I received a call a few months from a mate telling me both him and his girlfriend, Joel and Brooke, were coming up to do the BASS ABT round at Somerset and then they were thinking of heading up to Monduran and Awoonga for some barra action. Basically we then organised a 5-6 day barra trip with no set in stone plans and just decided to take each day as it came and we would fish which ever pond was fishing the best.
A few of the boys chipped in with some great info, thanks Pete, and I have some offers from Scotty and Trev if we got to Awoonga and they both advised they would let me know what was happening in their pond so we knew we could fish the pond that had the better bite.
So we all arrived at Mondy on the Sunday arvo/night. I started to rig up a few rods for the following day when Nathan and Brian turn up in the camp kitchen for a quick chat. Some interesting info was shared about how tough the dam was fishing, but the inside info revelled fish were around and it was not as tough as most were experiencing. Thanks boys for the info as it paid off. So I sat around with the boys for a few drinks and a chat around a nice fire and it was great to catch up.
DAY 1
Day one saw us venture up to Jacks and it was a great morning weather wise. About 90 mins into the session I hooked up to a half decent barra that proceeded to jump and thrash around. Within a few mins he was boat side and then the braid snapped halfway though the rod and the fish won his freedom. A positive but disappointing way to start the day. We had a few other hits and misses throughout the day but no more hookups.
DAY 2
We tied up to a tree first thing in the morning and within a few hours Brooke hooked up to a solid fish that ran her around a stick and basically won its freedom. A positive sign of what was to come. Brooke latter hooked up to a feisty barra of around 60cms and it was great for her to land her first barra and we were all excited to have a barra on the boat and it was great to see the jubilation on someone’s face when they get their first barra. Joel then proceeded to land a mid 50’s specimen and it to was his first barra that had not smoked him in Monduran. Once again the boat was alive with enthusiasm. Joel then later whacked another mid 70’s fish and dragged him past some ordinary looking timber and things were starting to look up. I later chipped in with a mid 50’s fish and that was it for the day. It was a great start to the trip.
DAY 3
We fished the out edge from where we fished the previous day and fished our way into the tree we were going to tie off to. Joel lobbed a nice bite size hardbody into a good looking area where we had caught fish the previous day and it was immediately whacked. A short 3 sec fight saw the hooks straightened and it managed to prove that the smaller owner hooks were not up to the task of handling barra of medium size.
We tied up to the same tree and were hoping for a similar bite but it was very slow. I knew fish were around and Brooke then managed a nice cattie which was a good start and things then went slow. I knew fish were around and had a feeling it was big fish moving around that had pushed out the smaller fish that we encountered the previous day. This proved to be correct when Brooke hooked up to her fish of a life time. We quickly threw the rope and chased the fish around a few trees and then eventually into the net. The problem was that the trebles had caught the net half way into the net and the fish could not move further into the net. A nice liberal push from Joel had the big girl into the net and onto the deck. Screaming was next in order as were heaps of pics and video footage of the 124cm monster. Technically it went 125 as is was over the 124 mark but Brooke still calls it for a 124. A good release saw the big girl power off under full steam and the combined fish length for both of the southerners was now 300cm for 3 sessions.
With no further action we shot of into Bundy to get some pics developed and F.O.X.Y now has nice pic of this big girl on his bag wall, as does the Caravan Park at Mondy.
We headed back out at night to the same spot and I was throwing topwater around and managed to have a big fish smash the lure but not hook up. I kept fishing the same area for a further 60 mins only to have a very big girl smash the lure and take off. We chased her down and i got a few winds back on the reel but even when free spool she still kept pulling. She found some sticks and it basically was over then. A few choice words were said and I stopped fishing for 60 mins as I was over the fact that I had just lost a big girl on topwater which is one of my goals for this year.
DAY 4
We went back to the same spots and it was pretty slow. A few more hits but no hookups. I had a fish inhale the lure and as I struck I had the braid snap again in the water. Joel later found the lure floating through the water so it was not a lost effort.
I then met up with Darryl in the arvo and went out for a arvo/night session with him which was great. Joel and Brooke headed down to B and saw a few fish cruising and dropped another good fish. Then returned to an area Joel wanted to fish near the main basin and they both advised that the barra were boofing around them everywhere. 1 partial hookup was all they got.
Darryl and myself were on our way back to the ramp when we bumped into Nagg. So we went back to camp and had some dinner and Nagg whipped up a great fire. A good chat and nice night was had catching up with good mates.
DAY 5
Basically day 5 was a very short day as Brooke and Joel had to head home and no barra were caught. I fished the rest of the day with Nagg and it was great to fish with him again and we spent majority of out time searching out new spots within the dam. I later caught up with Steve as well at the ramp as Steve and Nagg were doing an arvo/night session and it was good to have a quick catch up with him as well.
It was a good week of fishing and exploring on a dam with water levels I have never seen. It was great to see both of them onto fish and I was so happy for them both to have travelled so far and achieved something they both have wanted to do for such a long time and it was great to be a part of that experience and something I will never forget. Watching Brooke land her second ever barra and it being a massive 124cm girl was just a dream to watch and I am glad the dream could be made true for her.
Thanks again to Pete for the low down, Nathan and Brian for the fire and rundown on the dam and the bite, Darryl for a ride in his boat and Nagg for the ride and the fire.
Cheers
Lee
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Originally Posted by bermo82
