Barra Bullsh!t

[scuttlebutt]

We trawled around from dawn until about lunchtime and caught a few cat fish, a few saratoga and one barra, about 40cm. Not huge I know.

. We are slow trawling in some very shallow channels, not more than a metre or two at best. My lure is bumping along and I have been collecting quite a bit of weed. I am sitting there, and the rod gets a bit heavy. Bugger, more weed. Hmmm, feels like a lot of weed, maybe I have caught another stick.

Well I'll throw in my 20 cents, trolling for Barra is the most boring method possible. They never seem to fight well on the troll. Maybe because when you hook them they're usually out from cover. Doesn't compare to casting lures at structure. When casting lure placement is more critical, the fishing itself is more visual (particularly in clearer waters) and it doesn't matter what line you're using, hook a 100cm barra 2 feet from a snag and only luck will land it for you.

Yes, a similar sized trevally will pull a lot harder for a lot longer. Indeed chasing GT's on surface lures is great fun and has developed a strong following but I wouldn't put them ahead of Barra, just different.

[bondy99]

Barra is highly overated and taste worse than mullet.

The only barra that might be better is the salty, freshwater is crap imo

[nautilus]

I must admit that I am a bit surprised by the responses. It sounds like I am not Robinson Crusoe in my thoughts about barra. That said, I would also like to say that I do agree that it takes all sorts and that barra fishing does have a certain something that keeps people coming back, even if it is not the fight. Still, I don't actually like eating fish much, so everything I catch goes back. For me, fight is everything, so bring on the GT's. Good on you to all those who responded!

[NAGG]

I think Scuttlebut , JJ & Barrakid all hit it on the head
IMO how you catch a barra , where you catch a barra & what you need to often do to catch that barra is what makes the difference -
I've been lucky enough to fish for some great fish & in some great locations over my life - there is something appealing about a lot of them & some that I can take or leave . Fishing is a personal thing - My sister in law would argue that there is nothing like catching a bream or flathead off her 600ml coke bottle.
*Now - I've caught some good GT's & except for throwing poppers at them over some reef edge - they are no different to catching a good kingie or samson fish . for me it's where and how you catch them that gets me excited (coral reef bommies , islands drop offs) .
*Fly fishing on a Alpine stream for trout has another appeal .... It's about the hunt & fooling a cautious fish that some fur and feather is some kind of bug (its visual) ....... once you get the hookup its so so (unless you are in rapid flowing waters)
*Cubing for YFT & have them at the back of the boat ..... being frustrated by their refusal to take your loaded pillie or strip bait - is pretty exciting - but once you get the hook up its just hard work .
*Marlin fishing - 90% boredom with 10% excitement ...... & a lot of fuel wasted along the way.
*Shark fishing - A combination of Marlin & tuna fishing
*Snapper fishing / jewfishing - get past the initial couple of runs ..... then look forward to a feed ( there are plenty of other species in that category) Incl most reef fish - turn them and that's usually it (barotrauma takes care of the rest).
*Bream fishing - unless you tackle them on artificials , light gear & in tough country ... it can be a bit ho hum ......... but you can catch them everywhere
*Bass - as above (except for the everywhere)

So what is it about barra ....... Firstly it's an Iconic northern Australian fish that you can catch in a dam , down the local creek , river , headland , island - You can sit back and float a livie , troll or you can chuck lures around (all situations & all year ..... closed season the exception but you can still fish a dam). With all of that exposure they can be an absolute bitch to catch ...... & that is where some of the appeal comes in .
Those that like throwing lures - get passionate about them because then its about the right lure , buoyancy & bite windows etc etc ...... so it's become a lot harder. Getting the cast in the right spot means you actually have to be a better fisherman.
Yes a good jack of 50cm will pull a 70cm barra backwards ..... but the barra jumps (so it's visual)
Now those that fish lures - particularly plastics will tell you of the thump (boof) ..... where at times feels like a lightening bolt going through the rod ..... but then nothing - that certainly wakes you up when you've been casting on some moonlit night on a barra dam for a couple of hours. Better still is having a 120cm boof your surface lure at your feet ..... more than a few rods get broken
Of all the fishing I've done .... because of the places its taken me ( without spending a bomb) ..... it is still the type of fishing that I enjoy the most - even though I could probably afford to fish for anything I wanted to ..... on a yearly basis. ( still want to go to PNG to cast lures for black bass ) .
Camping on the banks of Lake Kinchant at throwing a surface lure in front of the camp site and getting nailed by a meter barra is hard to compare

So yes - if it boils down to the fight - barra are well down the list but at least it's usually a visual fight that makes for good photos and video .

