# QLD - 8hrs fishing, 12hrs driving



## WayneD (Jul 11, 2006)

Friday 2pm, left work. Arrive at roadside stop at 8:15pm. Set up swag and have some tinned dinner then shower and bed at 9:30. Sweating in my swag at 9:32, unzip swag and take off shirt. 9:35, take off pants as well. 10pm, realise how stupid it is to try and sleep 20m from national highway with trucks going by every 5.7 seconds. Toss and turn all night and finally get out of bed at 4am. Shower, pack up swag and arrive at launch at 4:45am just in time for 5am sunrise, right? Wrong, sunrise not until 6am in this part of the world. Decide not to launch in the dark so whack on head torch and spy some barra hiding in the weeds.


















Launched at sunrise and paddled to my destination in search of my target fish, Barramaundi. It didn't take long to get on the board, and then they just kept coming. Lure of the day was a 80mm slick rig in Aussie colours. They liked a faster retrieve/troll today. Hooked around a dozen and landed about half of them. Man they were experts at throwing hooks, any fish that got airborne, threw the hooks. 8-10 catfish also which filled in time between barra. Best fish of the day (and new PB) was 76cm, also managed to catch a tagged barra. I was supposed to stay another night and fish tomorrow but I decided I had caught enough and wanted to sleep in my own bed tonight.


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## Rockster (Sep 7, 2007)

Great report and some cracking Barra too. I bet those trucks were long forgotten once you were out on the water, well worth it I would say.
Cheers
Bob


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## anselmo (Aug 26, 2008)

Very cool Wayne
That's the same lure I caught my pike on over here


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## Barrabundy (Sep 29, 2008)

The one on the mat looks like a real bush-pig! Great report, a fun session by the look of it, I like the underwater shot with the red/pink eyes.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Great read Wayne. You look a much happier man than two years ago. 

BTW, that catch rate seems phenomenal, so much so that you have me interested in trying the fresh (for barra), for the first time ever. With all the reports of barra being closer (Noosa and Maroochy rivers), are they worth trying there? Lots less driving. (Also Borroomba Dam and Lake Monduran)

If you consider going again, may I join you? Still gotta hook up with you for a shark fishing session too.


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## RekFix (Dec 30, 2011)

Reward for effort Wayne.. Well done,

Love those first few pics of the sneaky barra in the dark.


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## WayneD (Jul 11, 2006)

Photo I took on my phone.


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## WayneD (Jul 11, 2006)

Rockster said:


> Great report and some cracking Barra too. I bet those trucks were long forgotten once you were out on the water, well worth it I would say.
> Cheers
> Bob


Yes Bob and surprisingly I made it all the way home without having a nap on the side of the road. I just got woken up by a text message at 8:50am, I never sleep in that late so i must have been tired.



anselmo said:


> Very cool Wayne
> That's the same lure I caught my pike on over here


Geez the teeth on those would have made a mess of it. I have had these slick rigs since 2007 or 2008 when I used them in Lenthalls to catch barra! Here's the link to the last report I used them in viewtopic.php?f=17&t=7332&p=77323&hilit=lenthalls+barra#p77323



Barrabundy said:


> The one on the mat looks like a real bush-pig! Great report, a fun session by the look of it, I like the underwater shot with the red/pink eyes.


It was heavy Con. A real down deep fight, no jumps. I thought it was a much bigger fish and was a little disappointed at the size of it, but still stoked at my new PB. It was a dark fish compared to all the others I caught.



kayakone said:


> With all the reports of barra being closer (Noosa and Maroochy rivers), are they worth trying there? Lots less driving. (Also Borroomba Dam and Lake Monduran)


I guess so Trev. I took the easy option this time and chose to drive extra to where I knew I could catch them rather than "wasting time" trying to find them where reports had been of a few sparse catches.



kayakone said:


> If you consider going again, may I join you? Still gotta hook up with you for a shark fishing session too.


Most of my sessions are last minute, unless they require some planning. Even on this trip I was actually headed to Lenthalls for the weekend but some a last minute check in with a mate saw a change of plans.



RekFix said:


> Reward for effort Wayne.. Well done,
> 
> Love those first few pics of the sneaky barra in the dark.


They are cool aren't they. The second one looks like it is a Collingwood supporter with a big white stripe down it's nose. Just wish my camera took better pics in the dark.



indiedog said:


> Top effort Wayne. Did you keep any?


Nope. Don't eat fish and they were freshwater fish as well that I heard taste ordinary anyway. I asked people at work if they wanted a barra but they all said no!


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## curly (Apr 9, 2013)

Hey Wayne, 12hrs of driving, where the hell did you go?????


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## ArWeTherYet (Mar 25, 2007)

You sure do get around Wayne. Nice fish mate.


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## WayneD (Jul 11, 2006)

curly said:


> Hey Wayne, 12hrs of driving, where the hell did you go?????


3hrs north of you. 6 up 6 back


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## clarkey (Jan 13, 2009)

That's awesome Wayne,good going.


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

A worthwhile trip with those results mate.


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## scater (Nov 24, 2007)

Great stuff Wayne, good rewards for the effort put in.


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