Lake Awoonga lived up to its name of being one of Australia’s premier impoundment barramundi fisheries for the two days of the Halco Evening BARRA Event with further records broken.
Lake Awoonga lived up to its name of being one of Australia’s premier impoundment barramundi fisheries for the two days of the Halco Evening BARRA Event with further records broken.
The Champion Angler Title was claimed by local veterinarian Scott McAuley with a new record 9/10, 856cm limit. Second was consistent performer Kerrin Taylor (8/10, 773cm) while Simon Barkhuizen (7/10, 706cm), Harry Watson (7/10, 643cm) and Kerry Symes, 8/10, 641cm completed the top five places.
The Champion Team Title went to the Barkhuizen brothers fishing for Team Charltons with 14/20 fish for 1238cm.
McAuley used a variety of arsenal to land his fish. For flicking Squidgy soft plastics he uses a G.Loomis 7ft GLX matched to a Daiwa HRF reel for long casting. For his timber work he uses a G.Loomis 756 matched to a Daiwa Blue Backer reel with 50 pound Jigman braid. Finally for taming those large impoundment barra he uses a 50 pound Live Fibre rod matched to a Daiwa Black Sheep reel and 30 pound twisted leaders.
Fishing the timber in the Ivoreagh arm McAuley chose to throw RMG Scorpions with sticky lead attached between the trees where he would wind them down then stop and pause, twitching the lure occasionally.
Catching four fish there on the first day he chose to return on the second day to find that the water temperature had dropped and there were no active fish. Deciding to move he checked Bath Tub Bay but continued to Tree bay with a few boats already working this area.
With the wind making conditions a little rougher McAuley moved once again to Riverstone Creek where he found bait jumping in the warmer water.
After having his favourite RMG Scorpion destroyed by a large fish, he swapped to a 14cm Rapala X-Rap on the heavy outfit.
“I basically poled the next seven fish in the boat over the hour, including the 108cm fish at 9.30pm†he said. “I then decided to leave them biting to get back in time†he continued.
Kerrin Taylor the Northern Tour BARRA Angler of the Year once again proved the goods with a second place finish. Working the Ian Miller Camofish Barra rods and Shimano Digital Calais reels he choose to upgrade to 50 pound Rapala Beast Master braid and 60 pound coated wire for this event.
The Millerods/Shimano team scored their 10/10 fish on the first day by sounding a steep weed edge where they anchored and cast their famous modified Squidgy Slick Rigs to the weed face.
Returning to the same spot on the second day only returned one fish before they decided to move to the weed points of the main basin. Here the Taylors found roaming barra on the sounder in 4 metres of water.
Kerrin explained, “We would gets hits for 10 minutes then have a 20 minute period of nothing before the fish returned again.â€
The Go-So Big Barra prize was awarded to Mike Connolly for a 119cm fish caught on a 100mm Squidgy Slick Rig in black/gold colour. Mike explained that he likes to use them straight out of the pack fishing weed flats in 4-6 feet of water.
“I was ripping them through the weeds then letting them drop, where the barramundi would inhale them and result in good hookups†he said.
A new record 198 barramundi were caught, photographed and released, with the average size just over 80cm for the two days.
The final event moves to Lake Monduran for the Berkley Morning BARRA Event where the AOY points will be finalised.
If you would like to join in the fun for either the remainder of the 2006 Daiwa BARRA Tour or want to start planning for next year, check out all the info at www.australianbarra.com.au.
