The Halco Lake Monduran 2×5 BARRA event lived up to the tough fishery that gives Monduran its nick name of “Lake Misery’ with a total of 12 fish landed by 12 individual anglers in a 74 strong field.
The tournament winner Dean Silvester landing the event’s big barra of 116cm taking the honours over Kerrin Taylor by a mere centimentre.
Silvester’s outfit consisted of a Megabass Renlli 300 reel spooled with 35lb Unitika braid and 60lb Unitika leader matched to a Samurai 502 rod.
His money bait was a Squidgy 110 Slick Rig in evil minnow with the tail dipped in chartreuse Spike It. Using a pair of customised forks heated on a butane burner, he adds scutes to the tail of the Squidgy soft plastic for extra tail action. The key to this bait is the custom made jig head by Silvester himself. Using a Gamakatsu 7/0 heavy wire hook he attaches a wire stinger with Gamakatsu Treble 14, size 4. Then using a Do-It mould darter head pours a 1/2oz lead jighead encasing the stinger hook connection to the hook within the lead for extra strength. Finally a plastic rattle is attached to the shank of the hook for extra under water resonation.
Travelling in the Frogley Offshore I-Class Skeeter, Silvester was able to cruise to his location near the mouth of the Kolan Creek ahead of the other competitors. He had identified a weed point in the prefish that had the wind blowing on it and holding plenty of bait.
“Using the Humminbird 998 side scan function, I was able to identify barra swimming past the point, holding close to the bottom and amongst the weed,” he said.
Anchoring in 11ft and throwing to the point in approximately 4ft Silvester used long wind assisted casts to reach the weed edges.
“I would begin to wind straight away near the weed then slow roll the retrieve so that the plastic travelled close to the bottom,” he explained.
Losing a good fish on day one around a stump in the weed and his partner Dave Robinson landing a 91cm specimen, Silvester hoped that day 2 would be kind to him.
At around 1.40pm after an 11.30am start Silvester hooked the 116cm event winning big barra.
“At first it jumped and we thought it was in the nineties so I went hard on it, only backing the drag off when it moved into deeper water,” he said.
This Monduran beast scoring him first place over runner up Kerrin Taylor by a centimetre, showing you are only one cast away from winning a tournament.
Taylor caught his 115cm barramundi on day one in a 4m deep bay which had scattered timber and a drop off to deeper water close by on a floating Rapala X-Rap in purple/albino colour retro fitted with Owner size 4 ST66 trebles.
“I like these lures for fishing around the timber because they dive shallow and float up slowly in the water. When the lure is retrieved into a submerged snag I pause the retrieve and let it float up over the obstruction before gently starting the retrieve again to make sure the lure has cleared the snag,” said Taylor.
“The location was challenging to fish as the submerged scattered timber in the area required accurate casting. We had to aim for any tight gaps between the trees that we could see to get a good cast in. There were a few lures lost by getting snagged on the timber but it all proved worthwhile after the 115cm barramundi was caught,” he continued.
The outfit used was a Millerods Salty Barra rod matched to a Shimano Chronarch reel with 30lb Fins braid and 80lb Black Magic leader.
With his second place finish at Monduran and a first and second place in the two Awoonga events Taylor proved he was the angler to beat claiming the Southern and Overall AOY honours.
The Halco sponsored event proved to be a hit with every team scoring a new Halco Hamma barramundi lure and Tim Carter representing Halco all the way from WA gave the anglers the insight into the lures tough design features.
The final presentation on Saturday night at the Gin Gin Hotel was well attended and a chance for anglers to relax after a tough and testing tour. Local Bundaberg Regional Council representatives attended and addressed the crowd with their support for the town and fishery that seems to be so popular.
With the 2010 Daiwa BARRA Tour now completed we look forward to the Grand Final to be held in February. For more information visit www.australianbarra.com.au or ph ABT on 07 3387 0888.
