Anyone Fishing?
Re: Anyone Fishing?
Great catch Dan!!! Jeff
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Re: Anyone Fishing?
- BarraMan
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Re: Anyone Fishing?
And so the saga continues!
Barra fishermen talk about the length of the fish rather than the weight. So to give you an idea:
A 60 cm (23.5") barra weighs about 6 ib.
A 70 cm (27.5") barra weighs about 9 lb
An 80 cm (31.5") barra weighs about 13 lb, and
A 90 cm (35.5") barra weighs about 18 lb
The magic number is 1 metre (100 cm = 33.4") - such a fish will weigh about 24 lb. Joining the "metre" club is every barra fisherman's dream.
My first ever barra was 104 cm (41 ") and weighed 14 kg (30.8 lb)! I have spent the past 20 years and a bunch of $$$ trying to repeat the exercise!
On this trip, the biggest fish was 85 cm (33.5") - caught by yours truely, and the smallest was 60 cm (23.5"). We caught a handful of fish over 80 cm with most in the 60 to 70+ cm range. Minimum legal length is 55 cm.
The McArthur River has a delta, with numerous outlets to the Gulf in addition to the main channel.
Day 1: we fished for a couple of hours only, in one of the delta creeks for a couple of barra.
Day 2: we fished another delta creek for a 5 or 6 fish. I dropped a good 90+ cm fish - it ducked under the boat and cut my leader with its gill rake.
Day3: we travelled 2.5 hrs (70 nm) to the Robinson R and caught 20+ barra - 7 in the first 15 minutes. We were planning to sleep overnight on the boat but it was 45 C (113 F) in the shade at 14:00, so having boated 20+ fish, we ran 2.5 hrs (70 nm) back to our air-conditioned cabin and ice cold Coronas!
Day 4: early start back to the Robinson R, 10-12 barra boated by midday so we moved to Fat Fellow's Ck an hour back towards the boat ramp and caught another 10 or 12 before calling it a day and running back to our air-conditioned cabin and ice cold Coronas!
Day 5: back to the Fat Fellow. 20 or so barra boated by early afternoon so back to our air-conditioned cabin and ice cold Coronas!
Day 6: we fished another creek about 30 min from the mouth of the McArthur - and boated a bunch more barra, before heading back to our air-conditioned cabin and ice cold Coronas!
Day 7: back to the Fat Fellow for more barra boated by early afternoon and back to our air-conditioned cabin and ice cold Coronas!
We caught 102 barra in the last 5 days of our trip! Easily the best fishing trip we have ever had!
Day 8: pack up and head for home!
Our only problem was, "What to do with the 22' boat once we drop the vehicle back to the rental company in Mt Isa"?
Fortunately, I have worked out in that country and knew a cattle station (ranch) manager on a place a couple of hours west on Mt Isa, so I arranged to leave the boat there - to be retrieved once I get my LR Discovery back.
I won't bore you with pics of 102 barra, but I will post a selection shortly!
Barra fishermen talk about the length of the fish rather than the weight. So to give you an idea:
A 60 cm (23.5") barra weighs about 6 ib.
A 70 cm (27.5") barra weighs about 9 lb
An 80 cm (31.5") barra weighs about 13 lb, and
A 90 cm (35.5") barra weighs about 18 lb
The magic number is 1 metre (100 cm = 33.4") - such a fish will weigh about 24 lb. Joining the "metre" club is every barra fisherman's dream.
My first ever barra was 104 cm (41 ") and weighed 14 kg (30.8 lb)! I have spent the past 20 years and a bunch of $$$ trying to repeat the exercise!
On this trip, the biggest fish was 85 cm (33.5") - caught by yours truely, and the smallest was 60 cm (23.5"). We caught a handful of fish over 80 cm with most in the 60 to 70+ cm range. Minimum legal length is 55 cm.
The McArthur River has a delta, with numerous outlets to the Gulf in addition to the main channel.
