Awoonga Misfires.

[Wazzup01]

Guys
I recently went out with the local guide and one of the best pieces of advice he told me was that Awoonga is a different dam every day. What worked yesterday won't even catch a catty the next. I think it is just a case of fishing with different techniques until you find one that works on any particular day. Some days you can be lucky and find that technique other days you won't be close.

I am a local to the Awoonga area for the last 5 and a half years and I had to hire the local guide 2 weeks ago to finally get a strike let alone a fish. On that day my brother and I caught 12 barra in a great session that lasted around 2 to 3 hours. We used different lures and techniques at different locations until we found some fish that would take our offerings. Once we found out what mood they were in at that particular time it was on for young and old.

Wazza

[the_matrix]

Wazza,
Good stuff, sounds like you learned a heap on your charter.
5 and a half years and no Barra?
Im picking you didnt get out there very much!
Mitch's advice is spot on, keep working until you find the right response. As you found out, once you get that sorted all hell breaks loose.
The dam is ever changing, and you have definantly got the good oil, with results to prove it.
Bet your hooked now.

One of the biggest pitfalls with dam barra is people read (and write) storys about them with rose tinted glasses on. No effort required, just turn up, cast or troll and your away.
It can happens at times, but lotto's probably more of a chance when the variables are all over the place.

Effort and hard work will give you the answers to a sometimes VERY challenging fishery.
You saw that first hand.
Cheers
Jas

[SeekingBarradise]

Great thread Rabbi Wow you’re only the 2nd person we have seen with the guts to print hours per fish on here ha well done good on you. We are surprised the negative people on here haven’t tried to have a go at your fishing which is a nice change. We agree with Matrix (Jas) said “too many rosy fishing reports & lotto is more of a chance when the variables are all over the place” and he is one of the best barra fisho’s going around.

The last 6 months we have even heard some of the best barra fisho’s say “fishing has been very tough” & we agree with them. Yet in South East Qld over a long drive home all of a sudden 20-30 fish were suddenly caught in the trip (20 over a 100cm of course) and the poor old tackle shop down south ends up getting false info which is then passed on to you and I. This has happened a lot this summer especially in some SEQ tackle shops then false info is reported to everyone planning a trip etc = sell more lures/boats. They didn’t see the 400+ fishless campers we saw at Monduran & more @ awoonga on that trip & others that would amount to thousands of fishless fisho’s this summer on barra dams.

In all of our trips this summer we have met a higher % of fisho’s than usual that have agreed fishing has been very tough. Yep at the ramp you always have people say “they are catching them” or “you should have been here last week ha (a merve special) ” & the best of all “ 90% don’t catch fish only the good 10% will lol & of course the one telling you that is a member of the 10% & has now made you feel like s**t”
But you never hear how many hours per fish/trip = when fishing is tough etc. Some of the social comps we have seen averaged 100-200 hours per barra. Social comps e.g. people that don’t fish the dam all the time like travelling fisho's.

You only have to look at the results for the barra tour and you will see many in the bottom half of the draw with no fish for the day – then at the next comp they might go well, many are very, very good fisho’s who have lots of experience/are intelligent and learn quickly & some go days without catching fish in tough times. At Awoonga the comp guys went all night and averaged 12hrs per fish – we were there and the conditions were good. The first day at Monduran was 18hrs a fish of memory & these guys are very very good hats off to them for being that good we think 18hrs per fish was great fishing & we learn’t a lot there as well.

[SeekingBarradise]

We feel sorry for the southerners because the info in our mags is usually 5-6 weeks old and if they say tough fishing they mean 100hrs a fish ha, slow going = 200 hours a fish and good fishing means 50 hrs a fish LOL. These stats might be closer to the truth than many people would ever own up to . Yes if you fish the dam a lot and you love fishing and are smart the hours per fish will be less so please don’t take offence ok. It’s all a bit different if you are local etc and a good fisho. A good day for them would be a hard day for someone who goes barra fishing now and then and it could be a horrendous days fishing for fisho’s who only get 1-2 trips a year etc.

