Navi (Black_Sheep). his brother Vin, a mate Garry and I made the 6 hour haul from Brissie and the Sunny Coast up to Awoonga with realistic (but not over-ambitious) expectations of battling some big fish over the week.
We set up base at the Greenacres Motel & Van Park at Benaraby. For those that have not been up this way, the van park is 3-star, with both motel and caravan accommodation, communal cooking facilities and a very clean amenities block. THe hosts Andrea and her husband are extremely welcoming and wonderful hosts. Compared to other nearby accommodation, it is not expensive anfd you do get what you pay for although for the many travelling fisher folk chasing barra from this time of year onwards, it is simply a place to eat and put your head down.
I won't go into all the blow by blow details of the trip but instead will hopefully provide those wanting to venture to Awoonga with some relevant and useful information.
In summary:
We tagged and released 16 barra, ranging in size from 55cm to 108cm
5 of the fish were over the magic metre (probably the magic mark is 120 at Awoonga these days, such is the quality of the fishery here), ranging from 101.5 to 108
Wind was mostly SE in the mornings before punchy NE-ers swept across the impoundment during the afternoons. Some days blew easterly. Boating conditions in the afternoons were often uncomfortable if you happened to get caught out in the open, with breezy whitecapping waters most days
Barometer ranged from 1014-1026, averaging about 1020
Water temp was about 24 most days, but we found patches up to 25 in the Boyne Arm
Air temp was betwen 15 and 28
All of the fish caught were on the troll in mostly 22ft
The main areas around Dingo Is. seemed to produce for us this trip and despite our best efforts, we could not pull a fish casting, although this probably only accounting for 5% of our on-water time
Lures that worked for us were 4-5m RMG Scorpions and Barra Baits. Best colours for us were red/black and chrome pilchard
We did use Squidgie Slick Rigs in 110 drop bear but without too much successful, except for a poor little turtle that was delicately unhooked and released unharmed to fight another day
After speaking with a local guide, it appeared that most of the fish had moved out of the lily pads and weed beds from a couple of weeks ago, and into deeper water, so obviously water temp, water depth and the time of year are critical in impoundments such as this.
In general our peak bite times were between 7.30am and 10am and just after dark.
We lost plenty of nice fish during the week....Navi was absolutely pole-axed in the snags by an unstoppable that stripped 30m of 50lb on a reasonably heavy drag setting in a matter of seconds. I also lost an estimated 110-115 almost within netting range after a violent head shake.
All in all it was a great week, plenty of fish were lost to deep snags, slack line, head shakes and just plain bad luck.
Hey, that's fishing after all and keeps us coming back for more.
Navi may add to this report at some stage. We hope you enjoy some of the following pics.
Cheers
Paul
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