Shattered Dreams

[slinkymalinky]

My chart plotter has a GPS mark about 2 or so kilometers from the boat ramp at Monduran Dam. The name of the mark is "Shattered Dreams".

About 1km from that mark is another, called 'Heartbreak Bay'.

That pretty much sums up my first experience of Monduran Dam with fellow Raiders Jewhunter, Outdoor Dan and Brown dog1. Don't get me wrong... the fishing was absolutely mind blowing. It was the catching that was the problem.

Moduran is a big, daunting piece of water for first timers, of which I, OD and BD1 were 3. Jewhunter had previously been to the dam and landed one of it's famous 1m+ Barramundi.

We had high hopes and fishy dreams in the lead up to the trip. I don't think any of us (except maybe JH) were prepared for just how unforgiving Monduran can be. We'd all seen the barra in the magazines and dvds but what they don't get across is that success on Monduran is getting more than 1 hit in a day... let alone catching a fish.

For the record, between us we actually managed to lose 5 barra from about 90cm to possibly around 120cm... and certainly at least 2 of the fish were well over a meter. In addition, we all had good hits that failed to connect. The difference between our fishless trip and a blinder where we could have boated well over a dozen massive fish, was a razor's edge. Unfortunately we were on the wrong side of hooks dropping out boatside, chafed-thru 60lb leaders, tentative hits, and heart stopping missed hooks.

I won't bore you all with a full report about the ones that got away but never let anyone tell you the big barra dams are easy. We (thanks to Jewhunter) had the pattern wired from our first morning to our last session. While nearly every other fisho on the dam reported not even seeing a fish day after day, we had plenty of chances.

With the pattern consistent and clear, with the great quality tackle, with the right lures, knots that didn't fail once... 4 very experienced fishos failed to boat a fish. There was much cursing of various gods, fish, the dam and any other unfortunate... often in language that would make a hooker blush.

The actual process of fishing the dam was extraordinary. Casting on 30lb and 50lb spin and baitcast tackle with 60-80lb hard mono leaders still felt like taking a knife to a gunfight as 10-30kg fish lying in often less than 1m of water, exploded on lures before racing perilously close to the many trees, bushes and other lake edge ugliness. There's no way to dictate terms to these fish... it's more a case of taking the tiger by the tail and hanging on for the ride.

And what a ride. In 4 days of fishing I personally got 4 hits for 1 lost barra. Will I go back.... OH YEAH!

Anyway, here's some pretty pictures of a fishless trip... just in case anyone is still reading our tale of woe.

Some might suggest that this item that mysteriously found its way into my boat's glove-box had something to do with the trip results. It was found before hitting the water but I don't think anyone will tempt fate by even touching one of the yellow terrors next trip

Despite, or perhaps because of the yellow terror, I did manage to land 2 of these... the net result being dish-washing duty 2 nights running.

Jewhunter's rig is a sweet ride for this style of fishing... check out those gnarly snags!

Brown Dog had a few casting accuracy problems on the first day... unfortunately he wasn't quite quick enough to get this out of the tree before my camera was ready.

We swapped boats and fishing buddies each day and Outdoor Dan borrowed my boat with Brown Dog while I was fishing on board MV Jewhunter.

And here's the man I think OD, BD1 and I would consider our 'illustrious leader' for the trip. Quick with a banana, bestower of the 'wisdom of the knot of awesomeness' (no really, it is )

... man of dashing casting style...

...and finally, soon-to-be obscenity coach to the Australian Fishing Championship series... note the well refined slumped shoulders, dejected 'post 120cm barra loss' facial expression and fearful companion hiding in the back corner of the boat... signs of a true master of curse-words.

See you on the water somewhere, Raiders. Slinky

[dogtooth]

Great report slinky ,

sorry to hear that you didnt land any Monduran Monsters, I will have to get up there soon , my mate usually fishes there later in the year and does very well.

Cheers Dogtooth.... John....

