Australian Barra Archive

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

The average size of the barramundi caught was 92.34cm, once again proving that Faust is one of the standout big barra fisheries of the east coast.

The Champion Team category was awarded to Tackle Tuggers, consisting of Denny Howarth and Clay Dale, who together boated a combined bag of 6 fish, for a total of 430cm, easily outclassing the other teams.

The event however belonged to Mussellbrook electrician Alan McNamara, who claimed the Champion Angler and Daiwa Big Barra Title. With his fishing partner Darren Lewis leading the way in the two-day event and claiming victory, McNamara picked up where Lewis left off, landing 3 fish for the session, for a total of 308cm.
Team Freddy’s Fishing World (Lewis & McNamara) headed straight to the bay that had delivered them so much during the previous event, and it was here that they began to target the fish holding in about 4 feet of water. With a Reid’s B52 lure (colour-silver and purple) tied on, McNamara worked his lure methodically, twitching it and pausing over the weed. His choice of tackle included an EGrell B65 rod matched to a Daiwa Advantage baitcaster reel, spooled with 50 pound Harro Bionic braid and finished with a Jack Erskine twisted leader.

“When the big barra struck it jumped once and made a short run for open water. It lapped the boat once before it was netted”, McNamara explained.

“It wasn’t until 12 hours later that I boated my next fish. I knew I was in with a chance, with one good fish and not seeing many camera flashes throughout the night” he said.

Having fished the deep water and the timber for no touches, it was the bay that had previously brought them a fish that yielded yet again. Working a stretch of bank 200 metres from where the Daiwa Big Barra was captured, the B52 was on fire, this time in 8 feet of water.

“It was frustrating fishing, as 3 out of 10 casts pulled up weed, but I persisted, as I knew the fish were there” McNamara said.

“Between the early hours of 4 and 5am we had a hot little session. I reckon we lost 5 fish, one was an absolute monster. It was like a little black marlin leaping out of the water heading straight for the boat”, he claimed.

“Unfortunately, the lure just fell out and I thought to myself that was huge, oh well, keep fishing”, a determined McNamara explained.

Second place getter Denny Howarth (3/5, 243cm) explained how he caught all his fish using top water lures such as Sugois and Cultiva Tango Dancers.

“I mainly use a walk the dog technique and try and mix it up with slow and fast retrieves. When I felt a bite, I paused the lure and simply jiggled the rod tip a bit until the barra engulfed the lure”, Howarth explained.

Having caught several barra in 2-5 feet of water over the previous two days, this is where team Tackle Tuggers concentrated their efforts. Howarth’s choice of gear included a Shakespeare Ugly Stick 5”6 rod, matched to a Shimano Calcutta baitcaster reel spooled with 30 pound Bionic braid and finished with a 50 pound twisted crimped leader.

The final leg of the 2005 Daiwa BARRA Tour sees the series travel to Lake Tinaroo near Cairns. Here the AOY Team and Angler of the Series will be decided, and the winner of the Eclipse mothership charter will be drawn.

If you would like to join in the fun for either the remainder of the 2005 Daiwa BARRA Tour or want to start planning for next year, check out all the info at www.australianbarra.com.au

Place	Angler	F1	L1	TF	TL
1	Alan Macnamara	3	308	3	308
2	Denny Howarth	3	243	3	243
3	Lindsay Dobe	2	208	2	208
4	Paul Topp	2	205	2	205
5	Rodney Collings	2	191	2	191
6	Peter Price	2	190	2	190
7	Peter May	2	187	2	187
7	Clay Dale	3	187	3	187
9	Gavin Dunne	2	174	2	174
10	Arthur Lovern	1	114	1	114
11	Andy Thomsen	1	113	1	113
12	Matt Coleman	1	109	1	109
13	Robert Williams	1	95	1	95
14	John Oakes	1	77	1	77
15	Steve Blaney			0	0
15	Brian Hampton			0	0
15	Barry Collett			0	0
15	Les Reibelt			0	0
15	Trevor Burgess			0	0
15	David Lang			0	0
15	Steve Tracey			0	0
15	Trevor Cassidy			0	0
15	John Schwerin			0	0
15	Dennis Schwerin			0	0
15	Darren Lewis			0	0
15	Luke Coleman			0	0
15	Jack Erskine			0	0
15	Cathy McNaught			0	0
15	Adam Meredith			0	0
15	Michael Boehm			0	0
15	Cy Taylor			0	0
15	Kerrin Taylor			0	0
15	Peter Roberts			0	0
15	Graham Vallance			0	0

