Results 1 to 15 of 15

Thread: First trip to Monduran

  1. #1

    First trip to Monduran

    Having moved to Bundaberg in the last two weeks we spent the Australia day weekend at Monduran after my lovely girlfriend got me a guided trip on the lake as a Christmas present (yup, she is the best).

    We got there at about 5am Saturday morning to go out with Rob the guide from the caravan park who is a great guy and headed up to what I now know is H and cast around the sticks in some of the little bays and inlets. It only took about 20mins before the first fish, a feisty mid 80's fish and let me tell you I now have full apreciation of what catching a metrey in the sticks really means. A (relativly) small fish was a handful around timber, So the kind of pulling a big fish must do is near unbelievable.

    15 mins later I had another low 80's fish in the boat and not long after Kassie got busted off. Things quietened down after that and we had a few swirls and bumps but most importantly I got to pick the brain of someone who knows the place well and got my confidence going that I can catch fish in freshwater (it's been a long standing hoodoo of mine)

    After that morning we fished each morning and evening and while the fishing wasn't hot we were at least getting a fish a session or a hookup and bust off........ enough to keep us interested. However Kassie was not getting any which was what I really wanted after I had got my fish. She was working just as hard as me casting and I put it down to the fact that she's not the best caster and if 9 out of 10 of my casts are on target 1 of hers was and if it was slow for me it was going to take her a lot longer.

    In the end on the last morning we got up really early and made the long haul to O and I were we had heard there were better numbers of fish being caught. But I suspect with calm conditions and high blue skies that the barometer was high and steady which was really not going to help us. In the end our casting arms and twitching wrists got the better of us and we started for home and to pack up camp but on the way back I thought we might as well troll the main basin back to the ramp and wouldn't you know it within sight of the ramp Kassies rod buckles and starts spewing line. Open water, no snags, good fish, I thought "Kas is in with a good chance here".

    After a good battle and some strong runs my pump and wind lessons on the fence paid off and I slid the net under a great fish. Only 97cm but a pretty fat fish. After the fight was over, Kas says to me "that trolling seems a bit like cheating, I want to get one casting" God bless her, she be an esoteric, purist fisherperson in no time.

    Best lures for the weekend were F18's, Elton John colours in a few different brands accounted for fish and browns and golds getting the rest but I don't know if lure selection was making a big difference over the weekend as everybody in camp had their gun colour or lure for the same results.

    I'm looking forward to doing a lot of fishing at Monduran this year and I'll definatly be back soon. Barra may even take over my Bream this year, who knows.

    Josh





    Last edited by flairj; 29-01-2008 at 07:39 PM.

  2. #2

    Re: First trip to Monduran

    Well done Josh, Good to see you got onto them. Was that you and Cassie that were in Foxies sunday morning?

    We also stopped and talked to you up the north arm of B later in the day to see how you were going??

    Anyway, good fishing mate! Your in the good country now. You will be back to Monduran more regularly now. Hope you like Bundaberg.

    cheers steve

  3. #3

    Re: First trip to Monduran

    Well done Josh and Kassie, welcome to the area hope to see you both on the water more now your up this way.

    Cheers Foxie

  4. #4

    Re: First trip to Monduran

    Way to go Josh, barra in the sticks is a whole new ball game isn't it! Those 80cm Monduran fish used to be referred to as Short Wheel Base 4wd's

    By the sounds of it Kassie will be out the back yard practissing the casts ready for the next outing. At 97cm her fish will be bigger than a lot of blokes pb's, not a bad start at all to a Barra fishing carreer

    Cheers
    Tony

  5. #5

    Re: First trip to Monduran

    Great result for you both on your first trip to Monduran Josh & Kassie. Good pics too!

    Did the map help??

    Took me three trips to get my first barra!

    Regs

    Pete
    Last edited by Peter4; 29-01-2008 at 01:40 PM.

  6. #6

    Re: First trip to Monduran

    Quote Originally Posted by Steve B View Post
    Well done Josh, Good to see you got onto them. Was that you and Cassie that were in Foxies sunday morning?

    We also stopped and talked to you up the north arm of B later in the day to see how you were going??

    Anyway, good fishing mate! Your in the good country now. You will be back to Monduran more regularly now. Hope you like Bundaberg.

    cheers steve
    Yep, that was us Steve.......... It was funny after we saw you up B arm. After we talked to you I turned to Kassie and said "Do we know those guys?"............ "YES, you were talking to them in the shop two hours ago".......... "oh yeah"

    Sorry I didn't recognize you on the water. With hats, sunglasses and fishing shirts it didn't register.

