, Lures arn't indistructable and can be broken, bent etc soft method or hard they still bend trebbles and pull the hooks, straighten split rings with thier mouths.

Now in saying that I have fished for Barra for some time and only once has a hook straightened and my daugther did it on her first fish and it was no were near a stick she was fishing exstreamly soft being 5 year old in open water on a 2 to 4kg rod with 30 lb fire line and 40lb leader. It was a meter long but its were the hook was, sort in the scissors so when he jumped and tried to flick he simply strainghted the trebble.

Hey but its all learning and without great discussion and pointers made by all we would not be on here.:)
Hey steve nothin wrong with keeping a diary i do, still have ones i kept from years back in Tas when i trout fished it's still a great read and unclouds foggy memories. Dad stiil does he even takes scale samples for the inland fisheries commission.

[Steve B]

Glad I'm not the only one with a diary. Its handy for comapring catch times and dates with moon phases etc over the years. I notice some trends, particularly with moon phases and solunar peaks. even in fresh water impoundments with no tides.

Situations like brian described are inevitable and you simply have to try to turn fish. Some you win, some you dont. Good terminal tackle increases the 'some you win' side massively.

cheers steve.

[Whitto]

I have never seen a rod break what is it like?

I tried the soft method it works but all methods do, Lures arn't indistructable and can be broken, bent etc soft method or hard they still bend trebbles and pull the hooks, straighten split rings with thier mouths.

Now in saying that I have fished for Barra for some time and only once has a hook straightened and my daugther did it on her first fish and it was no were near a stick she was fishing exstreamly soft being 5 year old in open water on a 2 to 4kg rod with 30 lb fire line and 40lb leader. It was a meter long but its were the hook was, sort in the scissors so when he jumped and tried to flick he simply strainghted the trebble.

Hey but its all learning and without great discussion and pointers made by all we would not be on here.:)
Hey steve nothin wrong with keeping a diary i do, still have ones i kept from years back in Tas when i trout fished it's still a great read and unclouds foggy memories. Dad stiil does he even takes scale samples for the inland fisheries commission. Had a Shimano Barra blank snap, Was trolling at the time near the tree line at the western end of the basin a barra hit the lure came completely out of the water and spat the lure back at me the rod snapped and went off like someone had fired a rifle, soon found out why it happened for some reason my drag was wound right up (always store my reels with the drag loose), you will know when or if it happens, if u don't see it u will certainly hear it, Have a Good 1 Nathan, Cheers Whitto:P

[NAGG]

Glad I'm not the only one with a diary. Its handy for comapring catch times and dates with moon phases etc over the years. I notice some trends, particularly with moon phases and solunar peaks. even in fresh water impoundments with no tides.

Situations like brian described are inevitable and you simply have to try to turn fish. Some you win, some you dont. Good terminal tackle increases the 'some you win' side massively.

cheers steve.

Just a dairy Steve? :-/ .... probably more like "the concise account of a Barra fishing addict"
;D ;D ;D ;) ... Nagg

[Steve B]

Nagg,

Guilty as charged!!;D Sound like a good title for a book!;D

merry Xmas

[BR65]

Nath, breaking ya rod is like spilling your last beer on a hot day, just a lot more expensive.
First theres that horrible sound, followed by that sickening feeling, then the post mortem, vowing to never make that mistake again.
Blame is laid some where, usually your mate because of course its never your fault, and you move on.
Allways a good excuse for a new stick though.
Ive broken 2 bait casters and one soft plastic spin stick, allways in the top foot of the rod and all due to bad rod angles, twice from me not reacting quickly enough to fish and the other from stupidly trying to use the rod to pop a snag. Hence why I tend to spend my hard earned on quality reels, and buy mid range rods that I know will cop some abuse.

cheers
brian

[NAGG]

Nagg,

Guilty as charged!!;D Sound like a good title for a book!;D

merry Xmas

Compulsive Obsessive ???::) ..... Oh well , that's probably why you catch them silver bad boys:P
Yeh .... not too bad a title for your book;) ;D Nagg