Anglers competing in the final round of the 2005 Daiwa BARRA Tour at Lake Tinaroo were presented with tough fishing conditions with only a total of 16 fish landed.
It was a local Cairns team in Quay Marine that managed to land a total 447cm to out perform the other teams to claim the Championship Team Title. Teammates Warren Adams and David Powell fish this Lake approximately once a month, and knew the spots and techniques to lure the Tinaroo barra into their boat.
The Champion Angler title belonged to Warren Adams, who after a slow first day was the only angler to fill the session 5 fish limit for a total of 339cm. Lindsay Dobe (3/10, 193cm) finished second, David Lange (2/10, 113cm) third, David Powell (2/10, 108cm) fourth and Matt Coleman (1/10, 107cm) fifth.
Adams’ bag was assisted by his kicker fish of 117cm, which was the event’s Daiwa Big Barra. Moving into deeper water after dark in search of larger fish, the Big Barra fell to a Rob Gaden’s Barra Classic lure, that Adams had modified by scratching the paint off to reveal the chrome underbody.
Adams’ choice of gear included a custom Lane Casey rod modelled on a G.Loomis blank, a Shimano Calcutta baitcaster reel spooled with 30 pound Platypus braid and finished with 80 pound Jinkai trace.
The game plan for the Quay Marine team was to double anchor the boat and cast into the shallow bay near the DPI research station, working the lure into the deeper water. The lure of choice for this shallow water was the Reidy’s B52 lure in chrome.
“I like to also beef up the hooks with VMC 3x trebles” Adams explained.
The Big Barra hooked up at 7.30pm once the sun came down and the team moved to deeper water surround by sunken tobacco bushes.
“We don’t use a net on the big girls,” Adams said. “They are a bit tired by the time they come to the boat, so I gently grab them and lift over the side” he continued.
Proserpine Bait and Tackle owner Lindsay Dobe made the trip from his local waters of Peter Faust with legend Jack Erskine to claim second place. In his first year as a tournament angler Dobe’s first session 3 fish bag was a great achievement for him.
“I came here looking for that legendary 70 pound fish” he joked.
Dobe uses exclusively Penn equipment in a new Penn Pinpoint Tournament Series 10kg 5’8 rod matched to a Penn Jack Erskine Signature low profile baitcaster reel. He spools this with Penn Propower 50 braid and finishing it off with the famous Jack Erskine 80 pound leader.
“I targeted the timber in daylight hours and moved to the points of the shallow bays at night” Dobe said.
I’d really like to thank the ABT for the great format of the Barra Tour and hope to see it kick on in future years. It will benefit the industry and get more people fishing,” he continued.
A stocking donation was made to Tinaroo representative John Mondora who explained to the crowd it was great to see so many of the tagged fish previously stocked in the dam caught.
“These fingerlings were released at about 12″ in length, we now see them at about 60cm. Next year we should have some good fish captures around the 85-90cm mark” he said.
SERIES CHAMPIONS
The Series Championship Team was hotly contested. Team Ecogear 1 finished on top with a total of 473 points. Second was Freddy’s Fishing World (460), third was Peter and Cathy (450), fourth was FCM (439) and finally Barradise (437).
Series Champion Angler belonged to Ecogear representative Gavin Dunne. Gavin managed a top 10 finish in 4 of the five tournaments, an extraordinary effort.
“I have learnt a lot from this tour” he said. “The sharing of information has been great, and I can’t wait till next year” he finished.
With the 2005 Daiwa Barra Tour now complete, statistics will be collated and a schedule for next year prepared. If you would like any further information on ABT tournaments please visit the website www.australianbarra.com.au.
| Place | Angler | F1 | L1 | F2 | L2 | TF | TL |
| 1 | Warren Adams | Â | Â | 5 | 339 | 5 | 339 |
| 2 | Lindsay Dobe | 3 | 193 | Â | Â | 3 | 193 |
| 3 | David Lange | 1 | 59 | 1 | 54 | 2 | 113 |
| 4 | David Powell | 1 | 58 | 1 | 50 | 2 | 108 |
| 5 | Matt Coleman | 1 | 107 | Â | Â | 1 | 107 |
| 6 | Jack Erskine | Â | Â | 1 | 58 | 1 | 58 |
| 7 | Gary Boyd | Â | Â | 1 | 48 | 1 | 48 |
| 8 | Brian Hampton | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Barry Collett | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Steve Wilson | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Gary Bolter | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Gavin Dunne | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | John Schwerin | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Dennis Schwerin | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Steve Morgan | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Darren Lewis | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Alan Macnamara | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Luke Coleman | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Jason Swan | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Trevor Spry | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Peter May | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Cathy McNaught | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Jason Wilhelm | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Garth Dunwoodie | Â | Â | Â | Â | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Peter Roberts | Â | -0.14 | Â | Â | 0 | -0.14 |
| 9 | Graham Vallance | Â | -0.14 | Â | Â | 0 | -0.14 |