By Kimberley standards the fishing could only be described as slow with five fish hooked and three landed over four days, two of them were full, the other two part days. Non the less the trip was hugely beneficial, giving me see and learn just a few of the skills they’ve developed to try and outsmart fish wise in the ways of anglers to an extent I’ve never seen before. To give some example on how the fish have learnt about humans, outboards within a couple of hundred metres of where you are going to fish are a no-no, even electrics have been known to spook fish. Anchoring and casting 40 to 50 metres into the zone is a popular method of fishing.
The fish hit much quicker and there’s only one chance at them. Most just follow a lure without hitting it.
Here are a few comments and observations that came to me whilst there and on reflection later.
It’s been said of impoundment barra that they are well educated fish, educated differently I’d suggest. On the lakes man would be the apex predator whilst in the rivers and estuaries crocs and sharks would sit on the top. Lake barra bolt at a pin drop if it’s something they associate with anglers. Park a croc at a creek mouth in an estuary and you get the same result.
“Impoundment barra are fat and lazy”: For the record I couldn’t see or feel a difference between them and a fish in my patch. That statement is about as accurate as the flat earth theory. All fish we encountered went pretty hard and new all the old tricks. One fish that spat a lure back at as it sailed past me in the air boat side had the knack of jumping into the pull of the line to gain some slack. That seems to be a standard ploy they’ve learnt.
Habitat: Lots of vertical timber to lose a fish and surprisingly a fair bit of lay down stuff as well, courtesy of a decision to cut down trees prior to the dam filling. Plenty of angling challenges mixed in with the easy stuff.
Educated anglers: Plenty of tactical changes between the way I normally fish and what you need to do to catch a super boat shy impoundment fish. Having said that, no tides and no strong flows most of the year means for a different focus and knowledge requirements.
What’s a metre barra worth? For the local economy it’s got to be between $1,000 and $10,000 a fish. Beats a lot of other tourism industries hands down.
Skeeters: 80kph plus on the water between fishing spots was worth the trip alone, especially when the keel losses its bite in a sharp turn.
For the record I got two of the five fish to the boat but lost both of them there due to them being only lightly hooked.
A few pics of the trip.
