Page 71 - Bush 'n Beach Fishing mag

Tricks of the trade for impoundment barra
If the tailing is twitch- ing, they are more like- ly to bite – just like a dog to a bone.
I’ll use an Atomic Seekerz EWG weedless rig, 6/0 size with a 1/8 weight for castability.
* from P70 trying to fish.
will work year-round. In cooler months, if there is a breeze, look for bays on the sunny side of the dam and that the wind is blowing
ting jammed causing complications.
pend, I add Trick Bitz Sticky Weights to the flanks of the lures.
Spot lock will facil- itate the angler to fan their casts around a number of different snags.
Weedless
Lures I have a cast with include the Bass- Day Sugar Deep Sus- pending Barra tuned lure.
This is a cheap and effective technique that will swiftly improve the performance of the lure for impound barra.
This is ideal when fishing narrow bays around thick structure.
into.
Warm water will be
The main benefit of these lures is the fact that they will hold in the water column with a slow rise after being twitched into position.
When I want to use the Shiner again for a different purpose, I can peel the weights off and it’s good to go.
Using GPS coordi- nates to manoeuvre the boat is another handy mechanism.
getting blown into these sections and can help motivate the fish to bite.
I will rig up a plastic frog or 6” jerk minnow. Weedless rigs are my favourite way to fish
Barra will more of- ten than not be hanging tight to the banks and structure.
I will usually start my day fishing snags and shallow sections of weed and water lilies.
into the most absurd locations and be con- fident you won’t get a snag.
It has a long, slim pro- file and a slow float.
The GPS positioning will act as a perfect drift, where a whole line can be worked without having to fid- dle overly with the con- trols.
Surface strikes are al- ways mesmerising, par- ticularly by the stout fish that impoundment fishing produces.
Under overhanging branches, into fields of lilies bouncing from top to top, across logs, snags into thick weed – this is where barra- mundi are going to be ambushing their prey.
The Atomic Hardz Shiner in Double Deep has been a favourite for a while.
Being a jerk bait style, a twitch, twitch, pause retrieve is deadly. Dominic Wiseman
The best time to fish is in low light.
for barra.
You can skip the lure
Occasionally a lure can be worked to depth and left for up to 15 seconds before a fish will eventually commit.
The new Atomic Hardz Slim Twitcher is also a prime impound- ment lure.
While side scanning and depth sounding technology are valua- ble, I have found that by using highly powered transducers, the fish can shut down.
Using Atomic vibes has proven highly effec- tive, and 60mm Silent and 50mm Semi-Hardz in natural colours such as Gold Ghost have proven to be irreplacea- ble in a tackle box.
Having trebles on div- ing lures is not ideal and act more as a hand- brake at times when you want to be getting as many casts into the zone as possible.
As the day progresses, I tend to work the base of drowned trees that stand out of the water like stick insects.
To help this lure sus-
The sound of the echo must make the fish wary.
Especially when achieving regular suc- cess during difficult pe- riods of the day.
If you don’t need to cast a great distance, I prefer to use a Gam- akatsu EWG weedless hook which is weight- less.
If you really want to use a sounder, go for the lower setting of 50kHz.
As the sun falls to the west, you can stalk la- zy fish that have had a tough day.
If you have a good enough game plan, you should not need to rely on them to find fish.
The lure will sink slowly and naturally.
Having said that, on tougher days I have turned to the dark side just to make sure fish are even there.
They might have moved into the shal- lows again, which is where you can find them tailing.
Sluggish barramundi will have to watch it go past their face with enough time to poten- tially change their mind for the better.
When to fish
Usually these fish won’t eat unless the lure is plotted right past their nose and it’s something they think to be appetising.
Diving lures
The well-known say- ing that it has to be hot and humid to catch barra is true.
I always like to use a lure with a deep, broad- er bib.
They do fire up par- ticularly well in warm water.
Even if casting into snags and shallows.
However, they don’t go anywhere in winter – definitely not when they’re in a dam.
Persistence is the key – and knowing what to look for.
When a deeper div- ing lure is getting to its depth, they are usually more vertical than shal- low divers.
So, a well-presented lure in the right location
The better barramun- di fishos will know exactly what a feeding fish looks like by how they are acting.
This will help them bounce off structure and avoid trebles get-
Bush ’n Beach Fishing, July 2020 – Page 71
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