A day in the Fitzroy

[Douglas]

Thanks for the tips. Ducksta.

In the experimental phase I only want to use simple tools. Hence the spinner blade on the leader. if I was mucking around trying to catch things with teeth, I would certainly think twice about attracting something to the spinner blade and leader.

However, neither barra nor king have teeth (but I'm aware that a barra can give a really nasty suck).

so I'm happy to play around with a spinner blade straight onto 80 lb leader.

Didn't know about the jigs you mentioned Ducksta but I've now had a look. My initial gut reaction is that the blade is too close to the lure but I'm happy to look at that again.

By Betts lures do you mean the ones that look like a small coathanger being dragged by the hook with a spinner blade on one side and a hook/lure on the other? If so, then I've caught barra on them here. But they are undergunned for me plus too bulky.

I've seen videos of the umbrella rigged set-ups. Look a bit like an electrofishing boat with the electrodes in the water?

I also have another innovation in mind with the spinner blade. I'm not convinced that its the flash of a spinner adds to the lure's visual attraction. I look at those things as 2 separate subjects.

Am aware about the atmospheric pressure changes being transferred through the water column and the effect that apparently has on fish behaviour. Water can't be compressed so any pressure changes are simply transferred though the water to act on the fish's body. A ever-so-slowly changing pressure.

I'm simply talking about the extra pressure variations caused by movement within the water column and superimposed on the constant or slowly changing pressure from the atmosphere.

If the fish can detect relatively slow changing atmospheric pressure, that means that it has a response to low frequency changes.

That means its response curve is better at low frequencies than high frequencies. That means that the high pitched rattle of 2 steel balls is getting beyond the range of their lateral line frequency response curve.

Probably sounds a bit goobledygook but they're some of the conclusions I'm coming to.

So my experimenting is to do with producing pressure variations that fall within the fish's pressure frequency response curve.

A spinner blade produces lower frequency vibrations and I happen to have some handy. So that's what I've used.

In respect of colors we're talking about fish that operate within mainly dirty water which results in low light environment.

As you know different colours fade at different depths in clear water as the light diminishes. But in dirty water they fade much faster to the stage that they all fade out in the extremely low light environment of 1m or so of our good old muddy Fitzroy water.

That being the case, it stands to reason that barramundi don't have much in way of colour detectors in their eyes, Cones.

To make up for that they have more grey scale detectors. Rods).

So barra see mainly in grey scales unless they're in extremely clear water when there is more light level and then a limited colour ability is available. Maybe some really clear impoundments offer more light.

Somebody has suggested that its not so much the colour of the lures but more the contrast between grey scales that the differing colours represent in low light conditions.

Bit like an eyechart that only has varying shades of grey to pick from.

The surest way to attract your attention is the rapidly flick from darker grey to lighter grey. Similarly with barra. If the top of the lure is dark grey and bottom half is light grey, then a decent body roll with produce that venetian blind opening and closing effect.

I'm exhausted.

I'm probably not right in any of my conclusions but I'm determined to test them out.

At the same time I hope that it causes some of you guys to think a bit.


I've got a way to go yet.