[Hodgey]

Another entertaining report, Captain Catfish! The nightly updates painted a pretty tough time of it, but spirits remained high nonetheless. A bloody shame that a couple of monster barra eluded the awaiting landing net, but look at this way mate ... they'll be bigger next time The photo of the hollowbelly stuck in the tree is priceless The next trip will make up for it hopefully

Cheers

Skip

[arpie]

.....For the record, between us we actually managed to lose 5 barra from about 90cm to possibly around 120cm... and certainly at least 2 of the fish were well over a meter. In addition, we all had good hits that failed to connect. .......

Bugger Bugger Bugger!!! I feel for you all, Tony! But, as you say, at least you hooked up when others weren't even seeing fish!!!

Ah well, there's always next time, eh?? Go back around August - isn't that when they are supposed to fire up again??

Cheerio & commiserations!!!

Roberta

[tide'n'knots]

bad luck guys, it could have been a very different result if luck had gone your way. At least you hooked 5 fish and that was 5 more than anyone else even seen on the trip so you guys must have been doing something right. ------ next time!!

pete.

[GregL]

Took me 2 days to get one from there even with Jason on board and 3 days to get all of us on board one each!

Tough fishing but when it fires it fires!

Good luck next for NEXT time and it will make that first fish even sweeter!

G

[Jewhunter]

I think the topic title says it all Slinky!

Lake Monduran, after all the rain they've had, is now 70% full. It hasn't been this full in 15 years! Everyone is trying to get a handle on where the fish are. We spoke to a guide that had been out trolling 3 nights in a row for not a single fish. There were very few reports of anyone seeing a fish.

In that regard our trip was an outstanding success. To lose 5 to a variety of reasons & not angler error is what shattered me!

But what a fun trip. The banter started early with me ringing Slinky to tell him I would be very late because of a big night on the turps the night before. The look on his face when I knocked on his door 2 minutes later was priceless!

Then at a roadworks stop on the way up my boat keys mysteriously go missing. Mmmmm 1 all!

A banana then found it's way into Slinky's boats glovebox. On & on it went.

On the 1st day I pulled a hook on an est 90cm fish when the hooks pulled after a good fight. Dan the fought a big fish of well over a metre for 15 mins on 20lb braid. It was an epic fight, one of the best I've seen in a long time. With me waiting with net in the water the fish slowly turns & the hook fell out.

I then did a massive fish as it charged off under no control & the braid nicked something & parted. Dan pulled the hook on another 90cm fish the same day.

On the last morning Slinky hooks a nice 90cm fish that goes nuts & tailwalks all over the place, wearing through 60lb leader! Even with the rod buried in the water the fish thought it was a bird & wanted to fly!

So even though it was very hard work we found the fish. I learnt an incredible amount about the place & the signs to look for to find fish.

The company was fantastic. We had lots of fun & laughs as well as the tears!

Thanks for sharing the trip fellas. It was an awesome experience that I want more of.

Cheers,

Grant.

[arpie]

Ooooh! So Unfair, Grant!!! Had to laugh at all the shenanagins!!! That banana was a low trick to pull!!

You'll have to take a video camera the next time to recordk all the hookups & hopefully the landing of the fish as well!! At least you know you got into some monsters & will be better armed & forwarned the next time!!! Did you have stingers on your SPs? THe Tyler Twins whack a big Treble thru the underneath of the sps, so it is the big single on top & the free flowing treble underneath & WHACK THEM LIKE HELL when they get a hookup - and they don't usually lose them!!! The treble usually ensures a good hookup!!

Ah well, you had fun on the water with good mates - what could be better????

Yeah, I know - LANDING THE MONGRELS!!!

Cheers

Roberta

[Guest]

Hey guys,

Thats fishing at least you had a great time together and that's what it's all about.

Better luck next time

Cheers Stewy

[bassboy888]

Unlucky fella's i know the sheer pain of getting hits and loosing big barra. at least you got some good hits, its a sign your doing something right.

definantly worth the trip back though.

[paul.kenny]

Great report guys and sorry to hear that you could not land them......Bassboy888 had the same problem for 3 weeks of Barra fishing in Decemeber and January with many hooked (ie about 12) for one landed

As I type this response from my office I can tell you I am very jealous of you all. I had a ball at Monduran in January and it took us three days of searching and thousands of casts to find the fish, but once we found the bite they were on . Unfortunately the locations we found would be well under water now

I agree with Roberta regarding the stingers and will be trying that trick next time I hit the Barra Impoundments.....might even trial it with the Jewies this year.

