Lake Awoonga UPDATE 1st FEB

[NAGG]

Nagg
Depends on how long your stay is. If its a week or so I strongly reccommend you dont fish the first half day at least.
Familiarise yourself with the environment, the conditions, and the facilities.
Learn the fringes if you are going to fish the basin, or conversley if you will be fishing the timber set up a milk run so that you can work on patterns.
Check out the submerged vertical timber, or at least find as much of it as you can hint hint. 6-14 feet of water is ideal. THiS IS BARRA MAGNET IN ANY BARRA DAM.

Thorough searching, sounding and travelling on the first day will set you up for the rest of the week. It may suck not fishing, but you will be happy with yourself a few days down the track.
Go into the depths of the sunken forests, look for the slightest indication of submerged horizontal timber, as well as looking at the crowns of tree's to see if there has been a recent split and deposit into the water. (This is what the Barra are holding on, not verticle tree's)
If you see a tiny piece of timber protruding, take your time and work up to it, it may contain the mother load of barra's.

The further you delve into the woods, the less likely that someone has already beaten you to the right stuff and either pulled or spooked fish off it.
Go deep into the sticks, work slow and keep your eyes peeled!!!

If I was going for a week, I'd be bouncing timber with rattles ie classics, scorpions and the like combined with silents like extractor 11's, and any other timber lures you can get your hands on that will dive around 10 feet.
I'd be in the jungle all day til the light fades then hit the main basin points and looking for an afternoon edge bite.
I dont know the timbered area's well enough to come home at night, even with GPS. There's enough dialled in error to bring you undone in any GPS track.
So the relative safe trip back to the ramp would dictate how I would finish the day.
I'll leave the rest up to guys who fish Monduran all the time, over to you Steve, Foxie and crew.
Cheers
Jas

GRR8 Stuff ... yet again Jas I'm sure I'm not the only one that's got something out of your post
Yeh did a trip home from the cattle yards after dark last Oct ! ( actually the GPS plot was exceptional) ... along with a 1 million CP spot light ( except for the bugs attracted to it)
Nagg

[the_matrix]

Submerged vertical ????? ...... Not lay down, fallen ?
Nagg

Yeh Nagg, it will lead you to the laydowns.
Unless you find a pile of bulldozed timber like Awoonga has, the easiest way to find it is head for the tree's as there is a tonne of debris beneath, as Barraboss has said.
Sorry I didnt make that clear on my last post, fixed it up
Cheers
Jas

[two fold]

interesting info, takes me a bit of time to sink in but.
thank you it does make sense about the branches falling in and creeating laydowns
purcho

[NAGG]

With regard to Jas's comments on laydown timber ( fallen branches)
Does anyone have a sounder image of their favorite snags they they can post ...... or when you are next on the water ... take a snap shot
I know I'm being a pain ..... but sounder interpretation becomes critical when you are looking for the right stuff

Thanks again ( in anticipation)

Nagg

[the_matrix]

Anyone going to Awoonga check out the numerous posts regarding the inflow the dam has recieved in the last few days. I have posted some info under the thread "Heavy rain at Gladstone".
Cheers
Jas

[TinarooTriumph]

HUGE read! Awesome work Jas... that should keep any Angler reading this who is going to Awoonga anytime soon in good stead. Im sure their printer's are abit low on Ink now too!

Would just like to add a little something about Moon Phases. This summer, I have fished a probable 30 nights on my own and with mates, which, mighten seem like many, but when they run from about 6pm till 1am they are big sessions with plenty to see and learn. Those 30 nights have not been based around moon phases, but when the opportunity for a session arises. Anyone that has done a bit of Barra fishing, perhaps even a little here and there, will know of a nightime how incredibly active they can be on particular nights. An easy give-away is looking, and listening for Surface acitivity in the form of Bony Bream being pushed and scattered on the surface, as well as 60lb Barra launching themselves in the air and tearing the balls out of a Baitfish on the surface. Must note that this is a bloody good sign of a nightime, but it isn't 100% necessary. This summer at Tinaroo, we have been in these scenario's every night and in a big way - main point is, it has happened in every moon phase there is. A fortnight ago I was fishing with a mate in the Barron Arm... late session from about 10pm till 1am... moon phase was not only close to zero, but there was a huge cloud build up from the previous few days of diplaurable weather and to add to the equation, it was bloody cold. I had never seen the Barron Arm like I did that night... massive boof's, on average, once every fifteen seconds, all up and down the Barron Arm. These fish were real Tinaroo giants, and they were hitting their straps bigtime that night. We had horses crashing the surface right next to the Boat... it was like a Riffle Range on water! But, admitadly, we didn't manage to land a fish. We got monstered on a few occasions, but none were held up high for the world to see. We were just not good enough on that night to get them. After this occasion and many others, I can safely and confidently say that Moon phases have nothing to do with how they effect Barra and their feeding patterns, but more or less they make an any Angler fish a little differently and to the conditions.

