Moduran 5th-8th April

[rc@hinze]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Dave - yes he was rapt! He was in dreamland for the rest of the day and couldnt stop thinking about it. We were only 50m from him when he landed her and it was a real pleasure seeing and hearing all the action for him.

Trev - no one used a cast net off the houseboat that I was aware of. I dont know what the other guys had in their own boats and I didnt know all the guys really well.

Brian - yes we were at white rock for 2 of the 3 nights. I am also happy to take all of Naggs Vipers.

Jason - yeh I knew it was risky but i was trying to fish as light as possible. I had read recent articles by Greeny and Steptoe and they both alluded to lighter fishing for better results. I believe Steptoe also talked about the silohette effect of heavy leaders. It was only 3 hours until we headed back to the ramp and I was desperate to get a hook up. Did also try the bays with the wind blowing into them and looked for the dirty water and bait as well as better temps. Warmest water we found was 25 deg. - thanks for many of your recent posts with their hints.

This was my first trip in my own boat(and its my first boat) and I only had my sounder and 2nd hand motor installed on friday arvo.(Boats 6 weeks old) The GPS was a great help for getting us thru the trees to the houseboat at night. The 2nd hand motor played up badly so spent most of the time getting around on the electric and I had never had to be in charge of the reading the sounder before. -

Richard

[eotbmg]

Hey Richard,
Good effort considering the conditions etc.
Did you concerntrate on fishing points, or snags that felt fishy and used the leccy to motor around????
Just curious.
Ben

[rc@hinze]

Hi Ben. Used the electric for trolling when the outboard kept cutting out. I found the bowmount electric excellent for getting thru the trees and in the dark it swung the boat around so well around the trees. In the bays and places like the cattleyards ran on the electric exclusivly as we looked for fishy spots and read the sounder. We concentrated on water that was 3-4 m deep and hit it with surface lures and 1m divers. I run two gel batteries for my motorguide wireless and had a Honda full sine wave generator to run my truecharge battery charger.

[Awoonga]

Richard, l too was up there on the weekend....The water temp had dropped from Friday about 3 deg and Barra seem to like consistant water temperture.. When its has a sudden drop like that they seem to shut down..There was only one Barra caught in the Comp.....So yes it was hard......

[murrayscod]

i was in the comp up there too, having never fished for barra i casted thousands of casts all weekend mainly slick rigs for no result with the barra so decided in the last session to stick with chasing the bass and managed one at 45cm which seemed to fight as dirty as a barra from what the mate said jamming into a tree. oh well maybe next time ill nail a barra there, it's sure a nice looking dam. ill be back!

cheers Luke

[the_matrix]

Jason - yeh I knew it was risky but i was trying to fish as light as possible. I had read recent articles by Greeny and Steptoe and they both alluded to lighter fishing for better results. I believe Steptoe also talked about the silohette effect of heavy leaders. Richard

Richard,
Yes no doubt Greeny knows his stuff. He and his young fella fish hard when they come up this way.
I'd say knowing Davids fishing style, it would more likely be aimed at trolling, most certainly lighter braids and lighter leader will enhance lure action, and most likely allow it to work the depth it was designed to work.
Sometimes people who troll the same lure, but two different colours think it was a colour selection by the fish that made it successful over the other.
Unless braid, rod length and amount of line let out, where the lure is in the spread, are exactly the same, it cant be compared because all braids have different diameter, as well as different breaking strain.
So in other words that is usually the difference between two rods trolling the "same" lure. Ones probably working deeper and closer to fish than the one that has bigger or heavier breaking strain.

In regards to silhoutte from leaders?
Im not saying they dont throw silhoutte or reflect light angles for that matter, however if you ever have a look at a twisted leader, you'll see those things are like ships berthing lines.
Thousands upon thousands of impoundment barra have been caught on them, and, although Im not a fan of them if fish dont shy from them they wont shy from anything!
A friend in my boat landed a good barra yesterday in clear water using a twisted leader, it stood out like dogs balls.
its been tough fishing this past week, and the leader system didnt shy fish.
Just a bit of an insight.
Cheers
Jas

[rc@hinze]

thanks for that feedback Jason. Because my experience is limited I try to put into play how my interpretation of what I read.

