Barramundi OD

Islander · Post by **Islander** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 9:14 am

Just finished watching the triple DVD set of Alex Julius fishing for barras from Qld thru the Nt to Ord river WA!

I have to say I found it watchable enough and interspersed with some good tips on how to catch the blighter's!

It seems tho - to me at least that he only fishes the BIG rivers - and a LOT of his tips etc don't really apply to the smaller tidal rivers we have here in the Pilbara!

Sure they are the same fish so maybe techniques, and lures etc might be applicable - but his big quinnie would be lucky to get into some of the small rivers we have down here and we don't seem to have the rock bars and big logs etc that he largely goes on about!

Maybe there is yet the room for another Pilbara DVD on Barra Catching, a little more related to conditions here for example.

Hes a watchable enough character I guess - some of his recipes for fish seemed pretty good but one or two had me wondering a little.

Anyone else an avid fan of the guy?...

He seems to like just trolling along and knocking the boat outta gear then jigging his lure, then back into gear, troll a bit - knock outta gear and jg jig jig - 5 hours a this wore a little thin i guess.

He got a really big barra with Macca in the Ord at Maccas camp.

Definitely the biggest on the DVD set 1.3 something meters - a good fish for sure.

Its 48 (118f+) here today - the DVD did NOT motivate me to jump in the dingy and head over the Sherlock for a fish for barra - it's too fricken hot!

Cheers

Leith Larham · Post by **Leith Larham** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 10:45 am

Hello Islander,

i have been getting a few reports of some solid Barra coming out of Karri creek further to the east of your camp. Im pretty sure its the creek system in front of Reef Island, so a bit of travel involved.

Failing that Balla Balla creek itself usually produces on the right tides, best to go there during the week as im sure the Barra take the weekends off. Its a pretty sensitive creek for boat activity and shuts down pretty quickly.

But if you are not catching them in the Sherlock then things are getting pretty bad. This creek was basically one of the last frontiers for reliable barra catches. Several years ago a couple of Karratha guys caught and released 112 barra's in two days (on lures i think).

With the popularity of the mid size top ender style boats running around, no creek is safe any more. Their ability to handle the rougher water that we used to cringe at in a 12 footer and there 100ltr plus fuel capacity creates easy access to creeks.

Perhaps we need to find another iconic species of fish to chase and give the poor old Barra a rest.

Probably also a good idea for people to think about reducing the bag limit from two to one per person per day.

Cheers Leith

barra_on_fly · Post by **barra_on_fly** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 10:05 am

The Pilbara has a population of say 40 000 across the whole area, including the inland towns and is not regarded outside of WA as a barra destination. The Top End is barra heaven to 90% of the fishing population of Australia.
Fishing photo journalism is a business like any other, and you have to appeal to the widest audience.
Alex basically only fishes the "big rivers" as such because thats how 70% of barra fishing is done in the NT. Probably 25% is in estuarys like Darwin harbour and the other 5% small Pilbara like creeks.
Basically it rains there and therefore the have rivers like the South Aligator and the Daly which have 100+ kilometres of navigable and fishable water. Trolling is the prefered method in the Territory, whilst casting to snags and run offs is still very popular. Big comfortable boats and big distances are the norm, deep rivers and lots of snags lend themselves to trolling.
Alex has promoted that particular style of fishing for years and it does work. I have seen him catch lots off fish and he is usually a high finisher in the NT Barra Classic which is widely regarded as the best Barra tournament in the world and is an IGFA inshore championship qualifier (till the halt that championship next year!). So he does have some credibilty. I do know Alex, not best mates mind you, but he does do, what he does, well.
Having said that I virtually exclusively lure fish for barra in the Pilbara, 80- 90% trolling with some casting. That means 8 -10 hours working lures up and down tiny creeks ( by NT standards) for maybe one or two fish. Thats how it is here. For more barra try trolling some of the Top End rivers, the quality is usually smaller but far more productive.
I think alot of Alex does in the rivers will still work in the Pilbara.