Perhaps Warren Adams and his little 'night time trick' is the way to go with fishing new moons? It has worked for me...

Cheers

Theo

[Jeremy87]

Good point theo, i've always said the best time to go fishing is when you can get out. for me the attraction of a full moon is that you can still see the structure your casting at more than the actual fish being more active.

The pushed up snag piles are always a must hit for me weather it be bass or barra. One of the best places for this is lenthalls, before they had there kill we scored a few barra right up the top in only a few foot of water where there was breaks in the lily pads. We'd cast shallow runners over the top and fish them slow leaving them above the piles as long as possible. The barra would rise out of the pile sneak up behind the lure and suck it in all while you were watching the lures progress. You'd strike on the sight of your lure disappearing from view rather than the feeling. even though the barra were only a foot below the surface you couldn't see them as they blended perfect with the tannin stained water.

[two fold]

can a moderator please make this thread a sticky???
look at how many questions on freshwater and reports on awonga recently
purcho

[TonyM]

I don't have anywhere near as much barra experience as a lot of people on the site, however I have paid a lot of attention to solunar peaks and there affect on fish (both salt and fresh).

Moon phase is one part of the argument, although I believe the moons position is a much more important factor. This is no new discovery, e.g. the Maori fishing calendar is based around these times.

The majority of the most memorable fishing sessions I have had have occured around the times of these peaks (moon directly overhead, and moon directly underfoot) generally 30 mins either side of these times.

Probably the most dramatic instance I can remember was fishing at Lenthalls dam a few years ago with a mate.

I mentioned to my mate the peak was due to happen in about 30 mins. About 5 mins later (right on queue) thousands of baitfish were trying to walk on water and you could see bow waves all over the place from hungry barra chasing them. This went on for almost an hour and then shut down completely - dead silence.

It's not always that dramatic, although the peaks most definately do trigger the fish off.

Yes you will catch fish outside of those times, although almost always when you have a super hot session you will most likely find it was around the peak times if you care to check

Cheers
Tony

[HotwiredFishing]

Great Post ... Thanks!

[the_matrix]

Yes you will catch fish outside of those times, although almost always when you have a super hot session you will most likely find it was around the peak times if you care to check
Cheers
Tony

Tony, thanks for your comments.
I have taken the time to check when I have had hot bites, and average ones, and it has not co-incided with solunar peaks.
I have taken a solunar guide with me and checked moon up/moon down and relevant peaks/quiet times.
I have been on the water when friends have left the dam because the moon has moved to an unfavourable position.
I have continued on and caught fish through knowledge of the species, not the moon or its position.
It is my belief that this knowledge is much more important than where the moon is, will be or where its not.

I know plenty of people swear by it, its why I checked it out for myself.
The best bite periods I have had have been ones I put the most effort in to stimulate the fish to get the required response.
I believe fish tell you the answers a lot of the time, but often those little 'tips' go unnoticed.
Things like bites, touches but no hook ups etc all help indicate the mood of the fish, and its here the answers are found on how to catch them if you understand the species.
One trigger often leads to another which in turn creates a highly stimulated environment. Often in these times you can catch barra on anything you throw at them, they are buzzing. But often you need to get them there.

The salt environment is another world, and its here tides/moons become much more important. The tides drive a barra's world and life cycle and is a subject that would deserve its own thread.

Thanks for your input, its the same old story really, do what works for you as it brings confidence in its own right.
Cheers
Jas

[TonyM]

That's interesting Jas, thanks for your thoughts on this. I agree that there are many factors that affect fish and there behaviour, although this is one that many people seem to ignore.

The way I see it, the more data you have the more accurate your understanding of what's happening. I definately wouldn't fish only around the peak times, although they have more often than not proven to be the best times for me personally.

Like you said, whatever works for you and brings confidence.

Cheers
Tony

[two fold]

wow theres so much in dam barra fishing but as long as you have fun thats the mane bit hey.
i was wondering how much of this stuff leeds to catching fish but it looks like its very important.
thanks again all the bits on this thread has got me thinking,, maybe too much thinking haha
purcho

[Voda]

Top post Jas,Hope this sheads some new light on somethings for alot of anglers who get caught up in the hype & myths of impontment barra fishing.

Cheers Wayne <:{{{{{><