Berkley Hollow Bellys Rock!!!!!!!!!

Two days later, as I'm writing this, I’m still recovering from three days of intense impoundment Barra action! Bruised ribs, cut feet, spiked hands and you can't wipe the smile off my face!

I was fishing with the Awoonga Master – Trevor Burgess, and the Barra Tactician – Scott McCauley. I knew these guys were pretty good before this trip, but fishing with them blew me away! They are both Awoonga Locals (Gladstone, Central QLD), I contacted them a couple of months ago, to see if they would be keen to test some lures and jigs for me, and they were. So I sent them up some samples and prototypes, which worked very well for them. So I organised to come up and fish with them for the weekend of the Bassin QLD Barra Classic – pretty handy that it was on the full moon in September. Good excuse for some product testing/R&D I reckon.

To cut a long story short, we fished as Team Berkley Hollow Belly Boys and used these lures exclusively. We won the comp with 10.5m for 10 fish. But actually landed 39 fish in the comp! Yes that is 39 Barramundi in two nights. It would have been more, but we left them biting at one spot on Friday night, just to make sure we’d get our bag on the next night. So we only got 11 Friday night, followed by 28 Saturday night!!!

We then went out again on Sunday night just for the fun of it. This time Trev and I fished with another mate of theirs Shane. Scott took out his daughter and workmate (a barra virgin) in his boat. They got another 9 or 10 and went home early. We got 20 in Trev's boat and went in around 11pm. I took stats of every bite/hook up landing including the lure/colour/jig etc taken in Trev’s Skeeter over the three days and here is a quick overview.

Friday 30 Bites, 19 Hookups, 11 landed for 9.79m average 89cm, biggest 108cm.

Saturday 63 Bites, 42 Hookups, 28 Landed for 25.84m average 92cm, biggest 117cm.

Sunday 57 Bites, 29 Hookups, 20 Landed for 18.22 average 91cm, biggest 116cm.

Total 150 Bites, 90 hookups, 59 Landed for 53.85 average 91cm.

I’ve got to thank Trev and Scott for the weekend, sharing time on Awoonga with them is the steepest learning curve anyone is likely to experience. Congrats to them for taking out the comp, they deserve the results for all the time they put in. Trevor is the Master when it comes to Awoonga, he quietly goes about fishing the place nearly every day and racking up thousands of barra every year without letting on too much. He is a true gentleman and loves the place and the big girls he catches with a passion, and treats them with the greatest respect. It’s sensational to see him in his element, living life to the full. Scott is a genius when it comes to the technical and tactical aspects of taming Awoonga’s barra. He knows where to go, when to go there, how to fish it at different times and conditions. He also puts in the hours and his barra count per year is into the four figures. They make a great team, have a lot of fun hanging sh#t on each other, and deserve to get such a good result in a comp. I’m still blown away by how good fishing with these guys was.

I'll also add, they don't usually like to lift barra for pics etc, and usually boga grip them at the side of the boat for unhooking and release. So its pretty rare to get these guys in pictures and even rarer to get Trev to smile for a photo!

The Hollow Bellys kicked ass because they can be worked at super slow speed and they still have awesome tail action and body roll. When swim testing in the swimming pool alongside slick rigs, the Hollowbelly's tail and body roll kept working as we slowed the retrieve, long afte the slickies had stopped.

We fished them on Prototype Nitro Backbone Jigs built on the Owner Saltwater Pro 7/0 hook. They were fairly light in weight at 11 - 15g, which worked well in the shallow areas.

Because the way the Hollow Bellys are made (Hollow!) a standard grub keeper doesn't work in them very well, although they can be glued onto a Saltwater Pro 7/0 jig (5/8 Oz). I built these jigs specifically for the Hollow Bellys with a specialised keeper, that works great. The Hollowbellys do tear along the hook, because they are so soft, But the keeper prevents them from being pantsed. So you can keep on fishing them even if they are split from the hook.

These lures will be "THE" impoundment barra lure of the summer of 2008/09! and the wild barra won't be able to resist them either. They are already in stock in several Tackle shops and new shipments are arriving soon. They are available in 4, 5 and 6", we had most success on the 6" but Trev and Scott have caught Barra to 120cm on the 4 and 5" as well.

It might me a might be a month or so before the Nitro Backbone Jigs are available. In the meantime grab a pack of Nitro Saltwater Pro 5/8 Oz 7/0 (for the 6") and some superglue. You might like to file the head a little lighter for better results in the shallow bays. For the 4 & 5" Hollowbellys the Saltwater Pros 1/4Oz, 3/8Oz or 1/2 Oz 5/0 hook will work perfectly.

The tactic is to cast to the weed edges and use a dead slow rolling retrieve. Just enough to keep it above the weed. If in doubt slow down! The barra are all over the dam at the moment, its just a matter of finding a nice weed edge, so the boat is positioned in 8 to 12 foot of water and you are working the weed edge or across a shallow bay area around 4 to 8 foot deep. Water temps are increasing and the barra are firing up big time. So grab some Hollow Bellys and jigs and go and get into them!

Tight lines, smooth drags.

Matt