Fishing the Barra Highway- By Grant Budd
As this article went to print in the May edition of Fish and Boat Magazine, SE QLD was getting smashed with record rainfall that is greater than the 2011 floods. With the vast majority of roads cut off and rivers reaching record heights, I thought while stuck at home I’d reflect on my previous angling adventures with many more to come.
One such adventure or newly acquired obsession is chasing big barra across many of the big dams on offer. As an offshore angler, I’ve had to adjust my techniques and target different fish in different locations due to persistent winds, swell and now flooding dirty run off.
Having a sound around looking for a place to fish.
If this is you, then maybe you too can give it a try. You need not buy all the bells and whistles and chances are you already have the gear capable of stopping these brutes.
Be warned what often starts as a bucket list fish can turn into a full blown obsession.
The beauty of barra fishing is you get to go away, often camping for a few days at a time with great friends. You have a chance to relax (unless you’re obsessed) and enjoy the beautiful scenery while landing some of the biggest fish you have ever seen.
Barra in dams get massive, dwarfing their saltwater cousins and reach 20-30 Kg’s. They can take some figuring out with favoured bite times and winds, not to mention times of the year. For those who can afford it, a guide can advance your knowledge base by years if you only fish once or twice a year. We have experienced major bite times during moon rises, high tides and fading light, so time on the water is essential.
Dylan with a solid 96cm fish caught working a point in Proserpine.
For SEQ anglers Monduran, Mondy or Lake Misery is the closest major barra destination at 3-4hrs drive up the Bruce highway. Once you arrive you have multiple camping options from unpowered to cabins. The facilities are clean and well looked after with a clay boat ramp only a stone’s throw away. This is great for owners of glass boats but best avoided if raining. The main concrete boat ramp is a bit further, but has ample parking and puts you in the main basin. Once on the water you really do see just how massive this dam really is at 12000 hectares when full and over 30kms long! Even at 50% capacity you could spend a lifetime exploring this system.
Should you wish to take a more relaxed approach you can troll a small spread of diving lures like barra classics and work the weed-lines and timber that litters the many bays and arms. Bird Bay is a great starting point and despite the traffic it still holds huge fish. For those who wish to cast, it’s worth having a sounder in side scan mode and when on the troll you can mark areas where you see fish. Coming back to these marks really helps, especially if fishing a bite time or in low light so you save precious time and know where to cast from. The use of an electric motor can really help but they aren’t essential. An anchor with a bicycle inner tube covering the chain can quieten things down with a float to keep the rope away from the bow as barra love to head under the bow once hooked.
The long boat ramp at Proserpine.
Given the popularity of this dam when the bite is tough or busy you can head away from the crowd but be aware you must have spotlights if coming back in the dark. It’s a very long way from the ramp should you run into trouble so charge mobiles, carry enough fuel for 100km’s and take your time. Since the flooding many years ago the stocking association has done an amazing job to bring the dam back to its former glory with meter plus fish more common, with the average around 90cm. Although not on many anglers target this dam holds huge bass around 50cm’s or more. Targeting these is uncommon and as by-catch they do very little against 50lb gear but it can be a doughnut saver.
Away from Mondy you can continue your trip north to Awoonga dam which is another major location and an extra 90 minute drive. It’s about a third smaller than Mondy and isn’t so overwhelming in size. Again the accommodation options cover everything with cabins featuring a bathroom and crispy cold aircon for the summer. The ramp is close by and is concrete so glass boat owners take note. The parking is ample with spill over parking and once on the water you see its totally different to Mondy and almost circular. Trolling the edges into the arms or working the main dam wall area usually yields fish. If you head across the dam with the ramp behind you there is an expansive weed-bed. You can cast or troll along this area if holding one spot for hours isn’t working. This area has sloping weed-beds and areas where its drops off into the deep beyond 10 meters. There are many cut-throughs which barra use as ambush points or places to travel through and they should be worked. A word of warning here about the winds is that Awoonga can whip up 2-3 foot of standing chop on windy days so owners of small craft or bass boats be aware and make sure you have a hi flow bilge pump. Awoonga suffered flooding many years ago and now has meter plus fish thanks to the stocking association. Awoonga will fish later into the season given its geographical location so if Monduran is quiet maybe head here.
Doughnut saver at Monduran – a 48cm bass. Little fight on barra gear but better than a catfish!
Even further North we have Proserpine dam or Peter Faust which is a 12hr+ drive. I recommend not doing this in one day and maybe even stop at Rockhampton for a crack at the salty barra. Prossey is around 5 times smaller than Monduran, making it less daunting and with a bit of everything it holds some massive fish. Being in the Whitsunday region it does get very hot and the small cabin we stayed in had aircon and a fridge only. There is an abundance of cabins possibly due to the heat making bookings possible for groups even when the barra tour stops in. Once on the water, you have the main basin to sound around or head toward the many points and timber. Faust point is similar to the weed bed of Awoonga in that it drops away sharply and barra follow this, especially at night. Further past this you enter the shallow bays where you can observe tailing barra on the right days making surface fishing possible. The old river bed is another popular destination but care should be taken as many small stumps lurk just under the water. If trolling is your thing the dam wall and back to the ramp is a popular circuit with big fish coming out of nowhere to smash a lure. A word of warning when traveling in a westerly direction what appears to be deep water suddenly reaches up to just below the surface. Some huge tree stumps are found here so don’t always assume because it looks deep it is. When returning fish during peak summer temps you need to get the hooks out fast and get them back into the water ASAP. It is recommended to spear the fish in as the top layer of water can be very warm and lack oxygen. Once a fish feels that rush of cooler water they power off. We saw about a dozen dead barra along the edges. Some speculate this is from trolling anglers who catch them down deep and don’t get them back into the water quickly. Others think it’s a period of rollover which sees the dams surface temp suddenly change causing massive heat stress. Either way, spear your fish back into deep water ASAP and don’t leave them in the hot sun while you search for a pair of pliers!
Barra fishing can be a lot of fun and hard work but the rewards are there. You should experience it a few times and with the current river and ocean conditions you may just get that ‘monster meterey’.
The start point of many trips to Monduran.