Changing tactics: When we first started going to awoonga people were happy with 2 shorter sessions a day (morning then a late arvo in to the night session) however now we see people who just have to catch a barra (fever)– they didn’t want to come back to camp without a fish and they had to go all night every night at times just to get a 1fish or none at all. Some had less than 4 hours sleep a night/drank beer all day then drove home 7hrs. This doesn’t exactly make you feel or look good after a few days and isn’t most people’s idea of fun & it’s very dangerous for the drive home let alone to complete quality work on Monday etc. If you are going to do those hours please book a cabin with aircon & don’t fall asleep driving home & drink water as we all have to drive home with you. There have been some big fatal Sunday arvo accidents on the way home from awoonga.

Solutions: Nagg is dead right. Don’t put all your eggs in one fickle basket at awoonga. Go to the other barra dams (Callide, Monduran, Lenthals, or the ones around & above Mackay). Go saltwater bashing for barra/jack etc & more than one species. Head out to the reef with plastics/lures and live bait etc. 2 days in a spot etc and most of all enjoy your trip with friends & meet new positive people as they will be too willing to help you out and give you some good info to put you on to fish.

If you are travelling a long way and only have one chance a year you would be mad not to book in Johnny Mitchell etc for a days fishing to start your trip. At least you know you will be on the right track from then on etc and you won’t go through all the questions like “ we should have done this ha or that technique”.

Hope this helps someone out – hope to see you guys on a barra dam one day you sound like good value. Sorry for the long reply.

Cheers S.B

[Whitto]

That certainly is alot of hours Fishing for just a few Barra, I know from experience it took me 3 trips to Monduran to get a touch, then on the 4 trip I mysterisously become an expert, but at the end of the day thats Fishing and how many times have we heard that, long as u enjoyed yourselves, Cheers Whitto

[Wazzup01]

The glossy mags (and not so glossy for that matter) can't sell mags with fishing stories that have no fish. Therefore you only get to read about the trips where they catch 7 fish on the first 3 casts.

Wazza

[rabbi]

G'day whitey01, Get a haircut ya big lout. Caught any jew lately???

[Wazzup01]

Jas

Yeah I didn't go out there too much or should I say not as much as I would have liked. It used to be a case of just turn up when I was offered a trip, fish for 6 hours without a bite, go home disappointed and not return for another 6 months. First thing the guide said to us before we even got on the boat was you have to be confident that you are going to catch a fish. I suppose this is the difference that makes you pay that little bit more attention to your presentation and therefore your results have a greater chance of being better than fishing aimlessly and hoping a barra comes to find you. It worked for me.

Wazza

[the_matrix]

Yep confidence is the first step to reaching goals, esp in a challenging arena.
Negative energy is the best way to fail.
Ive had my fair share of negative types in my boat, its hard to deal with.

Often gun fisho's come across as arrogant. Rarely the case.
Its because they are confident in themselves, know what they can achieve, and are bloody good at what they do.
Some that I have met over time, once I got to know them, where completley opposite to what I first thought. Its a state of mind.

Its fair to say that a lot of locals do the same thing, fish once a blue moon, miss out and dont come back for six months. I work with a few.
Some are not interested in doing the hard yards, they want the easy way, and all the answers.
I dont take them for that reason. If they are really that keen, they will get out there and have a go I reckon.

Preconcieved idea that it would be easy made it more than hard really,for a lot of people. You know it aint.
Im sure you will be able to apply what you learned in more than one fishing style, and Im betting you will back for another slice of the pie.
Good luck with your fishing there in future.
Jas

[Wazzup01]

Jas

I have recently got myself a 4mtr Stacer Bass so I can hit the dam now whenever I want or should I say when the missus lets me. It is addictive isn't it. Hours of casting with out even a sniff and then all hell breaks loose. The most addictive part of it is the not knowing when it is going to happen. I still cannot remember the strike from the first fish that I hooked at Awoonga. One second I was working a squidgie along the edge of a weedbed the next thing I remember was a howling drag and something trying to pull me off the front of the boat. Makes all of those hours worthwhile.

Wazza