Barramundi are a much prized sports and table fish and they are notoriously difficult to catch. They tend to lurk about near river banks under fallen logs, and in similar hiding spots in the ocean. They are pernickety feeders, sometimes rising to a lure and sometimes only reacting to live bait. And they are extremely sensitive to water temperature. They like it warm and even a couple of degrees makes a big difference to a " barra's" disposition. Too cool and you can donk the fish on the nose with a tempting morsel and he won't react.
So when we arrived at Home Valley Station we were immediately tempted by the Barra fishing 1/2 day tour. It was expensive but catching a Barra is up there on my bucket list, as it was for Simon and Pauly. Torb had already caught Barra in the Northern Territory, but he was up for another try.
We booked and as the boat only takes 4 guests we had an exclusive tour. Two young guides picked us up in a very dilapidated troop carrier and headed down to the Pentecost River, overlooked by the imposing Cockburn Ranges. The trip was almost worth it for the scenery. The ranges had that very cowboy movie flat topped mountain look. Almost expected a sherrif's posse to appear at any moment.
As it was early in the season not many fishing charters had preceded ours. At least the water was still fairly warm. We started getting a little concerned when our hosts started telling us that we were to see a few big salt water crocodiles. We didn't want that to be the highlight but our impression was they thought that was the consolation prize if we didn't get fish.
The first minor hitch to the trip was actually getting on to the boat. They had decided to build a nice boat access area on the river bank but worked had only just started. There was an excavator at work in the black soil between us and the boat. We took off our thongs and negotiated the mud and hills of the construction site.
The boat itself was a small flat bottomed aluminium punt. Not a lot of free board should a salty decide we were lunch.
We started with some trolling along the banks with lures. No action so we stopped and did at bit of flicking to likely looking snags. Nothing at all but the skipper did comment to me "You are good at casting Claudia." Claudia? I must look Germanic.
We also spent some time watching a few crocs warming themselves on the rocks and banks. They were not concerned with our presence as long as we kept a polite distance.
Eventually the skipper went to plan B and went ashore to net some live bait. He did quite well catching juvenile mullet and, you guessed it, baby Barra. These were gently returned to the river to grow. We wondered if these were the only Barra we were destined to see.
I have never fished with live bait before. I felt a bit sorry for the little fish but not sorry enough to desist! We let the little guys run around at the end of our lines waiting for a Barra strike. I had a little action which the skipper thought was a catfish, which are plentiful.
With our tour time dwindling away Pauly hooked up and successfully landed a small Barra. Great excitement in the boat! Unfortunately it was undersize so after a quick photo was released. We had 20 minutes to go when Pauly hooked another. This time it was size and was destined to be our lunch.
What was Pauly's secret? He said that he basically ignored all the advice from our guides. Slow retrieve with the live bait worked for him.
On return to our launch point we walked around the working excavator again. I was black mud to above my ankles and in danger of being stuck. A fit of the giggles didn't help.
On the way back they stopped the vehicle so we could wash our feet in the clear water running across the road. Oh very luxurious!
The restaurant at the resort will cook your Barra for you and serve with chips and salad for $50. Sounded like a good deal to us as it was too big for the baby Weber.
Pauly asked the aboriginal waiter if it would be big enough to serve all of us- 5 adults and 2 kids. "Mate, it's not very big. I could eat that myself."
So in less than 3 hours from the water we enjoyed a delicious feed of Barra with all the trimmings. Plenty for all. The waiter charged us half price for the deal.
So, our $800 Barra. Well worth it we thought.
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