    And about five minutes after we talked to you I had a big hookup on the Elton John F18 I bought at the shop and got two great jumps before it buried me.

    Josh

  7. #7

    Re: First trip to Monduran

    Well done guys, when you have to work hard for them it makes it more rewarding when you do land one (though i'd still rather catch a heap of less rewarding fish). I don't know what my pb is but its still somewhere in the high 80's even after a good 7or 8 trips to barra impoundments so its going to be as rewarding as when i get one. hopefully you guys won't have to work as hard as me. I recognise the background in the bottom photo from my trip up there (or maybe i don't theres alot of timber in that place maybe its another inlet with some sticks out the front with an a fallen tree), I will have to give it another hit next time i go up.

    Like Tony said get Kassie in the yard practicing her casting skills, nothing is more frustrating than not being able to put good casts in so she'll definately enjoy her fishing more in the future when she's got it down pat. After getting such a great chrissy present you'll have to recipricate it by getting her a new barra set up or maybe buying her a charter trip and tagging along aswell .

  8. #8

    Re: First trip to Monduran

    Quote Originally Posted by Peter4 View Post
    Great result for you both on your first trip to Monduran Josh & Kassie. Good pics too!

    Did the map help??

    Took me three trips to get my first barra!

    Regs

    Pete
    Yes, thanks again for that map. All the other maps I found showed it with a much higher water level. The one you sent me was the only one I could make a little more sense of.

    Josh

  9. #9

    Re: First trip to Monduran

    Good stuff mate, sounds like useing a guide first up was the way to go??

  10. #10

    Re: First trip to Monduran

    Nice work Josh and Kassie. Apart from the genuine serenity of the place (well sometimes B doesn't have the same serenity at peak hour), it's just an indescribable bonus to hook up and land some of these beautiful fish They really test your tackle, rigging and skills to the absolute limit, and beyond in some cases.

    We were up there on the same weekend, although we kept very odd hours on the lake (it's fun coming back through the sticks at 11pm with little moonlight because of heavy cloud cover), so we may not have seen you. We had a ball but I will leave it to Ben or Navi to put up a report.

    Congratulations Kassie on the 97. What a way to start your barra career...no doubt you are now suffering from the same affliction we all have. As some have said, with a bit more casting practice, you'll be plopping lures right on their noses most of the time.

    Well done guys and a top report.

    Cheers
    Paul (aka Magpie to Foxie)

  11. #11

    Re: First trip to Monduran

    Well done Kassie & Josh - good to see you had a fun on Australia Day Wknd.
    We had an awesome wknd at Awoonga - bloody hottt one 2!!

    You guys should come up to the N O B L O K E S B A R R A B A S H at Awoonga
    on Feb 29 to March 2nd. It will be a fun wknd. We enjoyed catching up with couples that fish together last year & this years event should be even more fun.

    All the best on future trips.
    Cheers Kel & Lyndon.

  12. #12

    Re: First trip to Monduran

    Josh and Kassie, may have seen you at the ramp one morning. Your guys prep was probably the best thing you could have done - go with a guide first. Takes out a lot of the guess work and will definitely put you in front for your next trip. Well done Kassie on you 97. I've now fished Monduran for over 4yrs and my PB is 97 too. I had a shocker on the weekend and out of 12 hook ups, I only landed 2 rats Mostly had fish throw my lure including a horse but did have a couple of metre fish bust me off gee it's fun the first few times but the joke wears off pretty quickly . I guess I'd rather be replacing lures than combos at my brother will need to Ben I'm sure will elaborate on that in his post

    Ben will post a report soon on our trip.

    Again, well odne guys and may catch up soon out on the water.

  13. #13

    Re: First trip to Monduran

    Congrats ther guys and gals
    Some great fish there, doesnt matter how long you've been fishing at Monduran they are bloody good fish. You have a bad case of barra fever now, shocking stuff to fix that barra fever, ive tried every thing. Trust me nothing works
    Well done
    Ben

  14. #14

    Re: First trip to Monduran

    hey guys well done.
    we did see you guys shooting around , we where the blokes with our bums in the air pulling the barra out of the snags in b arm in the new blue blue fin. Good to see kas is keen to pull them out of the trees casting now, puts a hole different outlook to the fishing, arm stretching fun, with lots of bust offs

    cheers shaneoo

  15. #15

    Re: First trip to Monduran

    Hi Josh,
    I am really impressed with the quality of photographs. They are really clear and well focussed. It certainly added another dimension to an already excellent report.
    Not sure how you managed to get that size photo on the screen but keep doing it. (P.S. don’t worry about posting photos of your Bream.
    Frank OO

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •