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The Search for Southern Barra

By Andrew Schrodter

Hey team, in this article I am going to cover barra in terms of the way that I've experienced this Aussie icon! Let me start by saying in no way am I a barramundi guru, quite the opposite. I just love chasing these fish and everything about them, from their looks to the explosive fights and that initial take that’s like no other. The difference between every other fish that I chase, and these guys, is that I put in an effort like no other when targeting them.

Let’s talk PAST / PRESENT / FUTURE…

PAST

I wasn't that young when I first had a chance to chase these fish, I'd say mid 20's and around the time when I was filming the ‘Mangrove Jack DVD’ and getting to know a few people in the fishing industry. I kind of always thought of barramundi as more of a northern species, thinking Northern Territory or Far North Queensland.

I remember years ago, before all the fancy sounders and what seems like thousands of boats that I’ve had, myself and a great friend ‘Barra Bob’ landed a big southern barra (Gold Coast to Hervey Bay) coming in at 106cm. This fish wasn't targeted at all, in fact it came the same way that we landed jewfish, jacks and cod back then, drifting along banks and spending the time on the water.

I don’t even think we had an electric motor, we most likely had oars and an anchor, for if we wanted spot lock. I will say one thing though, knowledge from your past forms key factors of your fishing in the present, like remembering certain surface hits years ago and thinking wow that fish must be huge or getting smoked by a good fish back then and calling it for a mangrove jack. There are certain areas that you fished and wondering why you didn’t look over on the other side of the creek… just because it didn’t look fishy. Lately, more than ever, while I’m fishing for these fish, I think back to my first luring days and try to key a few things together that might help me crack the southern barra code.

PRESENT

Okay, to the present. This is where I’ll touch base on a few techniques that have been working for me, the fishing gear that I use to chase these fish and the tech that helps me locate and catch them. So, let’s break this down.

Technique

Remember, this is what has worked for me and what I use, depending on the area's that I’m fishing for barramundi.

Sand Flats

Yep, barramundi love shallow sandy flats with undulations. One of my favourite places to fish has this landscape, consisting of massive open sand flats, with nothing on them except for sand undulations (current formed sand mounds), in anywhere from 0.5m to 2m of water depth. For this area my favourite technique by far is casting out paddle tail plastics. My go-to plastics are ZMan 3” MinnowZ, ZMan 4” DeiZel MinnowZ, ZMan 5” DieZel MinnowZ, ZMan 4” SwimmerZ and ZMan 6” SwimmerZ, all rigged accordingly on TT HeadlockZ HD jigheads, in 3/8oz and 1/2oz weights.

I spot lock on these flats and cast up current, allow the lure to hit the bottom and then just wind it back, making sure it creates puffs of sand in its wake by always hitting the bottom. I've had quite a bit of success using this technique and my thinking is that these paddle tails look like whiting feeding along the sand flats chasing yabbies and worms.

Barra are suckers for whiting and if I was more a bait fisho this would be high up on my live bait list for them. You find these barra, in my experience, holding in the current lull created by the undulations, waiting for a feed. In saying that I’ve had sessions where barramundi have been actively feeding everywhere on the flats. When fishing these areas be sure to vary your lure size as barra will eat large lures on some days and want peanuts on other days, so 3” to 6” and larger presentations all work.

Rock Bars

When fishing rock bars I use the same technique as above with a slightly quicker retrieve, making sure that my lure doesn’t quite get to the bottom, then I slow roll it back. Rock bars are something I need to spend more time on. It’s not my preferred place to fish and I'm not sure why, I just tend to move to other area's before spending time there. Apart from this mental thing that I have, rock bars are extremely good areas to target barra.

Submerged Timber / Snags / Riverbanks

This is where I enjoy fishing and I honestly can't think of any other place where I prefer to target these icons. I think it comes from all the years of chasing mangrove jack. There’s something about casting in as close as possible to a snag or fallen tree and then trying to get the fish out. This is something that I love!

I have thrown a wide range of offerings to fish that live in these areas. Paddle tails, prawn imitations, jerk shads, they all work, however my favourite is hardbody lures. For me, whether floating or suspending, I love the take from a barra on a hardbody. In that split second before they bite, you feel them inhale the lure and you strike, coming up tight on what could be a fish of a lifetime. That moment there is what keeps me wanting to travel and spend stupid hours chasing this fish.

I have my own little retrieve while working hardbodies and for the best part of using it I don’t have to change it up too much. Cast your lure tight to the structure. If your lure lands well it will go under a foot or two, if not give it a few cranks to get a bit of depth and then slow roll for a foot or two, then apply a few sharp twitches, all the while keeping tension in your line. Repeat this all the way to the boat, varying your speed and throw a good pause in there to mix it up. It’s also worth trying different angles and don’t think because you've cast in the same spot five times the sixth won’t get a bite. Stay consistent and put the effort in on a particular spot, IF the fish are there! Hardbody lures are a great searching tool and you will get them snagged, if you don’t you’re not doing it right. Get yourself a good lure retriever to save mega coin on lures!

