North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

Hi all, I'm a keen recreational fisher from Central Qld near Yeppoon.
I've been trying to catch a Barra now for about 20 years, and wondering, why are these buggars to hard to both find, and to catch?

I know there are some around my area occasionally, but for luck, or lack of it I've never been able to get onto one.

So I was thinking of doing an online Barra Course to help improve my luck & skills, but its a bit pricey. Would one of these courses be worth it?

Anyway, if anyone has any good tips id be happy to hear them.

There are so many variables just like when chasing any species. Wind, bait, structure, stage of tides, size of tidal movement, moon phase, water clarity etc. Main ones I work off is structure, and bait. Eventually you will learn at what stage of tides they will be there. It's not going to happen overnight. Keep hitting the same spot until you get your head wrapped around it. Try and match the hatch with bait, mimic that bait with lure of choice. If they are feeding on bait on surface try using surface lure, if they are feeding on bait fish just below surface use a lure to get to the right depth and mimic bait. Look for breaks in current lines caused by banks and structure. I find on incoming tides early in tides you may pick up fish on current lines broken by structure once tide pushes a bit higher I notice a lot of Barra following bait schools upstream. On outgoing I find they tend to ambush a lot more. Have caught Barra on neaps and on big tides. Different spots fire at different times. Sometimes the fish are there but aren't feeding don't leave that area try and work out when and what triggers then to feed. Lower light they can move around a bit further from structure without being seen, when in sunniest part of day probably tucked in amongst cover meaning you will have to get your lure right in there for any chance at all. Change retrieves, lures, lure sizes, lure action until you are using one that mimics what they areally feeding on. I've probably kissed a lot of other key elements and there are a lot of other members on this forum with far more experience with Barra. Time on the water and taking notice and recording is going to be very helpful though. Goodluck and keep persisting will make that first all the more rewarding.

Gibbsy

If it was me after 20 years of trying i would start with a guide,JOHNNY MITCHELL(the best in central QLD) pay the 3-4 hundred for the day and learn as much as you can on how the fish behave in your area.
Then you can apply these skills and practice the techniques to get you catching them consistently.
Edo

There are many how to Videos available which you would get better info from. I'm sure Matt has link on here .

And yes Johnny Mitchell is a great guide as are many others . Use a guide and hammer them for info and tips.

P.S BARRA ARE BASTARDS

You say above “find the fish and find the bait & stay on them” that’s ideal, but the problem is I haven’t been able to locate any fish. A lot of people say they can see barra on their sounders, but I certainly can’t see them. Nor can I find any bait, CQ is a funny place and most of the estuaries are devoid of any baitfish aggregations. Therefore I normally fish on structure, such as mangrove slips, rock bars, rock piles, points, holes, gutters etc. which means im just hoping that there are fish there somewhere lol. Not ideal is it. maybe I should try fishing at night more ? Would that be better?

And yes, ive tried to do a charter with him, but hes always booked out.

Over time I have seen them on the structure scan head up as if they are feeding and still found them to be temperamental. They are certainly pretty active at night. Around full and new moons. Another fail safe is live bait if you can get it. Will usually tempt the most fussy fish.

You aare by the sounds of it looking in the right areas. But what works here in the NT may be quite different in NQ. Here they are more active during warmer months.

Never used a guide, but I reckon that would be a good way to go after you having learnt a few basics.

Have a watch of Andy on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvoZLe ... IeEM2Op4ow he is a bit further north in Proserpine but I expect much of the knowledge would be transferable. While he doesn't discuss locations, if you are familar with the areas you might notice some that are close to where you are.

Thanks, Gibbsy. I do try and use live bait when I can get it, I can often scrape together a few prawns and a pop-eyed mullet or two. And fish them in close to physical structure or concentration points, current lines & colour changes etc. But normally end up with Powertail, sharks, eels, rays & various other atrocious vermin.
As for the sounder, mine has a side scan function, but I don’t see any Barra on it.

But then again Barramundi are fussy as, much rather catch a nice thready

Ok nice, I don't think we get them in this area. Not sure

That's just ruins your day when all your hard earned lives are taken by power tail and sharks. Goodluck with it hope you manage you first Barra soon mate

You can learn a lot from studying the behaviours of certain aged women too.

It gave me a greater understanding

There's always a very short 1-2 hour window when the sun comes up or goes down regardless of the tide.