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So with the water warming Pete and i have been doing a bit of searching, looking and trying some different things in pursuit of the elusive Barra. The water is still cold, not yet reaching 23 so things needed to be slow and steady waiting on good winds and tides to get a good bite period. The morning in question proved to be a bit chilly, and i needed a coffee for the trip. Pete was tossing a Rapala Shadow Rap Shad(i think) along a current line/back eddy, when his rod buckled and this horse of a salty came head and shoulders out of the water. It took of at speed belying the cold water. He turned to me and said" geez im glad im not not netting this fish". It was a good fish, and deep. Pete took it in his stride as is his way, and soon had her up for a net shot, which missed. And another...anyway..soon enough she was on the mat, and a new PB for Pete. Handshakes all around. I found all sorts of ways to lose fish including breeaking a lure in half as the fish jumped into the side of the boat. Me feeling pretty dusty didn't help.
This is where the morning went kind of upside down. I was slow rolling a Bagleys RumbleB09 in Silver Chartreuse, when I felt a twitch through the rod. I paused and another twitch, a big boil where the lure was sitting, then the moment 115cm plus of saltwater chrome barra launches a metre out of the water coming straight towards you. I was convinced it was coming in the boat, and took evasive action, squeaking like a baby mouse at the same time. Momentarily the line was slack, then next second the rod was almost ripped out of my hand as the fish took off. And take off it did, ripping braid off the reel like it was nothing, with furious shakes vibrating back up through the line. It was at this moment I was glad I had changed the hooks on the lure after getting a couple small fish, to No.2 Decoy Y-w77 trebles.
I fought this thin up the river, i fought this thing down the river, across the river,you name it i tried to get her up to where we could see her. I was knackered...well and truely stuffed, wondering if the barra had been eaten by a big grouper. Eventually i gained a bit of line, a bit of give, a bit of take, and finally we saw yellow....the tail....Something was definitely wrong. It seemed when I’d stuck I had inadvertently hooked her at the back of the dorsal fins, making her the biggest live bait I had ever had on my line.
How that treble had found a foothold thorough those big scales was beyond us, and now the complexity of landing her dawned on us both. With no way to lead her head into the net, it was going to be a miracle if we got to take a photo with her. I looked at Pete with the best smile I could muster and said” Gee, I’m glad I am not the one netting this fish”.
He responded with the best “:48_002:” face and we concocted a plan. Because I was pulling her up backwards, the plan was to lift her tail as much as I could, and Pete jam the net in front of her, I would release a little pressure and her head would go into the net. It sounded good, but the first few attempts weren’t great, with as soon as she kicked her tail her head would go sideways away from the net.It was a complete crap show. The only upside was that on the failed attempts, the lure was far enough back from the net to not be a chance to foul on the net and release her. This really was like watching an episode of Mr Bean.
She took a final run when hit with the net, and I leaned into her pulling her backwards, hoping the hook would hold, and as soon as her head neared the surface, Pete jammed the net in, so I released a little pressure and in she swam, well as much as would fit in the net. I helped lift her in, as much as I could anyway, and we lay her in the boat gently. At this point there may have been a bit of a man hug. Two PB's in one morning. As soon as the pressure came off, the hook fell straight out into the net. I lifted her, Pete snapped a couple pics and we got her back over the side. She kicked off a lot better than i did..I needed beer. It was great to share these moments with a great mate,who i have spent most of my childhood fishing with.
We have had a couple pretty good sessions since then, on smaller fish,travelling a bit to find some cleaner water, however they have started to get thinned out it appears as word has gotten out. We cant find a thready for love or money, but they are next on the list to tackle.
They will have to wait now.
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