Intro and Three Barra Tips

[matt fraser]

Hi, I'm Matt and I'm a Barraholic!

I've also been know to be adversely affected by Jacks, Jewies, Bass, Bream, Snapper and to a lesser extent Flathead, Whiting, Mackeral and most things that swim and taste nice.

Place of Residence - About 5 hours South of Monduran and 6&1/2 from Awoonga.

Occupation - Fishing Tackle Designer

My Three Barra Tips

1. Set your strike drag at 3kg, back the drag off to about 1 - 1.5kg after you've got them out of trouble, then use your thumb if needed.

2. I use Harros leader knot (no double) 20 or 30lb braid, 70 - 80 lb leader

3. When anchoring or tying off to trees make sure you have your rope set up with a float and tie it off in a manner that the rope can be quickly and easily thrown so you can chase the fish.

Please introduce yourself and share three of your barra tips, regardless of age or experience. You may or may not agree with mine or others, but this is all about sharing something positive.

I hope you get something out of this post and if so, please add three tips of your own.

Cheers,

Matt

[Peter4]

lol Matt

Hi, I'm Pete and I'm a Barraholic too! (so is my son Kyle)...

Also like to chase snapper and pelagics in Moreton Bay and flathead at the Pin.

Place of Residence - About 5 hours south of Monduran in bayside Brisbane

Occupation - Financial Adviser

My Barra Tips

1. If you get stitched up in the timber, freespool and 'unknit' the barra before re-applying pressure.

2. I use a slim beauty leader knot (no double) 30 or 50lb braid & 80lb leader

3. When working weedy edges with soft plastics a slow rolling retrieve without any twitches or pauses can produce good results - even if it is a little boring to do!

Anyone else?

Pete

[NAGG]

HI I'm Chris (Nagg)

I suffer from IBD & have a lurecasting fettish

I now reside in Brisbane (previously Sydney)

My occupation is ........ Hmmmm _ Oh yeh thats right Sales Manager (Plastic additives)

My Barra tips are

Swim / tune your lures before casting them.

If your knots do not look right - re tie them.

Alter your retrieves ..... speed , action , pauses etc

[mr_yamba]

ok, my name is Mark and i never really enjoyed fishing until i moved to yungaburra on lake tinaroo. Now i am absolutely obsessed with barra, and prob need to back off a little to restore a bit of balance to my life.

Place of residence - Yungaburra (tinaroo)

Occupation: Pharmacist

tips-
1) always check your boat and trailer before towing. check all linkages and safety chains, as these little things can cause huge problems. i have seen many cars and boats damaged because the tow ball was not clipped down properly.

2) fish as many rods at a time as possible. if i am trolling i troll 3 rods usually. 4 rods for 2 people. If i am livebaiting i cast lures at the same time, and vice versa.

3) Get to know other fishermen in your area. In a few weeks or months they can teach you what would have taken years to master by reading magazines etc. they may learn something from you also. It's a win win situation.

[DEANO68]

hi im deano (aka, prinny, wobblehead , and various others)..

also a sufferer, but keep it at bay chasing jacks, bass, and most fishys.

live on the sunnycoast..

purchasing manager by day....

tips...

barra STILL eat hardbodied lures..

be vewy , vewy quiet.....

if an area feels fishy, trust your scences, keep casting, and vary your prenentations and retrieves..

try all these mods you see on the net....

oh, thats four , sorry...

deano...

[robersl]

Hi I am Shane
And like all above i to am a barraholic but also love chasing tings and tailor
my tip is if yor lure or plastic is not in the water your no hope of a hook up
my pet hate is now blowflies and trollers and the fact that sometimes they are 1 and the same
shane

[rc@hinze]

Good one Matt!

I'm Richard and I am both a bassaholic and barraholic.

I'm an eletrical contractor on the Gold Coast

My Barra tips are-

Don't fish with preconceived ideas - be flexible

Use stimulate or other additive on your lures

Have both a spin and bait caster rigged differently and swap between them to use different muscles for long sessions.

[Barraholic]

Hi my name's Kev. I'm a capricorn who likes long walks on the beach (whoops wrong forum ) - yes given my forum name you guessed it I am a barraholic.

Caught my obsession with barra in the north of WA in the 90's chasing salty barra in the small river systems of the Pilbara. Also have a love of the scream of a reel from a spanish mackerel, the colour of a red emporer as it comes into view from the depths and the brawl of a mangrove jack/fingermark up in the estuaries. Given my location have had IBD take over in the last 18 months but in the process of restoring some balance in my piscatorial pursuits...

Place of Residence: 10 mins from Awoonga

Occupation: Gingerbeer

Tips:

1. Really concentrate on reducing the distance and increasing the time that your lure is in front of a barra's snout. (for both casting and trolling)
2. Don't discount any section of water until you've tried it - to build on your experience base. Barra can turn up in very dirty, crappy looking and very shallow water at times.
3. Lures like to run down current and barra don't mind them running that way either....
4. Always be kind to your mother

Kev

[BR65]

Hi, I'm Brian and I'm a Barraholic!

Ive also got a thing for Jacks, bass, toges, and big nasty toothy critters that call the Swains home. Cut my teeth in the local estuarys, then off shore, now more into the sweetwater, enjoying the challange of lure fishing.

Place of Residence - About 4.5 hours South of Monduran and 6 from Awoonga.

Occupation - Sparkie

My Three Barra Tips

1- Trebele and split ring up-grades are the first thing you should do to 95% of the lures you buy off the shelf

2 - Warm water doesnt allways mean fish. Look for bait, surface activity, birds, wind lanes, structure (hard or soft), keep your eyes and mind open when you get on the water.

