Cracking Barra Patterns at Monduran

The barra fishing has been tough across most of Queensland’s lakes for the past few months. This wasn’t enough to deter me from trying my luck at Monduran Dam recently. Either the barra are getting smarter or the conditions haven’t been right for some time. They simply refuse to bite like they did over the last few years. It’s highly likely that the increase in fishing pressure has contributed to the situation.

That said, we headed to one of the busiest stretchs of water on Lake Monduran – “B” Arm. This section of water is easy to navigate to and has plenty of open sections without trees. Therefore, it appeals to lure trollers as well as casters. The reason we headed to this stretch of water wasn’t its popularity but the water quality was much better. Here, there was good visibility in comparison to the rest of the lake which was green and murky.

You have probably heard it time and time again – fish the points. The same saying applies to Monduran. Look for any major points that are positioned near big bays or on the sharp bends of the creek. These areas hold plenty of baitfish and cruising barra are likely to travel around them when they are on the move. By spot hopping between a series of points we were able to score a number of barra. We’d fish an area thoroughly for at least an hour before moving to the next spot. This meant we concentrated our efforts on the most productive areas for the whole time. Rather than exploring when the action was slow we just waited for the next bite to happen. Being confident in your chosen spot is vital when fishing this way.

The end result after a day of fishing Monduran was eight barra lander plus several dropped fish and stacks of missed strikes. The Lures The most succesful lures were the 6″ Berkley Hollowbellies. Tennessee shad and blue back herring were two of the proven colours. We rigged the baits on the new Nitro Button Jigs. These heads, designed by Matt Fraser, are the only choice when it comes to fishing any of the big hollow plastics on the market. The oversize keeper barbs keep the lure in place and there’s no need to muck around gluing plastics to jigs. The extra strong hooks are also a bonus as they would certainly take some effort to straighten unlike some other jigs and prerigged plastics on the market. I rigged my baits on the 1/2 ounce jighead and found that on a steady retrieve with a few pauses the lure stayed down in the cooler water below 4 feet deep.

The Key to Success

I outfished the other two boys in the boat 5 fish to their 3. I put this down to several factors. I was using a spin outfit rather than a baitcaster. This was spooled with 20lb Fireline Tracer braid. This lighter line was much thinner than their 50lb lines fished from baitcast reels. It gave me the ability to work my lure deeper and quicker due to less resistance in the water. The combo also gave the ability to cast long distances. The fish weren’t holding tight to the weed edges but scattered out in the open. Long casts meant the lure was spending more time in the water.

Another benefit was noticed when it came to fighting fish. Many barra are lost when they jump. The lighter drag on the spin outfit helped to keep them in the water after the initial hookup. It was then a matter of following the barra through the trees. With the larger fish running up to fifty metres from the place they were hooked, there were plenty of trees to drive around to untangle the fish. Still, none were lost and I put this down to the light but smooth drag, the tough line and the rod action.

The Standout Performer

The standout performer was a new outfit that’s certainly worth a look if you’re into catching big fish. The rod was a 6’9″ 4-8kg Diablo spin stick. This was armed with a Abu Garcia Soron STX40 spinning reel. The reel was spooled with 20lb Fireline Tracer Braid and topped with a 5′ 60lb leader of Vanish fluorocarbon. Apart from impoundment barra, this rod is also suited to heavy estuary work and light inhore spinning. Already I’ve used it on mackeral, tuna, snapper and the Brisbane River’s huge theadfin. With such versatility, it’s certainly worth checking out.