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Boyne barra bonanza!

AFTER the floods and cyclones that recently ravaged Queensland it’s great to hear some good news coming from the Sunshine State – in the form of monster barra!

Fisho had been hearing reports of stocked barra impoundment Lake Awoonga overflowing into the Boyne River due to flooding. This event in turn resulted in many of the lake’s big barra following the flow and finding a new home in the Boyne. Since early February there have been some very happy fishos around Gladstone who’ve been making the most of the unexpected and welcome “stocking” of their local river. 

One keen fisho who has made the most of this fortuitous windfall is Scott Mitchell, former owner of the Alpine Angler tackle shop in Cooma. Mitchell has been having a ball chasing the Awoonga escapees in the Boyne with fly gear – although he reportedly has had to work hard to find the fish… 

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Kurt Hutchby and a lure caught barra from the previous day.

Despite hearing reports of the fishing being described by some as like “shooting fish in a barrel”, after six hours of casting a 12-weight fly outfit without a bump Mitchell had wondered if he’d been given a bum steer. But around midday recently after zero success, fishing mate Kurt Hutchby suggested a change of tack and the targeting of the head of a run. Having marked a number of fish on his sounder at the location Mitchell changed flies. First cast he came up tight on a 97cm barra.

inline_656_https://yaffa-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/fishing/images/dmImage/SourceImage/Boyne barra 6101.jpgNext cast resulted in a 103cm fish – Mitchell’s first barra over a metre on fly tackle.

Katrina Mitchell then got in on the act by hooking a 98cm barra on her third cast on the  same 12-weight outfit.

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There were left in no doubt they’d cracked a successful pattern when the next cast was being hammered by a heavy fish. “You can tell when you hit a BIG fish – the retrieve just stopped solid and was followed by big tail beats as line was ripped through my fingers.” said Mitchell.

“We could not believe our eyes when this amazing fish came up alongside the boat after 15 minutes of some fancy rod work – you could of heard us in Gladstone!”

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The monster barra measured 124cm and just over 60lbs.

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