Day 1: we fished for a couple of hours only, in one of the delta creeks for a couple of barra.
Day 2: we fished another delta creek for a 5 or 6 fish. I dropped a good 90+ cm fish - it ducked under the boat and cut my leader with its gill rake.
Day3: we travelled 2.5 hrs (70 nm) to the Robinson R and caught 20+ barra - 7 in the first 15 minutes. We were planning to sleep overnight on the boat but it was 45 C (113 F) in the shade at 14:00, so having boated 20+ fish, we ran 2.5 hrs (70 nm) back to our air-conditioned cabin and ice cold Coronas!
Day 4: early start back to the Robinson R, 10-12 barra boated by midday so we moved to Fat Fellow's Ck an hour back towards the boat ramp and caught another 10 or 12 before calling it a day and running back to our air-conditioned cabin and ice cold Coronas!
Day 5: back to the Fat Fellow. 20 or so barra boated by early afternoon so back to our air-conditioned cabin and ice cold Coronas!
Day 6: we fished another creek about 30 min from the mouth of the McArthur - and boated a bunch more barra, before heading back to our air-conditioned cabin and ice cold Coronas!
Day 7: back to the Fat Fellow for more barra boated by early afternoon and back to our air-conditioned cabin and ice cold Coronas!
We caught 102 barra in the last 5 days of our trip! Easily the best fishing trip we have ever had!
Day 8: pack up and head for home!
Our only problem was, "What to do with the 22' boat once we drop the vehicle back to the rental company in Mt Isa"?
Fortunately, I have worked out in that country and knew a cattle station (ranch) manager on a place a couple of hours west on Mt Isa, so I arranged to leave the boat there - to be retrieved once I get my LR Discovery back.
I won't bore you with pics of 102 barra, but I will post a selection shortly!
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- * Bateau Builder - Expert *
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Re: Anyone Fishing?
That sounds like one good fishing trip! Well except for the 113f part Does it ever get to a nice human temperature, you know, something like 60f? And if so are there still fish to be caught?
- cape man
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Re: Anyone Fishing?
Great trip! Hope the repair on the Land Rover is something minor.
The world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before - Neil Gaiman
- BarraMan
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- Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2012 3:44 pm
- Location: Australia
Re: Anyone Fishing?
Lure chucking barra fishermen like two things - snags and drains!
We pulled multiple fish of this snag, ie 7 in 15 minutes!
and we pulled at least 15 barra out of this drain! We talked to another couple of fishos who did the same thing the previous day.
A couple of by-catch species.
Black Jew (don't ask me why!)
and Mangrove Jack.
Fish of the trip!
We pulled multiple fish of this snag, ie 7 in 15 minutes!
and we pulled at least 15 barra out of this drain! We talked to another couple of fishos who did the same thing the previous day.
A couple of by-catch species.
Black Jew (don't ask me why!)
and Mangrove Jack.
Fish of the trip!
- BarraMan
- * Bateau Builder - Expert *
- Posts: 2165
- Joined: Tue Dec 11, 2012 3:44 pm
- Location: Australia
Re: Anyone Fishing?
60F = 15C ?
No worries - there will likely be a 2 hr window early in a mid-June morning when its 60F, but the barra will all have lockjaw!
Re: Anyone Fishing?
Great fishing BarraMan!! Also, beautiful area!! Jeff
- BarraMan
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- Location: Australia
Re: Anyone Fishing?
The saga is almost finished! I got my Land Rover Discovery back today and my wallet is only $2k lighter. $1,300 for a new gear selector unit, and $700 to repair the damage done by the roadside assist in recovering the vehicle!
Tomorrow I am off on a 1500 mile round trip to recover the boat.
Tomorrow I am off on a 1500 mile round trip to recover the boat.
Last edited by BarraMan on Wed Dec 02, 2020 7:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Anyone Fishing?
Terrible BarraMan!!!! Jeff
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