Barra - R We missing something

[NAGG]

Hi IBD Sufferers

I've always liked reading every-ones barra reports ...... be it doughnuts or Homers .... Its all good & adds to my knowledge

However ....... I do notice that many do not start till late & finish early ...... I call them office hours (9am-5pm)

Now while I know that Mr & Mrs Mundi can & does show himself at any hour of the day ( so don't lambaste me on it;D ) ....... Why are you all not fishing what I call the witching hours .... Sunrise & Sunset :o These are known piscatorial feeding periods ..... where you will find fish in a lower level of alertness & usually actively feeding!
This is just an observation ...... but one that perplexes me when it refers to a travelling angler ........ where time is precious ! Ignore the locals that can fish anytime they wish ... if conditions are perfect! ........ Lucky buggers

I'm curious to hear your thoughts

Cheers

Nagg

[Barraboss]

Chris,

Let's get honest straight up. I am a voyuer at heart and like to watch:P There is nothing better than seeing the lure land, twitch and then get smashed right in front of you.......

In all honesty, for me I can read the water better during the day. I am, slowly over the last 12 months, starting to pick up in a few "tell tale" signs that only daylight hours, or prior knowledge can produce. By no ways am I a gun angler that can pick it everyday, so I have to learn from each trip, success or donut, whatever it may be, as long as I learn from that trip and put it in the memory banks for another time to hopefully increase my chances "next time".

This will be a test during our ABT on-slaught, but I promise to memorize likely looking spots (hehe) for the evening and night time comps::)

But when living only an hour from Tinaroo a sleep in is quite nice during the "cold" winter Tinaroo is not known for;D

Cheers
Matt

[Dick Pasfield]

Data from 140 captures over the past 15 months

73 captures of a night, or 2.1 fish average/trip

22 of a day, or .7 fish average/trip

45 at dusk/dawn or .8 fish average/trip.

Interestingly when you pull the metre plus fish out for examination the figures skew a bit. Having said that the sample pool of 44 is a lot less than the overall amount

18 captures of a night, or .6 fish average/trip

16 of a day, or .4 fish average/trip

10 at dusk/dawn or .2 fish average/trip.


No tidal influence as all the fish were caught in the freshwater section of the Ord.
Other factors that stick out like dogs balls is the influence of the moon. i.e the stats on big barra go up to 1.2 fish average/trip of a night from full moon to last quarter compared to none caught during the night or the dusk dawn period of the last quarter to new moon, the only large fish to come from this period were during the day at .3 fish average/trip.

It appears to me that large fish do keep somewhat different timetables to smaller fish but overall night time and moonlight are a good combination for barra fishing.

Further to this (not checked the stats yet but this'd be a good guess). Comparing the days Friday Saturday and Sunday (my regular fishing days/nights) I bet Friday comes out the best day of all.

So Friday night on a full moon you know where I'll be;)

[TonyM]

Hi Chris,

In the warmer months surface fishing for Barra around dawn/dusk would have to be my favourite. And on a moonlit night - it's a bit tricky on a new moon but very exciting casting towards the boofs you hear coming from out of the pitch black, sucks when you figure out you've cast onto the bank though :-/


When it gets colder I don't normally fish until later in the day - gentlemans hours from 10ish to mid/late afternoon.

This is for 2 reasons
1. It's cold and I don't want to get out of bed :-[

2. It's cold and the water has generally had a chance to warm up in certain areas (windward bays etc) a little by then and seems to be more productive.


My 2c worth ;D

Cheers
Tony

edit: p.s. You mentioned sunup/down as piscatorial feeding hours - don't forget moon times - my absolute favourite is when moon o/head or underfoot coincides with sun rise/set ;)

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

Here is a quick point.
The main key variable- weather conditions during any day is the strong governing key. It dictates whether or not fish will feed on dawn/dusk/ moon up/ down, lunch time etc etc. The most consistent and predictable fishing comes during gentleman hours of the day. eg, daylight, why- because it offers more varying natural triggers to activate fish. (Here is where you have to think- it's the whole basis of my idea to get anglers in thought mode.) Barra will feed best at different times each day, governed by the main generator of weather and its follow on effect into a lake. Peaks and troughs occur all day- good times and hard times. The next day they may be similar if weather is similar but they become altered as soon as the conditions stray. To head out for a dusk session may see you on the tail end of a great day's fishing. The best may be over- this is why it is extremely difficult to say anything simple about impoundments. Complex, yes, cryptic, extremely.