The Champion Angler Title belonged to Darren Lewis, catching fish both days for a total limit of 367cm. Travelling all the way from Mussellbrook in NSW to fish the tour, Lewis a bi-yearly visitor to the dam utilised advice from his father and local tackle store shop owner Lindsay Dobe to locate and catch his fish.
Slow and windy conditions greeted 22 teams on the first day of the Peter Faust Dam leg of the ABT Daiwa BARRA Tour. 16 anglers caught fish, but it was a 118cm specimen, the largest to date on the tour that was the show piece of the event.

After a slow first night, Team Attack/Gamakatsu came through on the final day to claim the title of Champion Team. Fishing from the largest boat in the field, anglers Steve Blaney and Paul Topp sounded some arches and anchored up to catch their 5 fish for a total of 459cm.

The Daiwa Big Barra prize was captured by Matt Coleman on a Storm soft plastic, black and gold in colour. The 118cm fish was caught in the main channel of the dam, and was found holding on a weed bed in about 10-15 feet of water. Coleman’s choice of tackle included a Shimano T-Curve 6’6 rod, matched to a Shimano Calais baitcaster reel, spooled with FINS 50 pound braid and finished with an 80 pound mono leader.

The Champion Angler Title belonged to Darren Lewis, catching fish both days for a total limit of 367cm. Travelling all the way from Mussellbrook in NSW to fish the tour, Lewis a bi-yearly visitor to the dam utilised advice from his father and local tackle store shop owner Lindsay Dobe to locate and catch his fish.

Second place was secured by a consistent Peter Price with 4/10, 348cm, while the remaining place getter included, Steve Blaney (3/10, 297cm) in third, Jason Medcalf (2/10, 211cm) in fourth, and Michael Boehm (2/10, 192cm) in fifth.

Lewis armed himself with a 5’8 Typhoon rod, teamed to an ABU 5500C reel, 50 pound Harro braid and 80 Penn 10X leader. Choosing to throw a gold Bomber lure in the shallows and a gold 1 metre Predatek Viper lure in the deeper water, he landed 4 fish and pulled the hooks on another at the boat. On a tough first day he landed a 94cm specimen in a shallow bay, the average size for the tournament.

The final day included two fish over a metre and a smaller 45cm specimen that in the end won him the event.

“One of the larger barra initially jumped and then took about 150 metres of line” Lewis explained. “Al, my partner, had to pull the anchor so we could chase it down and get some line back” he said.

Catching 2 fish each day was runner up Peter Price. Tying the boat off a solitary log near the weed, he continued to cast the Squidgy Slick Rig in the drop bear colour. Using a G. Loomis 665 rod, matched to a 253 Daiwa Millionaire reel and spooled with 30 pound Bully braid, and a specially made mono leader. Modelled on a similarly constructed version by Jack Erskine the leader provided Price with the protection he needed against the abrasive characteristics of his quarry.

“I like to fish a light drag” Peter explained. “This way we can lead the barra around until it tires and decides to come up on its side” he said. “This go-easy technique seems to minimise the barra leaps and head shakes” he continued.

A $200 donation was made to Andy Thomsen from the local stocking group. “This money helps to provide future fish for all anglers. We hope to be able to continue the big fish that we see here at Peter Faust Dam” he told the crowd.

With the moon rising late over the hills of Proserpine, the Night Championship Monday night is shaping up to see plenty of full limits. This may be the best chance to see record breaking bag on the 2005 Daiwa BARRA Tour.

If you would like to join in the fun for either the remainder of the 2005 Daiwa BARRA Tour or want to start planning for next year, check out all the info at www.australianbarra.com.au.

