Good guide

[Hardb8]

Matt,
I really hope you have a successfull trip,And I wish you all the best.I can't think of a better way to spend Australia day,Than to be fishing for our precious natives,With friends and/or family.

My only tip is to enjoy the day.Forget about any pressures,And just take in our countrys' magic.Do this,And I reckon the fish will just turn up for ya on this special day.But keep in mind you MAY have to work hard for her.But the harder you have to work,The more rewarding the capture.

Let us know how ya go.

I'll be doing the same.And I wouldn't have it any other way .

Good luck m8.I reckon ya better get ta work on a new handle for Ausfish.

[Roo]

Go you Good thing!!
I went to monduran last sept. for my first go at them and had my first after 4 hours of casting in the sticks.

The next 3 days produced ZIPP . There were fish being caught, but only by those in the know and usually by trolling. I didn't want to troll so i stuck to casting and paid the price. My next trip in march will be for a whole week and a mix of both casting and trolling so I can get a few on the bragmat and keep themissus from losing interest. Casting is my preferred method, but getting themissus onto a fish is also a priority after a 6-7hr drive to get there. I might not get another 'authorised' barra trip if not.

do the research and go for it!

cheers, roo.

[the_matrix]

Matt,
The impoundments you are looking at fishing are fine, if not the best in the country. Dont let other peoples results at other dams sway you to going there. They just happened to be on the water when it all came together. Swapping and changing will only stand to lessen your chances, as each impoundment has its own charecteristics.

Hard lessons are the best ones because its a true "learning".
Hard work will ALWAYS pay off, you may just not see the results until later.
If you feel your best option is to go and get a charter, do it!
Dont feel less of a fisherman............you will have a blast.

I can vouch for Awoonga's guide's Matt Mott, Paul Dolan and John Mitchell.
All three a very credible fisho's, so its your choice.
I'd suggest John Mitchell. He is on the water most days, and is highly atuned to the current patterns and conditions.
Motty caters for Brissy fisho's and generally does 3 day minimums, Paul Dolan is catering more for the Fly fisho's, so Mitch would probably be your best bet.


At Faust, Lindsay Dobe has been guiding on impoundments for longer than anyone.
He is one of the best, a top bloke, and you get a ride in a very flash Tracker Bass Boat.

As you have probably gathered, all the guys mentioned are friends of mine, but apart from that, experts in their chosen field. You wont go wrong with any of them, and will learn a bucket load along the way.

Good luck.
Jas (aka barramad until this new format came through!)

[Neil C]

I believe it would be better to get a feel for this kind of fishing a bit closer to home if it were available instead of making a rather lengthy trip for the possibility of one or none boated as Roo pointed out, get some on the board so to speak. The impoundments I suggested all contain a wide range of sizes equally the quality either Awoonga or Faust has to offer.

Speaking for myself I have been fishing these dams fo quite

[Neil C]

I type too slow for this place


I believe it would be better to get a feel for this kind of fishing a bit closer to home if it were available instead of making a rather lengthy trip for the possibility of one or none boated as Roo pointed out, get some on the board so to speak. The impoundments I suggested all contain a wide range of sizes equal the quality either Awoonga or Faust has to offer, although I will admit that Awoonga has the edge on fish over 1100mm. But then it's not all about getting huge fish all the time

Jas - speaking for myself I have been fishing these dams fo quite a while and I'm not sure what you mean by "They just happened to be on the water when it all came together"

Andy Thomsen also guides at Faust and knows the dam well.

Matt - I'm sure that no matter where you decide to get a Barra it will be time well spent, enjoy the experience Mate.

Neil

[the_matrix]

Jas - speaking for myself I have been fishing these dams fo quite a while and I'm not sure what you mean by "They just happened to be on the water when it all came together"
Neil

What I meant was that any dam, at any time can have a period where it requires very little effort to catch a barra. Other times it can be the hardest fishing you will do. Its the nature of the species, and the variables that drive them.
It wasnt a passing shot at your talents (or anyones for that matter), morseo to point out to Barraless not to be disheartened by reading/hearing about people who get a metrey on their first attempt. This does not always happen.

I too have had a fair bit of experience fishing for Barra in impoundments, including the ones mentioned.
I know from experience that going from one impoundment to the other will likely be more of a hinderance than help.
Being close to home will help your cause, as you have stated. That way you can be on it in all of its moods.

Jas

[Neil C]

Can't argue with that Jas, thanks for the reply.

Neil

[Feral]

Mathew Mott at Awoonga was putting his tours onto fish when we were there. The Dam was pretty much shut down, I thin about 20 fish caught for the week we were there, Mathew's Tours accounted for at least half of them, and there was 40 or 50 trailers at the ramp each day. (We accounted for 3 on our own between 6 of us)

[staggy]

And just to put another 2 bobs worth in Matt id like to say I was not trying to say not to use one of the excellent guides around to get you on to your first barra. i was just saying there are quallity fish much closer to home. One of the best fishing tools available is knowledge. Getting info out of some fishos is like trying to get blood out of a rock. Where as a good guid will tell you things in a morning out on the water that would take you years to learn by yourself. Iv used the services of two guides in the past 18 months. For me it was not so much as to catch a fish on the day but to learn a few more tricks to help my catch rates in my local impoundments wich is most likely the reason you plan to use a guide. Do your home work and see if the guide you plan to use can offer the service you want. Id say the first guide I booked was not worth the money. Yes we did catch barra on that booking but I came away from the morning fealling i could have gotten more for the money i shelled out. The second bloke was a wealth of info and we only boated 1 barra. Two different impoundments two different guides.

C Ya
Staggy

[Barraless]

Yeah I will do my homework definately. I do want to catch that first barra and I feel I am getting closer. I agree that there are spots closer to home that are more off the beaten track as well. I also agree with Hardb8 that the satisfaction of catching my first barra by myself would be immense. I am going to continue fishing and learning and hopefully catch that barra soon. Once I have a bit more experience fishing I wll book a guide and then I will probably get more out of it then. Thanks guys for the advice and the list of guides available

Cheers Matt.B.

[Mak579]

Hey Matt.B,

There's excellent advice already in the above posts!

IMHO I would definitely recommend you catch up with a guide for a day, I have fished both with Paul Dolan and Lindsay Dobe and have totally enjoyed the experience. I've also chatted to Johnny Mitchell and Andy Thomsen and am looking forward to fishing with them sometime in the future as well.

Everytime I have fished with a guide I have picked up valuable information which I have used successfully at a later date. Anything on locating fish, reading sounders, lure selection, lure retreive, how to fight a fish, what type of tackle to use and a heap more.

If I were to have my brain blanked (although it's probably blank enough already lol) and had to learn to fish for barra all over again I would definitely go with a guide first to kickstart my fishing

I would then select a close dam and spend time on the water, and then some more time on the water.

The reason I say this is that barra are barra, once you've figured out a particular technique it WILL work at other dams in similar conditions, IMHO if you try fishing a lot of different dams it will make things more challenging. Get to know your 'local' water, know the structure and how fish move under certain conditions, try the techniques learnt from the guide and ideas read from this site.

Best of luck and look forward to seeing your fishing reports in the future

Cheers
Matt C