Why You Should Up-Grade On Barra Lures

[Barraboy7]

Yeah Harro in his book puts out the idea of taking the center treble out and running two splits on the front. I guess it works OK as he would have given it a good tryout.
I have taken out the center treble on my classics and beefed up the front and rear and caught ok. I remember leaving 3x VMCs on the center of big B52s and they bent while the stronger ones didnt, so changed that quick.
No doubt the best chance is t seriously beef up every lure splits and trebles to give yourself the best chance on that fish of a lifetime!
Barraboy

[Tropicaltrout]

Foxie's right those big suckers will bend rods hooks, split rings, backs etc and I see my two lures get dee bibbed they have such power and rapped up in the sticks just give them more of a head start to break everything but your will to cast another lure in there to do it all again!!!!

Nath

[Steve B]

Franko, Orbyroo and dare I say it Foxie have all hit the nail on the head.

The 'softly' approach is the key to all these problems. I have suggested this plenty of time before, so here it is again.

Big muscle up trying to turn that big one = straightened trebbles/splitrings
Big Muscle trying to turn that big one = pulled hooks
Big Muscle trying to stop the big fish heading for the trees = broken line/leader/knots/ even lures!
trying to drag a fish back around a tree = stupidity and freyed line = bustoffs.

The biggest excuse for losing fish = terminal tackle failure.

Anglers blaming terminal tackle 99.5% Anlgers blaming themselves 0.5%!!

Terminal tackle failure causing lost fish = 90% poor angling 10% bad luck

I can only base these stats on the endless hard luck stories I have heard about the 'bustoffs' etc.

Since adopting the 'softly' approach I have landed 41 out of 47 fish hooked since Sept 14 at Monduran, casting in timber, no trolling. Yes I keep a diary. Sad isnt it!!!

[nipsta]

Franko, Orbyroo and dare I say it Foxie have all hit the nail on the head.

The 'softly' approach is the key to all these problems. I have suggested this plenty of time before, so here it is again.

Big muscle up trying to turn that big one = straightened trebbles/splitrings
Big Muscle trying to turn that big one = pulled hooks
Big Muscle trying to stop the big fish heading for the trees = broken line/leader/knots/lure even.
trying to drag a fish back around a tree = stupidity and freyed line and bustoffs.

The biggest excuse for losing fish = terminal tackle failure.

Anglers blaming terminal tackle 99.5% Anlgers blaming themselves 0.5%!!

Terminal tackle failure causing lost fish = 90% poor angling 10% bad luck

I can only base these stats on the endless hard luck stories I have heard about the 'bustoffs' etc.

Since adopting the 'softly' approach I have landed 41 out of 47 fish hooked since Sept 14 at Monduran. Yes I keep a diary. Sad isnt it!!!

i agree steve i too tried the hard method and snapped my rod as well end result no fish and no lure also. so i too use the softly softly approach now there ( im my opinion) there is on fish that need that hard approach and thats mangrove jacks or any fish in the Lutjanus family. i reckon just give the barra abit of time to settle and it all pans out in the end fish in boat hooks not bent knots still tied and lure still connect all good .

[Roo]

I think Barra don't play the game quite the same way as the red devils. I've read that barra seek deeper water if it is available rather then structure when they are hooked. I guess if your fishing a weedy flat then structure would be the first choice for a hooked barra. Apparently most bust ups in the trees occur when the fish is heading to adjacent deeper water and rounds a tree rather than deliberately stitching you up in the woodwork like a Jack would.
The missus hooked a 99cm fish while trolling a channel in the sticks of section B. the deeper water was directly behind and to the left of the boat and hav a guess which way the fish went. to our immediate right was a fairly obvious tree top with plenty of snag-ability and in the sounder below was another submerged tree but the fish ran away from us and toward the deeper(clearer) water. we won, and using pretty light gear you would normally target bass with. Bent the 3x vmc on the front and middle, but it held tight. The rod is a River Raider 3-5kg and reel is a Pflueger Echelon with 20lb platil braid and 60lb 10x leader. little chance is turning this fish if it wanted to go somewhere, but enough pressure to lead it where you can tire it out safely.
Cheers Roo.

EDIT: i just realised i didn't upgrade the splits on that lure oops. but we still won

[Franco]

Hey Roo,

Nice photo! Man you are gunna upset some people with that pic of the lure ..... breaking all the rules!!

Snap connection to the lure, weak trebles , weak split rings ....... I love it!

My biggest salty of (122cm, 50lb) from weipa was caught land-based off the rocks(!) It was on similar sub-standard terminals (except no snap swivel) and all the hooks came back bent and stuffed after She wrapped me round a pylon, but with steady constant pressure the big girl just came back out!! Very arsey!
Sometimes you get lucky ........ and that lure is now retired in the ultimate hall of fame lure box!

PS nice boat by the looks of it, what is it?

[Roo]

Ha ha, Look out!!! Good Aussie designed lures aren't too bad out of the box.....could be better but they still work. those snaps are 80lb Halco crosslocks....tough stuff!!I was using Hawaiian snaps but they can be a pain to change lures with the Halco 4xx fish rings being pretty bulky.

Well done on your Weipa win!!Goes to show there's always room for (cl)ass when there's serious fishing to be done!!!