Place	Angler	F1	L1	F2	L2	TF	TL
1	Darren Lewis	1	94	3	273	4	367
2	Peter Price	2	152	2	196	4	348
3	Steve Blaney			3	297	3	297
4	Jason Medcalf	1	106	1	105	2	211
5	Michael Boehm	2	192			2	192
6	Paul Topp			2	162	2	162
7	Matt Coleman	1	118			1	118
8	Scott McAuley			1	104	1	104
9	Gavin Dunne			1	103	1	103
9	Rodney Collings			1	103	1	103
11	Les Reibelt			1	102	1	102
12	Andy Thomsen			1	101	1	101
13	Cathy McNaught			1	91	1	91
14	Denny Howarth			1	85	1	85
15	Clay Dale			1	82	1	82
16	Dennis Schwerin			1	79	1	79
17	Brian Hampton					0	0
17	Barry Collett					0	0
17	David Lang					0	0
17	Steve Tracey					0	0
17	Trevor Cassidy					0	0
17	Ken Best					0	0
17	Ken Berry					0	0
17	John Schwerin					0	0
17	Gary Boyd					0	0
17	Steve Morgan					0	0
17	Chris Machonachie					0	0
17	Christine Machonachie					0	0
17	Alan Macnamara					0	0
17	Luke Coleman					0	0
17	Peter McAuley					0	0
17	Philip Lyons					0	0
17	Geoff Busbridge					0	0
17	Arthur Lovern					0	0
17	Jack Erskine					0	0
17	Lindsay Dobe					0	0
17	Peter May					0	0
17	Brad Cooper					0	0
17	Adam Meredith					0	0
17	John Schofield					0	0
17	Peter Morgan					0	0
17	Trevor Burgess					0	0
17	Peter Roberts					0	0
17	Graham Vallance					0	0

Rod Collings, a 33 year old Truck Driver, outclassed the field with a 5/5, 482cm limit, which included four fish over 90cms, plus the event’s Daiwa Big Barra, a fantastic 110cm specimen.
40 anglers set out at Teemburra Dam for the first of the ABT BARRA Tour’s Night Championship events. 20 teams in all gathered together at the Pinnacle Hotel to have their boats checked out, before hitting the water at 4pm, and fishing through until 8am the next morning.

The Champion Team category proved a hotly contested title, with eventual winners Team Pig Scuttlers, comprised of Rod Collings and Andy Thomsen claiming the title with their combined limit length of 864cm. Followed by Team Evakool/ Bass to Barra in second place and Team Ecogear 1 in third. The Champion Anger title though belonged to Rod Collings, a 33 year old Truck Driver, who outclassed the field with a 5/5, 482cm limit, which included four fish over 90cms, plus the event’s Daiwa Big Barra, a fantastic 110cm specimen.

Second place was secured by Andy Thomsen, 5/5, 382cm, while one centimetre separated the third (Steve Morgan, 5/5, 366cm), fourth (Graham Vallance, 5/5, 365cm), and fifth (Gavin Dunne, 5/5, 364cm) places.

Having fished a few times over the last couple of years with Peter Faust guide Andy Thomsen, Rod commented that his partner really encouraged him throughout the night. Heading out 2nd last off the line, they watch the other boats all head off into the distance, and they simply putted around into the first bay to begin flicking a combination of topwater lures and Storm plastics in front of the weed beds.

Rod’s choice of gear included a Live Fibre Blade, 5’6, rod matched to a Shimano Chronarch baitcaster reel, spooled with Fins PRT 30 pound braid, and Black Magic 60 pound leader. Andy used a similar combo in a Strudwick 5’6, 5-6kg rod, plus a Shimano Chronarch reel, spooled with 30 pound Tuff line and the same 60 pound leader.

Fishing consistently was the key to this team’s large total. Andy had two fish before sunset, and then Rod caught his first barra of 98cm right on sunset, working a Cultiva Tango Dancer across the surface in one of the many weedy bays.

Once dark, they concentrated their efforts in the timber, working 4-5” Storm plastics, green in colour beside the trees. At 1.00am Rod scored his 4th fish, the 110cm Big Barra. Luckily for him it was in the clearer section of the timber and it made a dash for the weed beds. The first of several runs saw the barra take approximately 50 metres of line.

“It was going fairly hard at one stage” Collings commented.
“I’m sure you had about 80 metres of line out at one stage” Thomsen followed.

