Teemburra Dam produced a contrasting bite to last year’s 231 fish feast with a meare 28 barra hitting anglers’ brag mats at the opening round of the 2010 Daiwa BARRA Tour, the Strike Pro Teemburra BARRA Evening Event, 12/13th November.
A measure of a tough bite courtesy of torrential rain and cool temperatures rather than angling ability, it was 38 year old Rolleston mine worker Craig Griffiths (4/10, 289cm) who cracked the pattern the best to break through for his maiden BARRA Tour win.
Picking up where he left off last year was 2009 Awoonga Night Championship winner Daniel Grech (3/10, 259cm) who started the new season in great style, claiming the runner-up title and a boost of confidence heading into the remainder of the tour.
Victory though belonged to Griffiths with the Teemburra victor fishing one point within eye sight of the launching ramp to catch his fish.
“It was the same point and clump of trees I fished in last year’s tournament, so I thought why not head back to the spot that produced before”, explained Griffiths.
The simple, yet rationale decision paid off with Griffiths boating a barra on his third cast.
The location in question featured a weedline and a clump of five trees sitting on a gentle sloping point in about 16 feet of water.
“The trees where the hot spots with the barra sitting tight to the timber and only hitting the lure when it was right on their nose”, explained Griffiths.
His choice of lures were a combination of options, with black and gold and drop bear coloured Squidgy Slick Rig 110s and a ghost coloured Rapala X Rap 10 all getting a run. The retrieve for the Slick Rigs was text book lift n’ drop plastics fishing with Griffiths casting the lure up onto the weed, ripping it across then letting it sink near the trees then give it a quick hop.
“All the hits came as the lure was sinking next to the tree”, explained Griffiths.
The retrieve for the X Rap was equally barra fishing 101, with a twitch-pause retrieve the undoing of one of the fish in tournament winning limit.
It was perhaps the lure itself, namely the Squidgy Slick Rig and the modifications that he made to it that is most noteworthy.
“I trimmed the tail to make it swim better, added some rattles and coated it repeatedly with garlic spray to make it as appealing as possible”, explained Griffiths.
The balance of Griffiths’ tackle included a 6’8″ Pro Green rod, Daiwa Sol 3000 spin reel, 20lb Fins braid, and 60lb Black Magic leader.
Receiving only four bites for the tournament, and landing all four, a rare thing in barra fishing, Griffith was ecstatic with the win and how it all fell into place.
“It’s not to often you land all the bites that you get and I can pretty much thank the stinger hooks on my Slick Rigs for making it happen”, explained Griffiths.
Running a treble stinger on the underbelly of the lure, Griffiths pinned all fish with and kept them connected courtesy of his trusty stinger.
With the next round at Peter Faust only two days away Griffiths is keen to get back on the water and experience the hot fishing that Faust has been producing of late.
“Let’s hope the weather improves over what we’ve had at Teemburra. If it does then there’s good chance we’ll get stuck in and catch a few”, concluded Griffiths.
Notes- All fish caught came on a wind change, and none were caught after dark.
For event runner-up Daniel Grech is was another quality result, with the Mackay angler adding another podium finish to his growing list of tournament achievements.
Fishing the mouth of Teemburra Creek Grech keyed in on a specific location, a 20 feet deep flat punctuated by small shrubs and trees that sat adjacent to an 80 feet deep drop off and tree line.
“The timber on the flat and the deep water near by were the main attractions for the barra I’m sure, they could hold up in the trees then retreat back to the deep water when they were less active”, explained Grech.
With the shrubs his cast targets, Grech would cast a Jackall Tranzam through the timber then work it back with a two hop-pause retrieve.
“You’d get hung up on the shrubs occasionally, so you’d have to ping the lure of the timber to get it back. It was when I did this and the lure came free that a fish (92cm) hit it”, explained Grech.
While the Jackall produced his kicker fish, it was his money bait from Awoonga last year, the Rapala X Rap 10 that delivered the majority of fish in his bag.
“One of the fish fell to a standard twitch and pause but the other nailed the lure as I burned it back to the boat”, explained Grech.
His go-to X Rap was the glass ghost colour retrofitted with size 4 VMC trebles. The remainder of his tackle included a 6’2″ ACM Jack Extractor rod, a Daiwa Sol baitcaster beefed up with Carbontex drag washers courtesy of JT Reel Repairs, 20lb Bionic braid, and 40lb Black Magic fluorocarbon leader.
With a solid start to the tour Grech will be one to watch in the battle for AOY.
Notes- Relied heavily on his Humminbird 997 sounder to spot not only fish moving through, but also their rate of movement. His best result to date at Teemburra, his previous best was a 21st.
The Big Barra for the tournament went to Jarrod Dalton with the Dysart based angler picking up the 96cm prize winning fish on day one. Caught at 8.30pm in the pouring rain it delivered Dalton a booty of Rapala lures and anchored his 5th place finish at the event.
