Any barra biting?

No, nothing biting up here at the moment ..... nothing at all
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Cheers
Joe
(have a safe trip up eh)

Really the wrong time of year for catching barra. They are still there but just lethargic and not biting.

When the water temperature drops below about 26deg they nearly hibernate. I have run lures past their nose withing 50mm and they will ignore it.

If this is the only time you have to fish you will be working very hard to make it happen.

Firstly barra are particular feeders and prefer not to take dead bait. Even during hotter seasonal weather when they are most active they will avoid dead bait.

Using a live bait fish you catch with a cast net will have success. Hook through the rear dorsal.

At this time of year I would often use lures with a rattle inside. Small ones about 50mm to 75mm. Run them deep so a large bib but not a spoon bill. Run them down about 2 to 2.5m.

If you are in fresh water look for some pandanus (?) with a sunny northern aspect where there is some definate shade line but with deep water in front. Cast into the shade and trawl back to the sun.

If you are in salt, try some mud flats with snake drains. Be careful to watch your tide or you will get stuck on the mud flats. If you have an electric troll motor you will have more success. The barra will come out on a dropping tide where the low is in the mid afternoon and they will sun themselves on the mud flats. Often out in the middle of the mud flat away from the snake drains so you will need a good strong cast and little wind. If it is windy just stick to drifting past the front of snake drains and shooting a couple of casts into them. Try a Mann's 10 in green or gold if the water is a bit deeper. For shallow snake drains try a 75mm green or gold bomber.

Wish you luck.

Cheers

Serendipity

Dear Chocaholic.

Have we missed something obvious here??

It is mostly difficult to snare a barra later in the season. Waters get cool and dark; even the colour of chocolate! Barra are not too interested.

But wait...why not try a chocolate coloured lure...? The later the season, the more the water looks like a kit kat.

And...there's more in this hint dep't...I'd have a go at a #3 treble 2/3 thru said KK with the leading edge shaved off for hydro dynamic performance.

I hope this is helpful. :-)

Cheers.

imachocoholic,

we have just returned from a trip on the gulf track via boroloola and roper bar. we didn't do all that good on the way. we didn't have a tinnie, and all we caught from the banks were shark and catfish. but we did catch a potato cod in one of our crab pots!
speaking to others on the road, and they are saying the same thing as everyone else...the water is too cold at the moment.
we even hired a boat while in darwin and tried in the inlets off mandorah, and all we caught there was shark. but plenty of nibbles and good bites to keep us interested. spotted a 3m croc on the banks that day as well. if you are going to try fishing around darwin, watch those tides! they run at around 7 knots, and can be up to 7M tides. trust me...trying to pull and anchor while against that tide is a definate work out!
John

Thank you all for your responses. I'm gathering the fishing is a bit hit and miss at the moment. If we don't get to the Gulf now at least I have some good tips for next time! Hope to be able to share some good news fishing stories in the future???!!!

We have just spent a week out at Shady Camp, near Darwin, and the fishing was great. Not uncommon to catch a dozen barra a day, only problem is that only one of them would be a keeper, 55cm, sometimes. Made for great days as you wouldn't get bored. Oh, did I mention that this was the first time we have been barra fishing??? We found that rubbers were obtaining the best results. Tried the hard juries with no success.

The croc watching was excellent with some massive beasts as long as 4m there every day. As a bonus the opera house nets would be full of red claw every morning from the nearby creek. We still have one fillet in e freezer as we ate the rest, delicious.