Spending the rest of the night amongst the timber and rarely sitting down to rest, Team Pig Scuttlers compiled the remainder of their in the area. In the early morning, on the way back to the ramp, they boys decided to throw some flies at the points. Collings using an 8 weight Scott fly rod matched to a Fenwick reel with Fins braid and Scientific Angler intermediate line, while Thomsen choosing a slightly heavier 10 wt Pro Angler Mastery Series 3 piece travel rod and a Pro Angler reel with floating line. This scored them several smaller fish but each could feel confident that their efforts throughout the night would put them in the placings.

“The weather was beautiful last night! It was awesome to have the barra boofing all around you. It seemed they would go crazy every 20 minutes or so”, the anglers concluded.

Keith Day from the Mackay Stocking Group was presented with a $400 donation to go towards future stocking of Teemburra Dam.
“It is one of Australia’s premier fisheries”, Day explained.
“It’s great to have tournaments of this ilk on the dam, and we can’t wait until the ABT returns next year”, Day told the crowd.

After a well earned sleep, the third leg of the ABT BARRA Tour sees the tour travel to Peter Faust Dam, for the second of the two-day events, and the final round of the Night Championship events. With plenty of metre plus caught in the lead-up to the event the location is set to be popular with those on the tour, and is shaping up to be two of the potential highlights of the Daiwa BARRA Tour.

If you would like to join in the fun for either the remainder of the 2005 Daiwa BARRA Tour or want to start planning for next year, check out all the info at www.australianbarra.com.au.

Place	Angler	F1	L1	TF	TL
1	Rodney Collings	5	482	5	482
2	Andy Thomson	5	382	5	382
3	Steve Morgan	5	366	5	366
4	Graham Vallance	5	365	5	365
5	Gavin Dunne	5	364	5	364
6	Kerry Symes	5	344	5	344
7	Matthew Mott	5	316	5	316
8	Barry Cotter	4	283	4	283
9	John Schofield	4	269	4	269
10	Peter Price	3	266	3	266
11	Stephen Palmer	4	253	4	253
12	Peter Morgan	2	161	2	161
13	Les Reibelt	2	152	2	152
14	Alan Macnamara	2	148	2	148
15	Trevor Burgess	2	141	2	141
16	Cathy McNaught	2	129	2	129
17	Dennis Schwerin	2	86	2	86
18	James Coate	1	81	1	81
19	David Lang	1	74	1	74
20	John Oakes	1	73	1	73
21	Peter May	1	73	1	73
22	Peter Roberts	1	72	1	72
23	Leon Coate	1	71	1	71
24	Robert Williams	1	70	1	70
25	Philip Lyons	1	70	1	70
26	John Schwerin	1	69	1	69
27	Scott McAuley	1	69	1	69
28	Trevor Cassidy	1	68	1	68
29	Dean Coghill	1	68	1	68
30	Brian Hampton	1	44	1	44
31	David Pack			0	0
31	Steve Tracey			0	0
31	Darren Lewis			0	0
31	Peter McAuley			0	0
31	Keith Day			0	0
31	Tim Galletly			0	0
31	Jason Cameron			0	0
31	Geoff Busbridge			0	0
31	Arthur Lovern			0	0
31	Gary Boyd			0	0

Hot days and stormy nights greeted 52 anglers competing in the first event of the 2005 Daiwa BARRA Tour at Lake Awoonga.

Plenty of metre plus barra made for an exciting competition between the 26 teams, with a total of 97 fishing weighed-in for the event.

In the end victory was claimed by Team Pflueger, comprised of Jason Wilhelm and Gareth Dunwoodie, who consistently caught fish over the two days to finish clearly on top in the teams category. Compiling a 1389cm total Pflueger easily outclassed the rest of the field, with the runners-up position claimed by the Unknotted Old Dogs team (595cm), featuring seasoned anglers Rod “Harro” Harrison and Dale Sinclair.
Jason Wilhelm, a 31 year old Shift Manager finished with the only, 10/10 bag and a total length of 728cms. His partner Gareth Dunwoodie finished a close second with a 9/10 bag, 661cms. While the Go-So Big Barra title was hotly contested before being claimed by Gladstone local, Scott McAuley with his outstanding 116cm specimen captured on day one of the event. Falling to a 75mm Halco Scorpion in the bleeding mullet colour, the large fish was wrestled from of the many shallow bays scatter throughout the dam.

Fishing Awoonga at least 3 days a week, the well knowledged Wilhelm focused on getting his bag early, before chasing larger upgrade fish later in the night.

