DAVE Thomas, lodge manager of the Arnhemland Barramundi Nature Lodge, reports clients have been enjoying an amazing run of big black jewfish catches amongst the barra. Thomas says the jewies are being caught on lures with standard barra tackle.
First time angler Alex Brabin was at the Lodge with brother Zac and father Terry in mid-April. They experienced some action-packed fishing culminating in a final day full of barra and jewies. Alex came up trumps with a magnificent capture of 140cm black jew on his last day of fishing, and sent this after his trip:
“I am a novice fisherman so specifics might be hard from my end; it was actually my first fishing trip. We were getting hit with some fair size barra and jewfish trolling, but the big one came along when we were casting onto the rock bar late in the arvo. It took around 15-20 minutes to bring to the boat, after some lengthy runs!”
“I had caught my first jewie a few days before at 105cm trolling, so I did have some practice in that department (I actually spent more time on the 105cm than the 140cm as it was all pretty new to me at that stage). We were fishing in a group of five so there were three in one boat and two in the other.”
“Both boats finished the day on the rock bar with the usual biggest barra bet still up for grabs. One boat would hook a jewie and it would drag them away a little and the other would slot into their spot, like a nice rotation system. It was remarkable timing all afternoon. The guys in the other boat hooked a 130cm jewie the round before mine. So in succession we caught 1.3 and 1.4m black jewfish fish, in an all round great day to finish our trip!”
Guide Ben Pfeffer and Alex Brabin with Alex’s 140 black jew, one of many big jew caught casting lures for barra in an awesome session.
As was recently reported the barra numbers have been extraordinary at the Lodge this year. Since then, the Maningrida area has received some excellent rainfall, culminating in torrential downpours and widespread inundation across the region’s floodplains over Easter. Now that things have settled, there are some great reports coming in. Regular Lodge Guide, Shaun Taylor, had this to say only last week before flying home to Hervey Bay:
“My last session in an old favourite spot really turned it on for us, with a surface barra bite that went on for hours! It filled a couple of Go-Pros with footage and got to show my guests just how good Arnhemland fishing can be! They really wanted to catch a barra on a popper, but caught about 40! We stopped counting at 115!”
The Arnhemland Barramundi Nature Lodge is now offering great deals with up to 50 per cent discounts on selected dates between 25 May and 16 July – Note: If you book a trip for this period you’ll receive free the new Shimano TCurve Revolution Travel 3-Piece Barra Baitcaster and the state-of-the-art Shimano Calcutta 200D baitcasting reel spooled with tough Power Pro 30lb braid line (below).
Go to www.barralodge.com.au to check out great deals on trips to the Barra Lodge.
