Fishing the barra dams after the inflows...

[Peter4]

I started this thread to voice my opinion and seek the opinions of others about how the barra dams will fish following the massive inflows that have occurred recently. My views are of Monduran but they do not differ too much for other impoundments...

Disregarding water quality (which will settle down), what do you believe will happen both immediately and over the next six months or so? I think we will have three distinct periods of different barra responses.

Firstly, we suddenly have the same amount of barra and the same amount of bait in dams that now may now have more than three times the amount of water they had previously. This means the bait has more area to spread out, hide and escape predators. The barra will need to hunt further and harder for their meals, thereby expending more energy, increasing their metabolism and therefore needing to feed more often. I think this will result in a 'hot' bite period over the next two months or so until the weather cools down. I will test this theory in April!

The next stage will be the normal winter slowdown. If we have a mild winter (like last year) then I would expect the 'hot' bite period to continue until the bait biomass increases significantly. If it is a cold winter, then I think the bite will taper off until spring but without much in the way of barra kills from the cold because of the deeper water available in all dams now...

By spring I expect the normal impoundment balance to have re-established itself as the bait numbers will have increased and the barra can once again feed more easily (lazily) meaning we will all have to work harder for each capture again...

Just my thoughts...what do you think?

Regs

Pete

[davez104]

Firstly, we suddenly have the same amount of barra and the same amount of bait in dams that now may now have more than three times the amount of water they had previously. This means the bait has more area to spread out, hide and escape predators. The barra will need to hunt further and harder for their meals, thereby expending more energy, increasing their metabolism and therefore needing to feed more often. I think this will result in a 'hot' bite period over the next two months or so until the weather cools down. I will test this theory in April!



I'm no expert, but I think you may be disappointed when the time comes to test your theory. With all the vegetation and extra habitat that is now under water you might find that the baitfish will increase in numbers very rapidly. This will mean some very well fed Barra for quite some time. I reckon it will be the anglers that will have to work harder for their meals for the next little while.

Cheers,
Dave.

[vet]

Same number of barra inthe dam spread over much more water equates in my opinion to being harder to find the fish, therefore more difficult times ahead. Lots of bait for the soon to be released fingerlings to eat so once these fish reach a size in a couple of years then good times again. cheers scott.

[Peter4]

I hope you are both wrong Dave & Scott! I initially had the same thoughts as Scott but now I am not so sure...

Would love to know how long it will take the bait fish (boney bream) to breed up in big numbers....

We will have to wait and see....

[BR65]

I'm no expert, but I think you may be disappointed when the time comes to test your theory. With all the vegetation and extra habitat that is now under water you might find that the baitfish will increase in numbers very rapidly. This will mean some very well fed Barra for quite some time. I reckon it will be the anglers that will have to work harder for their meals for the next little while.

Cheers,
Dave.


Nah Dave, dont agree, and trust me, Im no expert either ;D

Well fed barra equates to active barra hunting for food, we just have to be in the right spot at the right time when they are feeding.

Im scratching my head where to start on the next run, it will be like my first trip up there, a lot of new water and all those trees. Let you all know how it goes in April as well.

Stick with the basics I spose, at least it wont be as crowded.

[fin finder]

im going to awoonga this week end for 4 nights for my 40th i am hoping that they will be on the bite and dont come home with the taste of donut in my mouth gazza

[BR65]

best of luck Dazza, and happy bday mate.
40 is the new 21, so I keep telling my missus!

[BR65]

A little tapering off this week?

[vet]

Hi Pete, the baitfish are already in their billions, the dam is alive with little fish feeding off the top wherever you go. When I drive across the dam at night with the nav lights on little fish are coming out of the water everywhere like spray from the bow. Barra are out boofing on these schools of small fish like a whale shark sucking in krill while other barra are mooching around in 2 foot of water eating everything that's hiding in the grass. The bait is already there, now you have to find the barra.
cheers scott.

[Peter4]

Thanks for that Scott - I intend to search for barra as often as possible over the next few months!

How's Awoonga fishing?

[mylestom]

Peter,

Think it will be a case of spot the well fed barra in amongst all that water and bait.