Submerged Timber and casting can take a bit of guess work at the start, however once you key in on distance and placement of your lure it can be a deadly combo. What I mean by submerged timber is generally old logs / fallen trees away from a bank / in deeper water. These are bits of goodness that come down in floods and settle in places all over the system that you’re fishing. When you sound these up, account for the tide / depth you’re fishing and the positioning of your boat.

Most of the barramundi that I’ve found, depending on the tide, are tucked in tight to these timbers to escape the current. If you present a lure enough times though you can get a reaction bite. As an example, I have found a submerged log in a system in four metres of water. In my eyes I want to keep the lure in their face, so I put myself in a position where I can work the lure repeatedly in the strike zone, whether it be a soft plastic or hardbody. I want that lure in their face, just above them in most cases, no more than a metre away and the closer the better. ZMan 3.5” EZ ShrimpZ are good for this, along with suspending hardbodies. Remember, if you’re not hitting the timber, it's not close enough. Sometimes you'll end up donating some lures to the cause but it’s all part of the chase.

Gear

Get yourself gear that can handle a decent fish. This is my list that I’m using at present.

Okuma Komodo Baitcast Reel KDS-273 and Komodo Baitcast Rods. This is my go-to setup, spooled with 50lb Bionic Braid X9 and 50lb Stealth FC Leader from Platypus. This is a weapon of a combo, that has the power to handle big fish. Many guys that are a lot better than me on this fish, that I go to for advice, use these and the proof is in the pudding.

I also run a couple of spin combos -

TT Rods Black Mamba Spin Rods / Okuma ITX 4000H spinning reel loaded with 20lb Platypus Bionic Braid X9 and Stealth FC Leader from 20-50lb.

Okuma Cerros Spinning Rods 701H 7’ 5-12kg / Okuma Helios SX 40 spin reel, loaded with Platypus 20lb Bionic Braid X9 and Stealth FC Leader from 20-50lb.

Yep, Bionic Braid from Platypus I love and the Stealth FC leader I haven’t had any troubles with at all and like the way it stores with the line tamer band that keeps my little tackle box tidy.

Fish Finders

I have used Lowrance for many years and it’s my preferred sounder. Now the addition of Active Target has taken my catch rate up massively. No matter what sounder brand you choose, Side Imaging plays a massive part now in finding these fish. Active target for me has opened my eyes to everything. Ask yourself how many times you’ve been in a river system and thought… nope, this place is dead, there’s nothing in here. Or maybe you’ve travelled to your fishing destination and the locals say forget it the river’s dead. Guess what, it’s not. In fact, the fish are there, you just need to find them and now you can.

If you’re unfamiliar with Side Image or Active Target, take some time to jump on the web and research it. It really is a whole different subject that I could talk on for hours. To give you just a sample, when using Active Target, you get to watch how the fish react to your presentation in real time. You get to watch them, follow in real time and like I mentioned about the sixth cast… you might just get the bite you wanted. You know that fish are there and it’s up to you to make the changes and present the lure so that they will eat. As I mentioned above about in the PAST section, about the key factors picked up along the way. I think of these and then use the sounder to join the dots. We all have little hunches about fishing and sometimes you don't follow up on them. It’s time to make the effort to look at that bank that doesn’t look fishy or investigate where you heard that massive surface strike or got busted up years ago.

FUTURE

I can't really see myself not fishing for these guys in the future. For me, the future is taking my son Emmett and daughter Winter, when she's old enough, to enjoy and pass on what I've learnt about chasing these fish and then seeing them adjust and show me something. Everything evolves and fishing is always moving forward. New rods, reels, lures and sounders… we are lucky with the way fishing is going. At the end of the day, we all found the passion somewhere and passing it onto the next generation to learn about and not abuse, will ensure we keep the industry healthy.

Recently I was able to witness my son catching his first barra and it's something that I’ll never forget. I scanned an area, found fish, used the hardbody technique and was teaching him as we kept casting. It all came together, with him coming up tight on a mid-70's barra. I was lucky enough to record the whole thing on my phone and I’ve probably watched it 1000 times.

We were casting into a fishable area of about 10m, where the lure had to be cast tight and worked back in a fast run out tide. Normally I’d tell him to sit this sort of area out as it’s just a danger zone for any type of lure. Instead, this time I helped him cast and passed the rod to him, just so he had a better chance of hooking one. After ten or so minutes he sure did hook up! I run 50lb main and 50lb leader pretty locked up in these areas and had him doing the same.

I had a mixture of thoughts, from not wanting to lose my rod and reel, to wanting him to land the fish, all running through my mind over the next thirty seconds, until we boated the fish. He did well to hold onto the rod and wind, with a little help from dad. Every time I watch the hit of the lure I laugh as that is exactly what I wanted him to experience and that’s the part that got me started on the addiction of chasing these fish.

I hope you enjoyed this little write up and the pics from the past and present to go with this article.

Until next time, Andrew