The next round of 2010 Daiwa BARRA tour sees the series travel north to Proserpine for the Sunline Peter Faust 3×3 Championship, 16/17th November. The first of the new 3×3 events, the Sunline presented round is sure to present anglers with a host of new challenges and hopefully a redhot barra bite. Visit www.australianbarra.com.au for all the results and photos.
| Place | Angler | Team | Status | F1 | L1 | F2 | L2 | TF | TL | Cash | Prizes |
| 1 | Craig Griffiths | Rapala Street Team | Standard | 2 | 149 | 2 | 140 | 4 | 289 | $1,200 | Daiwa Heartland rod & Daiwa Luna reel & Prize Pack |
| 2 | Daniel Grech | Rapala/ JT Reel Repairs | Standard | 1 | 94 | 2 | 165 | 3 | 259 | $600 | Millerod Camofish Salty Barra rod, Shimano Coriolis reel & Prize Pack |
| 3 | Issac Toivanen | DC | Standard | 3 | 231 | 3 | 231 | $500 | G.Loomis Force Lite rod & Prize Pack | ||
| 4 | Donovan Power | Power | Standard | 3 | 226 | 3 | 226 | $300 | Spotters Prize Pack & Prize Pack | ||
| 5 | Jarrod Dalton | Sebile | Standard | 1 | 96 | 1 | 75 | 2 | 171 | $200 | Jackall Prize Pack & Prize Pack + Big Barra (96cm) Rapala Pack |
| 6 | Rob Wood | Gin Gin Hotel | Standard | 1 | 72 | 1 | 72 | 2 | 144 | $200 | Shimano Catana rod & Prize Pack |
| 7 | Alan McNamara | Shimano/ E-Tec | Standard | 1 | 92 | 1 | 92 | Halco Prize Pack | |||
| 8 | Jason Wilhelm | Shimano/ E-Tec | Standard | 1 | 91 | 1 | 91 | Halco Prize Pack | |||
| 9 | Matt Martin | Team Predator | Standard | 1 | 88 | 1 | 88 | Berkley Prize Pack | |||
| 10 | Leon Parmenter | ETEC Evinrude HO | Standard | 1 | 88 | 1 | 88 | Berkley Prize Pack | |||
| 11 | Matt Hazell | Team Predator | Standard | 1 | 87 | 1 | 87 | ||||
| 12 | Dean Silvester | Megabass/Mako | Standard | 1 | 85 | 1 | 85 | ||||
| 13 | Nicholas Moore | Ulua Boys | Standard | 1 | 75 | 1 | 75 | ||||
| 14 | Frank Ohl | Reidy’s Lures | Standard | 1 | 73 | 1 | 73 | ||||
| 15 | Geoff Newby | The Likely Lads | Standard | 1 | 69 | 1 | 69 | ||||
| 16 | Peter Price | Reidy’s Lures | Standard | 1 | 69 | 1 | 69 | ||||
| 17 | Brook Ebzery | Teaser | Standard | 1 | 68 | 1 | 68 | ||||
| 18 | Arthur Grace | Amzing Grace Two Crew | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 19 | Ben Durkin | Gin Gin Hotel | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 20 | Cameron Pratt | DC | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 21 | Craig Birkett | INDT | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 22 | Daniel Roth | Rapala Street Team | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 23 | Daryl Pead | Dingos | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 24 | David Purdy | Sebile | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 25 | Elaine Sanderson | Tackle Warehouse Ladies | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 26 | Geoff Busbridge | Megabass/Mako | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 27 | Glen Smith | Neranga Tangs | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 28 | Glyn Barkhuizen | Samurai Reaction Rods | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 29 | Greg Birkett | INDT | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 30 | Jake Schwerin | Fish Catching Machines | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 31 | Jeff Eales | Team of Two | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 32 | John Schwerin | Fish Catching Machines | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 33 | Jon Millard | Rapala/ JT Reel Repairs | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 34 | Katie Sanderson | Tackle Warehouse Ladies | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 35 | Matt Black | I’m On Lures | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 36 | Matt Coleman | Team of Two | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 37 | Matt McArthur | McArthur Customs | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 38 | Michael Weick | Neranga Tangs | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 39 | Mike Connolly | ETEC Evinrude HO | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 40 | Nathan Chapman | Dingos | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 41 | Neville Parmenter | Team Maverick | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 42 | Paul McFarlane | Amzing Grace Two Crew | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 43 | Peter Behrens | Ulua Boys | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 44 | Phil Lyons | The Likely Lads | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 45 | Robert Ebzery | Teaser | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 46 | Rodney Milkins | Team Maverick | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 47 | Simon Barkhuizen | Samurai Reaction Rods | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 48 | Simon Black | I’m On Lures | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 49 | Spencer Troxell | McArthur Customs | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 50 | Steven Wright | Team Reef Suzuki Marine | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 51 | Trent Power | Power | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 52 | Wayne Cox | Team Reef Suzuki Marine | Standard | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 53 | Kerrin Taylor | Millerods/Shimano/Evinrude | Pro | DQ | DQ | ||||||
| 54 | Cy Taylor | Millerods/Shimano/Evinrude | Pro | DQ | DQ | ||||||
| 12 | 977 | 16 | 1228 | 28 | 2205 | ||||||
| 81.42 | 76.75 | 78.75 |