Chris

[Dan5]

Barra fishing is something some of us enjoy......proberbly pre-programmed into us somehow

If you don't like that's fine........personally Barra fishing is about being with mates, drinking beer,talking shit and getting away........if you don't understand that you will never be a Barra fisherman.

Dan

[Jarrah Jack]

Barra fishing is something some of us enjoy......proberbly pre-programmed into us somehow

If you don't like that's fine........personally Barra fishing is about being with mates, drinking beer,talking shit and getting away........if you don't understand that you will never be a Barra fisherman.

Dan

Pretty simple for you Dan, you would never have a fruitless trip with that philosophy.

[Apollo]

Well, I like fishing - all types. I set myself a target a few years back to catch a barra. So into I went and clocked up over 50 in that year. I must say that yes the fight is not the same as some speedsters, but I ended up only chasing barra on the surface and late in the afternoon (or very early morning) and into the night. Now sitting in a boat (or bank) with the only sound being from the water, wildlife and whatever artifical you are working (popper/dog/fizzer) in the pitch black gets you buzzing. The anticipation is electricfying and when you cast in the dark towards a boof, then silence as you working the lure back, then BOOF as is sounds as though someone just chucked a 44 into the water as a huge barra explodes onto your lure, you feel the weight and strike and then you are fighting blind with the crashes as the barra jumps and the jerks on your rod as she trys to through the lure or lunges in the water. A month or so ago, I was near a river in the Bundy area and after seeing a client at night, it was an hour or so before the moon rise, so snuck down the bank for a pop for some barra. Got two and the one that hit the popper at my feet near caused an undie change. Bucket loads of fun.

So how does that compare with GT, shark or Spano fishing. If you want a slug fest, then hauling in sharks on light gear with stretch the arms a bit. Completely different but cool in a different way. They are all great as you get to fish in beautiful environments with different challenges. Last year I got to sight cast to a baby marlin with a popper on light gear. Lit it up, got the eat and landed it. Very cool. Catching LT or shallow water golden trevs on fly ranks highly up there as well. Bass up some back water in tight country with sneaky cast is cool too. Toga on fly is a real challenge.

Each is a challenge for different reasons and that is why I love it. It takes me to some pretty cool places, I get to share it with mates or family, I get to camp/drink/share fires/eat fish and have a damm good reason for it as well.

[whiteman]

Glad to see most of you think barras are overrated. Keep chasing GTs and Queenies as that might leave a few more barra in the pond for those of us who get a lot of enjoyment from targeting them and testing our skills at not only finding, enticing on to a lure and (the hardest bit) getting them inside the boat - no other species up this way provides the same challenges. As for barra not tasting good? Most of mine are caught in the open ocean and they are right up there with the best reef fish for the table.

[mortyb]

Much of the mystic for me with barra fishing is where it takes you. I'm talking about the big rivers up the NT. Great places to spend time on and fish. You have to have your wits about you with barra fishing which is another challenge and something I like. Choose the same lure as your mate who has been getting them but the wrong depth and you're wasting your time.

There can be so many subtle things with barra fishing that I never tire of chasing them. Cast 30cm to either side or a little spot and nudda, cast in the exact spot and perhaps catch a dozen in a row. How good is that eh, I've seen it happen a few times.

Having a big box full of carefully selected lures and finding that none of them work, none! Then finding a lure floating past and getting over 30 barra on that lure for the day, magic. Reeling them in is easy compared to many other fish but getting them to take an artificial can be heaps of frustration and fun.

Reeling in hard running fish isn't much fun for me. Bloody hard work I reckon. I fought a 117 kg marlin for nearly 4 hours and I was thinking " this is supposed to be fun" f that I never want to do that again but do the same with a big mean barrel of a tuna I would die for and nearly have and still haven't got one in the boat....

.My mate has just found a very hard to get to creek thats full on barra and jack that have never been fished. Guess where I'll be heading, but he's also found some great reef fishing with unstoppable queenies and GT's, I might go there as well.

Whatever tickles your fancy mateys.

The barra fishing for me is like Jarrah Jack when you are 'chasing' the barra and casting lures into snags, that if you get smashed, there is only a small chance you can get the fish and lure out. Loved this type of fishing around the Ingham area. I prefer luring into a snag lined creek chasing barra or jacks. The thrill for me is casting a lure right where you want it and then the first 4 winds of the baitcaster to see what will charge out to take the lure (that you can mostly see from the boat). Also Barra and Jacks both taste pretty good on the BBQ. While I may troll for them like Nautilus explains, it is more to fill in time with the kids than get excited about fishing for barra that way. Trolling/casting lures for Queens and GTs is a different style for a different type of fish and I enjoyed my time chasing these along the Sugar Loading Jetty off Lucinda. But as people have said, what ever tickles your fancy.

[odes20]

The issue for me on this thread, is that it is a simple reveal of the personal preferences, of the different elements, within the broad array of experiences one can have, under the banner we call Fishing.