Anyway will be back up in less than a week. Couple weeks worth of exploring the new dam, lots of ideas. It will be fun, last time it took a few weeks for the water quality to settle properly.

But this time we have a lot more inflow, so will be interesting, depending on the amount of matter covered and flowing in the new levels.

Bit like old time in the NT.


Trev

[Magela]

We will have tons of bait again this year with the inflows, plus with the floodwaters reaching central Australia again no pelicans etc on our lakes to thin them out could be a bit hard for a while. No weedbeds to fish so it's back to the points, the ridges between the islands and lantana.

Cheers Foxie

[BR65]

Lost my first ever Mondy barra fishing the lantana.

My success rate hasnt improved much since then.

[NAGG]

I think the recovery period will be tough at Mondy .. unfortunately we had a fair bit of rain prior to the increase which allowed the countryside vegetation to flourish - then we drowned it all:(:(
...... searching for the best water quality will be the key to success or failure with the areas that receive the benefits of the greatest water movement being the best target areas (imo)- Areas with large open expanses of water where wind wave action on the shore could prove to be gold :P -

I think the weed beds will take a while to establish as air temps begin to fall and we now move into the Autumn / winter period.

How long will this settling in period take ........ my money would be till spring where we will see an explosion in the biomass , new weed edges & plenty of hungry barra on the prowl - Aug/Sept 2010 could be something special :P

Chris

[darylive]

I recon we go up for a week in September to check it out. What do you recon? :-/

Maybe after fathers Day ;)

[themissus]

your an ideas man Daryl

[NAGG]

I recon we go up for a week in September to check it out. What do you recon? :-/

Maybe after fathers Day ;)





8-)MUSTER!!!!8-)

[NAGG]

your an ideas man Daryl


Nice to see that you guys now have home internet8-)

Chris

[themissus]

Nice to see that you guys now have home internet8-)

Chris

I'm out there jerry and loving every mintute of it!!!!;)


These bunnies are freakin me out....are they evil or what?

[Whitto]

I recon we go up for a week in September to check it out. What do you recon? :-/

Maybe after fathers Day ;)

"Crikey" I think your onto something Daryl.......How good is this, Chris has come up with a name as well.....Hang on how about we call it " The Mondy Muster" I think it could catch on;D

[NAGG]

"Crikey" I think your onto something Daryl.......How good is this, Chris has come up with a name as well.....Hang on how about we call it " The Mondy Muster" I think it could catch on;D


do you think :-/ Would people really want to try and catch barra - followed by sitting around a fire with like minded fishoes , sharing a yarn , a roast & a few bevies :-/

we could always give it a try

Chris

[Whitto]

do you think :-/ Would people really want to try and catch barra - followed by sitting around a fire with like minded fishoes , sharing a yarn , a roast & a few bevies :-/

we could always give it a try

Chris

Nah!!!!!! Ya right it will never work, what was I thinking::)......Sorry Pete we digress.......This is a very good thread, and to be honest I don't know what to think other than I would certainly continue to fish in all the Spot X's with the option of a lot of new water to investigate......It really is a new ball game:o

[rc@hinze]

Pete, this is a good question and I have been thinking about it a lot ever since the dams started filling. First of all, as others have said, there is a lot more water but basically the same amount of Barra. Therefore there is alot more areas for them to hide/live/travel in.

But should it make a lot of difference to how we find Barra? Sure there is going to be more water to cover and more choices. We have always mentioned on this forum that the things that we looking for are more to do with nature. Wind, current, water temp, oxygen levels, surrounding animal life, etc. These are there whether the dams are high or not.

Its probably now time where we will need to hone in on more on these aspects regarding mother nature to find our Barra. These things we intellectually know about but may find hard to do. Personally, I am lousy at it and don’t fully understand how to do it either.

The dams may be nearly full but there are still points, bays, ridges, shallow areas and drop offs etc. Using our sounders, and exploring these places, will educate us on our beloved “new” impoundments. We will recognize and find new locations that we will feel comfortable about and we will believe they hold Barra at times. Add the mother nature factor and we might just catch fish there.

Also there are “highways”, channels, creekbeds that the barra have used and will continue to use. Also some new ones will become evident. At times these may become locations where we will be able to find roaming fish.

