I’ve received a number of e-mails requesting information on the welfare of my two pet barramundi.

Some months ago the smaller of the two hatchery-bred fish decided that he would rather reside in the tank all alone, and set out to dispatch his slightly bigger friend. On the evening before I had fed the fish 10 live shrimp which went down the hatches rapidly. Some hours later I dropped a frozen prawn or three into the melee and they too disappeared without delay.

In the morning however, one of the fish was upside down on the bottom of the tank. His 'mate' seemed quite unconcerned and was ready at the feeding end of the tank for whatever might be coming his way. I tried in vain to revive the unwell barra by holding him in the bubble trail exiting the filter/pump assembly. Despite 20 minutes of highly oxygenated water flowing over his gills he did not recover and I had to humanely finish him off.

The smaller of the two had apparently killed his mate with repeated blows to the flank. This, I'm told, eventually ruptures the liver which is a life ending experience. Admittedly, just a few days earlier I was warned that this event would occur.

The offending fish has been relocated to a much bigger tank and seems happy there, surrounded by a continual supply of live tucker with no flatmates to get in his way!

As usual Lake MacDonald didn't fish particularly well during the last BASS Electric round held there. The resident bass seem to know that a comp is coming and they all run off and hide. Mark Pertot from Davo's Bait & Tackle managed the event admirably once again.

Local Peter James cracked the code on the day and weighed in two quality fish for 3.72kg to claim the event and an invitation into the 2005 BASS Electric Convention. Peter didn't travel very far from the ramp as his battery collection was tired and not all that reliable. Rather than following the rest of the punters and setting off for recently productive pastures, Peter fished in the area of the rock wall adjacent to the dam wall.

Here he cast gold and green spinnerbaits with tandem blades (one willow silver and one Colorado gold) and used a slow retrieve. Most of the hits came when the lure was quite deep.

Instead of fishing different areas, Peter stuck to his plan and thrashed the one location for the entire event!

Pete has read extensively and learnt plenty from John Schofield's scribblings over the years. Incidentally, John was one of the first to congratulate Peter on his win, which topped off an excellent day for a well-versed local. Peter also credits his success, at least in part, to Shannon Watson at Hooked on Angling who has passed on some of his wealth of knowledge over the years.

Barry Oxford from Leichhardt came in at second place with two fish, also for a total weight of 3.1kg, caught along Fry's Run. Scott Cameron from Yandina came in at third with one big bass of 2.2kg caught at Three Ways.

[CAPTIONS]

1) Sue Fleming with a brace of bass caught at the Lake Macdonald round of the BASS Electric series.