2nd installment of the Barra fishing Trip in Mackay

[paul.kenny]

Hi Raiders,

This is the second installment of my road trip to Mackay and back to Sydney. As the New Year started the wind in Mackay had blown up with over 20 – 25 knot SE blowing. This saw tough fishing with the Barra shutting down and difficult conditions to be fishing amongst the weed beds of Kinchant Dam .

Bassboy and I headed out early on 2 January to spend the morning working the weed beds with surface lures and SPs. The morning started with a light SE breeze and water temperature of 28degrees….perfect for some surface action. Bassboy was the first to strike with a Barra hitting his Cultiva Tango Dancer, unfortunately the fish spat the lure just beside the boat. We continued to work the weed beds as the sun rose casting onto actively feeding Barra with a mixture of surface SP frogs and walk the dog lures. We had over half a dozen aggressive hits on our surface lures in the first hour of fishing, but the fish just would not stay hooked. By 7:30am the SE wind arrived and the fish switched off. We tried SPs deep into the weeds, HBs into the channels and trolling for a donut…a tough day for Bassboy’s last Barra session in Mackay. He flew back to Sydney slightly disappointed.

I headed back to Kinchant Dam for my last session in Mackay on the afternoon of 3 January. This was to be a late afternoon and night session. Once again there was a strong SE blowing and the afternoon fishing was tough with white caps in the main basin of the Dam. Fortunately the predicted change arrived just before sunset with a slight NE breeze and the Barra started to actively feed again. I had decided that this last session in Mackay was going to mainly be a surface session and it did not disappoint. It was a fun night with multiple hits on my surface lures. I had over a dozen hits on my surface lures, some within only 2 metres from the boat and whilst they were mainly rat Barra (50 – 70cm fish) it was really exciting stuff. By the end of the session I had boated 3 Barra, lost another 3 deep in the weed beds (hard work trying to get them out of 5 ft weedbeds when fishing by yourself) and many exciting boofs of my lures.

On 6 January my holiday was over and I commenced the long drive back to Sydney towing the boat and in the company of my dog (wife and daughter got to fly home). I had decided to stop at Lake Monduran, near Gin Gin as my first overnight stop. I arrived just on sunset and set up camp in the camp grounds.

As I set up camp one of the campers nearby informed me that there were good Barra being taken in the Kolan River just below the dam wall. After having some dinner I decided to grab a couple of rods (a Barra spin rod and a Bass spin rod) to have a quick sesh. As I arrived at the river I could hear Barra boofing and immediately put a surface SP frog on my Bass gear. On my third cast I caught a feisty little 55cm Barra, which was great fun on my Bass gear.

I continued to get hits on my surface frog with another couple of rat Barra being accounted for with my Bass gear, including this 65cm Barra.

Unfortunately in all of the excitement I forgot to check my leader knot on the Bass gear and the next fish snapped the line at the leader knot. I then reverted to my Barra spin gear utilizing a weedless 5inch Ripple Shad. Using a slow roll retrieve I had a couple of hits but no hook up. I adjusted the retrieve to a quicker roll and had an aggressive strike which stuck….this fish was bigger and it immediately made a bee line for some sunken trees. I could feel the leader touching the timber and decided to free spool the fish. Luckily the Barra gear had 60lb leader whereas my Bass gear only had 20lb leader. Once the pressure was off the fish it moved back out into the main basin of the river and the fight was on again. Fortunately my patience was rewarded with this fantastic 93cm Barra.

That 93cm Barra finished my checky 2 hour session and I decided I had better get some sleep before I continued the long drive home to Sydney…… ..It was a fantastic way to end my holiday.

I am now counting the days down to my next Barra trip in Spring this year…250 days to go!!!!!

[Centrepin]

Fantastic trip.

In the next few years we will have a crack at these Barra.

I appreciate your detail in what it takes to get some fish, it is not all beer and skittles but makes it worhwhile when it happens.

Appreciated,

Geoff

[mark brown]

What a cracking way to finish your holidays well done

[paul.kenny]

What a cracking way to finish your holidays well done

Thanks, it was a great way to finish the trip. I was a bit disappointed not to see more larger fish, but with so many fish going over dam spillways last wet season I am not surprised. I reckon next summer should be good as all of the 70 - 80cm fish graduate to metrey class .

[Breambucket]

Top work mate and a great session at monduran!!!

If i was you i would of been sending bassboy photo updates of how you were going

Cheers

Pete

[paul.kenny]

Top work mate and a great session at monduran!!!

If i was you i would of been sending bassboy photo updates of how you were going

Cheers

Pete

Pete, don't worry I was texting him regularly and he was really happy to hear that the surface bite was going off whilst he was back at work

[Jewhunter]

Great trip B/C!!

You sure do have a knack of finding some nice fish on your trips up north.

You're right about this years models being 1mtr fish next season. I reckon we are in for a couple of boom years in the barra dams if "la nina" goes away & the rains return to normal!

That last barra is a great fish mate.

Well done.

Let me know when you're heading up next year & I'll bring the boat up & join you for a few days.

Cheers,

Grant.

[paul.kenny]

Great trip B/C!!

You sure do have a knack of finding some nice fish on your trips up north.

You're right about this years models being 1mtr fish next season. I reckon we are in for a couple of boom years in the barra dams if "la nina" goes away & the rains return to normal!

That last barra is a great fish mate.

Well done.

Let me know when you're heading up next year & I'll bring the boat up & join you for a few days.

Cheers,

Grant.

Grant, I will let you know the exact dates but it will likely be in the last week of September during Bassboy's Uni break. I am also considering a trip in early Jan 2013.

cheers, Paul