Intro and Three Barra Tips

[bluefin59]

Thanks for the advice ,some great points to get started with ...matt

[Little grey men]

Now this is a thread !!! Well done everyone.

[Big_Ren]

Hi, I'm Paul and I'm an acute IBD sufferer

Place of Residence - Sunshine Coast - about 3.5 hours south of Monduran and 5 from Awoonga.

Occupation - Media Manager

My Three Barra Tips

Not so much three tips, but a throw back to my thoughts last year on this topic.

To quote from 2008


For me, it is 90% attitude........

• A positive attitude towards your tackle preparation (not accepting that close enough is good enough)
• An attitude espousing patience, tolerance, courtesy and respect for self and fellow anglers on the water
• An attitude of confidence/optimism that you will enjoy success, or an attitude to learn from the tough days to do better next time; and
• An attitude that you take a smile on board when you launch and a determination you will have the same smile or broader when you return, no matter what your results.

At the end of the day, I do not go out fishing to be a misery guts (I can do that at work, wishing I was fishing)....I am always committed to having fun, bettering myself as an angler, enjoying the moment for what it really is, and of course, taking the p*ss out of my mates (expecting heaps in return).

Smile when you net your quarry, and smile when you afford him his liberty........leave your problems at home and take the right attitude on the water......how hard can that be?

Cheers
Paul

[Dick Pasfield]

Dick, any fish is good

Place of Residence - Kununurra.

Occupation - Landcare group coordinator.

My Three Barra Tips

Keep a diary, work out what data is important to you, start small and build up, use a spreadsheet and if you don't know how learn then fishing has taught you at least one good habit out of all the bad ones

Use the good times to experiment, work through your ideas, toss them, modify them, store them for when times are lean to fall back on. Don't try go clutching at straws when fish are hard to come by.

Trust your gut instinct, if its not there or seems wrong when you do you're not asking it the question often enough for it to get good at providing the answers.

[BR65]

Im going to double dip with another 3 tips:
1/ Trust your sounder, if it shows bait and barra, stick at it.

2/ Persistance is your best friend. Many many barra are caught on the umptenth cast down the same line.

3/ Pay your SIP. The great fishery we enjoy isnt possible with out the funds generated by those who utilize it.
!

[anthony72]

Anthony and I am a tragic barra nut job - dream about them and cannot sleep before each trip and also a slight tingle from Jewies, trout and ALL pelagics but barra hands down.

Place of Residence - Rockhampton I am 5 mins Fitzroy River, 40 mins port alma, 1 &1/2 from Awoonga.

Occupation - Auctioneer

My Three Barra Tips

1. Sit back and take 10 -15 mins before first lure is thrown and study what is happening on the water in front of you. Study the current lines and fish the fresh oxygenated water- quietly drift into desired location.

2. Birds, for me they give the greatest clue to what's happening below the surface feeding or sitting on the bank-

3. Always do something different everytime you hit the water- no point going out and doing the same thing expecting a different result- modify a lure and look for point of difference to everything else put in front of barra at highly pressured dams or rivers.


Great thread Matt.

[Barraholic]

Ahhh bugger it, a mini double dip for me. and carrying on from Anthony's No.2. (this one evidenced itself this arvo and has worked on numerous occasions before)

Confuscious Say - "Man who see pelican(s) in water with no neck should ready casting arm"

Kev

PS This thread has the potential to be awesome - keep 'em coming fellas.

[leelee]

I'm Lee. Living in QLD but originally from Sydney but don't hold that against me.

Love chasing any fish as long as its challenging and i really love barra and bass fishing but fishing itself is just great.

Barra rookie, but enjoying the challenge

Place of Residence - Brisbane. 5-6 hours to far south from barra heaven but 12 hours north of hell

Occupation - Analyst

My Three Barra Tips

1. Perservence catches fish

2. Trust your instincts and always be positive

3. Always keep an open mind and listen to the dam and to the anglers who fish it

[Obi _ Wan]

Just one more tip from me (which I've recently learnt from Trevor) Strap your electric motor shaft down securely to reduce the chances of it self-deploying when you hit waves at speed!

Cheers,

Matt[/quote]

That's a bit rough Matt

What's the poor bugger done to deserve all the bad luck that has come his way over the last year

He is, at the moment trying to work out what he has done to cop the bad luck, he can't remember running over anyone lol

I hope it all comes good and he ends up taking out the Barra Tour this year.

Cheers,
John.

[Awoonga]

Just one more tip from me (which I've recently learnt from Trevor) Strap your electric motor shaft down securely to reduce the chances of it self-deploying when you hit waves at speed!

