Jack Marrs | Sunday, 17 April 2016
Queensland can be a hard place to fish in the wet season with hot days and normally squally rain and lots of wind. I was sitting at work in January and came up with a plan to fish the runoff at the start of March. The months ahead were hectic, a lot of preparation to be done making sure everything was ready and set for a week of epic fishing. We had a pro staff trip the following weekend so I decided to head up early and get some pre fishing done. The day came and I embarked on my Journey to the North, The area had a lot of rain in the days leading up to my arrival and a late wet season rain depression had flooded the north, my plans were shot on the first day. The crew I was staying with said they had 800mm over the past few days and the fishing was looking grim. I had spoken to a few Barra Guru's and a plan was made to hit some of the local impoundments for a few days in the hope I could salvage my trip.
Impoundment barra have a serious growth rate as they spend there life eating boney bream that school up in the lakes and dams. Flies used are normally those that push a heap of water, I found the best to be Brush flies on a 6/0 or a 9/0 SL12S and I used a #9 weight and a #12 weight with a floating line to be able to turn over big flies and 60lb Fluorocarbon leader straight through to the fly. Barra love a big profile and I was lucky enough to have a big selection ready for the Dams the following week in the 6inch to 8inch range. The weather was still pretty rubbish, overcast and rain squalls every half an hour but I was ready to go hit the dam and set off with a few mates in the hope to find some fish. We decided to go hit an inlet where they pumped water into the dam when it rained, First cast of the day and I managed a sub 90cm barra and the reality that the fishing was going to be nothing short of epic was realised. After a few pics I sent her on her way, I managed another 10 fish for the afternoon and was extremely happy with the fishing and what the rest of the week would hold. I hadn't broken the meter barra that I was in search of but the week was still young.
I had managed to meet a good mate of mine mid week and we decided to go hit the inlet for the afternoon, He is another keen angler and fished the inlet a few days before me with some epic fish caught. The inlet was nothing short of epic again. 3rd cast of the day saw me fighting an epic fish with big bursts of sheer power followed by crazy jumps and I knew this fish was the one I had been waiting for, I had fought the fish hard and in the closing stages of the fight I snapped my 6/0 SL12S in half and unfortunately lost the fish, another fisho estimated the fish well over the meter mark and I was devastated to have lost the beast to a broken hook, but as most fisherman know you just retie in the hope you get another chance. The day went on with the weather slowly deteriorating and I managed another 6 fish between 88cm and 94cm , but that meter barra was still on my mind. I decided a colour change in flies and tied on white and camo brush fly. It looked amazing in the water, pushing heaps of water with a lovely action in the tail. It didn't take long and I was finally hooked up to another nice fish, The sheer power of these fish in shallow water is phenomenal, after a 10 minute battle I had finally landed my first meter barra, 102cm to be precise. We fished till dark and managed many more Barra and sooty grunter to finish of one the most epic sessions I have had in years...