Wilhelm’s gear of choice included an E Grell Woomera 5’8 baitcaster rod, matched to a Pflueger Supreme low profile baitcaster reel, spooled with 50 pound Shakespeare Cajun braid and finished off with 70 pound flurocarbon leader. While his lure selection was comprised of 10+ Barra Classic 120s, when targeting fish in the 10-12 foot depth range, and a Kingdom Mars lure when chasing fish under the cover of darkness.

The retrieve largely remained the same for the both lures, with the key being a violent, erratic presentation fuelled with heavy and repeated twitches to get the attention of the barra.

His partner Gareth Dunwoodie, a 25 year old Carpenter and regular fishing companion of Wilhelm, in contrast chose Extracta lures during the day, using the same violent twitch pattern to tempt his fish. His choice of tackle to compile his limit included a Shimano T-Curve rod and a Shimano Chronarch baitcaster reel. The boys mentioned that any colour worked, but what was more important was how the lure swam and its presence in the water.
“Twitching and working that lure in their face was the key to getting their attention”, Dunwoodie explained. “If you didn’t do it, you didn’t get the hits”, he concluded.

They had their game plan worked out before the event, with several locations pinpointed and almost of assured of providing them with fish. Being their first tournament they both knew how important is was to get their five fish in the bag to relieve the pressure of tournament fishing.

“I spoke to a few ABT veterans leading up to the event, and they emphasised to me how important it was to get your limit first, then chase the big ones”, Wilhelm explained.

“So that’s what we did. We got our five, then went looking for the big ones”, he concluded.

The perfectly executed plan then allowed both anglers to have some fun and just go fishing.

The second leg of the series sees the Tour hit the waters of Mackay’s Teemburra Dam for the first of two Night Championships events, 16th November.

The Tour then makes its’ way north for two events as Peter Faust Dam, before coming to its conclusion on Lake Tinaroo on the Atherton Tablelands.

If you would like to join in the fun for either the remainder of the 2005 Daiwa BARRA Tour or want to start planning for next year, check out all the info at www.australianbarra.com.au.

Place	Angler	F1	L1	F2	L2	TF	TL(cm)
1	Jason Wilheim	5	375	5	353	10	728
2	Gareth Dunwoodie	5	344	4	317	9	661
3	Barry Collett	2	185	5	328	7	513
4	Scott McAuley	5	453			5	453
5	Rod Harrison	2	124	3	300	5	424
6	Robert Bartlett	5	365			5	365
7	Matthew Mott	4	253	1	99	5	352
8	Gavin Dunne			3	280	3	280
9	Anthony Pegg	3	160	1	69	4	229
10	John Schwerin	3	222			3	222
11	Michael Bohem	1	53	2	159	3	212
12	Peter May	1	107	1	103	2	210
13	Adrian Lindsay	1	62	2	126	3	188
14	Dennis Schwerin	2	128	1	52	3	180
15	Darren Lewis	2	118	1	55	3	173
16	Dale Sinclair	2	171			2	171
17	Dale Smith	2	169			2	169
18	Steve Morgan			2	169	2	169
19	Adam Meredith			2	166	2	166
20	Peter Morgan	1	66	1	71	2	137
21	Les Reibelt	2	126			2	126
22	Kerry Symes	2	122			2	122
23	Cathy McNaught	1	108			1	108
24	Christine Machonachie	1	97			1	97
25	David Lang	1	95			1	95
26	Stephen Brodie			1	92	1	92
27	Darren Pegg	1	76			1	76
28	James Coate	1	66			1	66
29	John Schofield	1	66			1	66
30	Trevor Cassidy	1	66			1	66
31	Scott Bromly			1	59	1	59
32	Alan Macnamara	1	55			1	55
33	Brian Hampton	1	55			1	55
34	Shane Anderson			1	42	1	42
35	Graham Vallance			1	40	1	40
36	Chris Brignall					0	0
36	Chris Machonachie					0	0
36	Corey Tarr					0	0
36	Craig Gordon					0	0
36	Gabrielle McAuley					0	0
36	Gary Boyd					0	0
36	Geoff Burgess					0	0
36	Jason Bird					0	0
36	John Thwaites					0	0
36	Julian Gascoine					0	0
36	Leon Coate					0	0
36	Mark Todd					0	0
36	Peter Roberts					0	0
36	Rod Sealey					0	0
36	Steve Tracey					0	0
36	Tim Steenhuis					0	0
36	Trevor Burgess					0	0

You wouldn’t have heard much about it, because we kept it a little quiet, but in last November, around twenty anglers competed in the trial BARRA event. What is BARRA? Well, anyone who’s read about the bream and the BASS events will have a pretty reasonable guess. BARRA is ABTs new series launch for 2005 – a two-week tour encompassing five events on four impoundments.

