Switched-on fishos get among saltwater barra

Unprecedented crowds flocked to Shady Camp on the weekend, and many were rewarded with big saltwater barra.

Local fisho Ben Judd with a solid Tommycut Barra caught trolling upstream with the tide.

Unprecedented crowds flocked to Shady Camp on the weekend, and many were rewarded with big saltwater barra.

The mouth of Sampan was especially crowded, but everyone was well behaved and the “conga line” ran smoothly.

A few kilometres away at Tommycut Creek, the action was really heating up. Big fish were hooked at the mouth as the tide pushed in, but the fish soon went off the chew.

Those switched-on fishos who knew how to read and interpret their side-scanning sounders soon realised the fish were travelling upstream rapidly with the tide.

Fast trolling along until the fish were located then working them hard resulted in fantastic catches of metre-plus fish, and local anglers such as Shane Compain, Alex Julius and Ben Judd got among some champagne fishing.

In the early ’90s most anglers believed barra hung close to structure most of the time, moving very little. We now know this is far from right. They’re dynamic and move far up and down river systems, highlighting the need for side-scan sounders.

Although this weekend’s tides are bigger, the wind looks favourable and with so many big fish concentrated at Shady Camp, it will definitely be worth a look as the run of big fish is sure to continue.

Tight lines and catch ya on the water.