3 - Common courtesy to other fishos on the water will see you in good stead. Slow down, keep clear, fish your own spot, theres plenty of water and we all dont have to hang off the same point.

[Jeremy87]

Hi, I'm Jeremy and I'm a Barraholic! Actually I'm more of a lurerholic. I get my jollies by casting lures into dangerous places and then trying to drag an angry fish back out again. The uglier the snag the further i want to cast into it.

Place of Residence - Brissy south side

Occupation Zoologist, well thats what my piece of paper says. At the moment I'm still studying.

My Three Barra Tips

1. The mechanics of a barras head all face upwards, which means they have extreme difficulty coordinating a strike on a lure thats beneath them. Therefore if you want to make it easier for a barra to eat your lure make sure its above them.

2. Slow down, and then when you've done that slow down some more

3. If you can see a fish it can probably see you aswell. When fishing land based in clear water wear colours that blend into the background.

[Tropicaltrout]

Hi I am Nath, aka Hat

I am a Barra nut, I love seeing them,cathcing them,talking about them,and writing about them....

I reside on the Sunny Coast, with a wife and 2 kids
I am a Windscreen fitter/ Window Tinter



Three Tips from me
Don't be affraid to try new things, and put the time in when useing new methods.

Bait, well fleeting gar and plenty of boney bream is conferdence...

Slow retives and don't be affraid to pause a lure for up wards of 5 to 12 seconds.

and a forth tip is simply enjoy the fact you are in there with a chance to catch this Ikonic Sportfish....

[TinarooTriumph]

G'day... name is Theo, and I'm a resident angler to Lake Tinaroo.
On early, still mornings the barra can hear me coming from miles away as I have the pedal planted in the ute (they call that mad keen)

Place of residence; Wondecla (Herberton)

Occupation; Student (nearly one that wears one of those stupid hats)

Barra tip 1 ; Work the water column. Many anglers out there are stuck in the world of the shallow water theory & don't subscribe to fishing any deeper then 12/15ft etc. Some anglers will try all day to find fish feeding in shallower depths though our Lakes are big, and you can't be in too places at once. When you've found fish, then deploy lures and take it one fish at a time.

Barra Tip 2 ; Still mornings/nights & ultra-calm days can mean spooky fish, so pay attention to stealth. Kill the outboard (4 banger or 2 banger) a good 300/400m out from a certain spot and move in at a slow pace. Perfect stealth gives you the ultimate chance to catch fish. This rule also applies for fishing windy banks, so think about how you travel past spots you plan to fish later on etc. Electric motors are a good positioning tool, & not so much a 'travelling ground' option.

Barra tip 3 ; Fishing times on our lakes can vary & are dictated by one thing > weather. One day fish can bite their heads off at 5am and we can all catch dozens of fish, the next day they could go ballistic at 3pm in an aggressive bite window that may last 20mins. Big barra arn't robots, nor are they predictable (they are very far from predictable). You can't be in two places at once, so work out how weather effects spots during different parts of the day and come up with a game plan!

... and just another thing... be courteous at our boat ramps, but at the same time give some people the nudge if they are in the 'wrong'. If you see a bloke struggling to get a boat on the trailer, man up and go and help him out. If you see a bloke prepping his boat on the ramp & doing all that pre-phase planning then give him a gentle reminder that theres a place & a time to do that. Ramps are a place where you can meet the nicest people in the world, and they are also a good place to get into a fight if the wrong words came flying out.

If you could also hand out my number to any good looking girls my age at the Ramp (ask if they like barra fishing first), then this would also be nice.

[PaulMark]

Hi I'm Paulo.

Live....Hervey Bay,

Occupation.... CNC Machinist

Tip 1..BE QUIET.... Barra hate banging and crashing about,Stealth is the key.

Tip 2...Variety is the spice of life,just because you caught a barra on that lure/plastic last month doesn't mean they'll chomp it today,mix it up.

Tip 3...Take all of the advice given on this forum on board and you won't go far wrong.

Tip 4(ok I can't count) Treat the barra with the respect she deserves.
Paulo

[Whitto]

G'Day My name is Whitto and Im a Mondyholic.

I was born 61yrs ago in a Fishermans Paradise Town called Innisfail where growing up I had species like Barra Mangrove Jack Sooties to catch and then there was the Barrier Reef.

I now live in the Pine Rivers area.

Iam now under "Doctors Orders" and have Retired after 40yrs with the Emergency Services.

My Barra tips for anyone starting out are:

1....Pay attention to detail.....Rod in good condition/Reel well maintained/Hooks and Rings upgraded/ and your knots are tied correctly.

2....Be considerate to other Anglers.......Slow down and do it as quitely as you can from a considerable distance.

3....Handle your Barra carefully....DO NOT lift your Barra out of the water in a Vertical plane as you will effectively kill it as a result of snapping it's neck......Keep the Barra in a Horizontal plane (Leave it in the net in the water till you are ready with Brag Mat and Camera)......If you have to have photos do it quickly and get the fish back in the water so I can have a crack at it sometime down the track.

And finally be kind to your parents.......before you know it..... THEIR GONE.

[matt fraser]

Wow, great tips there guys! Thanks to everyone who has contributed so far. There are some real gems in there, I'm sure that most readers would have picked up some valuable info here.

Its also great to get to know everyone better. So keep the tips coming, and even if you don't think you have anything to contribute, thank the guys if you've learnt something from their tips.

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