| Place | Team | Angler | F1 | L1 | F2 | L2 | TF | TL |
| 1 | Fatman & Ribbon | Scott McAuley | 4 | 386 | 5 | 470 | 9 | 856 |
| 2 | Millerods-Shimano | Kerrin Taylor | 5 | 496 | 3 | 277 | 8 | 773 |
| 3 | Charltons | Simon Barkhuizan | 3 | 295 | 4 | 411 | 7 | 706 |
| 4 | Jackall | Harry Watson | 2 | 178 | 5 | 465 | 7 | 643 |
| 5 | Evakool-Squidgies | Kerry Symes | 3 | 238 | 5 | 403 | 8 | 641 |
| 6 | Spotters Sunglasses | Jason Bird | 5 | 504 | 1 | 76 | 6 | 580 |
| 7 | Team Halco 2 | Nigel Webster | 1 | 106 | 5 | 452 | 6 | 558 |
| 8 | Charltons | Glyn Barkhuizen | 3 | 219 | 4 | 313 | 7 | 532 |
| 9 | Team Halco 2 | Jason Medcalf | 2 | 198 | 4 | 320 | 6 | 518 |
| 10 | One of Those Days | Peter Price | 3 | 220 | 3 | 294 | 6 | 514 |
| 11 | Jet One | Trevor Cassidy | 4 | 260 | 3 | 216 | 7 | 476 |
| 12 | Millerods-Shimano | Cy Taylor | 5 | 453 | 5 | 453 | ||
| 13 | Team Halco | David Hodge | 3 | 225 | 3 | 215 | 6 | 440 |
| 14 | Ando Sportfish | Danny Anderson | 3 | 241 | 2 | 190 | 5 | 431 |
| 15 | G.Loomis | Mike Connolly | 5 | 430 | 5 | 430 | ||
| 16 | QFM | Steve Morgan | 1 | 75 | 5 | 346 | 6 | 421 |
| 17 | Evakool-Squidgies | Matthew Mott | 5 | 337 | 1 | 74 | 6 | 411 |
| 18 | Slick Rigs | Craig Simmons | 2 | 169 | 3 | 224 | 5 | 393 |
| 19 | Amen Brother | Daniel Buckley | 5 | 323 | 1 | 63 | 6 | 386 |
| 20 | Spotters Sunglasses | Adrian Lindsay | 2 | 172 | 2 | 175 | 4 | 347 |
| 21 | Far Kens | Ken Best | 1 | 109 | 3 | 237 | 4 | 346 |
| 22 | Mundi | Trevor Burgess | 3 | 256 | 1 | 44 | 4 | 300 |
| 23 | QFM | Dave Robinson | 1 | 46 | 3 | 224 | 4 | 270 |
| 24 | FCM | John Schwerin | 2 | 145 | 1 | 100 | 3 | 245 |
| 25 | The Assassins | Aaron Mogg | 3 | 243 | 3 | 243 | ||
| 26 | Nitro Tournament Rods | Pete Morgan | 3 | 242 | 3 | 242 | ||
| 27 | Team Tennessee | Steve Kanowski | 2 | 211 | 5 | 7 | 211 | |
| 28 | Jackall | Trent Short | 2 | 210 | 2 | 210 | ||
| 29 | The Assassins | Matt Coleman | 2 | 138 | 1 | 62 | 3 | 200 |
| 30 | Sweetwater Fishing | Garry Fitzgerald | 1 | 111 | 1 | 80 | 2 | 191 |
| 31 | Tin of Gold | Justin Nye | 2 | 189 | 2 | 189 | ||
| 32 | G.Loomis | Josh Batterson | 1 | 81 | 1 | 105 | 2 | 186 |
| 33 | Nitro Tournament Rods | John Schofield | 2 | 185 | 2 | 185 | ||
| 34 | The Tackle Warehouse | Andrew Orley | 1 | 99 | 1 | 82 | 2 | 181 |
| 35 | Squidgy-Lowrance | Steve Starling | 2 | 175 | 2 | 175 | ||
| 36 | Tin of Gold | Justin Fisher | 2 | 168 | 2 | 168 | ||
| 37 | Team Halco | Tim Carter | 2 | 167 | 2 | 167 | ||
| 38 | Fatman & Ribbon | Gabrielle McAuley | 2 | 162 | 2 | 162 | ||
| 39 | Mundi | Brad O’Sullivan | 2 | 161 | 2 | 161 | ||
| 40 | Broms | Scott Bromley | 2 | 155 | 2 | 155 | ||
| 41 | Far Kens | Ken Berry | 1 | 76 | 1 | 77 | 2 | 153 |
