Almost
Submitted by Bunny on Wed, 2012-10-31 14:30
It had been sometime since I specifically targetted Barra and decided to hitch a ride with my Brother and Sister in Law out to Croydon to chase a few dam fish in Lake Belmore.
The best thing about this lake is that it is small. You can drive around it in a tinny in about 10 minutes. It means that the b*stards can't hide!
Not that we had to look far as Mick landed the first fish of the trip 10 metres into the troll right at the boat ramp. She went 92 cm and made for a great start.
After a few circles at the ramp for nil after that we headed over to the original destination and it didn't take long to start getting hits. A very notable thing with this trip was the Barra certainly knew how to throw a hook. By the end of the first session of the trip, a 3 hour one, we landed 6 fish but lost around 20 more. Lengths in this session were 60, 65, 73, 85, 91 and 92.
The 91 had a tag in it and the data showed it was 65.5 cm back in March 2007 so after over 5 and a half years it had only grown around 25-26 cm, very slow.
Night session two saw us target the same area to start with and a similar pattern. No real action until after dark and plenty of thrown hooks. My Nephew Ryan got into the act as well in the search for the metre specimen he landed an 85, 92 then a 98 all in quick succession. The bite was incredible at one stage. I lost two good fish in two casts so Erica threw her SP where I was throwing and also hooked up and caught hers. I got a 92 shortly after which made up for about 10 lost fish by me alone.
We then went to the opposite side of the dame where the action was even hotter with a strike every pass of this one spot.
I was in the Canoe with Mick this time and we stayed within 50 metres of Erica and Ryan in the tinny where they were getting a hit about every 5 minutes. We had the same action with most fish throwing the hooks. One fish threw the lure stragiht past my head with the braid touching my head. One fish almost jumped in the Canoe and we got a double hook up with both fish landed in the Canoe. Nearly all were good quality but still no metre fish.
The last night saw me back in the Canoe this time with Ryan and not long into the troll he landed a 55 cm fish. This was one of only 2 undersize fish in terms of legal lengths. I had already lost two others by this stage around the 70 mark.
Not long after that fish in the same area his little rod with a tiny Penn Conquer 2000 bent over and the Nanofil screamed off like a Spanish Mackerel was on the other end. The fish didn't jump and the hooks stayed in. After a fantastic fight in the Canoe he subdued a fish smaller than what I thought but still an awesome catch.
It went 99cm and we still had not cracked the metre!
It ended up being the biggest too as we almost go that magic ton on the board but it wasn't to be.
Around 30 Barra were landed with a guess of a 1 in 5 catch rate at best so we were close to the 200 strikes for three nights fishing. Pretty awesome fishing considering most fish were over the 65 cm mark. 5 were in the nineties and probably double that in the 80s so good quality for the most part with a coupel fo metre fish lost we reckon.
Can't wait for round two!
The photo of Ryan and I was of my 92 and his 98 caught at the same time.
The best thing about this lake is that it is small. You can drive around it in a tinny in about 10 minutes. It means that the b*stards can't hide!
Not that we had to look far as Mick landed the first fish of the trip 10 metres into the troll right at the boat ramp. She went 92 cm and made for a great start.
After a few circles at the ramp for nil after that we headed over to the original destination and it didn't take long to start getting hits. A very notable thing with this trip was the Barra certainly knew how to throw a hook. By the end of the first session of the trip, a 3 hour one, we landed 6 fish but lost around 20 more. Lengths in this session were 60, 65, 73, 85, 91 and 92.
The 91 had a tag in it and the data showed it was 65.5 cm back in March 2007 so after over 5 and a half years it had only grown around 25-26 cm, very slow.
Night session two saw us target the same area to start with and a similar pattern. No real action until after dark and plenty of thrown hooks. My Nephew Ryan got into the act as well in the search for the metre specimen he landed an 85, 92 then a 98 all in quick succession. The bite was incredible at one stage. I lost two good fish in two casts so Erica threw her SP where I was throwing and also hooked up and caught hers. I got a 92 shortly after which made up for about 10 lost fish by me alone.
We then went to the opposite side of the dame where the action was even hotter with a strike every pass of this one spot.
I was in the Canoe with Mick this time and we stayed within 50 metres of Erica and Ryan in the tinny where they were getting a hit about every 5 minutes. We had the same action with most fish throwing the hooks. One fish threw the lure stragiht past my head with the braid touching my head. One fish almost jumped in the Canoe and we got a double hook up with both fish landed in the Canoe. Nearly all were good quality but still no metre fish.
The last night saw me back in the Canoe this time with Ryan and not long into the troll he landed a 55 cm fish. This was one of only 2 undersize fish in terms of legal lengths. I had already lost two others by this stage around the 70 mark.
Not long after that fish in the same area his little rod with a tiny Penn Conquer 2000 bent over and the Nanofil screamed off like a Spanish Mackerel was on the other end. The fish didn't jump and the hooks stayed in. After a fantastic fight in the Canoe he subdued a fish smaller than what I thought but still an awesome catch.
It went 99cm and we still had not cracked the metre!
It ended up being the biggest too as we almost go that magic ton on the board but it wasn't to be.
Around 30 Barra were landed with a guess of a 1 in 5 catch rate at best so we were close to the 200 strikes for three nights fishing. Pretty awesome fishing considering most fish were over the 65 cm mark. 5 were in the nineties and probably double that in the 80s so good quality for the most part with a coupel fo metre fish lost we reckon.
Can't wait for round two!
The photo of Ryan and I was of my 92 and his 98 caught at the same time.
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joel231
Posts: 107
Date Joined: 18/09/12
epic fishing there. good
epic fishing there. good stuff !
NORUN NOFUN
Posts: 1035
Date Joined: 15/08/11
That's some nice fish ! Well
That's some nice fish ! Well done
SABRE
Posts: 404
Date Joined: 17/05/12
Well done mate shame you
Well done mate shame you didn't crack the ton but theres always another day
If fishing is a sport I,m an elite athlete
Wes F
Posts: 1067
Date Joined: 07/01/12
Good session
Good report some very nice Barra.
Old fishermen never die they just smell that way.
snappermiles
Posts: 2100
Date Joined: 05/11/10
what a ripper day
thats some bloody great barra fishing there!! well done
ALL FISHERMEN ARE LIARS EXCEPT YOU AND ME! AND IM NOT SO SURE ABOUT YOU!
soupster51
Posts: 2724
Date Joined: 29/11/06
Cracka
Oh so close. Still some quality fish there. I would have been thinking I had hooked the ramp on that first fish. LOL
The best reason for doing what's right today is tomorrow.
Uluabuster
Posts: 723
Date Joined: 12/12/10
Awesome report. I won't be
Awesome report. I won't be complaining with hot bites like that even though it didn't touch the metre mark.
Well done mate.
tim-o
Posts: 4657
Date Joined: 24/05/11
Wota place, wota trip! Good
Wota place, wota trip! Good on the young bloke too, nice work
I am, as I've said, merely competent. But in an age of incompetence, that makes me extraordinary.
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
a young boy and his barra
there is no finer photo than the bottom one of the lad with his barra.moments like that are worth their weight in gold and are to be treasured allways great