Monduran 15th and 16th Feb

[Callop]

We left Brisbane at lunchtime on Thursday for the 5 hours drive to Monduran. Things didn’t look too promising. It rained all the way up but finally eased when we stopped for a chat with Foxie at Gin Gin. “Trolling the main basin is the go. The water is pretty dirty once you get up past White Rock.” says Foxie. Needless to say he was spot on . Anyway off to the dam we go, keen for an early start. The early start never had a chance once the bourbon and coke started flowing.
Friday
Finally got on the water at 9.00am . We prefer to cast and retrieve rather than troll so decided to give B a go. The further we went the dirtier the water got but once we got into B it did clear up a bit. After 7 hours in B for nothing we decided to take Foxies advice and troll the basin.
Imagine this 3 blokes in a 4 metre tinnie with 5 lures out. Recipe for disaster. We each had a plan about who would do what when a fish was hooked but no-one had talked to the other 2. The end result was 1 lost barra with some new jewellry and a pretty good tangle in 2 of the other lines.
After sorting out the mass and agreeing on 1 plan we start again. Soon after we are on again, the plan works perfectly but the barra does 1 spectacular leap and spits the lure. It the space of a seconds this fish hits a 12+ barra classic, gets out of the water by at least a metre and spits the hooks while airborne.
30 minutes or so later my son finally remains connected and after some impressive leaps he leads an 88 cm barra to the net and the mandatory photos are taken.
Now is it my turn. ZZZZZZZZZZZZ goes the baitcaster and the plan is again put into action. “This is a better fish”, I yell. A good 5 minutes later she shows herself but is not done yet. 3 more runs before the net lifts her in and onto the brag mat. This is only my 4th trip to Monduran and I am now a member of the metery club with a 104 cm. pb. After some photos she is gone with 1 flick of the tail.
Congratulations all round but a member of the crew still has to get a barra.The sun has set and the nav lights are turned on. It is now 7.30pm and the reel starts to scream again. After a short fight she goes into the net and measures 88cm and a new pb for my mate. More photos and another successful release and it is time to celebrate some wonderful fishing with a mandatory bourbon and coke or 10.
Unfortunately that bourbon and coke or 10 turned into a lot more but we met some good blokes in the camp kitchen that night including TropicalTrout and Whitto. Nice to have met you guys and it is good to put a face to the name.
Saturday
A very slow start on Saturday (I wonder why?) of 3.00pm, trolling the basin for 1 barra of 94cm between then and dark.
Sunday
No fishing today(too much bourbon) Pack up and go back to the real world to dream of more barra.

The final tally was
barra hooked 6
barra landed 4
lures lost 1


Dave

[nipsta]

Re: Monduran 15th and 16th Feb

We left Brisbane at lunchtime on Thursday for the 5 hours drive to Monduran. Things didn’t look too promising. It rained all the way up but finally eased when we stopped for a chat with Foxie at Gin Gin. “Trolling the main basin is the go. The water is pretty dirty once you get up past White Rock.” says Foxie. Needless to say he was spot on . Anyway off to the dam we go, keen for an early start. The early start never had a chance once the bourbon and coke started flowing.
Friday
Finally got on the water at 9.00am . We prefer to cast and retrieve rather than troll so decided to give B a go. The further we went the dirtier the water got but once we got into B it did clear up a bit. After 7 hours in B for nothing we decided to take Foxies advice and troll the basin.
Imagine this 3 blokes in a 4 metre tinnie with 5 lures out. Recipe for disaster. We each had a plan about who would do what when a fish was hooked but no-one had talked to the other 2. The end result was 1 lost barra with some new jewellry and a pretty good tangle in 2 of the other lines.
After sorting out the mass and agreeing on 1 plan we start again. Soon after we are on again, the plan works perfectly but the barra does 1 spectacular leap and spits the lure. It the space of a seconds this fish hits a 12+ barra classic, gets out of the water by at least a metre and spits the hooks while airborne.
30 minutes or so later my son finally remains connected and after some impressive leaps he leads an 88 cm barra to the net and the mandatory photos are taken.
Now is it my turn. ZZZZZZZZZZZZ goes the baitcaster and the plan is again put into action. “This is a better fish”, I yell. A good 5 minutes later she shows herself but is not done yet. 3 more runs before the net lifts her in and onto the brag mat. This is only my 4th trip to Monduran and I am now a member of the metery club with a 104 cm. pb. After some photos she is gone with 1 flick of the tail.
Congratulations all round but a member of the crew still has to get a barra.The sun has set and the nav lights are turned on. It is now 7.30pm and the reel starts to scream again. After a short fight she goes into the net and measures 88cm and a new pb for my mate. More photos and another successful release and it is time to celebrate some wonderful fishing with a mandatory bourbon and coke or 10.
Unfortunately that bourbon and coke or 10 turned into a lot more but we met some good blokes in the camp kitchen that night including TropicalTrout and Whitto. Nice to have met you guys and it is good to put a face to the name.
Saturday
A very slow start on Saturday (I wonder why?) of 3.00pm, trolling the basin for 1 barra of 94cm between then and dark.
Sunday
No fishing today(too much bourbon) Pack up and go back to the real world to dream of more barra.

