My Port Douglas trip...

[big Neil]

I've never been fishing to FNQ, but a recent report from Basil D stirred my interest. Starved of fishing opportunities in this long, cold Winter, I made the decision to venture North.

As often happens with new experiences there are positives and negatives. Starting off with the negatives, the fishing opportunities were limited. Very rough seas saw the anticipated charter a non- event till late in the week. When it did happen I fished with 16 other anglers and faired worst of them all, nabbing only half a dozen small reef species. Others caught Nannygai, Coral Trout, Spanish Mackeral, and other species. No exceptional results, but good fun. Added to that the solo expeditions to public wharves (land based) and a charter up the river produced some small fish but nothing worthwhile. That's fishing...disappointing, but the weather was much warmer and the beer much more palatable.

I was getting pretty desperate by now so I lobbed in to HOOK A BARRA. I have always enjoyed learning about the species of fish available so I took a farm tour. It was very informative. I had done the same study thing at the Narrandera Fisheries ( Murray Cod and Trout Cod) and was keen to learn of the similarities and differences between the two facilities. 

Narrandera provides restocking of natural and man-made environments, primarily to help restore these iconic Native species back to healthy numbers. The Barramundi facility provides a totally Australian product for the table. The Barra are brought in about 10cms and "grown" to around 70-80cms in 18 months. They are then processed for the Australian restaurant market. So basically one is a breeding facility and the other is a processing plant.

I did the 1 hour farm tour and learned a heap. Probably taught them a few things about the similarities / differences between the Barra and Murray Cod. One main difference is that Barra are born with the ability to change gender, Cod do not. Often thought to be a natural phenomena (gender change) in Barra, is quite interesting too. When fish prepare to breed some Barra will change gender to maximise their potential.     There is another interesting fact that I learned.  Barra have pigmentation that allows them to change their colour as they change environment. Some have a deficiency though and in the wild are easily predated on by their kin. In the Farm environment they occasionally thrive.

The other part of the tour of the facility was to fish for a Barramundi. Having never fished for them before, I was keen as. So I tried surface lures, soft plastics, hardbody lures and caught one of 72cms on a soft plastic. The guy who had taken me on the tour suggested trying a vibe too. The selected vibe was 38mm metal with the trebles removed, and replaced with a single 2/0 barbless hook. I actually thought "might get a tiddler with this". I tried various retrieves and managed 2 Barra...82 and 94 cms. The latter was great fun as it raced around leaping high out of the water and took 10 mins to tire out. All fish are netted, unhooked, quick photo, back in the net and released. Coupled with the single barbless hook they suffer minimal damage.

This 94cms Barra is what they call a "Panda Barra"....pigmentation loss makes them white or black/white. Incidentally, my first 3 Barra.     

bn

 

 

[Little_Flatty]

Fantastic Neil. I love Port Douglas! Never got to Narrandera Fisheries though!

[james Cutler]

Great Barra. Top report Well done. 

[dirvin21]

That's awesome Neil

Port Douglas is a beautiful place, shame about the weather, FNQ weather os pretty volatile with the winter trade winds

[mrsswordfisherman]

Great report Neil.

You look very happy there with that beauty!

[big Neil]

1 hour ago, mrsswordfisherman said:

Great report Neil.

You look very happy there with that beauty!

Sure am Donna...a better than expected result.

bn

[linewetter]

Really enjoyable read and some great ideas for when I’m lucky enough to find my way out there - the farm tour sounds like something I’d be very interested in. Congrats on catching such nice fish as well! Looks quite big and sounds like it was fun to battle against 

[Hill373737]

Nice work mate, I'm pleased you found a way to get onto some Barra!!

My only warning would be that BarraAddiction can be worse than CodAddiction, especially for sothern fishos!

[big Neil]

3 hours ago, Hill373737 said:

Nice work mate, I'm pleased you found a way to get onto some Barra!!

My only warning would be that BarraAddiction can be worse than CodAddiction, especially for sothern fishos!

LOL. Not for me. Much safer down here, no crocodiles. Yeh, the guy you put me onto was away in Brisbane for that week. Anyway I managed to tick a few more species off the bucket list and had a great break. Back into my hobby, busy times ahead.

Cheers, bn

[Hoods]

Well done Neil and congratulations on the fishing.

A True freshwater Fisherman - keeping the best fishing off the bank. Nothing like a bit of mud between the toes.

I think its time you came for a visit again.

[big Neil]

On 8/1/2024 at 8:08 PM, Hoods said:

Well done Neil and congratulations on the fishing.

A True freshwater Fisherman - keeping the best fishing off the bank. Nothing like a bit of mud between the toes.

I think its time you came for a visit again.

At this stage, I am hoping to be in North Haven fishing with Hill373737 until Fri 6th Sept. Heading homeward on that day. If you are likely to be around anytime on the first week of Sept, I should be able to catch up with you. I will know more when I get up there.

Cheers, bn

[bessell1955]

Great report and even greater fishing  .