Chrome Barra Charters

[Member]

Here's a photo of the colour transition that's occuring in some of the barra from the upper Boyne River as they migrate down river into the salt. Some fish are taking longer to change colours, but some of them are metalic, with vibrant yellow tails. The river opens up to commercial netting on the 1st of May so between now and then some great fishing will be remain available. Our charters have been successful with quality fish around that metre length being taken. A Heron Island  Manager, Jason Killen, shows off one of seven he hooked ( photo below) in a small time frame earlier this week.
Fishing the river is another barra experience for keen anglers and clients have enjoyed the change- and the comparison to the lake formats and styles. These freshwater fish, now in the salt will eventually change their habits- they tend to strike harder and fight stronger. As time moves on, they will develop more saltwater characteristics, acquiring skills and a prowess that they maybe never realised they could attain.
Commercial netters are scoring big once the fish leave the Boyne river- some large pay cheques have entered fisho hands in the last month or so. On Tuesday night, 2600 kilos were pulled from the inner Boyne, an area close by allowed to be netted. The next two months will be interesting for anglers.
Johnny Mitchell

[Member]

The big fat belly is gone, but the big tail remains.  Maybe I'll have to have a swim in the salty Boyne.

[Member]

It might be like Holy Water hey?!?!?

[Member]

Johnny,
There's a story going around that the pro's netted a heap of dam Barra before they changed colour and couldn't sell them because the agents knew they were freshies. The story goes that they were dumped. Heard anything like that? There's bound to be all sorts of yarns about.
JD

[Member]

I haven't heard the 'dumped' part. Everything is saleable these days, so even at $1 a kg, a load of fish that ended up being rejected by a buyer would still be saleable. There'd be a market, so I doubt they'd get dumped. Crab bait costs a packet, there's even a market for scraps too. They even buy sting rays for human consumption, believe it or not. I've watched the transition and the arrival of the lake fish into the sea, the time it took for them to rest and then become active, and at the 2 month mark they were tasting great; it'll be the late arrivals from below the wall that'll mix with the yummy ones which may cause an issue with buyers, but fillets mixed, can easily be masked among cartons of others. It's the way it is- even reef fillets get mixed with all sorts of wierd and wonderful species from the deep blue. I think when the wet actually stops and the river stops running, it'll be open slather. At $8.50 per kg, the average fish would be worth around $100 to a commercial netter, so it doesn't take a number cruncher to work out that there is money to be made. Considering individual anglers have landed 20 to 30+ fish in a session using a single line, the writing on the wall shows that record catches are imminent by the commercial sector. This year or next, pressure will be applied. The only saving grace for some of those fish is their nomadic ways. Keep your eyes and ears out for Great Sandy Straight barra schools this winter! A spearos dream come true.
J

[Member]

Great to see Jason getting amongst a few and thanks Johnny for keeping us all up to speed in regards to those escapees.

It's awesome to see nature evolve.

[Member]

Keep your eyes and ears out for Great Sandy Straight barra schools this winter! A spearos dream come true.
J

Lenthall's Dam has been feeding the Sandy Straight with barra for years now. 

fitz..

[Member]

fish are looking better by the day, with the odd exception of a banged up one.  good to see there is another option for the local guides and visiting anglers.  must admit there is a bit of a problem with recreational anglers mis-handling their captures (holding them up by the lip). witnessed a couple of boats the other day do this with every fish caught, and 3 or 4 dead fish down stream of the boat shortly afterwards.  hope this dam starts firing for the guides sake, i understand their frustration.

cheers
kh

[Member]

must admit there is a bit of a problem with recreational anglers mis-handling their captures (holding them up by the lip). witnessed a couple of boats the other day do this with every fish caught, and 3 or 4 dead fish down stream of the boat shortly afterwards. cheers
kh

Blame the bass boys for that...wanting to look like Uncle Sam in their fotos.  May as well cut thier throats & eat them.
A shame to see fish wasted like that.... 

fitz..

[Member]

Kurt,
I did notice a few dozen dead fish above Pike's earlier this week. ( my only visit) I suppose it's a weeny teeny % of the number that have been captured, but  caring for fish is still a priority. There may be thousands, but it is great practice to learn and adopt good skills in relation to C and R.