| Angler | Team | Status | F1 | L1 | F2 | L2 | TF | TL | Cash | Prizes |
| Dean Silvester | Gamakatsu | Standard | 1 | 116 | 1 | 116 | $1,400 | Daiwa Heartland rod & reel, Prize Pack, Big Barra Prize Pack (116cm) | ||
| Kerrin Taylor | Millerods/Shimano/Evinrude | Pro | 1 | 115 | 1 | 115 | $900 + $600 Pro | Gary Howard rod & Prize Pack | ||
| Tyson Robertson | Wilson Fishing Australia | Standard | 1 | 108 | 1 | 108 | $700 | Shimano Coriolis reel & Prize Pack | ||
| Daniel Grech | Rapala/JT Reel Repairs | Standard | 1 | 103 | 1 | 103 | $500 | Spotters Sunglasses & Prize Pack | ||
| Jon Millard | Rapala/JT Reel Repairs | Standard | 1 | 100 | 1 | 100 | $400 | Shimano Raider rod & Prize Pack | ||
| Elaine Sanderson | Tackle Warehouse Ladies | Standard | 1 | 99 | 1 | 99 | $300 | Berkley Tacklebag & Prize Pack | ||
| Jason Wilhelm | Shimano/ E-Tec | Standard | 1 | 95 | 1 | 95 | $200 | Prize Pack | ||
| Boyd Read | Young Guns | Standard | 1 | 94 | 1 | 94 | $100 | Prize Pack | ||
| David Robinson | Gamakatsu | Standard | 1 | 91 | 1 | 91 | Prize Pack | |||
| Matt McArthur | McArthur Customs | Standard | 1 | 82 | 1 | 82 | Prize Pack | |||
| Karl Rembacher | Shitty Tinny | Standard | 1 | 80 | 1 | 80 | Prize Pack | |||
| Simon Black | I’m On Lures | Standard | 1 | 63 | 1 | 63 | Prize Pack, Halco Big Barra Prize Pack (63cm) | |||
| Steven Bechly | Active Angler/Egrell Rodz | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Andy Chew | Active Angler/Egrell Rodz | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Steve Eldred | Atomic | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Chris Eldred | Atomic | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| David Reynolds | Bass to Barra | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Matthew Mott | Bass to Barra | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Trevor Burgess | Berkley | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Tim Steenhuis | Berkley | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Matt Fraser | Berkley Nitro R&D | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Mark Lennox | Berkley Nitro R&D | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Ken Murray | Blue Nitro | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Ross Murray | Blue Nitro | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Rick Napier | Bundyites | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Michael Napier | Bundyites | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Greg Mitchell | CJR Industries | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Ben Vonpein | CJR Industries | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Mark Larsen | Dairy Farmers | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Cliff Brauer | Dairy Farmers | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Mike Connolly | ETEC Evinrude HO | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Leon Parmenter | ETEC Evinrude HO | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Jake Schwerin | Fish Catching Machines | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| John Schwerin | Fish Catching Machines | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Jason Ehrlich | Halco | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Tim Carter | Halco | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Lex Irwin | I’m On Lures | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Spencer Troxell | McArthur Customs | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Ian Miller | Millerods/ Fish N’ Bits | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Carl Jocumsen | Millerods/ Fish N’ Bits | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Cy Taylor | Millerods/Shimano/Evinrude | Pro | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Matt Anderson | Quantum | Pro | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Ashley Sims | Quantum | Pro | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Craig Griffiths | Rapala Street Team | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Daniel Roth | Rapala Street Team | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Peter Jung | Reidy’s B-52 | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Nicholas Willet | Reidy’s B-52 | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Trevor Cassidy | Rum Pigs | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Glyn Barkhuizen | Samurai Reaction Rods | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Simon Barkhuizen | Samurai Reaction Rods | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Patrick Morgan | Sebile | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Jarrod Dalton | Sebile | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Alan McNamara | Shimano/ E-Tec | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Katie Sanderson | Tackle Warehouse Ladies | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Gavin Dunne | Team Ecogear | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Dean Thompson | Team Ecogear | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Rob Wood | Team Gin Gin Hotel | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Ben Durkin | Team Gin Gin Hotel | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Neville Parmenter | Team Maverick | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Rodney Milkins | Team Maverick | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Jason Medcalf | Team Polycraft | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Brad Cooper | Team Polycraft | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Matt Martin | Team Predator | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Matt Hazell | Team Predator | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Steven Wright | Team Reef Suzuki Marine | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Wayne Cox | Team Reef Suzuki Marine | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Gary Leather | Team Rovex | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Tim Mulhall | Team Rovex | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Phil Lyons | The Likely Lads | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Geoff Newby | The Likely Lads | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Grant Murray | We Fish | Pro | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Wayne Jones | We Fish | Pro | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Drew McGrath | Wilson Fishing Australia | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Dustin Sippell | Young Guns | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 7 | 665 | 5 | 481 | 12 | 1146 | |||||
| 95.5 |