To catch Mondy Barra, feed them a budgie

[The BeaR]

Hi All…
Took a break and had a run around Monduran for a change.
Left the boat ramp at 5:00am on Thurs morning and decided to go and look at some of the points up in B arm. This was a starting point for Deb and I as we hadn’t been up there for a while and seeing though it had been successful for the trollers lately, it was worth a shot.
Pulled up on one point, there was a lot of bait on the sounder and a lot of bait fish flicking on the surface. This was all great except the Barra forgot to show up. Moved onto the next point, same thing; bait on the sounder bait flicking on the surface, but again, no Barra. This continued for the rest of the day with the only result being 2 hits for no fish, not even a catfish. The one thing I did notice was the amount of boats on the water for this time of year and time of week. It really has become a popular place to go, and it certainly does seem to impact on the fishing.
Come Friday morning, seeing though we only had half a day to fish, the plan was to find some place that had all the right water conditions without the constant boat traffic, so we went looking for such a place. Just so happens, we managed to find a little bay that had everything that I was looking for. A lot of timber, water depth around 10-12ft that we sat the boat in, and due to the fact that this time I was using my B6-L, a 6’10” rod in the bear range and Deb with her S10 BeaR casting 110mm slick rigs, meant we were able to sit the boat a good distance off the bank. And as always, as long as there is plenty of food for them, you’re in with as much chance as anywhere else. One thing about this little spot, every boat that come up the lake, went straight past and didn’t even look like coming in. So this was the place I was looking for.
The lure that was responsible for the fish caught was a 110mm squidgy slick rig in Lorikeet (aka the Budgie)used as a last resort, as none of the others seemed to have been luring them in. Using the longer rods enabled me to make much longer casts, keeping the lure in the water for a greater length of time. The retrieve was just a straight retrieve at a moderate pace.
One thing I did do differently to the lure this time, was instead of trimming the tail out with scissors, I took a hole punch and punched four holes through the tail. This actually put a lot of little hinge points along the length of the tail, and in my opinion, gave the tail a lot more action.
As for the fishing, I managed 3 small fish, between 60 and 80cm, which is always good to see for the times to come. Had two more fish throw the lure at the side of the boat, put another metre fish in the boat and had one large specimen pop my 50lb braid in a straight pull. This wasn’t at any of the connections; she actually popped it about 10mtrs up the braid.
All of these fish were caught between 10am and 12pm on the budgie.
Eric&Deb…

[WestOzDesertFisher]

Good stuff guys, been waitin on a good report. that's a very cool lookin squidgy :P Can i ask what camera you use? Great pics and great report!

Damo

[rc@hinze]

Thanks for the report guys.Wondering when we would be hearing from you both again as you usually find the fish.Thats a good two hour session you finally got to have. Lots of post lately mentioning the issue of boat traffic and its effects on the fishing. Also thanks for the info on the mod to the slick rig.Great idea using the hole punch. You just started a new trend! - cheers Richard

[NAGG]

Good stuff there Eric ........ Love em or loath em - those lorikeets catch barra.

cheers

Chris

PS ...... nice work with the hole punch

[nipsta]

well done eric and deb nice seesion with a good pattern that work to boot nice job

[Horse]

Thats a great idea with the hole punch Eric. I will certainly have a play around with it on a few other lures I have

[robersl]

ok i must be missing something his story comes up blank on my comp but i see all your responses

shane

[Barraboss]

Eric,

Thanks for report. The budgie has been going well for me as well up here at Tinaroo. And yes, one lorikeet (modified) tied onto your S10 that I got from you nailed a 117 today quite nicely.

Thanks
Matt

[The BeaR]

Thanks for the replies all.
WODF: The camera used is an Canon EOS digital slr.
Just a little more info about the modifications, I boil all of my plastics before I go just like a lot of the guys on here, I also put them into plastic proof containers which helps keep the tails straight as I have found putting them back in the packets, they just buckle up again. I took the hole punch with me and started with two holes, then three, then I put the fourth one in. Casting and retrieving the lure at each stage found four holes really loosened the tail up and gave the best body roll at slow retrieves.
Hi Matt...Awesome effort on the budgie. A 117 is a great fish indeed.

Eric&Deb...

[Peter4]

Nice work Eric & Deb and a great tip on the hole punch for softies....

Interesting that the bite period was between 10.00am and 12.00pm - usually a slow time for us...

You did well considering there were probably a heap of people fishin leading up to tomorrow's full moon. Quiet water is what it's all about.

We will be there this Sunday for a few days of peace and quiet (we hope!)....

Great pics also...

Regs

Pete & Kyle

[SeekingBarradise]

Well done Eric & Deb a great report.

Good to see you are having fun tinkering with tackle etc. There are a lot of good actions getting around on plastics these days that don't need any mods to them. It's great to see we are getting better and better plastics in Oz each month. Lot's of Barra lollies for everyone to stock up on.