We still have that lure in action, but i've also put a few clones in the lolly box too, just in case I lose it, the missus will kill me.
Boat is a 4.55 polycraft. great for bumping around the sticks!! oyster racks, rock walls.....nothing will hurt it and any scuffs come out with a light sand and a heat gun to shine her up, too easy (if i could be bothered)!

Cheers Roo.

[BR65]

Tried the softly softly method last trip and a couple of those fish put me thru, under, around and into every bit of timber there was in the immediant vicinity. You know the scenario, line enters water here, huge fish jumping over there 15 meters away, grateing feeling thru braid, blah, blah, blah.
Dont think it was purposefull, like a jack or a kingy would do, these fish were just trying to depart the immediant area of concern, and not heading towards the deeper water either, they went straight back into the sticks away from the channel where I was casting from, still the end result was busted leader, both times at the end of the loop in the leader to the split at the front of the lure. Hooks and splits are holding, braid is bloody tuff, so somethings gunna give.
I think broken rods are more often the result of bad angles, I know, happened to me a couple of trips ago, got smacked boatside, barra dived under the min kota and I couldnt get the rod down deep enuf quick enuf, must be getting old, or the hangover was kickin in that morning, end result of that escapade was a new 2 piece stick. Rods arent designed to bend at angles like that.
I can see the merits of a calculated, lead the fish thru the structure technique in lightly wooded areas, or open creek channels between the sticks, but in that gnarly stuff, the channel up into H, where your belting a lure 20 meters back into the jungle, twitchin and flickin and pausing past every tree you can see, let alone the ones you cant see that are laying down under the surface, I dunno.
On a side note, I reckon keepin a diary is a bloody good idea, just means Im not the only obsesive compulsive out there.
cheers
brian

[Franco]

Brian I reckon in the scenario you mention you got no choice but to put on the brakes and go hard. I ain't done too much of that since a few years ago in Awoonga, but I'd say super quiet sneak-up techniques in the boat combined with shorter casts in order to avoid too much timber between you and the silver bullet might improve your chances. (?)

Better still find the fish somewhere else near the clear, sit back, and use the whiting rod! LOL

[Roo]

Yes well, 20 metres back into the jungle is always going to be a "stop 'em or pop 'em" affair but it does sound like fun!!

[Tropicaltrout]

I have never seen a rod break what is it like?

I tried the soft method it works but all methods do, Lures arn't indistructable and can be broken, bent etc soft method or hard they still bend trebbles and pull the hooks, straighten split rings with thier mouths.

Now in saying that I have fished for Barra for some time and only once has a hook straightened and my daugther did it on her first fish and it was no were near a stick she was fishing exstreamly soft being 5 year old in open water on a 2 to 4kg rod with 30 lb fire line and 40lb leader. It was a meter long but its were the hook was, sort in the scissors so when he jumped and tried to flick he simply strainghted the trebble.

Hey but its all learning and without great discussion and pointers made by all we would not be on here.
Hey steve nothin wrong with keeping a diary i do, still have ones i kept from years back in Tas when i trout fished it's still a great read and unclouds foggy memories. Dad stiil does he even takes scale samples for the inland fisheries commission.

[Steve B]

Glad I'm not the only one with a diary. Its handy for comapring catch times and dates with moon phases etc over the years. I notice some trends, particularly with moon phases and solunar peaks. even in fresh water impoundments with no tides.

Situations like brian described are inevitable and you simply have to try to turn fish. Some you win, some you dont. Good terminal tackle increases the 'some you win' side massively.

cheers steve.

[Whitto]

I have never seen a rod break what is it like?

I tried the soft method it works but all methods do, Lures arn't indistructable and can be broken, bent etc soft method or hard they still bend trebbles and pull the hooks, straighten split rings with thier mouths.

Now in saying that I have fished for Barra for some time and only once has a hook straightened and my daugther did it on her first fish and it was no were near a stick she was fishing exstreamly soft being 5 year old in open water on a 2 to 4kg rod with 30 lb fire line and 40lb leader. It was a meter long but its were the hook was, sort in the scissors so when he jumped and tried to flick he simply strainghted the trebble.

Hey but its all learning and without great discussion and pointers made by all we would not be on here.
Hey steve nothin wrong with keeping a diary i do, still have ones i kept from years back in Tas when i trout fished it's still a great read and unclouds foggy memories. Dad stiil does he even takes scale samples for the inland fisheries commission.

Had a Shimano Barra blank snap, Was trolling at the time near the tree line at the western end of the basin a barra hit the lure came completely out of the water and spat the lure back at me the rod snapped and went off like someone had fired a rifle, soon found out why it happened for some reason my drag was wound right up (always store my reels with the drag loose), you will know when or if it happens, if u don't see it u will certainly hear it, Have a Good 1 Nathan, Cheers Whitto

[NAGG]

Glad I'm not the only one with a diary. Its handy for comapring catch times and dates with moon phases etc over the years. I notice some trends, particularly with moon phases and solunar peaks. even in fresh water impoundments with no tides.

Situations like brian described are inevitable and you simply have to try to turn fish. Some you win, some you dont. Good terminal tackle increases the 'some you win' side massively.

cheers steve.

Just a dairy Steve? .... probably more like "the concise account of a Barra fishing addict"
... Nagg

[Steve B]

Nagg,

Guilty as charged!! Sound like a good title for a book!

merry Xmas