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The constant pounding south-easterlies winds or SE Queenslands predominate trade winds that batter the coast during the winter months seem to work better at Lake Awoonga than at lake Monduran. Winter fishing at Lake Awoonga has been a lot better with fish being caught consistently on the windward shores and the back of the windward bays. On a recent trip to Awoonga with my son and friend Ben Durkin we caught some nice fish with the stand- outs being an 113cm and 114cm fish.

Some fish were caught on 130 slick rig black gold colour and the others on suspending glass ghost Rapala suspending lure. While we were there local guide Jason Wilhelm caught a massive 132cm fish no doubt you will see photos of this fish in up and coming media publications. This once again promotes the thought of what will be the size of fish caught in the dams this year as we are consistently seeing fish of over 110cm and 120cm in both dams. There are some realistic accounts of fish this year being caught in the high 120’s and low 130’s.

Lake Monduran has some great weed beds growing along the edges and with recent rains this extensive waterway will make for some great fishing this summer especially when the first of the warmer weather hits in August and September. Although not having the large amount of fish that Lake Awoonga has, Lake Monduran comes into its own in the months ahead with some of the best impoundment fishing available, this is when a lot of the great stories and images of the lake are derived.

Looking back over the years we have seen some great fishing at this time of year and as mentioned before the size of the fish become bigger every year this leaves the question what size fish will we catch this year.

I believe that there will be lots of the 110 plus fish caught this year and some consistent catches in the 120’s I would imagine that we will see some bigger fish in the 130’s being caught and maybe break the 140cm barrier but you will also see plenty of 90cm to 100cm fish that will kick some ass as these smaller fish definetly give a better account of them selves. These smaller fish are generally more aggressive and attack lures fast and tear off manically into the immediate surrounding areas with long tough runs while they erratically dance across the water with a extreme body tremor creating that magic shimmering, silvery flashing of the scales that makes the hair stand up on all anglers necks. The slurping sound or the boof of the lure being engulfed or the charteristic head shake that produces the rattling sound in a hard bodied lure and splashing of the water often initiates the senses that create the hook up and the feeling that brings us back to fish. These sensations seem to tick all the right boxes for anglers fishing for barra.

This often talked about in barramundi angling circles, described as the hook up and is usually enough to give the most seasoned angler his hook up fix. For the newcomer it usually makes them go weak at the knees and creates a tough up hill battle as they try to land their first barra and usually the panic of trying to control the boats position provides too much stimulus to the brain over whelming the uninitiated multi tasker with the fish usually winning the first round. If you do catch your first fish you are very fortunate and will undoubtedly be blown away by these fiery customers it’s not of matter of how but when. Barra fishing is very addictive and can drag you a way from life in a quest to tangle with these giants, very disturbing. Moderation is the best way to deal with this obsession and I recommend that people try to only fish 12 hours per day 7 days a week.