As Barraboss says, the water is more readable by day, its clarity, the current flows and wind lanes are more vivid. Dawn and Dusk Hot bite periods happen far less than many hope for. Quite often the best angling doesn't start until dawn is over and the best is well and truely over before the sun gets too low. Exceptions yes, (less pressured lakes and fish)-but on a 365 day scale, the hot dawn/dusk bite is far from even being close to true.
In the dead of night, another chapter begins. A whole new world opens an reasons why explode once again.
JM

[NAGG]

Chris,

Let's get honest straight up. I am a voyuer at heart and like to watch:P There is nothing better than seeing the lure land, twitch and then get smashed right in front of you.......

In all honesty, for me I can read the water better during the day. I am, slowly over the last 12 months, starting to pick up in a few "tell tale" signs that only daylight hours, or prior knowledge can produce. By no ways am I a gun angler that can pick it everyday, so I have to learn from each trip, success or donut, whatever it may be, as long as I learn from that trip and put it in the memory banks for another time to hopefully increase my chances "next time".

This will be a test during our ABT on-slaught, but I promise to memorize likely looking spots (hehe) for the evening and night time comps::)

But when living only an hour from Tinaroo a sleep in is quite nice during the "cold" winter Tinaroo is not known for;D

Cheers
Matt

Hey Matt
Typical locals response::) ;D
Like when I go breamin local ...... Monday I was on the water at 11am
My question is really about those that travel great distances ...... & miss a period that to my way of thinking ..... & limited experience has lead to good fish.

On the ABT front ...... That tour will really make us all get out of our comfort zones...... Its going to be exhaustive to say the least ........ but it should be a cracker8-)

Cheers

Chris

[NAGG]

Data from 140 captures over the past 15 months

73 captures of a night, or 2.1 fish average/trip

22 of a day, or .7 fish average/trip

45 at dusk/dawn or .8 fish average/trip.

Interestingly when you pull the metre plus fish out for examination the figures skew a bit. Having said that the sample pool of 44 is a lot less than the overall amount

18 captures of a night, or .6 fish average/trip

16 of a day, or .4 fish average/trip

10 at dusk/dawn or .2 fish average/trip.


No tidal influence as all the fish were caught in the freshwater section of the Ord.
Other factors that stick out like dogs balls is the influence of the moon. i.e the stats on big barra go up to 1.2 fish average/trip of a night from full moon to last quarter compared to none caught during the night or the dusk dawn period of the last quarter to new moon, the only large fish to come from this period were during the day at .3 fish average/trip.

It appears to me that large fish do keep somewhat different timetables to smaller fish but overall night time and moonlight are a good combination for barra fishing.

Further to this (not checked the stats yet but this'd be a good guess). Comparing the days Friday Saturday and Sunday (my regular fishing days/nights) I bet Friday comes out the best day of all.

So Friday night on a full moon you know where I'll be;)

Thanks Dick

Interesting stats there

Nagg

[BR65]

dont look at me, I luuuuurve fishing by headlamp pre dawn, big boofs in the dark, gettin crunched out of no where, and of course not to mention plenty of space to park at the ramp,yee ha

[NAGG]

dont look at me, I luuuuurve fishing by headlamp pre dawn, big boofs in the dark, gettin crunched out of no where, and of course not to mention plenty of space to park at the ramp,yee ha

Brian ... The finger will never be pointed at you ::) You're the guy that goes out & wakes the barra up ;D
You fish .... How I like to fish ( the lunatics way!)

cheers

Chris

GO THE BLUES !

[BARRAkid]

never fished a common barra dam in the dark :-/ but will be when i take my boat up.
I have never caught a monduran,awonga,tinaroo or any other well know dam barra :'(
But i have fished local secretly stocked dams and have caught quite alot of barra day and night.
I don't like getting out of bed when its cold but i have no trouble to when i have travelled and i know there is a heap of barra to be caught.
I like both day and night barra fishing but surface fishing at night land based would be my favourite when you see a big v ripple following your lure in the moon light and the fish hits your lure off the surface at your feet its great have had to check my jocks quite a few times when that happins ;D

[eotbmg]

Hey Nagg
I always fish the hours you are talking about. 3-11am then out later 3-10pm or so during the summer months. The more hours the more chances. I always chuckle at the blokes who are retrieving their boats just before dark, prime time-maybe they are allergic to the night?????? I have just done the winter trip mind you and fished completeely different hours to those above and was out of sorts fishing the gentlemens hours. Bring back summer!!!!
Cheers
Ben

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

I always chuckle at the blokes who are retrieving their boats just before dark, prime time-maybe they are allergic to the night??????