The final tally was
barra hooked 6
barra landed 4
lures lost 1


Dave

nice work good to see ya getting some i hope there still playing the game when i get up there next weekend which ramp did yous use the closet to the camp or the two over the other side

[Callop]

Re: Monduran 15th and 16th Feb

thanks
The closest to the camp is the way to go.
Dave

[Barraboss]

Re: Monduran 15th and 16th Feb

Congrats Dave and crew. Welcome to the metre club!!!!!!

Great job mate

Matt

[Big_Ren]

Re: Monduran 15th and 16th Feb

Well done mate.......at least trolling with a hangover usually doesn't hurt too much. Congrats on some good fish guys.

Cheers
Paul

[Peter4]

Re: Monduran 15th and 16th Feb

Well done Callop!

Better result than the trip last month!

Regs

Pete

[Magella]

Re: Monduran 15th and 16th Feb

GOOD ONE CALLOP

A meter plus can't be unhappy with that.

Cheers Foxie

[TonyM]

Re: Monduran 15th and 16th Feb

They sure were playing hard to get in the sticks. I was up there sat/sunday with Paul to check out how the place looks with 4m extra water.

We found a couple of bays with slightly clearer water and a degree or so warmer. I landed one rat about 85cm in the sticks, saw 2 other fish, one slashed but wouldn't take the lure, and one big girl who did but pulled the hooks after a tussle in some very tight timber.

As usual the Arafura Barra's did the job, bleeding mullet and green/chrome were the ones that raised the fish

Considering the conditions I was happy enough just to land the one in the sticks! Can't wait till it clears and warms up a bit, we found plenty of fantastic new country to fish that should go off big time when conditions improve.

Cheers
Tony

[chief]

Re: Monduran 15th and 16th Feb

Fantastic stuff thanks for the pm. Some great fish and looks like a great trip. Talk about getting me excited ,I'm up there on tuesday 26th for 5 days.Never fished dams before but we'll put the hard yards in. Cheers and well done mate

[wal_62]

Re: Monduran 15th and 16th Feb

Some nice Barra there Dave, well done. Am heading up there in 3weeks for the first time (if the wether is ok) just wondering how deep do you need to go trolling the basin.
Cheers, Wal.

[Callop]

Re: Monduran 15th and 16th Feb

Hi Wal
We found lures that run at 10 to 12 feet did the job on the day.

[fish_on]

Re: Monduran 15th and 16th Feb

nice work mate heading up there myself on friday. dunno about trolling the main basin with 40 other boats though. ill be hitting b and further up. report to come early next week

[Shagga]

Re: Monduran 15th and 16th Feb

Nice Barra. Well done.

[Tropicaltrout]

Re: Monduran 15th and 16th Feb

Hey Dave well done. It was good to meet you and your sponcer wild turkey you two work well together , hope to cross paths again in the near future. Bit of luck that water will settle, and the sticks we will go.

cheers Nath