What do I need ?

[sharkcat one]

I am 40 and have been fishing all my life , from big game sport fish- marlin etc. , from beaches , rocks , bottom bashing for snapper to cont. shelf for blue eye cod , but never had the chance to go barra fishing. I have just bought a new bream/bass boat for the bream tournaments and I want to go fishing for barra in 6 weeks time , either mondy or arrawonga .

So I'am pretty sure that I have the lures sorted out , but need some help with choosing what rods, reels, braid and mono I will need.

Like to spend a million dollars but cannot, looking for something in the middle price range .

If anybody can help with some feed back that would be great .

cheers,

[NAGG]

hi sc1

Welcome to the world of impoundment barra ....... you've made a good choice in giving it a go. With a little luck you'll get onto a few fish and experience the IBD ( impoundment barra disorder)
Having a tournament style boat gives you a good start & its very easy to move from bream to bass to barra....... many of us do

OK - Its always difficult to make recommendations without knowing your preference & familiarity with certain tackle ....... fishing for all your life means nothing ( can you use a baitcaster ?) The other is what gear do you already have ? A 2500 size quality spin reel will be able to handle barra & knowing that you are getting into the bream tournaments - there would be a fair chance that you own a 2500 size spin reel. :) - would that be correct ?

Straight up & making some assumptions.

Baitcast outfit - ($600 being middle of the road IMO ) .....
Daiwa Saltist HRF , ABU Revo Inshore or Shimano Curado 200E5 will look after you and all fall under $300 - 30lb braid will suffice (Fins , Berkley Whiplash or Power Pro will do fine without costing an arm or leg)
As for rods ..... & this is a personal choice - I find longer rods (6'6"-7') aid in casting & controlling fish around the boat ...... some good choices here would be Shimano T Curve (6-8kg or 6-10kg) , Pflueger Trion Tournament (5-10kg) , Nitro dominator extreme barra or Daiwa Advantage 10-20lb ...... prices range from low $130s - $300ish.
Another notable rod would be the Egrells B6-L (if budget allows)


Also as you have time up your sleeve consider buying from overseas & you could upgrade the reels to a Daiwa Zillion or Shimano Chronarch ....... and while shipping costs on single rods are relatively high - you could still look at a Loomis Crankbait CBR785 or one of the many other heavier US bass rods (Lucky Craft , Kistler etc) ....... you'll up the ante but still pay the same coin.

leader - for me its Schneider Klear (mono) 55lb (0.8mm).

Anyhow ..... that's it for baitcast gear , let us know what your spin situation is :P

Cheers

Chris

[sharkcat one]

Thanks for the reply Nagg

I didn't think I could use such light gear.

Answer to your question NO I haven't mastered the bait caster yet , so I,m still using spin .
I have allready 4 x 2500 shimano twin power reels
and I allready have 2 x t-curve 5-10kg rods.

I just thought that these were a bit light .

Just need the braid.

thanks heaps for your help, might see you out there?

cheers,

[BR65]

Nice summary Naggles, although I prefer the smaller 5'6" sticks for casting hard bods into the timber my self, and the longer sticks for hoiking soft placs at more open water. The longest B.C.stick I use is 6'3" (Loomis CBR 756 Crank Bait series).
If you want to ship in, have a look at the GLoomis Superstore site in the US, very good.

[NAGG]

Thanks for the reply Nagg

I didn't think I could use such light gear.

Answer to your question NO I haven't mastered the bait caster yet , so I,m still using spin .
I have allready 4 x 2500 shimano twin power reels
and I allready have 2 x t-curve 5-10kg rods.

I just thought that these were a bit light .

Just need the braid.

thanks heaps for your help, might see you out there?

cheers,

I every now & then use my 2500 Daiwa Caldia which would be of a similar size to a 2500 Twin power .......... spool it up with 20 or 30lb braid & you are fishing.:)

While not the ideal barra spin set up ...... it will work for the occasional trip - you wont be muscling barra with this gear but in open water all should be good & if you are in the timber ......... just back off & chase the fish ( both Mondy & Awoonga have lots of good open water now.

Chris

[NAGG]

Nice summary Naggles, although I prefer the smaller 5'6" sticks for casting hard bods into the timber my self, and the longer sticks for hoiking soft placs at more open water. The longest B.C.stick I use is 6'3" (Loomis CBR 756 Crank Bait series).
If you want to ship in, have a look at the GLoomis Superstore site in the US, very good.

I know what you mean about the shorter rod in the timber ..... I started off that way as well but progressed through to 6'3"-6'6" for my Hardbody stuff. The trouble with such short rods is that it is difficult to find a taper that has lower down grunt but a user friendly tip - for instance my Pflueger Medalist (6'3") doesn't work a X Rap XR12 as well as the 6'6" 451 Samurai ........... but its a personal thing ::)

Chris