Back to the Boyne!

After the experience of catching my first Barra I was keen to get back and chase these great fish again. Not a weekend had passed since my return when I didn’t dare Tracey to throw a few things in a bag so we could head north. When David Green had put in the call for a weekend up there we didn’t have to think twice before committing. What had happened in the Boyne River was an irregular occurrence, after an extremely wet December and the January floods the water flowed 4 metres over the spillway and tens of thousands of Barra had escaped from Awoonga Dam. They found their way down river creating somewhat of a Barra mecca! On my first trip up I was fished the river above Pikes Crossing which was just below the wall, but the Barra had since followed their instincts and headed for the salt and by now were well and truly down river.

This was never going to be a sustainable fishery and it was always about getting in for a good time not a long time when it came to chasing Barra in the Boyne River. I had kept in touch with a few locals and tracked the fishing stories online and through facebook. Amazing numbers of fish were being caught and many a trophy sized fish scooped into a huge landing net. Young Declan Williams from TT Lures had several trips up and reported back sessions of 30 + fish all caught on Blades. For Barra novices like me this presented an opportunity of getting a few catches under the belt. There were stories of anglers being nabbed by fisheries with boat loads of Barra way in excess of the bag limit and other information on the netters who had set up outside of the mouth to catch the mother load! The day before our arrival Fisheries had given the go ahead for the netters to enter the river system to clear the ‘unnatural’ presence of Barramundi. This caused somewhat of an uproar amongst fishos, guides and local businesses who were all riding the wave that flowed from the spillway when the Barra escaped.

The week before we set off both Greenie and I followed up with our contacts and the stories were all the same, the numbers were dropping off, we were two weeks too late, the netters were moving in and as one forum writer had put it the ‘bubble had burst on the Boyne’. Greenie was still confident that we would find fish and get a few onto the boat and I was confident if they were there that Greenie would find them. So the trip was on and the hopes were high. Tracey had never travelled further north than Gympie by car and she was excited to be heading off on a road trip but having never been Barra fishing before she was secretly hoping that the bonus of few fish could be achieved.

We stayed in Tannum Sands on the south side of the Boyne River a short drive away from the ramp. We arrived midday on Friday and were on the water by 1.00pm. A short 300 metres or so from the ramp we found boats on the hunt and decided the best approach was to get a feel for what was going on by trolling and sounding out the area. By 1.15pm ish Greenie was onto his first fish. We had discussed and joked on the trip up that the first fish had to go to Greenie as his new rig Dead Fishy 3 had not yet had a fish on the deck. So we were off to a good start and we spent the afternoon trying to get another on board. We had a few hook-ups and drops but it was to remain the one fish for the afternoon. However the time was spent gathering information and watching what was working for others.

Late that arvo I spotted a Galeforce Boat in the distance and whilst running into a fellow club member on our local waterways is the norm travelling 7hrs to run into someone you knew was unexpected. Rob See and his wife Fay had taken some time off and had been chasing Barra for a few days. They reported a few fish (they ended up with 10) but they confirmed the numbers had been lower and the fish harder to find than the stories we had all heard from weeks earlier. We were not to be disheartened though because there were still fish there and we had seen a whopper being caught right in front of us on Jason Wilhelm’s charter boat Barra Madness. Jason shared a few tips and suggested a few lures which were obviously working as that afternoon his punters landed about 11 Barra. Jason had the river sussed and was making his living from guiding on the Boyne ever since the water flowed over the spillway. From all reports Awoonga was extremely tough going and whilst plenty of fish were still being found on the sounder getting them to bite was a different story. So guides like Jason had turned their attention to the river. Jason was one of the first to fish under the wall and now was working the mouth bringing Barra dreams to reality for his clients. From my observations over a few days Jason Wilhelm is a great guide and when the fish come back on in the dam would be a great option if you have never experienced Barra fishing before.

Later that night we regrouped and strategized for the next session and decided we would have a look further up the system in the morning whilst the big tide would be running hard at the mouth. So we put that plan into action by launching near the Highway Bridge at Benaraby. Whilst finding plenty of bait and seeing some action in the water we didn’t find any Barra on the sounder, so we made the call to head into Gladstone to stock up on a few of the Lures as suggested by Jason the afternoon before. Gladstone is a short 15 minute drive away and with the help of Google Maps and the iphone we were spending our hard earned dollars in not time.

We returned to the mouth with renewed enthusiasm and a keenness to ensure everyone on the boat landed a Barra. The weather was overcast and the wind was up, the water temp was down below the preferred comfort level for Barra. I was to learn from Greenie that Barra were more active if the water temps were over 25. We were not to be deterred and that afternoon saw us boat 4 Barra amongst the team, with a few more hook-ups. I was elated to land a 97cm fish whilst casting and Trace caught her first ever Barra which came on the troll after sunset. Tracey declared Greenie as ‘some kind of freak!’ when he picked the exact spot a fish would be sitting and trolled our lines strategically their way. Tracey’s fish went 94cm and put a smile on her face, she had dropped a whopper earlier which had left her wondering if she was going to get her first Barra this trip. Greenie netted 2 Barra both 90 + specimens and Rob and Fay reported getting onto a few on the troll. So success all round!

The following morning we returned for a quick session before we were to hit the road and Tracey must have had the lure of choice has she was to get a hook-up where the Barra shook the lure out as it launched above the water and she then landed one other good fish. Whilst the fishing had dropped off from the earlier reports from the Boyne we still managed to land 6 fish and have a few more exciting hook ups each which all added up to a good weekend of fishing and a great trip away. For me the opportunity to fish alongside Greenie was once again a treat. I am a believer that each time you go out fishing you should look to learn something new and we certainly learnt a lot from Greenie on this trip.

The big question is how much longer can the Barra fun last in the Boyne? I am sure the guides like Jason Wilhelm and the local caravan parks hope for a while longer, but the reality is the fish numbers are dropping and the fishing is getting tougher. With the netters now moving into the river system the bubble may have burst on this fishing mecca. I am pleased that I got to fish it and see Tracey land her first Barramundi and I can’t wait until the next time we chase Barra again. Let’s hope things turn around quickly in the dams and Barra fishing is once again a good option just 6-7 hours drive away. In the meantime I am looking into trips in the NT and working out a savings plan for a Barra trip in the wild as David had said to us you just have to do it!