It has been many years since we have seen a winter as mild as the one at present.

The cooler months have produced barra throughout a good percentage of this period. However on the colder days it has been nearly impossible to get these fish to bite, we’re often finding the barra following lures back to the boat and taking half-hearted swipes at them. But when the days are mild to warm and light winds have allowed certain parts of the lake to warm up to temperatures of around 22-23°C, the barra get active.

Shallow points, islands and bays that are close to the main river have accounted for most of the fish being boated over the past few months.

The stand out lure for me has been the Hank Tune Suspending Jackall Squirell 79 in the pink eye suji, boney and pg shrimp colours. The Squirell has been a real performer because you can slow retrieve and pause while maintaining maximum lure action.

In soft plastics, the Pro Range Slick Rig 110s in the lorikeet and evil minnow colours have been working well.

On the surface, the Killalure 2 Deadly has been receiving plenty of interest.

The new season is on our doorstep and it’s time to dust off the barra gear and prepare for what’s coming. You might ask "what’s coming?" well if last season is anything to go by, this season should be a cracker!

We have seen barra being consistently caught in the size range from 70cm to 90cm over the previous year and in good numbers. The biggest barra boated on my charters last season was 96cm. The biggest I have seen recently has been 1m, caught by Rob Paxevanos from the Fishing Australia Show while filming with Rob Wood of Lake Monduran Barramundi Charters Australia.

It has been proven that these Barra can put on exceptional amounts of weight over a 12-month period. For example, a barra caught and tagged at 68cm on 12\6\13 was caught again on the 23\4\14 at 86cm, it had grown by 18cm in less than year and if these figures are anything to go by, we should be consistently catching fish around 90-100cm.

Anyone who has experienced lake Monduran pre-floods would agree that barra from 90-100cm are some of the hardest fighting you will experience across the board. These sized fish are conditioned with plenty of power and weight and have speed and stamina to match, which demands you to gear up correctly.

Make sure your rods and reels are in good working order and get them serviced if needed. Check that your mainline is in good condition and if there is any doubt, re-spool with some new braid, around 30-50lb is ideal.

Anglers have different views on what leader size and types to use. Some prefer fluorocarbon leaders, which are tough and very resistant to abrasion and allow the angler to fish lighter using line from 40 to 60lb. However, because of the stiffness in the line, knot failure can be a problem and breakages can occur on tight bends in the line. I like to use Black Magic Supple leader in 60-80lb. It’s still a tough leader but has more flexibility and better knot tying capabilities.

When looking for information on when, where and how to fish Lake Monduran and its surrounding areas, or if you’re wanting to book a charter to maximise your Mondy fishing experience, you can contact myself at Guidelines Fishing Charters, 0410599147. You can also call Rob Wood at Lake Monduran Barramundi Charters Australia on 0427590995, or the boys at Tackleworld Bundaberg, who all have great fishing knowledge of this region on (07)41524747. We look forward to seeing you for the kickoff to what we believe will be a great barra season ahead. Bring on the Barra!