| 42 | Squidgy-Lowrance | Jason Wilhelm | 2 | 148 | 2 | 148 | ||
| 43 | The Tackle Warehouse | Adam Meredith | 1 | 114 | 1 | 114 | ||
| 44 | Ecogear | David Young | 1 | 110 | 1 | 110 | ||
| 45 | Team Rovex | Ken Leisemann | 1 | 110 | 1 | 110 | ||
| 46 | FCM | Jake Schwerin | 1 | 103 | 1 | 103 | ||
| 47 | One of these days | Dean Davis | 1 | 82 | 1 | 82 | ||
| 48 | Just Hafta Fish | Stephen Brodie | 1 | 81 | 1 | 81 | ||
| 49 | Ando Sportfish | Colin Slade | 1 | 80 | 1 | 80 | ||
| 50 | Sweetwater Fishing | Dale Sinclair | 1 | 73 | 1 | 73 | ||
| 51 | Slick Rigs | Tony Zantiotas | 1 | 72 | 1 | 72 | ||
| 52 | Jet One | Neil Campbell | 1 | 72 | 1 | 72 | ||
| 53 | Broms | Barb Bromley | 1 | 72 | 1 | 72 | ||
| 54 | Team Rovex | Gary Leather | 1 | 70 | 1 | 70 | ||
| 55 | Logan River Marine | Corey Tarr | 1 | 67 | 1 | 67 | ||
| 56 | Team Tennessee | John Brider | 1 | 1 | 0 | |||
| 56 | Logan River Marine | Rod Watt | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 56 | One of Those Days | Arthur Lovern | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 56 | Team Hellfish | Trent Brown | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 56 | Team Hellfish | Mark Daley | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 56 | Ecogear | Gavin Dunne | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 56 | Just Hafta Fish | Rod Sealy | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 63 | Pop Guns | Brendan Jones | -20 | 0 | -20 | |||
| 63 | Pop Guns | Jesse Buckley | -20 | 0 | -20 | |||
| 65 | Amen Brother | Andrew Duffy | -40 | 0 | -40 | |||
| 101 | 8423 | 97 | 7600 | 198 | 16023 | |||
| Avg | 83.3960396 | Avg | 78.35051546 | Avg | 80.92424242 |
| Place | Team | TF | TL |
| 1 | Charltons | 14 | 1238 |
| 2 | Millerods-Shimano | 13 | 1226 |
| 3 | Team Halco 2 | 12 | 1076 |
| 4 | Evakool-Squidgies | 14 | 1052 |
| 5 | Fatman & Ribbon | 11 | 1018 |
| 6 | Spotters Sunglasses | 10 | 927 |
| 7 | Jackall | 9 | 853 |
| 8 | QFM | 10 | 691 |
| 9 | G.Loomis | 7 | 616 |
| 10 | Team Halco | 8 | 607 |
| 11 | One of these days | 7 | 596 |
| 12 | Jet One | 8 | 548 |
| 13 | Ando Sportfish | 6 | 511 |
| 14 | Far Kens | 6 | 499 |
| 15 | Slick Rigs | 6 | 465 |
| 16 | Mundi | 6 | 461 |
| 17 | The Assassins | 6 | 443 |
| 18 | Nitro Tournament Rods | 5 | 427 |
| 19 | Tin of Gold | 4 | 357 |
| 20 | FCM | 4 | 348 |
| 21 | Amen Brother | 6 | 346 |
| 22 | Squidgy-Lowrance | 4 | 323 |
| 23 | The Tackle Warehouse | 3 | 295 |
| 24 | Sweetwater Fishing | 3 | 264 |
| 25 | Broms | 3 | 227 |
| 26 | Team Tennessee | 2 | 211 |
| 27 | Team Rovex | 2 | 180 |
| 28 | Ecogear | 1 | 110 |
| 29 | Just Hafta Fish | 1 | 81 |
| 30 | Logan River Marine | 1 | 67 |
| 31 | Team Hellfish | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Pop Guns | 0 | -40 |