23kg AWOONGA barra, but how big is big??

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

just how big are these freshwater stocked barra going to reeach???? this barra was 23 kg, caught at Awoonga on a ultra large gold bomber in about 5 feet of water.(this photo is actually of myself). My mate from st george , Graham Wells and i, caught (he caught it),a barra 200 grams less than 30 kg in Awoonga. i hooked up on a 25kg plus barra that actually jumped and dislodged my hooks, only seconds before Graham's next cast hooked solidly to a bigger one. the barra was caught on braided line, and after a 70 m chase through the light timbers, it was subdued and netted. the Waterboard and the local paper use the photo's of the fish as advertising when needed. largest recorded to date apparently,( but that will change in time to come) My mate Graham was stoked to say the least. a week long trip to gladstone in August saw him land 3 fish around 30 kg, his barra, and a 32 and 33 kg mackerel.
i hooked a barra in Awoonga this year that was easy 35 kg or more, serious. the company on that day was an ex commercial fisherman, and his jaw dropped and he froze solid as the big barra jumped 7 or 8 times boatside. my mate had the landing net, but was so stunned and in such awe at the barra's size, he simply forgot to net it as it lay momentarily boatside, the ex barra netter said " it had a head bigger than a moreton bay shark!", the big barra had another evil run before wearing through the 80 lb leader. ( i think it cut it off on its gill cutters actually). now, barra have been in lake awoonga for almost 10 years! how big are they really going to get? i reckon awoonga or faust will hold the key to the new record sized fish in the following 4 or 5 years. 50 kg is not a joke!! i've strived for a 100 pound saltwater fish over the last 12 years, reached the 80 lb mark, but never the magic 100, freshwater will see that goal in the coming years.
johnny M.
Lake Awoonga

[TonyM]

Very nice fish Johnny.

That's exactly the kind of pic the fish stocking group must love to see

Gotta love impoundment Barra! [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

We're putting more Barra in Lenthalls this year (stock permitting) - the bummer for us is that we can't put a net on the wall due to the design of the dam wall - unfortunately a lot of the fish go over the wall and into the nets of the trawlers that flog the Burrum river to death

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

yea, losing fish to floodwaters is of concern cosidering the height of some dam walls. the long drop is so definitely a big fish killer in a lot of circumstances. it would be a shame to lose the results of years, money, time and effort in such a sad way. awoonga is still a fair way from full capacity, but that could change overnight from miss mother nature. Tinaroo had a net, very costly i think from my recollection! what price or value do we put on these non-breeding super stocked impoundment barra??? if floodwaters gently transferred these barra stocks to the saltwater, there may not as much concern for their wellbeing, but an imbalance of stocked fish competing against wild stocks may cause some further issues, hence the reason fingerlings aren't released directly into the salt environments. anyone have any points they'd like to discuss on this topic? i'm sure many people are very interested in this, considering mass numbers of thriving impoundment barra are really quite new to the environment ( roughly about 15 years or so ??), and also that drought and lack of heavy rainfall in many districts has seen little in the way of stocked dams flooding fiercely. (please correct me if i'm wrong on that!). Environmentally, should stocked barra be closely restricted, and 'fenced in' to the dams they were released in, or is it ok to allow mass numbers of 'test tube' fish to flood directly into our 'wild stocks'? anyone??????????? just an interesting topic.

[magic]

:Hi Johnny
that was some barra, do you think you can help me out. In the being of December and for about three weeks i will going with my 15hp and 3.8mtr tinny to Tannum sands area and awoonga lake in QLD. I was wondering if any one can help me with the kind of tackle i would need from line, lures, bait etc and where and what live bait to get, are there mud crab what type of traps works the best and what kind of bait do you put in them. Also while i am in this area what type of fish species would i find and what fish can you eat.
Thanks for any assistance and i will let you know i went.
Magic )

[Foxie]

Hey Johny,
As you say it will be interesting to see how big they get in the Lakes. I purpose there will be a lot of tackle push to there limits and busted over the next few years. We had one older gentleman here at Monduran in Feb fishing out of a small 10ft cartopper who reckons he hooked a monster fish trolling. He said it was to big for him to get into his boat so he cut a mark into the gunnell on the side of his boat. When we measured from the back of his to the mark it was just under 170cm. The guy seem to be quiet excited about it and honest sort of bloke. We rang up the local DPI fisheries resreach officier and he said he had never heard of southern strain barra that big it the salt but said he would not rule out that they could grow that big in Lakes and only time will tell what size they will reach.
How long was the Barra in the photo?

Cheers Foxie.

[Awoonga]

The coming season will see the Australian record broken at Awoonga ... There is no doubt in my mind this will happen.... There growth rate will see to that... Early this year l latched onto to a few Barra that l just could not stop ...They just changed gear and off they went ....there was no way that l could stop them...Stay tuned its going to be a exciting time.....

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

foxie, from memory i think the barra pictured was 1130mm, a bit light on, not in as good a condition as the average awoonga fish. far from the norm actually. its a bugger when the fish get so big that the 'older gentleman ' can't "get em in the boat". two ways to look at it i suppose, unfortunate for the sake that a fish of a lifetime can't be photographed, and secondly,,,,,,,,"WOW, WHAT A FISHERY"!!!!!!!!!
In 40 years we may all have whaling rigs like in the old days and harpooning 200 kg monsters. bit carried away there!!

[A_DIFF_PERSPECTIVE]

MAGIC, Gladstone has plenty to offer in december. the boyne river at boyne island/tannum sands has many species. bream, whiting, flathead, grunter,cod, trevally,queenfish,fingermark, mangrove jack(lots of),barra,(closed season november to feb),salmon, prawns, mudcrabs etc all top eating seafood types. all easily caught. castnet live bait in the boyne river from the shoreline, boatramps etc. live mullet from small to big will catch you good fish. a long fresh mullet fillet will attract a mangrove jack(trade secret that one, trust me). prawns as bait will cover a lot of avenues. fresh herring/taylor (castnetted in deeper water near bridges, mangroves,creek mouths etc) will be of great use for grunter and flathead and many other species. mudcrabs are easily caught in pots, nylon collapsable type are near unbeatable(cheap versions work well also) $10 a pot. big tides see crabs work inside the mangrove line, so take your pots inside small gutters/mangrove lined tribuataries/ tiny off-shooting creeks as wide as your boat etc and leave them set in the 1 spot overnight with any form of fish frames/kangaroo meat etc. don't use too small a bait, the frame from a 2 kg flathead will suffice. smaller tides see crabs working muddy bottom on the flats, and shallow bays out from the mangrove line and even the main river channels. check tidal run before setting your pots as they may WASH AWAY. 30 pound braided line with a live bait or a lure will find you in the running for success in the salt and freshwater systems. Awoonga in december will have barra moving shallow at night/dusk and staying deeper during the day. (this is a guide, not a hard and fast rule). fish a 2 to 5 metre lure in the daylight, anytime of day, and fish a 1 metre lure prior to and after sunset. don't hesitate in trolling. casting is equally successful. your boat size is fine for both freshwater and saltwater creek applications. i hope ive been of some help.
johnny M
Awoonga Barra Charters

[magic]

thanks alot johnny for your time in replying to my questions.
Magic

[DICER]

my guess is that the impounded barra will be like nile perch introduced into lake victoria (africa) - they'll be huge. However I don't believe this test tube barra stuff - it is most likely they are as diverse as they are orginally taken.

[JN_HMFC]

very nice fish id love to catch that


J.Nelson