"Elephant Gun" for Awwonga

[ShnogDog]

I Will be one of the many heading to Awoonga in Oct. I Have a 6-10kg Shimano Barra Raider with a citica 200D. I imagine this will be sufficient most of the time, however, I'm wondering if I should take the "Elephant Gun" Live Fibre Black Bass Rod? I've never fished for these impoundment barra before, and can only go by what I've read etc. I would like to have some chance in heavily timbered country with big fish. The Black Bass rod is matched to a Abu 7000c and will certainly bring some firepower to bear, but is it overkill or maybe advantageous?

Mark

[davez104]

I would take it with anyway. A mate of mine uses an ABU 7000 lever drag for barra and swears by it. As long as the rod is ok for casting it will be allright. If your trolling it won't matter.

Dave.

[ShnogDog]

It should be OK to cast, just not for extended periods. Will probably take it to avoid the scenario of... being blown away and wishing I had that Elephant Gun...

[ele-phrez]

give it a go it can't hirt

[Big_Ren]

Gidday Mark

It's well worth taking it, but I wouldn't be using it casting in the timber. Mine is teamed to a Black Sheep 300 and I tried casting it in Monduran earlier this year and it was just too much hard work . For a start, with the length of the butt section you'll find that you will be casting two-handed and it definitely becomes tiring.

I totally agree with you that you would not be able to cast with this 20kg brute of a stick for extended periods. Navi (Black Sheep) and I probably lasted 2-3 minutes each.....not a helluva long time in the context of making 800-1000+ casts each day.

Navi would no doubt agree that some of those big mammas will dictate the terms to you no matter what you're holding onto and blow you away in the blink of an eye .

My personal view is that I much more enjoyed the heart-stopping smash and run action using more conventional barra outfits (Luna 203 + Redington stick) than bringing in the elephant gun. As you would know, it is a fairly stiff blank from butt to tip and it really takes every bit of the finesse out of this type of "tight cover" fishing.

FWIW I'm taking my "elephant gun" to Awoonga in October but it will only come out to play when we are trolling and getting some respite from the rigours of casting .

Good luck. Hope this helps.

Cheers
Paul

[ShnogDog]

Thanks Paul,

I dont think I'd like to try casting that thing all day. Will take it, to try it in that situation for future reference. My father bought a couple to use when he was in PNG. They've seen little use here, with exception to bashing a few tuna etc. Will make for quite a brutal encounter if a big one climbs on... lets hope

[woolybugger]

Mark,

I used a 6-10kg Shimano Barra Raider with a calcutta 200 attached last year and had no problems with it at all.

I casted lures most of the day and caught Barra between the 108 - 118cm mark, but unfortunately not in the timber, so can't comment on that.

Good luck and maybe see you up there in Oct...

[barramad.]

You dont need an elephant gun for Awoonga.
All it will do is give you sore arms.
How you fight the fish is far more important, low rod angles and an astute drag will compensate for a soft rod.
It is nice to have a serious rod, but you dont need a rod that is built for black bass.
Theres a heap of gutsy rods on the market, from cheap to scary, that are exremely lightweight.
Awoonga (like any other Barra impoundment) can be a place of a thousand casts for new comers and experts alike, your better off saving your energy for the casting sessions, thats where you'll need it.
You dont need heaps of line, my reels have 100m or less of braid. If you loose that amount of line your doing something wrong.
Good luck.
Jas