More Monduran Madness

[eotbmg]

Steve
Yes mate exactly the same theory this time, but this trip most fish came from the north side of the spot as opposed to the east [goal posts]. The theory was that as the water is getting warmer the barra are hanging in the 2-3 meter range, near the right angle tree to the north and smashing bait as it comes into the shallows. We got 90% of our hits from the north area. When we were there the wind was blowing from the east and we caught fish but in that same afternoon it switched around to the north and the bite died. This may have had something to do with time of day also. When we arrived the next morning the wind was blowing from the north [variable] and they were on the bite, i reckon they need time to adjust to the conditions of bait movement which is dictated to by wind direction.

I agree with your comments about tying up and thinking about the next cast cos the next spot always looks better than where you are, so you sort of hurry the retrieve,[ so your fishing partner doesn't land the perfect cast and land a fish]. I really worked on my retrieve on this trip trying to slow things down as sloooow as possible. As i twitched the rod tip i was consciously pushing the handle against the anti reverse to make sure as i twitched i had no line retrieved. Then after two or three twitches i wound in tight and repeated. I am not saying it was the best of all retrieves but it worked on the day. I also caught fish on the straight wind sloooow retrieve.
Yes i had a massive learning curve on the weekend, talking tactics with Eric. His mind works in ways that mine needs to be directed!!!!!!
Cheers
Ben

[Roo]

Hi Roo,

You are not as dim as you look (Avatar) It is a matter of finding the bait over a shallow area (1-2metres) tying to a tree and flooging till foam. Our first fish were caught before 05:30 and most before 08:30am.

Ben can tell you more about the fizzers. I am just a mere Plastic Man!!!.

Frank OO

:huh: Me no dim, me just a bit tired and emotional...

Thanks for the tips guys, I'm heading up on Jan1,2&3 to try a few of your tips.I'll be studying the photos hard so I can find spots like this too, the descriptions of productive areas you gave, Steve & Ben, could prove invaluable. Now i just need to pick up Eric on the way and we'll be set .

I'm Off line for the next 2 weeks so to all a merry Christmas and Happy new year, hope i can produce the goods while i'm up there and perhaps catch up with a few fellow punters on the way. I'm in a white 4.55 polycraft(ausfish stickers on the sides) black Suzuki 50, towed by a white Navara.Myself and a mate are camping in the park. my mate has never fished for barra and has only recently picked up a rod to get back into it and try his hand with lures so the tree tying method could be very good for casting practise. hopefully we get him hooked up and frighten the shit out of him with a sizeable barra.....I don't think he realises what he's committed to here.....life sentence.

Cheers Rod.

[The BeaR]

Hi All...

Just like to thank Ben and Frank OO for a great weekend.
The fishing on the weekend was not that much different to the past two times. We have been going back to the same little area each time. This area fishes better in the morning due to the fact of the water temperatures cooling overnight. When we first started in this area the water temps were 25-27deg and we were getting the fish in 4-5ft of water. This particular weekend the water temps were 27-29deg and the fish were coming from 6-8ft of water. The other difference with the weekend was the retrieve of the lure. On the previous weekends, the fish were responsive to a continually moving lure where this weekend the lure had to be slowed down. I found 2-3 jerks of the rod and a pause while I slowly wound the slack out is what worked for me. This just goes to show that you constantly need to mix up your lure retrieves to find what's working on the day. Tying up affords you the time to do this. When looking for the area, all you need are a few things, a little bit of structure, the correct water depth and bait to be holding in the area. Temperature will determine the water depth. Because fishing is ever changing, we are constantly learning. I would also like to say a big thank-you to Steve B for his information sharing, because even though a lot of people tie up to trees, if it wasn't for fishing with Steve even I would probably be travelling on the electic motor all the time. I would also probably be using a jerky retrieve every time I made a cast. It was watching Steve doing a straight slow retrieve and hooking into fish that made me mix my retrieves up. My retrieves now are sometimes straight retrieves, jerky retrieves with pauses and other times I will jerk the lure down to a running depth and then just straight wind the lure back.
I must also congratulate FrankOO on his persistance with his soft baits, oops I mean soft plastics.LOL. His little techniques with this really do pay off. And Ben supplied some awesome topwater action with his Bills Bug fizzer.
Thanks again guys for a great weekend.


Merry Xmas everyone!!!
Eric&Deb...

[Pistol_P]

Hi All...

Just like to thank Ben and Frank OO for a great weekend.
The fishing on the weekend was not that much different to the past two times. We have been going back to the same little area each time. This area fishes better in the morning due to the fact of the water temperatures cooling overnight. When we first started in this area the water temps were 25-27deg and we were getting the fish in 4-5ft of water. This particular weekend the water temps were 27-29deg and the fish were coming from 6-8ft of water. The other difference with the weekend was the retrieve of the lure. On the previous weekends, the fish were responsive to a continually moving lure where this weekend the lure had to be slowed down. I found 2-3 jerks of the rod and a pause while I slowly wound the slack out is what worked for me. This just goes to show that you constantly need to mix up your lure retrieves to find what's working on the day. Tying up affords you the time to do this. When looking for the area, all you need are a few things, a little bit of structure, the correct water depth and bait to be holding in the area. Temperature will determine the water depth. Because fishing is ever changing, we are constantly learning. I would also like to say a big thank-you to Steve B for his information sharing, because even though a lot of people tie up to trees, if it wasn't for fishing with Steve even I would probably be travelling on the electic motor all the time. I would also probably be using a jerky retrieve every time I made a cast. It was watching Steve doing a straight slow retrieve and hooking into fish that made me mix my retrieves up. My retrieves now are sometimes straight retrieves, jerky retrieves with pauses and other times I will jerk the lure down to a running depth and then just straight wind the lure back.
I must also congratulate FrankOO on his persistance with his soft baits, oops I mean soft plastics.LOL. His little techniques with this really do pay off. And Ben supplied some awesome topwater action with his Bills Bug fizzer.
Thanks again guys for a great weekend.


Merry Xmas everyone!!!
Eric&Deb...

Good to meet you both today Eric & Deb.....
By the sounds of it you have to stop Francoo from grabbing his Expedition and Jig stick....... .

Pete

[barra_mauler001]

Great report mate! Gotta love them surface placcys!
cheers barra

[vet]

great advice steve, There's nothing I hate more than trying to fish for barra from a moving bite, you can't get your retrieve right often enough when you're drifting along with the wind. There's not many trees to tie up to in awoonga but that is why they invented anchors. merry christmas, scott

[Big_Ren]

Sorry for replying to this thread so late Ben. Awesome fish yet again. Pity I could not join you boys this trip...next time. There is a lot to be said for tying up and working an area over.....stealth is the name of the game although that does not seem to worry FrankOO - his singing seems to turn the barra on

Cheers everyone and have a safe new year.

Paul

[eotbmg]

Paul,
Dunno whats worse, his singing or his rambling on about bloody catfish and how much fun they are to catch!!!!!
Catch ya in the new year, give my love to the girls and wheel.
Ben