Good boating observations Eric & Deb. A few of us on the last trip noticed the barra went quiet for 20mins or fled the shallows when a few boats went past. Some of this happened when the boats were ages away just coming in to B-Arm. The barra heard them a long way off. We had noticed all the above in Awoonga a while ago as i'm sure many on here have. Now we have noticed it a bit more in Monduran.

It will be interesting to see the day that Monduran fish get like Awoonga's. I reckon those long casts will be even more important. Keeping people away from where you are fishing will become more important too.

Maybe hold up signs like the golf crowd control guys do. Instead of holding up "Quiet", we might have to hold up "Stay Hundreds of Metres Away & Be Quiet".
If that doesn't work just police tape up the whole area for yourself.....

Again thanks for the report they are always enjoyable to read. It's good to see you 2 got on to some fish in a short trip. Well done.
Cheers Lyndon.

[Frank OO]

Hi Eric, Deb,

It is good to see you guys getting out and away from building rods, especially now that my new "Bear Metal" has been completed.

I must congratulate you on always sharing all your new ideas and information with everybody. It is just another indication to prove that you are both kind and generous people. A lot of other people could learn from you.

Thanks for the photos Deb. The Canon looks like it is working well.

Frank OO

[robersl]

Well done Eric & Deb a great report.

Good to see you are having fun tinkering with tackle etc. There are a lot of good actions getting around on plastics these days that don't need any mods to them. It's great to see we are getting better and better plastics in Oz each month. Lot's of Barra lollies for everyone to stock up on.

Good boating observations Eric & Deb. A few of us on the last trip noticed the barra went quiet for 20mins or fled the shallows when a few boats went past. Some of this happened when the boats were ages away just coming in to B-Arm. The barra heard them a long way off. We had noticed all the above in Awoonga a while ago as i'm sure many on here have. Now we have noticed it a bit more in Monduran.

It will be interesting to see the day that Monduran fish get like Awoonga's. I reckon those long casts will be even more important. Keeping people away from where you are fishing will become more important too.

Maybe hold up signs like the golf crowd control guys do. Instead of holding up "Quiet", we might have to hold up "Stay Hundreds of Metres Away & Be Quiet".
If that doesn't work just police tape up the whole area for yourself.....

Again thanks for the report they are always enjoyable to read. It's good to see you 2 got on to some fish in a short trip. Well done.
Cheers Lyndon.

Hi Lyndon do you think this is just a dam thing about the fish going quite i reg fish the rivers up north every year and the boat traffic does not seem to worry them as there are always up to 10 boats in a conga line trolling past even if you are stationary and chucking plastics you would think the dam barra would get use to the noise

shane

[SeekingBarradise]

Hi Shane i hope Deb & Eric don't mind me posting on their thread. I reckon E&D could add to your interesting question mate. I have pm'd E&D.

Harro has seen lake Barra take off out of a bay after moving the electric.
Yet Taylors have caught Barra jigging over them with a running motor.

Taylors have been seen cutting the motor out of respect for another boat on the lake 500m out last year - i think it was Steve that saw this. They are even carefull with their steps on the boat - they laughted when i called noisy feet - elephant feet on the Aust Day Mondy Report. They agreed it doesn't help.

A few blokes in the NT rivers have noticed the bite getting tougher when they have a lot of boats on their favourite river.

Shanoe on here had a favourite snag that they pulled a heap of fish off at Monduran. They noticed when a boat went past they caught nothing for about 20mins so they sat down and had High Tea for 15-20mins.

Barra would have to get used to the noise - to a certain extent, but i think everyone on here has watched bites get more tentative after a few days with 100 boats on a lake that's for sure. Barra in the rivers have the opportunity to travel large distances - hundreds of km's if they don't like the area or the pressure that area is under. Lake fish arn't able to travel as far so they would see more boats. Not a lot of river fish would see as many boats as some of our hard fished lakes.

A couple of summers ago Harro noticed the fish went deep for about a week when 170 boats hit the lake 24/7.

Johnny Mitchell is writing about this topic in his other book he has on the go. Findings documented in his long term diary etc. Should be interesting reading.

He added a Personal Space section in Cruisin' The Barra Highways on page 96.
e.g. Stay 100m away from others, hundreds of metres away if possible.
e.g. Boat motors are very good fish scaring machines.

He had quite a lot of info but we had to cram in down to fit in to a smaller book.
I have the notes that didn't make it in to the first book. Some went like this.


JM " I was chasing salt barra and watched a group of them react when there were 3 different sounds put in to the water. The reactions to all 3 sounds were getting more pronounced, and it resulted in barra becoming alarmed and fleeing the area". I'll let JM add the rest of the detail in his future work.

The number 1 thing is that we don't get to see how many barra actually flee the area we are fishing due to the noise we or others make. We may still catch fish, but how many could we have caught if there was no noise. I don't think any of us need to make lake barra fishing any harder by making more noise.

Cheers Lyndon.

