A month and a half on from the flooding and the lake’s level has finally stabilised. After this significant rain event, who would have thought that our good old Monduran winter bite sessions would prove to be nothing short of amazing.
We have learnt over the years that barra love to feed through the cooler months, but this season has been ridiculous so far with literally 10-20 barra being boated by some anglers over the course of a day’s outing. Numbers like 30-40 are coming up for other anglers staying with us for a longer term on their annual barra pilgrimage.
Recently the lake’s level was sitting at 100%. The water rise covered old weed beds and lily pads creating fish lanes, alleyways and broken weed on popular points and bays. These areas will have any topwater fishing enthusiast salivating and are perfect for surface action. The best bites have been in the early mornings and late afternoons. Surface lures, poppers and stickbaits have had proven results.
These barra will also run up and down these old weed edges, which have been covered in deeper water much further out from the existing shoreline. These edges are easy to find with side imaging sounders. Once you find barra moving along these edges it’s best to start slow rolling suspending minnows and lightly weighted soft plastics. Lures that have been working well are the Jackall Squirrels and Smash Minnows, Lucky Craft Pointers, ZMan 4” and 6” SwimmerZ, Pro Range Squidgys and Happy Rock Softies.
There’s no doubt the stocking of fingerlings well up in the higher reaches of the lake’s vast rivers and creek systems amongst healthy weed beds has had proven results. Baby barra thrive at Monduran for a number of reasons; the first is the sheer size of the lake. The lake is massive covering over 5500ha in surface area, giving barra free range without having to compete amongst themselves. Secondly the lake is filled with an abundance of baitfish that would seemingly never run out. Thirdly, structure and weed beds throughout the lake create cover if needed – this is crucial for survival.
All in all, these contributing factors make Monduran a success story for anglers and wildlife enthusiasts alike. As long as we keep stocking fingerlings, we will preserve this lake’s angling future for generations to come. Monduran is alive and well.
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We have learned over the years that barra love to feed through the cooler months, but this season has been ridiculous so far with literally 10-20 barra being boated by some anglers over the course of a day’s outing.
The lake is massive covering over 5500ha in surface area, giving barra free range without having to compete amongst themselves. Structure and weed beds throughout the lake create cover if needed – this is crucial for survival.
Some anglers from Broken Hill, NSW made their first trip to Monduran and caught some beasts like Dean Arnold’s barra. Dean custom made the ‘Mauler Rods’ the boys used and they worked a treat.
Over the course of a week, a few anglers from Broken Hill boated 42 barra.