PK

[mrsswordfisherman]

I think the topic title says it all Slinky!

Lake Monduran, after all the rain they've had, is now 70% full. It hasn't been this full in 15 years! Everyone is trying to get a handle on where the fish are. We spoke to a guide that had been out trolling 3 nights in a row for not a single fish. There were very few reports of anyone seeing a fish.

In that regard our trip was an outstanding success. To lose 5 to a variety of reasons & not angler error is what shattered me!

But what a fun trip. The banter started early with me ringing Slinky to tell him I would be very late because of a big night on the turps the night before. The look on his face when I knocked on his door 2 minutes later was priceless!

Then at a roadworks stop on the way up my boat keys mysteriously go missing. Mmmmm 1 all!

A banana then found it's way into Slinky's boats glovebox. On & on it went.

On the 1st day I pulled a hook on an est 90cm fish when the hooks pulled after a good fight. Dan the fought a big fish of well over a metre for 15 mins on 20lb braid. It was an epic fight, one of the best I've seen in a long time. With me waiting with net in the water the fish slowly turns & the hook fell out.

I then did a massive fish as it charged off under no control & the braid nicked something & parted. Dan pulled the hook on another 90cm fish the same day.

On the last morning Slinky hooks a nice 90cm fish that goes nuts & tailwalks all over the place, wearing through 60lb leader! Even with the rod buried in the water the fish thought it was a bird & wanted to fly!

So even though it was very hard work we found the fish. I learnt an incredible amount about the place & the signs to look for to find fish.

The company was fantastic. We had lots of fun & laughs as well as the tears!

Thanks for sharing the trip fellas. It was an awesome experience that I want more of.

Cheers,

Grant.

Hmmmm Grant the problem is your vessel.......... IT HAS NO FISHRAIDER STICKERS ON IT.................. stop advertising for the others !!!

Bloody shame that the trip was not fruitful guys (except for bananas lol)

Swordy said he will come up there soon and show you how to catch those tiddlers. His new 80lb leccy will blast the barra straight out of the water

Mrsswordie

[Jewhunter]

Hmmmm Grant the problem is your vessel.......... IT HAS NO FISHRAIDER STICKERS ON IT.................. stop advertising for the others !!!

Bloody shame that the trip was not fruitful guys (except for bananas lol)

Swordy said he will come up there soon and show you how to catch those tiddlers. His new 80lb leccy will blast the barra straight out of the water

Mrsswordie

Well I have asked the other Administrators for stickers but none have been forthcoming!!

I'd love for Stewy to come up & have a crack one day. I'll leave him to his own devices & watch him come home with his tail between his legs begging for some advice!

Seriously though, I hope Swordy does make the trip one day. We would have a blast.

Cheers.

Grant.

[crashlee]

For someone who has just started in this game. It's hard to fathom that 4 experienced anglers can still have no fish. It is also comforting that my own no fish days are ok.

But I'm sure the next report from you guys from Monduran will be very different. Great report

[monch]

Hard to believe that none of you experienced anglers could have come back with no fish on the board. Despite that, it seems you have done better than others there and even the professional guides so that is an accomplishment.

Just goes to show that fishing can be really hit and miss at times, i'm surprised you guys still came back with a head full of hair (Jewhunter doesn't count).

Regardless, it was a spectacularly written report, had me on the edge of my seat. Such is the level of reporting from Slinky that i was eagerly scanning the next lines with the hope you guys nailed some fish.

Oh well, better luck next time.

Monch

[slinkymalinky]

Thanks for all the comments, Raiders.

MrsS, my Fishraider sticker is on the other side of the boat... maybe I should put one on the port side too as an F.A.D.

A quick note to all... particularly some of the less experienced raiders... despite catching precisely no fish, I'd still rate this as one of the most enjoyable and memorable of all my fishing trips. It just goes to show that it's important to try to enjoy the fishing and not just the catching. If you love the location, the experience, the challenge, the mates sticking bananas in your boat, and can get enjoyment out of small successes like a good cast or a hook-up, then all your fishing trips will be more enjoyable.