[NAGG]

Well done Eric & Deb a great report.

Good to see you are having fun tinkering with tackle etc. There are a lot of good actions getting around on plastics these days that don't need any mods to them. It's great to see we are getting better and better plastics in Oz each month. Lot's of Barra lollies for everyone to stock up on.

Good boating observations Eric & Deb. A few of us on the last trip noticed the barra went quiet for 20mins or fled the shallows when a few boats went past. Some of this happened when the boats were ages away just coming in to B-Arm. The barra heard them a long way off. We had noticed all the above in Awoonga a while ago as i'm sure many on here have. Now we have noticed it a bit more in Monduran.

It will be interesting to see the day that Monduran fish get like Awoonga's. I reckon those long casts will be even more important. Keeping people away from where you are fishing will become more important too.

Maybe hold up signs like the golf crowd control guys do. Instead of holding up "Quiet", we might have to hold up "Stay Hundreds of Metres Away & Be Quiet".
If that doesn't work just police tape up the whole area for yourself.....

Again thanks for the report they are always enjoyable to read. It's good to see you 2 got on to some fish in a short trip. Well done.
Cheers Lyndon.


Hey ...... one of my clients makes the police tape - Might try it ;D ........ I can see it now ........ "B" taped off :P

chris

[Whitto]

Steve wear you work Baseball cap.....They will think your Fisheries;D;D

[shaneoo]

hey guys well done on thinking outside the circle.
Howdy mister Lyndon, mate yes ur right on two different occasions the mad dom and myself have been in that area fishing, and catching fish on both of these times,most times we have noticed the barra to go off once a boat came within 200 mtrs, (esp those noise 2 strokes lol) and shut down for at least 20min. Depending on how close the boat came the fish acted different. I remember one day we had landed 2 barra one over the meter and one just under, a boat must have notice us hooking these fish off this spot and moved within 40mtrs of us, never less to say everything went quiet so we both sat down and didn't bother to fish as the noise there boat made and the noise coming from on the boat just seam to shut everything down. They stayed for about 30min casting right on top of us then left, 30 mins later we landed 2 more barra around the 900 to meter mark. MMM now some how i dont think the mad dom was having a high tea (more like a little corona lol)to wait for the noise to pass or water to settle down and doing his nana, but that can be another topic for the camp fire.
But i do think it is food for thought and i no it is something we keep in the back off our minds when fishing some spots in mondy, as well as all the other elements to take into consideration.
cheers shaneoo

[Steve B]

Steve wear you work Baseball cap.....They will think your Fisheries;D;D

Top idea whitto.!!

I reckon the best idea is to find somewhere else...there is plenty of good unexplored spots in the dam. I have plenty, that i go to and from depending on the crowd....although my form is less than ordinary post ABT....actually including ABT;)

About noise...Foxie and I were fishing a shallow bay one day in winter....no luck. we started the outboard and looked around as you do checking for spooked fish....nothing.....when I clicked the outboard into gear the water erupted with about 10 fish in a small bay where we were casting....different noises...different reactions.....bigfoot feet on the deck, dropped hatches, rods, nets, farts, electric motors.... anything.. is a big spooker from my experience.

Amazing how much you learn in a year....this time last year (or a bit longer) I was sceptical about noise vs fish.....now its a no brainer!!!

Sorry for continuing the hijack.....now its back to the budgie fest Ritchie!;)

Steve

[Tropicaltrout]

Firstly top effort Eric and Deb

yep noise is funny after all I went through a few of diary entries and yeah catch rates went down once traffic went through, in particular a trip I had a few years ago I was fishing water on my own I had a few fish already and a boat came through nothing changed I caught a few more. The next day I fished the same general area but there were boats moving through and the fishing went quieter, It diddn't stop the fish but they were not as active.

Its a hard game we play taking each new scenario in and trying our best to activly alter our method, the basis of fishing since I was a kid was to be quiet and now more then ever I understand that.

The other thing that amazes me is at other time 67 boats trolling around under outboard over the same water and catching plenty of fish?

oh well its alot of fun learning putting all new ideas into practice, I dont think Mondy will wise up as quick as Awoonga but I do think as more fish go in and time goes on they will be boat shy.

Nath

[crab man]

Hey all last time i was at mondy lyndon was also there and i was asking him and JM that same question as nath about how come sheep trollers still catch fish , some even use noisy old 2 strokes !! hmmmm...... few years ago i spent a week at awoonga fishing was harder then hard big se winds cold shitty weather and the last couple of days we just did the whole trolling basin thing and we cought a heap of fish some times even on shallow lures in deep water , just seeming to troll over nothing special cathcing fish crazy stuff , and we were in "stubbie holders" boat ratteing 15year old 2 stroke !!!
Craig

[Big_Ren]

Phew:o I read the title and thought you were treating viewers to a couple of barra pics wearing your DTs Eric;D Nice work mate and top shots Deb.

Cheers
Paul