There is still also bait and we believe the fish follow and hang around the bait. So while lots of things like the banks and topography of the dams have changed, some things haven’t.

I think the biggest issue we have is that we tend to fish “spots” more than these other factors. Our “spots” are all gone ( actually under meters of water) so where do we go! It is sad and frustrating to loose our spots. Like a tying on a confidence lure, we had our confidence spots. In time we will find new spots that will resemble our old favorites. I have never frequented Awoonga and Monduran enough to really have any spots so it won’t worry me too much. Might just need to carry more fuel for the extra water I will have to cover though!

So, many things have changed but some die hard facts haven’t. Ideally our fishing shouldn’t be built on the foundation of “spots” but on understanding the foundations of finding fish which may lead us to new spots that will be on sometimes and not others. Maybe we should ask ourselves “what made our spots the confidence areas they were”, and use this knowledge to fish new locations with similar characteristics. I suppose we should focus on the things we know have worked in the past and ideally combine it with the nature factor - but its easier said than done and I still don’t understand how it all comes together!

Anyway that’s my two bobs worth, - cheers Richard

[Steve B]

Pete, this is a good question and I have been thinking about it a lot ever since the dams started filling. First of all, as others have said, there is a lot more water but basically the same amount of Barra. Therefore there is alot more areas for them to hide/live/travel in.

But should it make a lot of difference to how we find Barra? Sure there is going to be more water to cover and more choices. We have always mentioned on this forum that the things that we looking for are more to do with nature. Wind, current, water temp, oxygen levels, surrounding animal life, etc. These are there whether the dams are high or not.

Its probably now time where we will need to hone in on more on these aspects regarding mother nature to find our Barra. These things we intellectually know about but may find hard to do. Personally, I am lousy at it and don’t fully understand how to do it either.

The dams may be nearly full but there are still points, bays, ridges, shallow areas and drop offs etc. Using our sounders, and exploring these places, will educate us on our beloved “new” impoundments. We will recognize and find new locations that we will feel comfortable about and we will believe they hold Barra at times. Add the mother nature factor and we might just catch fish there.

Also there are “highways”, channels, creekbeds that the barra have used and will continue to use. Also some new ones will become evident. At times these may become locations where we will be able to find roaming fish.

There is still also bait and we believe the fish follow and hang around the bait. So while lots of things like the banks and topography of the dams have changed, some things haven’t.

I think the biggest issue we have is that we tend to fish “spots” more than these other factors. Our “spots” are all gone ( actually under meters of water) so where do we go! It is sad and frustrating to loose our spots. Like a tying on a confidence lure, we had our confidence spots. In time we will find new spots that will resemble our old favorites. I have never frequented Awoonga and Monduran enough to really have any spots so it won’t worry me too much. Might just need to carry more fuel for the extra water I will have to cover though!

So, many things have changed but some die hard facts haven’t. Ideally our fishing shouldn’t be built on the foundation of “spots” but on understanding the foundations of finding fish which may lead us to new spots that will be on sometimes and not others. Maybe we should ask ourselves “what made our spots the confidence areas they were”, and use this knowledge to fish new locations with similar characteristics. I suppose we should focus on the things we know have worked in the past and ideally combine it with the nature factor - but its easier said than done and I still don’t understand how it all comes together!

Anyway that’s my two bobs worth, - cheers Richard


extremely well written Richard!!!

your two bobs worth is pretty much spot on mate in my eyes.

Cheers Steve:tekst-toppie:

[NAGG]

Yeh , I'm with Steve ...... Well written Richard 8-)

sadly ..... it will be all about trying to unlock a pattern , find fish ....in new locations. Prevailing conditions will be our beacon - I say sadly , because there is no , I'll just go to point X at sunset ...... because I know I can catch a barra there:'( ........ places like pepper , bent tree , no secret , naggs , producer , rainbow . "north B" etc .... some will no doubt continue to live up to their past glory! - though ..... could be a few pastry sessions ahead ::)

Chris

[BR65]

same ingrediants, differant cake I reckon.
Mite just take a while to find the spots that settle and hold those same "ingrediants', but then its game on again.