(^28) FLYLIFE
for the next 5 days, so it was either
going to be game-on, fishing-wise, or
one wet trip.
After a good night’s rest we woke
to the sound of heavy rain and strong
winds. I was excited to see how much
the Kinchant Dam had risen overnight
and my friend Benny was super keen
to get out there, so we grabbed our
rods and started to walk the banks.
Within minutes we’d found a good
looking spot where the wind was push-
ing all the bait on to a grassy point.
This is a key element to look for when
chasing barra in the dams — wherever
the water is pushing and the wind is
blowing you’ll find the bait, and not
long after you’ll find the barra. It was
time to start wading.
We had been seeing small bait-
fish swimming along the lilies, so
Benny put a few casts in tight to the
vegetation and within minutes, out
of nowhere, we heard the BOOF —
bang, he was tight to a nice looking
barramundi. It was exciting times as
this was Ben’s first barra. After a few
tense moments, with the fish putting
on a nice little show for us, we had it
to hand and it was all smiles after a
few photos.
Having seen what was possible we
pushed on through the pouring rain
for a few hours with hopes of tangling
with more cruising barramundi. But
that was not to be, so we headed back
to the cabin to dry out, hit the vice,
and tie up some fresh new flies to
entice the bite.
We had noticed that the fish were
feeding on relatively small baitfish
and needed to tie something to match.
After spending hours at the vice it
was time to check the weather for
the morning. Being prepared and well
informed is a must for any barra mis-
sion — even landlocked in impound-
ments these fish still run off tides,
moon phases and barometric pressure.
Once you get your head around that,
then you just have to get the weather
and moons worked out to get your
finger on the bite time. Things will
change, as we found out over the next
few days of barramundi mayhem.
Rain Dance... continued
Who needs TV?
...AS SOON AS THE WIND
AND RAIN CAME BACK,
SO DID THE FISH.
Parked up with tailing barramundi on the grass flats.
lu
(lu)
#1