Barra and Estuary Fishing - Gladstone

[Member]

G'Day Tim,

Sounds like your tinny is well set up. I also have a 4.2 tinny with a 30hp 2 stroke, it makes the run to Facing island and back on a single tank. Not under powered but it's also not the fastest boat out either (fully loaded with 3 adults). It can get a bit rough and wet.

I don't have a GPS on the boat either.

Cheers,

Simon

[Member]

G'day Tim. Don't stress over Awoonga just yet. # half assed trips without a fish doesn't count. I fish Tinaroo regularly and hard and still go several trips without a touch every now and again. Having said that though a trip with someone like JM would be worth 100 trips by yourself-As long as you really pay attention to the where, why and how of what you do. Don't tune out and just try and catch a fish or two. If you will be going up there on your own then the most impportant thing you will get from a guided trip is information and knowledge.

[Member]

Cheers guys.
Yeah my tinny could do with a bit more top end I think. That would help with the longer trips. Its currently a 9.9x11 ally prop so I could go the same size but in stainless or go for one with a larger pitch?? Not really sure.

Yeah I will definetly try Awoonga again. I've read that New Zealand Gully is a good place to go and I've bought every bloody lure that Barra are supposed to go for. Your normal hard bodies, soft plastic mullets and those Zman swimmerZ's and some soft frogs as well. Apparently the time of day you go has a lot to do with it too. I see most fishing comps start at 4pm and they catch barra well into the night. Why cant a barra just eat my lure at lunch time when its sunny

[Member]

Hey Toyota

An trip with johnny mitchel is money well spent mate  , i booked a charter with him when i first moved to gladestone in 2008 and it opened up my eyes and learnt a shitload! I had been fishing monduran for 4 years proir to going on a charter with him so wasn't a newbie but he's a freak when it comes to barra!! U don't need an electric and after going with johnny mitchel i found i used mine less , they are handy obviously but don't stress if u don't have one!! Be prepared to put in many hours of casting though as they can be very hot and cold and especially after the recent floods i've heard it's tough..
They still gotta eat but and there's still fish in there!

Can't recomend Johnny enough though mate , matter of fact Earl wouldn't have that Big Barra in his arms if it wasn't for the info i learnt from Johnny on the Charter... Jeez thats a great pic , wonder who took that 

[Member]

Hey RB30X my bother used to live up gladstone years ago and i used to fish there a bit. I use to fish alot of the bridges and pylons with plastic and get some top fish. I cant remember the name of the area but the 1 on ya right when travellin between boyne island and gladstone, i use to hit all the pylons and my favourite was the bridge with the conveyor belt out towards mouth. 1 session we landed heaps of threadfin and barra on plastics. I also use to fish the bridges and rockwalls around the harbour. Use to catch some nice bream. The mouth of the boyne there used to be a heap of rocks out from the boat ramp. When we use to feel like good feed of bream we would anchor up from them and float baits down into them. Was nothing to bag out on bream. This was a fair few years ago but maybe worth a try.

I havn hit awonga since the big floods. Caught some nice barra in the new zealand creek area and troll lures out from there in the deep water. When i go up there i usually read every report i can and read every tournament report i can. They are usually flitched on and go try the areas they hit. Try to fish the bank the wind is pushing the water into as it generally holds warmer water and can sometimes bring on more fish. Im no expert but thats just what i do. Maybe look at doing a inland trip to callide as well. Top little dam and i've never missed there and i believe from all reports its starting to fish like it use to before the big fish kills a couple years ago. Best of luck anyway.

[Member]

I've been getting stuck into the South Trees inlet area a bit lately. Been trying lots of crabbing spots but there is a lot of people doing the same and its very frustrating but I'm sure there are people out there that go crabbing without any pots if you know what I mean.

I've checked some pots after a qucik fish before leaving them in overnight and there might be a small make or large female in there and in the morning I go back and there's nothing, not even any bait. You must have to hide them pretty bloody good to stop people finding them.

Fishing wise, I've tried a few random spots with the kids and they've all pulled in a few species other than catfish. A few bream, a sikle fish and a few cod. No whiting or flathead yet which would be a bonus.

I even went all the way up to the QAL conveyor the other day and fished under the bridge, towards the ocean and back up in the creek and got nothing on hooks or trolling. That was with the tide going out hard.

I'm got some family coming to visit soon and I want to find a good spot to take them so we can at least catch a couple of keepers (eaters) while they're here.

I'll keep trying.