Fitz,
I should have said to keep an eye out for "more" barra schools down the straights this year in winter.  There seems to be more and more barra reports each year from southern centres well below Hervey Bay that are possibly escapees from private waterways. This winter, divers will pop not only their ears but their eye balls when they see some of the schools that'll top 100 odd metre plus fish! Those sightings happen already in some places along the coast, so imagine the gatherings or possibilities this season. Ooh la la!

[Member]

Schools like this on the left hand side of the Side Imaging on the Humminbird were found hugging the bottom on a recent trip to the Boyne and the TT and Little Max blades were doing the job on them.

Declan Williams from TT Lures and Jason Preece a long time mate gave myself good mate John Scofield  the mail on them and a few of the new 1 oz TT Switch blades to use and we had a ball.
Declans biggest went 121 and my biggest went 118cm for the trip.

They are thinner and much more colourful fish than just a few weeks back when I first fished the salty Boyne amazing what a bit of current and salt water can do and I think it's a shame that people are mishandling them I wont go into the bass tourny handling for pics issue as most that know me know my thoughts on that subject I made that quite clear many years ago and it fell on deaf ears.
The tourism generated to the Tanum area of Gladstone would be substantial from the loss of fish from the dam!!the old saying runs true "when one door closes another opens" I'll be having another trip or 2 before the nets start that's for sure.

 

[Member]

Nice one Paul. The fish look really good, considering they were in a lake not so long back. There's some good lures out there that work in the right scenarios hey. The blades hold their depth and are easily fished close to the bottom if needed. I remember the old blade runner, if shaved of lead, became a deadly all round lure. Even the wonder wobbler works a treat at times, for barra.
Did the fish seem hungry or did you have to 'catch' them?
121 and 118, they are good fish for a couple of days fishing hey?!?!?! There is some great fishing in that river at the moment.
It's still raining here today.
Cheers,
J

[Member]

Yeh Johnny,the fish look great and have lost a lot of weight but that wont hurt them probably help them if anything.

Yeh the Blade runner the original blade lure here in oz I think, Leigh Bioloue[sp] created it and I still have a few of them I also tried one of his flashback spoons but no luck on it.
The blades were fished to tightly packed fish on the bottom and were talked into eating them and it was great fun doing it and between the 2 boats there were a lot of fish caught and released with a few others over the meter mark all on blades.

I tried a heap of other lures but the blades were doing it so well we stuck to them.
I hooked 3 fish on the Ima jigs I was shown while I had clients on a charter down here a week or so back they brained the fish on them in the deeper water here so I thought shut down barra might eat them and they did but I didn't manage to land any of them for a pic,love finding new ways to talk fish into eating.
Here's  a pic of another one of the bigger fish taken on the TT blades using the side imaging on the Humminbird 798 in conjunction with the anchor lock feature on the I-Pilot Minn Kota made things a lot easier to hold in the right position to target the bottom hugging barra

Yeh plenty of rain down here to this morning.

Paul

[Member]

Nice work, cool looking fish. Even guides enjoy these majestic fish- how could one ever get spoilt by barra? We have these freshwater critters starting a new life as a saltwater fish, so there's yet another chapter to play with.

[Member]

Couldn't help myself I had a few spare days after a charter was postponed  so just had to go back and catch some more Barra on Blades in the Boyne,this week the Evergreen Little Max was the stand out lure.

Finding fish sitting on the bottom on the Humminbird 798 then moving off them and holding position with the Minn Kota I-Pilot and casting to them was great fun and very effective.

If your in the market for a new Electric motor these NEW  Minn Kota motors are just fantastic for holding off or on fish or structure and have been very effective for me in both guiding and personal fishing over the last few months of having one on each boat .

Best fish for the trip went 117, 110 cm and 1 metre but plenty under a metre between 85 and a metre all on a 3/4 oz Little Max blades,I did have 2 hookups on the TT 1 oz proto type but unfortunately didn't stay connected.

But getting so many hits on the smaller lighter lure I just had to stick with it,having confidence in a lure you have on is a big part of success I believe.

Also got a solid hookup on a metre fish by jigging a Ima Jig above it after finding it on the sounder in 11 ft of water!this was the 4th hookup on Barra sitting on the bottom these jigs so it was great to finally land one on it,these little jigs are going to catch a lot of fish in a lot of situations.


Jones's tackle at Lutwych in Brisbane has both of these lures in stock so if your heading up there do your self a favour and grab a couple.

Paul