Check list – lake barra outings

 

One of my favourite past times is dusk and night fishing for big barramundi in Lake Awoonga. To be successful in the dark it's important to have the right gear at hand and knowing where each item is. My Lake Barra check list helps in that regard ... there is a place for everything and everything is in it's place.

 

 

GRAB BAG:

as set out in this link.

 

ESKY:

as set out in this link.
My "lunch box type" small esky has has an insulated inside area as well as a zippered pocket on the outside.

 

TOOLS ETC

  • Hook de-hooking pliers
  • Braid scissors
  • Boda grips
  • Spare hooks & clips
  •  

    SUNLINE FC100 50lb LEADER

     

    PERSONAL FLOTATION DEVISE (PFD)

    I have a few PFD's and personally service each one of them each year. This is the one I prefer to wear.

     

    RODS & REELS


    I generally have at least two fly rod and reel combos on hand so that I have a back up, but when lake fishing for barra on my own boat, I take 4 combos and start the session with each of them set up with different soft plastic, swim bait, vibe or hard body from the selection below ... you never know what's going to work on the day.

    FISHING BAG

  • LURE BOXES
  • The 13 categories that I sort my lures into and the 4 boxes that I store them in are:

    Box 1 - Traditional plastisol based soft plastics

    If I could only take one type of lure on a barra trip it would be those lures in boxes 1 & 2. I have more confidence in soft plastics than in any other type of barra lure and as a consequence soft plastics lures in boxes 1 & 2 are my "goto" lures for a lot of my barramundi fishing.

    Soft plastic paddle tails - plastisol based
    Soft plastic grub - plastisol based

    Box 2 - Z Man 10X Tough ElaZtech based soft plastics.

    Z Man softies are made from Z Man's own secret proprietary TPE material called "ElaZtech". This proprietory TPE material melts and deforms traditional plastisol based soft plastics and consequently Z Man soft plastics must be stored away from all plastisol soft plastics in a non-PVC based container or their original sealed packaging. Zerek Chasebait, Transams and other TPE lures made from relatively standard TPE material don't have the secret proprietary additive that is in "ElaZtech" and will suffer the same melting and deforming problems that traditional plastisol based soft plastics suffer if stored in the same container as any Z Man soft plastic.

    Z Man paddle tails
    Z Man frogs

    Box 3 - TPE & plastic lures: eg vibes,swimbaits,chasebaits & prawns

    These are very realistic representations of bait fish and in some cases other critters and in many cases have very realistic swimming actions . They have really come into there own in just the last few years and can be a great alternative to other classes of lures.

    Soft plastic vibes - TPE
    Soft plastic swimbaits - TPE
    Soft plastic prawns -TPE
    Barambah swimbaits.

    Box 4 - Hard Bodied lures

    A lot of restraint needs to be exercised when setting up or adding lures to your hard bodied lure box. This is an area where lures definitely catch my fishos than fish ... make your choices carefully. Having said they hard body lures definitely do have their place.

    I store my hard body lures in two Pryml lure boxes:

    My casting hard bodied lures

    Lures in this box are predominant used for casting but from time to time they are trolled and from time to time lures in my Pryml had bodied lure trolling box are cast.

    Surface lures
    Top 2 meters
    2+ meters to 3 meters

    My trolling hard bodied lures

    Lures in this box are those that dive to below 3 meters and are predominant used for trolling and but from time to time they are cast and from time to time lures in my Pryml had bodied lure casting box box are trolled.

    3+ meters to 5 meters
    5+ meters plus

  • TOOLS ETC
    • Hook de-hooking pliers
    • Braid scissers
    • Boda grips
    • Spare hooks & clips
    • Leader material - Sunline FC100