It’ll also open to anyone who wants to join.
It was a diverse group of individuals – some experienced tournament anglers and a healthy contingent of MAFSA members. MAFSA is the vibrant stocking group that’s made Mackay’s impoundment fisheries what they are – currently a little low on water, but crammed full of barramundi and sooty grunter.

Of Mackay’s three gems, Teemburra dam was most suitable for the event, in which anglers used digital cameras to verify catches recorded on their data sheets. Teemburra isn’t noted for its monster barra, but it’s definitely a dam to catch numbers of fish. In the week leading up to the event, it wasn’t unusual to land between five and ten barra in a session.

Luckily, the diversity of competitors meant that Teemburra was tested with a vast array of techniques – most of which the local barra accepted. Anglers fished anywhere from the surface with near-foot-long stickbaits, fly and the classic barra jerkbaits through to deep presentations with slow-rolled swim baits and weighted soft plastics.

And not surprisingly, legendary BASS angler, John Schofield, topped the field, proving that his bass fishing knack isn’t lost on the species’ larger cousins.

John landed a majority of his fish on Tsunami swim baits – a bony-bream shaped soft plastic with an inbuilt weight and paddle tail that kicks and rolls enticingly just above the bottom on a slow retrieve.

“During the week we fished here, the swim baits were definitely the most consistent way to get the barra to bite,” John said, “but often it was harder to stay connected than to hook the fish.”

John was also surprised at how gently the barra would ‘nip’ at the soft plastic before finally deciding to engulf it.

“Sometimes the barra would bite at it four or five times in a retrieve – sometimes they’d eventually hook up and sometimes they wouldn’t. You could usually entice them back, though, if you knew that were in an area,” he continued.

John’s biggest fish of his week at Teemburra – a magnificent 104cm specimen – followed the script and gently nipped at the lure once before coming back to finish the job.

“You would have picked that bite from an undersized bream if you didn’t know better,” John explained, “so one thing I’ve learned is that you treat every bite as a potential metre-fish when you’re barra fishing.”

John’s catch was made up of 4/5 fish for the Saturday evening session, measuring 2.645m and then another 2/5 barra measuring 1.375m on the Sunday.

Favourable comments were received about the scoring system. Each angler photographed their barra on a measuring tape supplied and supplied their digital media memory cards to the weigh master with their catch sheets. Also, anglers liked fishing with team mates of their own selection.

Not many liked the morning start backing up from the late evening session and most voted for a longer afternoon/evening session each day.

Imaging a fishing tournament when you can sleep in each morning!

So, from here, it’s onwards and upwards for the BARRA circuit in 2005. Keep an eye out on this site for further details.

RESULTS

Last Name	First Name	s1	s2	total
Schofield	John	4/5 for 2645	2/5 for 1375	4020
Morgan	Steve	4/5 for 2632	1/5 for 657	3289
Morgan	Peter	2/5 for 1297	1/5 for 705	2002
Prerost	Gary	1/5 for 580	2/5 for 1240	1820
Goldsmith	Simon	1/5 for 675	1/5 for 675	1350
Cunnington	Neil	2/5 for 1310	0	1310
Bilney	Russell	1/5 for 745	1/5 for 545	1290
Bruessow	Damian	1/5 for 750	0	750
Gesch	Brett	1/5 for 690	0	690
Eals	Jeff	1/5 for 650	0	650
Trigg	John	1/5 for 590	0	590
Bruessow	Ray	0	1/5 for 580	580
Inskip	Wade	1/5 for 570	0	570
Day	Keith	1/5 for 520	0	520
Jennies	Darren	0	0	0
McLaren	Peter	0	0	0
Wix	Bruce	0	0	0
Tracey	Stephen	0	0	0
Cassady	Trevor	0	0	0