Targeting early season barra TOWNSVILLE
Dave Hodge
A long awaited bit of rain helped get things moving in the bay and for some of the creeks and rivers, and barra were just impossible to avoid over the last couple of months. It didn’t matter what we threw or where we threw it during closed season, it got eaten by barra. One example of this was the morning my young fella and I went for a quick look for some golden snapper not too far from town. It was due to blow up, and I didn’t expect to be out for too long, but as the weather prediction was amazingly incorrect we decided to head a bit further out to where the bigger golden snapper reside. It was 38ft deep and quite lumpy, but calming off. The first bite was a cracker, and there was obviously a bit of weight to this one. I couldn’t believe it when the slab of silver shot up towards the surface and launched skywards. We’d done our best to avoid any intercepted ‘large mouthed pink eyed leaping perch’, but it didn’t seem to matter where we went, they were charging down every type of lure we threw, from 3” stuff meant for grunter, to big Madeye Paddle Prawns fished deep for golden snapper. It seems that almost every one has been doing the right thing though, and the countless stories of barra encounters have ended with their quick release. So, now approaches the time that you are allowed to chase them, and the areas we fish will be different depending on whether we receive any more decent rain. If we get a bit of rain then I’d be starting to look up towards the upper reaches of some of the bigger systems, and those ones that have expansive salt flats behind the mangrove line are great spots
Santa delivered a new baitcaster to the author’s young fella this year, and his first fish was this freshy, cast up on a 5” paddle-tailed shad. With a bit more rain on the horizon, they will be scouring the fresh for that monster metre-plus in coming weeks. to look. Also, land locked lagoons and billabongs that are linked to the salt during times of wet season run-off can hold incredible numbers of fish that can be found where the obvious colour change of fresh meeting salt is identified. One really cool observation that you may be able to see is the jelly prawn schools that often congregate where drains enter the main systems, and barra can be clearly seen boofing them from the surface. It’s quite incredible to watch, and some pretty decent fish can be clearly seen smashing the tiny crustaceans as if they were a much bigger target. Here is the perfect example of ‘matching the hatch’. I remember throwing all of my favourite barra lures into the feeding frenzy, just to see them get ignored cast after cast. Sitting and observing closely the relevant bait size that was on the surface indicated my error, and from the first cast with the 3” Prong, the action didn’t stop
for an hour or so, with some reasonable fish of up around 80cm getting involved. Light 6-10lb braid and
20-30lb Unitika FC leader was the best way to present these little things, and while I did get rubbed off once, the strike rate was exceptional. Over the years there has been one simple equation to getting the most action possible with lures, and that is the lighter the leader, the more bite you’ll get. Although I know when barra are in full on feed mode eating baitfish, the use of 80lb leader doesn’t seem to deter them and I’ve also witnessed that. It’s when the action is all happening around you but your rod remains straight that you might want to try lightening up on the leader side to test the theory for yourself. There are a couple of things worth noting. First of all, make sure it’s a quality fluorocarbon as a cheap one is going to get rubbed through much quicker. Second of all, make sure that the outfit you’re casting it on is appropriate for the light line thing, not a brute stick, stump puller meant for whopper stopping, as these sorts of outfits will restrict your casting ability to spitting
During times of rainy periods, it’s possible to pull up on the side of the road and catch a barra gorging on small baitfish exiting the lagoons and billabongs. Small lures are often the key to success here. tiny little hops to keep it just under the surface being best. An additional security measure you may want to make is to put on what’s known as a bite leader. This
If the rains don’t eventuate, then grunter will be up in the rivers, and another target for the light line stuff. Small Prongs, Paddle Prawns and 3” Minnows will bring them undone most of the time.
Top-notch hooks are needed to ensure the best hook ups, and the Seeker EWG 6/0 and 7/0 are at the top of the list of mid sized weedless hooks.
distance, and pop through light leader material much quicker. Longer softer rods and a reel with a quality drag is a very important combination to be able to effectively fish the tiny lures. The longer rod is a dampener for the head shakes and jumps and the reels drag needs to release line smoothly to avoid busting it off. Leaders of around 2m long are about right. For the 3” plastics that need to be presented up shallow, around 1/6oz jighead weights with a #1 to #2 hook size in the heavier gauge wire are best for this. Another very successful combination is the 4” Madeye Paddle Prawn fished on the 1/4oz head with 1/0-2/0 hook size, again in the heavy wire. Retrieves are nothing complicated, with
is quite simply a short length of slightly heavier leader material of around 30cm added to the end of your lighter main leader length to combat the abrasive jaw lining of the barra. Now, let’s just say that the rains do their normal thing and completely miss Townsville at this time of year. In this case I’d be looking more toward the river mouths in deeper holes during the tide run, and up on the shallow flats during the first of the push in tide. There are plenty of little drains and flats and stuff (even in the middle of town) that hold fish during the these brief feed times. It’s all about the best timing, and being there at the right time will put you in with a much better chance of success.
The biggest tip that I can give for the light line stuff is when you hook up, don’t panic and put too much hurt on. Barra are more of a sumo wrestler than an UFC fighter, and if you could imaging lining those two up next to each other for a 200m dash, who would win? In other words, barra have plenty of weight and power, but lack quite significantly on the stamina side, so runs aren’t long sustained events, but more short powerful bursts with the odd jump thrown in to make them look athletic. It takes surprisingly little effort to turn them once they’ve used up those energy reserves, though the end of a longer fight can give you a nervous sort of feeling, as you make sure not to get over zealous with a potentially damaged leader. It’s really only when you’re fishing hard structure such as timber, rock or artificial concrete or timber structures that you’ll need to employ the ‘come here gear’, and in this case 20-30lb braid and 40-50lb leaders are needed with the use of bigger lures. I’ve written heaps in the past about the weirs in Townsville and the phenomenal fishing that can be had there during times of run-off, so I won’t bore you with repetitious writings, but whatever you do, don’t forget about them when things are tough and you’re looking for somewhere to wet a line. The best we can wish for for future stocks and natural recruitment is that towards the end of the closed season we get a flood and barra get a chance to do what they need to do to sustain their population before the nets get set. So, get ready for what will hopefully be a great barra season, and I wish you all plenty of big fish and lifetime memories. FEBRUARY 2019
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