I'm not one of those people who say 'catching fish is a bonus'. If it were, I'd spend my leisure time doing macrame and just go to the fish shop. I've tried to learn over the years though to focus my attention on styles of fishing I enjoy in their own right rather than on those that might even catch more fish but are less enjoyable.

Have fun every day Raiders...

Slinky

[Daniel Frost]

Fishing for dam Barra can be painfully slow at the best of times and especially after temperature drops . When you know you will be often casting all day and may only get a hit or two , or even none , it makes it hard to completely concentrate on every retreive , and thats what you must do . To the guys asking how could 4 experienced anglers not come back with a fish , give it a go yourself and you will see that they are not an easy advesary to catch in a dam . Think about casting all day in the hope of one hit , it dosn't seem that bad but when your out there with the beating down on you and you have been fishing for 2 or 3 hours without a touch and you don't know the area like your local system , you don't have "go to" spots and all the inside knowledge ,it is mentally very challenging to keep up your confidence . It's a HUGE challenge and this is one of the reasons we do it , to capture one of these beasts is all time , and from my experience just one of these monsters makes your whole trip a great story, and incredible memory . Even getting smashed by these fish on a surface lure is mind blowing:1yikes: , if your ever caught bass on surface , multiply that by about a thousand. Getting smoked by one [when you don't even slow it down yet alone gain back a cm of line as it disappears with your lure] after casting your plastic 500 times that day will only make you hungrier to land one and have you in awe of the intial strike which can easily rip the rod out of a your hands . These fish have had every lure imagionable thrown at them ,so it's down to finding a pattern , finding where you think multiple fish will congragate in an area , and hammering these areas ,certain depths,and structures or types of weed etc . Especially when your with your mates fishing together and not being put onto fish by a guide it makes it that much sweeter to do it yourself.

To all who havn't tried , get up there and give it a go either with your mates or a guide , as hard as it can be , the reward is worth it and fish or no fish you will never forget it.

Well done Grant ,Slinky and the boys , it's awsome that you found fish , got hits , hookups , and worked out a pattern . It was obvious from talking to Grant the other night that he is keener and hungier than before the trip, im sure you will all make an effort to get back there and all get your trophy fish .

If my mates asked me why we caught nothing I would blame the !

Anyhow im off to polish my horns and practice the secret handshake , for this months meeting . 115cm CLUB

Bubba

[Jewhunter]

Thanks for the replies all.

Bubba, I won't rest until I join that 115cm club. So close yet so far!

Roberta. If I was fishing long, sloping points & & working the plastic back over the slope I would have had the stinger rig going. Dan & I hooked 2 of our fish right up tight into the bank in no more than 2 ft of water. With all the new exposed grass the fish were sitting in a stinger would have fouled up as soon as it hit the shoreline. We had no choice but to fish weedless jungle hooks in that country.

I lost one of my fish on a button jig head. Well hooked but the braid nicked something & broke. Slinkys' fish was also on a button & was hooked well but wore through 60lb leader.

I'm putting the lost fish down to sheer misfortune. Luck is not the word as I believe you make your own.

That's fishing. If it was easy everyone would be an expert.

I'm stoked with the fact we found fish & cracked a pattern while everyone else has struggled. Monduran is now sitting at 77% capacity.

I'm planning my next trip already. My boat is perfectly set up for that fishing style & I'm itching for some paybck on those monster Barra!

Cheers,

Grant.

[jewgaffer]

Hi fellas commisserations just bad luck I suppose...all those barrumundi breaks offs which would be particularly annoying especially with poor man's jewfish that taste like chaff, I think I'd be rigging up the alveys with steel cable and piano wire

Cheers

jewgaffer

[Jewhunter]

Hi fellas commisserations just bad luck I suppose...all those barrumundi breaks offs which would be particularly annoying especially with poor man's jewfish that taste like chaff, I think I'd be rigging up the alveys with steel cable and piano wire

Cheers

jewgaffer

And to think I always called a Jewfish the Barra of the south to give them a decent fish to compare them to. Silly me.

Unfortunatly sitting in the same spot for 6 tide changes with the tiger ugly sticks & piano wire just doesn't cut the mustard on Mondurans poor man's jewfish. Shame really.

Thanks for the commiserations Byron.

Cheers,

Grant.