Monster barra boated after epic battle in narrow creek

I WAS lucky enough to recently spend a few days away fishing a remote corner of the Territory.

Stewie Martin with 110cm of Barra caught trolling his favourite 8” Barrabait in a tight coastal creek.

I WAS lucky enough to recently spend a few days away fishing a remote corner of the Territory.

On day two we found ourselves fishing a small coastal creek in perfect weather.

I usually cast the mouth of this creek but my new Lowrance HDS 12 sidescan was telling me that most of the fish were further upstream, stacked on tight bends and eddies.

Halfway through our trolling run when navigating a skinny section of the creek my 8” Barrabait got absolutely clobbered only metres from the back of the boat. The big girl jumped twice, and it was absolute pandemonium as both the other lads retrieved their lines while I strained 50lb braid to breaking point trying to keep the leviathan out of the snags in a creek not much wider than the boat.

Several times she was only moments away from freedom, telltale swirls giving away her location mere inches from barnacle-encrusted snags.

I finally got her out into the middle of the creek and was about to relax when a last-minute lunge towards the transom led to some anxious moments as the leader got caught on the skeg and the transducer.

What a battle!

We lip-gripped the big girl and let her rest for a minute ­before gently cradling her on board for a quick photo and measure; 110cm, with a huge girth.

It was high fives all round as she swam off strongly to fight another day.

Tight lines and catch ya on the water.