A couple of things that I would like your opinion on however-

1. do you use a different leader set up for your "slick rig" fishing compared to hard bodied lures?

2. I know you are a big fan of striking hard for the hookup. I tend to always fish a light drag initially and then tighten it during playing the fish. I have lost fish on the jump and have read of many others experiencing the same, this leads me to believe that they were not hooked well in the first place. Does the drag need to be tight on the initial hookup so that when you strike you do set the hooks instead of the drag just slipping?

thanks Richard

[NAGG]

Strike & set those hooks (bite , tap , snag .... whatever) ....... Barra inhale & exhale so fast ....... so strike at everything
No loose line (bellies) stay in contact...... point the rod tip at the lure ( as much as possible)
Loose drags .... no way! ..... Those barra know where they need to go ....... you wont be fast enough IMHO

I'm sure the gurus will concur!

Nagg

[the_matrix]

Richard,
The guru above has answered your question to an extent, I'll elaborate a bit more and explain.
Barra inhale and exhale in one lightening fast motion. How fast your reaction is will determine your success in a solid hookup.
There is never a time where you do not strike a barra.
Drag settings? In my experience there's only one drag setting, and thats bloody hard. You need solid contact when you are after hook penetration.
Check the inside of a Barra's mouth if your unsure, its armour plated and difficult to penetrate.
I can hardly pull line off my reels, but when I hook fish they take it like its in freespool.
Fishing amongst standing timber, the only drag setting you need is full lock. Either full lock or freespool. If a fish bends around tree's, freespooling will help prevent you getting a braid failure. Just follow it on the leccy then when its clear give it stick. The fish are not making a mental note of whats around them, mostly you get done up because they pick up a submerged log or branch as they are escaping.
When panic sets in for Barra, in particular the metreys will seek out deep water, in which they associate as a safe place. The problem is that between where you hook your fish and deep water there is usually nasty stuff!

Smaller fish, 70-90cm fish often will return to the snag, they pull like stink in short bursts.
In this scenario, high sticking will encourage the fish to jump and you triple your chances to land it because the fish is in complete dissaray. It will make mistakes and you can capitalise on them. A fish with its head down will bury you in quick time.

My leader set up is basic, effective and does not let me down. I have been down bimini road, great for billfish and bluewater but thats it in my opinion.
Why complicate a rig if there is no benefit? Introducing more knots means more weak points. I do not use clips.
I use the same set up for every rig, including surface frogs and all other topwaters, hardbody, weedless rigs, jigging, swim baits like slickies and fly.
No double, 80lb leader and a slim beauty joining the two. I have my own version of a leftys loop knot, which does the same as all the other loop knots.
I use fins prt, sunline and suffix performance braid. Leader is usually YGK or Esrkines 10X.

In regards to loosing fish on the jump, mate its part of the deal and the nature of the beast. But by focusing on effective strike methods you'll be able to minimise dissapointment.
Hope that helps.
Cheers
Jas

[NAGG]

When panic sets in for Barra, in particular the metreys will seek out deep water, in which they associate as a safe place. The problem is that between where you hook your fish and deep water there is usually nasty stuff!

Smaller fish, 70-90cm fish often will return to the snag, they pull like stink in short bursts.

Jas ...... An observation that I made at Awoonga was the uncanny reaction of several larger barra to run towards structure that was not in the immediate vicinity of the hook up point ! ..... Yes it was in deeper water ( but at least 2 fish ran at right angles (20-30m) from their initial run direction to head towards this more significant structure ...... i'm feeling that they knew their environment !
What are your thoughts ?

Nagg