The main key variable- weather conditions during any day is the strong governing key. It dictates whether or not fish will feed on dawn/dusk/ moon up/ down, lunch time etc etc. The most consistent and predictable fishing comes during gentleman hours of the day. eg, daylight, why- because it offers more varying natural triggers to activate fish. (Here is where you have to think- it's the whole basis of my idea to get anglers in thought mode.) Barra will feed best at different times each day, governed by the main generator of weather and its follow on effect into a lake. Peaks and troughs occur all day- good times and hard times. The next day they may be similar if weather is similar but they become altered as soon as the conditions stray. To head out for a dusk session may see you on the tail end of a great day's fishing. The best may be over- this is why it is extremely difficult to say anything simple about impoundments. Complex, yes, cryptic, extremely.
Ben,
The reasoning of me sticking my head on the chopping block is to try to expand the world of barra anglers. The above post needs to be absorbed,,,and accepted if anglers want to expand their world. If these things go unnoticed it's a total waste of ink and a waste of a total of my 33 yrs worth of salt and freshwater barra angling. I've kept quiet on here for almost two years, but I'd really like to see a big advancement in barra angling knowledge and thought processes for interested anglers from here on in. We can all advance years ahead. I'm willing if anglers are keen to grow. Australia needs a boost.
Catch up one day.
Johnny

[Roo]

clearly I am not the sharpest tool in the shed. Would someone please translate for me.Speak slowly and loudly(like my High school Physics teacher) if it helps.
thankyou.
Roo.

[TonyM]

clearly I am not the sharpest tool in the shed. Would someone please translate for me.Speak slowly and loudly(like my High school Physics teacher) if it helps.
thankyou.
Roo.



hehe

Roo, I think what Johnny is saying is that we need to thimk more ;D Either that or we need to fish more - the latter sounds less painfull so I'll give that a go :D

[STUIE63]

Chris the barra in my dam I never hear them boofing during the day they only boof from 1 hour before dusk into the night . I don't live there yet so don't know too much about early in the morning or late at night . just my thoughts I too laugh as I come home at 10 in the morning at all the boats heading out at bankers hours or coming home when I am heading out at 5 in the evening
Stuie

[shaynes_god]

firstly good topic and one that alot of those anglers just starting out on can learn from. i used to live in darwin and we would travel down to the daly river (3.5 hr drive) we would get there about 230, 3 in the arvo and travel the 45 min to 1hr up the river to our spots. once we got there we always saw boats packing up and heading back and when we asked them how they did almost always they said it was slow only two or three fish for the day. but we stayed and fished the sundown till about 2 or 3 in the morning depending what the tide was doing (you need a gps to dodge the snags on the way home and goggles for the bugs). but we'd get 30 or 40 fish a night. always better on a full moon and a big tide. and isn't fishing with poppers and fizzers so much more fun. "boof, f#@k what was that?, s#@t i'm on". that is the way fish. But that isn't to say we didn't catch fish during the day. we had to scout spots out during the day then come back at night to find that they were on fire. no one will ever know how barra think every area the fish seem to be different in little ways but fishing both day and night will tell which one is best.
cheers shayne

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

Those interested- maybe you can read this and wonder how awesome twilight really is,,,,or isn't?
90% of my charters are over well before dusk! Coincidence, or are we just scared of the fading light??
FISHING VARIABLES
Where do we start? In a barramundi lake there is a list of endless variables that effect the fishing. Anything from wind direction, air temperature, water temperature, water clarity, water flow such as current direction and intensity, rising or falling water levels, water chemistry such as oxygen levels, aquatic plant life density and condition, cloud cover, moon phase and position, barometer, sunlight intensity and so on and so on. Boating pressure and human interaction list highly as well, natural variables such as food supplies and baitfish feeding frenzies, bird life movements and here we go again on another list that will never stop. Barramundi fishing, well most kinds of fishing actually rely heavily on many variables to come together to help form successful combinations. For example- A lake full of big barra is useless if oxygen levels are low and plants are decaying and water temperatures are dramatically dropping. That's a bad scenario. On the other end of the stick a lake with flourishing weedbanks and oxygen rich waters, warm sunny days, darkened water clarity, constant winds and favourable currents can create ideal fishy circumstances. On their own not one variable will bring results. There needs to be an alignment of several to get things happening. "You can't bake a cake without all the main ingredients", this rings so true. Good combinations can mean success, but without one of the key variables, a combination is as useless as a bad hand in a poker game. Each day Mother Nature deals you a list of variables that align. Some are favourable, some are certainly not. You can only work with what you have, same as the card game. A good hand is a good day. As a day rolls on variables can change, and in turn so can the fishing. It can improve or sadly get worse. Cloud cover can block out the sun, winds can drop off or increase, temperatures can take a dive or a rise. A roller Coaster ride no doubt about it.
We need to deal with the fact that lakes are changing worlds and idealic conditions basically align when they do. Some days this may be at 8-11 am, other times it might be 12-1 pm or even 3-4 am when we are sleeping, and suprisingly enough it may give us a window of opportunity that may only last twenty minutes, or less. There are no best times to fish barra lakes that can be read off a clock face or a lunar phase chart. None of those magical lunar charts take above mentioned variables into the equation. Moon phases, hours of the day, sun rises and sets and water temperature movements are all variables that over time will mesh with more variables that assist or reduce your chances. There is good and bad every day. Some variables align sweetly and the timing of these can see barra change into a feeding mode at the drop of a hat. Feed time can be stopped also by variables that change. Other days variables align to a point where one more trigger is required. It can hang in the balance. A wind shift can make or break you. So next time you are on the water take note of as many variables as you can and write a diary on your findings. After a long while you will discover that simple guess work on when and why is way off track and in time you will better understand what drives fish in lakes and in oceans. I bet we have all gone back to a favourite productive spot the next day and caught nothing. What changed?
I bet you can write a very long list, but only if you were paying attention to fine detail.
Johnny

