113cm, 111cm & 95cm Monduran Barra

[SeekingBarradise]

Hi everyone this is a trip report from a couple of weekends ago. We are behind in our trip reports on here but we hope this one helps someone get their kid on to their first barra etc.

The aim of this trip was to chill out with my brother and not to get lure arm ha! Just relax and enjoy the outdoors and not spend all day chasing fish - just enjoy the trip/camping/billy tea/stew & damper etc + beer.

Day 1.

Arrive - chat to locals/campers/park managers etc. Some campers had caught small fish in the sticks etc.
We started with casting at light timber - lantana near the edges etc but so far, No Fish.

Day 2.

Casting at structure/trees on the deeper edges of the main creek etc still no luck.
Well, not unless you count one catfish. That being the case I won the catfish championships with a nice 3kg specimen.

Day 3.

We chilled out and went for a troll in the Deep basin, cos let's face it, the definition of insanity is to do the same thing and expect a different result!

As it turns out an excellent idea with a fantastic result - 3 very nice Fish - 113cm, 111cm & 95cm Barra - all caught on Koolabung lures. Thanks to Stillwater for helping us out with this one - as his info helped us onto some fish, which made for a great trip.

Our Strategy:

We chilled out, relaxed, had a few beers, ate as much food as we could - then some mammoth ate the following for lunch - 2 bowls of stew (it was good-2kgs of rump in the stew),3 Tbones- a few sausages & 2 big rump steaks.
Followed by a Metamucil shake lol!

We put our feet up and had a fantastic day. Didn't give a shit what anyone says about trolling because at the end of the day, how good are the pics lol!!!

We hope this helps a few keen fishos catch their first barra. All the best for everyone on future trips we might see you there one day.

If anyone has any other questions about the trip just send us a personal message and we are happy to pass on any info to help you out.

Cheers Seekingbarradise

[Whitto]

Well Done Seekingbarradise, no doubt it was a great trip, Great fish and you are right means nothing how u catch them,have a go at the photos, Good stuff, Cheers Whitto

[Callop]

Great report and great fish. I had a day out with Stillwater in mid January and I have never struck anyone more helpful. Brett is a top bloke.

[TinarooTriumph]

Those are some nice Monduran fish mate! Top stuff!

Whats the biggest fish to come out of Monduran... Does anyone know?

Theo

[eotbmg]

Looks like the 111cm has been in a fair paddock!!!
She's as fat as a house!
Ben

[Big_Ren]

Some plump fish there SB. Nothing better than chilling out, good company, a few ales and some fat, healthy barra. We're heading up there late March for a few days...might see you there.

Cheers
Paul

[the_matrix]

Well done SB, by reading your post its obvious that you guys know how to have a good time.
Will have to take you up on the stew and lager!
Might see you at Awoonga again soon.
Cheers
Jas

[Obi _ Wan]

Top report SB, some real healthy barra there! that 111cm mumma looks like a Faust model.
Might have to have a look at Monduran in April myself.

Cheers,
Obi_Wan

[Feral]

Wow fattest Barra I ever did see!

[Steve B]

A local fella here in Gin Gin landed a 120cm brute from the main basin last week. I saw the photo on a brag mat to prove it!!,. Last time I was out there I saw a dead fish on the bank which was about the same size.

Wont be long and the barra in monduran will consistantly as big as Awoonga. With more protection!! (thats if the dam ever fills up again). Not sure what the biggest ever would be, around that mark I spose. Could depend on the anglers beer intake and/or lack of witnesses !

[SeekingBarradise]

Hi guys i hope all is well.

Thanks for the positive comments Whitto, Callop, Steve B, Feral, Obi_Wan, The-Matrix, Big Ren, Eotbmg & Tineroo Triumph. We probably couldn't teach you guys anything new re fishing but we thought a report would atleast update everyone planning a trip as our trip was helped out by reports on here from still-water.

We just put the trip online to help out a fellow ausfisho etc. Didn't want to make the report too long so if you want all the details on the trip just personal message us-we didn't use any rocket science techniques ha.

We only met one group of findiks ha eveyone else helped each other out at the camp & boat ramp (except the findiks that just grunted at us - looked us up and down and answered questions with dead answers) they were a bundle of fun = Ego central. It was a good case of karma when the fat 111cm barra was hooked in front of them & they had to watch the fight while i was taking photos of my brother fighting the swimming garbage bin ha. A good case of Stiff sh*t it was.

In the first report we didn't have room to mention that lots of fisho's were doing it tough at the dam with zero fish after many hours on the water. Hours per fish ratio in the camp would have been the usual 50-100+ hours per fish++++. A few guys were going for the record - 7 days casting = no fish. They were heading for 10 000+ casts & a great case of lure arm the poor buggers - we have been there before. We were not game to ask if they got catfish ha.

Makes the trip home horrendous ha every 5 minutes saying "we suck" ha.

Note: The trolling record was awarded over the new year with 10 days trolling for no fish up & down the main channel and again we felt sorry for the family as the mother & father made the effort to take the kids on a great outdoors trip - the kids loved it anyway and didn't care. This must have gone close to Awoonga's trolling record of 180km trolling with no fish with lures on hourly rotation ha. Tough stuff & we have been there before as well. We even saw guys that went well at the comp there have no luck the other day.

We just had to do a report update so we didn't make fishing out to be easy. As usual it wasn't & it's estimated by tackle shops that over the holidays a thousand barra fisho's went barraless. We just got lucky & the good news is that several sightings of fish over 110cm were made-so this year class is doing well and will only get bigger if they are released properly.

TT & Feral the fattest fish we have seen there went 21kgs and was only a metre long. Yes there have been heavier & longer fish @ monduran, but this was massive for a 1m fish - photo's are on the wall at the kiosk. This fish is showing more guts than Merve Hughes in that skin tight aussie T-Shirt.

See you on a barra dam soon & let us know how your trips go please.

Cheers SB- Don't be a findik, help people catch fish e.g. (kids,grey nomads, family)

[TinarooTriumph]

Thanks for the reply SB!

Yeah Im seeing that these Monduran fish are pretty solid for their size... 21kg of fish for only 1 metre is pretty dam fat! We got hold of one at Tinaroo about 2 or 3 weeks ago which was 102 and about 40lb's... We saw the fish tailling in the shallows and we managed to fool it perfectly with a 10+ Classic 120. Had a massive set of shoulders!

Cheers mate

Theo

[Murph77]

Awesome fish mate, well done. Man those barra are looking bloody fat and in good nick! Trolling is definately not boring if you keep nailing fish like that!