P48 - FISH & BOAT, April 2019 Fishing Wild Start to Barra Season By Dave Donald Clousers instead, thinking that bet- ter weather was only a couple of days The wait was definitely worth it! It was a late start to the Well,athe 2019 season!memorableit’scertainly beentostartOuraway, and content in the fact that the‘pink eyed’ brigade would be revel-ling in the horrendous conditions,barra season, but when the first ‘pink eyes’ for the sea-son is 80cm, the author is definitely not complaining thoughts must go out to the manyprobably dropping lots of eggs and people directly affected by the mas- milt in the process. sive floods centred on Townsville That couple of days extended into and the farming communities in the a week, then two, meanwhile Towns- north-west that have lost so many of ville and the outback were drenched, their stock. Our region will suffer the then drenched even more. While effects of this catastrophic weather that monsoon trough sat there sta- event for many years to come. tionary, Weipa and the Gulf coast Those of us who came through rel- were just going to keep getting big atively unscathed should think about winds from the north-west. When donating some cash or services to the remains of Penny finally decided these needy Aussies. I’ve already to head east and give north Queens- chucked some dollars into the pot! land some relief, 1200k’s further to- Many love fishing, just like we do. wards the equator, the opportunity On the Cape, the Weipa area has to finally chuck a lure or bait along already had 3 lows come past this the mangroves saw plenty of boats year, the latter forming into Cyclone lining up at the Evans Landing and Penny and the unprecedented events Rocky Point boat ramps. that followed. While the town was My companion for the first barra spared the huge amounts of raintrip for 2019 was Tom Hockey, a that fell in the areas above, it was youngster who has fishing, hunting subjected to one of the most intense and outdoor life, in general, run- and prolonged assaults by monsoon ning through his veins. With a lot winds in recent memory with 25 to of fresh coming down the rivers, my 40 knot plus gusts lashing the coast- first chore was to ‘taste test’ the sur- line for over 2 weeks. face water on each side of the junc- Most of the rain fell in short bursts tion of the Embley and Hey Rivers. Snackz vibe. We were fishing water available at the Cairns tackle shops mouthed for a couple of seconds during squalls and storms ratherThe Embley drains an area extend-less than a metre deep, probing thethese days, but I’ve found that Terrywhile the fish rubbed my braid along than continuously with arounding east to the Peninsula Develop-small gutters, snags and mangroveLeadbetter’s hand made originalsthe timber. Old habits die hard, I 500mm being recorded for thatment Road and was understandablyroots along the edges of the, nowhave a much ‘fishier’ action. Findingsuppose, as my hands reacted well fortnight. Consequently, all the riv- so fresh it was drinkable, but merely covered, extensive mud flats. The them these days is very difficult, but before my head connected to the ers and creeks on the top half of the 500 metres away, in the lower Hey, tide was flooding slowly at first, then I still have a few stashed away! arm muscles. By the time my noggin Cape are currently running strongly there was still quite a bit of salt in started to gain strength, but because It didn’t take long for the Hijack- screen had logged on, I found the although water damage to roads is the sample. of the ‘strange’ Gulf tides during er to work its magic! I flicked the fish had been turned away from the no worse than usual. It’s certainly Now, barra are normally at home in summer, was destined only to run lure around the back of an isolated roots and was back in open water. looking like the road north should both fresh or salt water and have the for a couple of hours that morning. mangrove clump, jerked it twice on The big beauty ran and danced ac- be trafficable by Easter barring fur- ability to adapt to salinity changes The vibe was not working, justthe surface then ‘boof!’, a big silvercording to the book and was soon ther heavy falls. very quickly compared with otherreceiving a couple of half-heartedshape sucked it down, performed aready for the net, but Tom was feel- I’m usually a stickler for getting species. However, intuition based on bumps that could have been pikey180-degree turn and had my braiding the ‘first of season’ jitters too and out and trying to nail my first barra previous experience led us towards bream. Meanwhile, Tom had beendisappearing behind the prop rootshad to have two goes at getting the for the season on 1 February, but de- the Hey, where the big summer tides swapping lures back and forth for at a rate of knots. fish in the meshes. Still, we finally cided that braving the howling wind, were pushing their slightly salty no result. Conditions were obvi- It had been over 3 months since had it aboard and there were yells bullet-like rain, lightning bolts, dirty fingers right up into the mangrove ously tough, and I had just the lure my last barra, so I can be forgiven for and high 5’s all round. At 80cm, my water and big swell were a little be- forests. for such a situation – one of the old being a little slow on the response – first for the season was definitely a yond my comfort zone. The fly vice Tom rigged a soft plastic on a 1/4oz wooden bodied Leads Hijackers.at least that’s my excuse for stand- Continued next page came out, and I tied up a heap ofjig head while I decided to try a FishThere’s a plastic copy sometimesing there goggle-eyed and open- Young Damian Parr also opened his 2019 account with this excellent fish. A brand new gold Bomber did the trick in some very tough conditions. There’s no better way to celebrate the seasons first outing than to rock up to a big feed of fresh barra and muddies. Tom Hockey with the makings of a gourmet dinner.