[eotbmg]

I always chuckle at the blokes who are retrieving their boats just before dark, prime time-maybe they are allergic to the night??????

The main key variable- weather conditions during any day is the strong governing key. It dictates whether or not fish will feed on dawn/dusk/ moon up/ down, lunch time etc etc. The most consistent and predictable fishing comes during gentleman hours of the day. eg, daylight, why- because it offers more varying natural triggers to activate fish. (Here is where you have to think- it's the whole basis of my idea to get anglers in thought mode.) Barra will feed best at different times each day, governed by the main generator of weather and its follow on effect into a lake. Peaks and troughs occur all day- good times and hard times. The next day they may be similar if weather is similar but they become altered as soon as the conditions stray. To head out for a dusk session may see you on the tail end of a great day's fishing. The best may be over- this is why it is extremely difficult to say anything simple about impoundments. Complex, yes, cryptic, extremely.
Ben,
The reasoning of me sticking my head on the chopping block is to try to expand the world of barra anglers. The above post needs to be absorbed,,,and accepted if anglers want to expand their world. If these things go unnoticed it's a total waste of ink and a waste of a total of my 33 yrs worth of salt and freshwater barra angling. I've kept quiet on here for almost two years, but I'd really like to see a big advancement in barra angling knowledge and thought processes for interested anglers from here on in. We can all advance years ahead. I'm willing if anglers are keen to grow. Australia needs a boost.
Catch up one day.
Johnny

Thanks Johnny, Great to have you back on here giving us an insight on how the gun barra fishermen do it!
The reason for my above post is because of MY personal experiences of barra fishing, i am not saying it's the right thing to do but the twylight dawn and dawn period is the times where I have caught most barra. If there are theories and thoughts out there that prove me wrong i am willling to accept that and try other things to disprove MY theories. We all have different opinions thats what keeps us individuals i suppose. I think Brian [BR65] said it - that we [average joe] just dont spend that much time on any dam [ mine was 32 from October to June] Not much to crack any pattern or prove or disprove any theories. So any input from you guys who live there is treated like gold!!!!!!!
As I said before mate, great to have you back and giving us the input we love.
Cheers
Ben

[Tropicaltrout]

Gee I don't know up early out till late just love being on the water, if it wasn't for my eye lids I would stay out there. :stunned:

I think that the barra will feed at different intervals through out the day and night I usally get up head to the sticks and fish ther till dark and putt back and have a flick in the closer bays towards the ramp or may even troll into the ramp depends on how hungry I am;)

Cheers Nath

[BR65]

Personally Im lookin forward to young Benjamin showing me the finer art of nite time surface fishin.
I usually pull the pin round sun down, not for any other reason than Ive been standing up the bow of that flippin tinny for over 12 hours casting like a demon, Im stuffed, sun burnt, hungry and I badly need to indulge my obsession with black cans - cant think of a better way to spend a day on the water.
So much to to factor in to turn one fish in the net into 10

[eotbmg]

Personally Im lookin forward to young Benjamin showing me the finer art of nite time surface fishin.
I usually pull the pin round sun down, not for any other reason than Ive been standing up the bow of that flippin tinny for over 12 hours casting like a demon, Im stuffed, sun burnt, hungry and I badly need to indulge my obsession with black cans - cant think of a better way to spend a day on the water.
So much to to factor in to turn one fish in the net into 10

Brian
I have a plan. Jump in my tinny, you grab the black cans and have a couple of drinks and i will drive and hopefully put us both on to a couple of silvers! On poppers of course. Found some great new ground while we were catching a cold, shallow weedy, similar to the back of Dingo at Awoonga, where my night time addiction started!!!!!!!
Ben

[Dick Pasfield]

Where do we start? In a barramundi lake there is a list of endless variables that effect the fishing.

(ditto for rivers, tidal and non tidal as you'd expect). Meaning that not a single strategy applies to all the variables, the greater number of options you arm yourself with the greater the chance of success. Often anglers are reluctant to move away from their strengths in order to coax stubborn fish.

Having said that, nothing betters being on the spot when that 20 minutes goes off and being able to say "I knew that was going to happen!" :)