Cheers,

Matt

That's a bit rough Matt

What's the poor bugger done to deserve all the bad luck that has come his way over the last year

He is, at the moment trying to work out what he has done to cop the bad luck, he can't remember running over anyone lol




I hope it all comes good and he ends up taking out the Barra Tour this year.

Cheers,
John.[/quote]


John its ok...Thanks for those kind words ..As for my tips..lets see No 1 is PMA Positive Mental Attitude, No 2 is the soft plastic twitch ?You may well ask.. Whats that ? Well lets see if l can explain it .Barra are inquisitive. They will follow your lure without touching it. This happens many times without you even knowing it especially if you are repeatitively casting to the one area. If you stop the lure or change its action even slightly there instinct takes over and they strike at it .No3 its been said before but it needs to be said again .Stealth you will catch more fish As time goes on these fish shall get smarter. You must outsmart them.

[matt fraser]

Just one more tip from me (which I've recently learnt from Trevor) Strap your electric motor shaft down securely to reduce the chances of it self-deploying when you hit waves at speed!

Cheers,

Matt

That's a bit rough Matt

What's the poor bugger done to deserve all the bad luck that has come his way over the last year

He is, at the moment trying to work out what he has done to cop the bad luck, he can't remember running over anyone lol

I hope it all comes good and he ends up taking out the Barra Tour this year.

Cheers,
John.[/quote]

Yep, I believe in Karma what comes around goes around, so I reckon Trev is due for some good things to come his way. I reckon you might also be overdue for some better times ahead!

Cheers,

Matt

[Obi _ Wan]

Yep, I believe in Karma what comes around goes around, so I reckon Trev is due for some good things to come his way. I reckon you might also be overdue for some better times ahead!

Cheers,

Matt[/quote]

Thanks for that Matt, i certainly would be happy if a few things started to go my way for a change, but i guess as the Big man said some years ago, "Life wasn't meant to be easy", he has been right so far, the only ray of light so far is the teaming up with a group of like minded barra men from this site.

Cheers,
John.

[vet]

Hi, my name is Scott and I'm a veterinarian and I live in Gladstone 60% of the time and Awoonga the rest. I'm a recovering Alcoholic, oh sorry wrong site.

My three tips,

Observation of everything around you when on the water is paramount.
Weather provides the clues of where and when to fish.
Become a hunter, stalk your prey with stealth.

cheers scott.

[Luc]

Hi Matt,

Nice to catch up, been a long time.
Still living in Pine Rivers area,
Mostly bassing,
Chase barra a couple of times a year(usually Mondy),
Hardbodies rather than plastics - Voodoo catch barra!!!

My tips / observations
Fish to the conditions of the day
Bass fishing tactics are applicable to barra
Try something other than what everybody else is doing

Luc

[matt fraser]

G'day Luc, Good to hear from you, thanks for adding your tips.

There are some excellent tips there, I'm sure, much appreciated by many. Before this one fades off the page, I'm hoping some of you can get a bit more specific with some of your tips.

Like - There are a fair few tips that talk about conditions, for barra newbys, can you elaborate on - how to fish to conditions? where to fish in the conditions?

Stealth, there are a few tips on stealth , I'd like to elaborate on this. If there is a specific point or bay that I'd like to fish. As I approach it I come off the plane about 300m out, I'll then idle in for another 100m, and then cut the main motor, deploy the electric and then electric in. If my plan is to anchor on this point, I will stop the electric about 50m out, and deploy the anchor quietly (anchor is a lead wedge with no noisy chain). As the wind is blowing into this point, I will drift into position. Before commencing fishing.

All this takes about 5 minutes longer than it would normally take if I had have driven straight to the point and dropped anchor. However if I've used enough stealth and the fish are there, it isn't unusual to get a bite on the first cast. If I'd used the non-stealth method, it could be up to half an hour before the fish start patrolling that point again.

Am I being stealthy enough? Please add your stealth tips if you have more.

Three more tips from me - on temps
Water temps (which are directly affected by wind and air temps) have a huge influence on impoundment barra.

If you have struck conditions when air temps are lower than water temps, fishing can be more difficult, but I've found the most productives times of the day become dawn, and the middle of the day, when it is at its warmest

If there is a cold southerly blowing, try and find bays that are the most protected, always keep and eye on the your sounder for water temps. The warmer water generally hold the most active fish.

Barra fishing is much more productive on days when air temps are warmer than water temps. Sunset bites are particularly productive after a hot day.

Keep 'em coming,

Cheers,

Matt