Took a run out to Leaders on the Tues the 12 Dec till Sat the 16, my deckie was away so I decided to go on my own and chase some Barra and Reefies. I got out there with a couple of hours till the bottom of the tide. Chris said it was all good to go so I headed out and anchored out at the reef at the front of Leaders. As the tide dropped I started to get a few small goldies and other small reefies and the usual number of sharks and I was having a great time catching fish and having a couple of . Just as the tide turned the rod went off and there was a nice 105cm jewie, couldnt get the smile off the face . After a while everything went quiet so I headed of to Chads and set a few pots. I trolled the mouth for a while for a small threadfin salmon. I anchored in the mouth of the Adelade for the night over the jewie hole but got bugger all even on the tide change, but the light show was pretty impressive from the storms all around. I took off up to Hotham the next morning and worked the reefs off the point but did`nt get a thing, I tried bait, jigs and trolling over the reef and around the headland for nothing. I cut my losses and worked the creeks around Hotham and although there was heaps of bait and I could see fish feeding in places I couldnt get them to take a lure or plastic. By mid afternoon I could see some pretty big storms building so I went back to the Adelade and worked the creeks there for a while. The storms all around started to throw a bit of lightning around so I went back to Leaders in case I had to make a run for it. I anchored there for the night and watched the lightning show and I did pucker a couple of times when things got a bit close so I kept a steady supply of courage going . The next morning I waited for the change of tide in the same spot out the front and got a couple of pan sized goldies, just before the change the rod went off and there was a 115cm jewie . I was wishin the deckie was there as he wrapped himself around the anchor rope and after a bit of a battle I got him in. As before things went quiet as the tide picked up but I still got heaps of sharks, better than catchin nothing i suppose. As the tide dropped I went into Leaders and trolled the mouth working the right hand side of the mouth coming out. Around half an hour before the low and after trying just about every different colour and swimming action of my lures I hooked up right at the corner of the creek and my line took off for the middle of the creek. I could`nt believe it when it came out of the water a big barra . After about 15-20min I got her to the boat and had a measure, 101cm. Finally after 8yrs of trying I got my metre plus barra . After a couple of pics I put her back and she swam away no probs. It took a while to settle down after this and the tide had turned when I started to troll again, after a couple of runs with the same lure, a red and black Reidys lure, I hooked a 98cm barra in about the same spot, the first snake drain after the mangroves on the right hand side heading out. The fish swallowed the lure right down its gullet and I had a bugger of a time getting it out . I trolled and cast lures for the rest of the day but everything seemed to shut down as the tide came in and I decided after another night of watching storms and lightning all around that enough was enough and I headed home a day early. Gotta love that area out there so many options so close. Its gotta be my favorite spot.

Sorry about the late post but a few things happened at home I needed to sort out.

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Whoops, stuffed up here is the barra

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Nice work especially solo! Great fish!

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great post and info, well done on the big gal

Nice work Kev. Good to see results for commitment. It's 'just down the road' for me, though I haven't been to Leaders for 20 years. At the time I was with a bloke that spent the day shooting at his empty stubbies with a 308 (haven't times changed). The amazing thing was, at the end of the day he got into the drink (chest deep) to line the boat up while I whinched. Couldn't believe it then, can't believe it now.
I digress.....unreal effort.

Sensational Kev. You gotta be proud of those results. You put the work in and it paid off. Well done.

Top stuff Kev!

How were the insects out that way at night?

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Pretty ordinary Sy, gave the mossie net a flogging but luckily I had plenty of pain killer on board .

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Well done on your solo trip, looks like it paid off. Cheers for the good report.

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Well done mate, solo and all you showed dedication to stay out there but the results speak for themselves. Nice fish and a good feed, with a PB, metrey!

Great stuff.

Awesome trip solo and well done on the metrey!

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TOO GOOD!! Well done, great post.

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Great read mate, thanks for sharing. Congrats on the mumma barra!

congrats on the metery ,,good going solo sometimes you do it the way you want to still chasing my first one,,,hmmm leaders ah

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