This has been highlighted in many of the posts on this thread. I don't think you can say one is shite, and the other is optimum, because its your personal experience/preferences that you bat from.

Anyway on that note ill go to the top of my run up and deliver my personal pref.

Simple for me. what fish holds the mystique ? that's what drives my fishing experiences. For me its barra out of snags, and how hard they can be to actually boat at times. And the shear brutal power of fingermark, or golden snapper, who in my view are the most powerful fish and tear you usunder if youre not prepared or undergunned on tackle. They are beasts. And they don't fight a clean fight like GTs. Thirdly I have to say catching awesome fish as above, that are awesome to eat as well, makes my day. (or Night!) Yellow tailed salt barras from the Gulf of Carpentaria and fingermark are just devine table fish for me.

#whaterverturnsyouon.
Cheers

[Noelm]

I think a lot of the "hype" is from fishing shows on TV, they portray the Barra to be the best fighting, best eating fish on the planet, when in act (in my opinion) neither are true, they are Ok to catch, and at best, Ok to eat, but that's were it ends. Indeed the "mystique" of them is the locations and skills in catching them, almost every TV show has only a couple of topics, Snapper on plastics, Barra, and maybe the odd Salmon, and Marlin episode now and then.

[notenoughsickies]

I must say I have been underwhelmed by Barra in the past mostly I believe due to overkill on gear by charters on Townsville and one normanton using upwards of 50lb line. This is a cracking thread and I tend to agree with lots of it all. Metre plus queens smashing poppers big gold spots hitting plastics . Snapper trout bass hey it's all fishing whatever your preference. I'm flying up to a cattle station west of burktown on the gulf later in the year and hope to nail a few Barra on as light gear as possible but I must say I'm hoping our host can sneak us up towards sweers isl with the chance of some spainiards. Not trying to big note but my point is doing this with my dad ,cousin , and brother in law is more important than anything we catch fight eat or shoot.

[Bennno]

Wait until you catch a big salty that gives you a run for your money. That is what gets you hooked.

Unlike some other species, they do all fight with different gusto (I'm sure this is based around how they feed), same as the eating qualities. But when they are hitting hard, be prepared because they really are an awesome fish that will keep you coming back for more.

[Meterplus]

Great post Nautilus,
I live in Weipa and would rather stay home and watch a fishing dvd on a windy day than head up the creeks chasing Barra, waste of fuel. I have a Saltiga set up for GT's and it's first rod in the boat. GT's have become my nemisis having been totally disgraced on three occassions when caught by suprise and under equiped.
Barra are ok eating, nothing special, clean flesh and on the bland side which makes it easy to sell I think. Then you have the shallow water, the mud, the midgies and mozzies.
I guess we are a little spoilt here. I have caught some prize fish, 1.2m Jew, 1.3m Spanish but not the meter plus Barra, its on the list but not at the top thats for sure.
Recently I have been chasing long tail tuna and tea leaf trevally on my "Barra" flicker with 4kg line with 30 minute+ battles, Great fun.
I have been to New Cal for a cruise holiday but couldn't manage a fish, Spewn, next time I'll be flying there and fishing for GT's for sure.

[grahams]

Nice thread,
here's another insight into fishing that has interested me quite a bit, especially as I get older and go through many phases.

As humans we are preprogrammed with a standard sort of set of needs.
The most fundamental at the bottom are shelter and food..so maybe fishing starts at food..you can eat Barra
The next up the line is generally companionship...getting away with mates talking crap, a break from work...Barra cause that.
The next up is basically, competion, measure of success, better than the others...A lot of posts on Ausfish do that, not many post failure trips....metre Barra do that or 50 Barra in a year or you get it
The next up is something like personal challenge, satisfaction, contribution to others (almost spiritual), losing a few followers by now I guess...This is often personal goals such as finding a Barra in the middle of town. Tagging and learning about fish biology is another, as is focussing on teaching others the great aspects of fishing..... Barra do this too. Many posts on Ausfish do this as well.

Many of us probably fish for all of these reasons in differing degrees at different times.

For me Barra are a great fish and hard enough locally to be a challenge. I probably haven't kept a Barra for many years, prefer to eat reef fish.
As a personal challenge big GT's are way out in front at the moment, particularly learning a whole new technique. A surface strike from a 30kg GT is still the best 3 seconds fishing I have ever had. However I don't need to tell anyone (oh shit I just did). But I will probably give up local GT fishing soon as some of the meat brigade are following and I could not cope with contributing to the downfall of the local healthy population.

Not sure what's next. I gave up popper fishing for whiting with only marginal success might go back to that one....if only whiting grew to 10kg..hmmmm There are bonefish around Keppel.