I suppose it all depends on how your going to be fishing. My favourite way of catching barra is parking up with a esky full of beer and live baits. Small 4000 size spin reels with 20lb  are the go for this. Cast out a livie or 2 then enjoy a beer and wait for the fish..

If your trolling lures then a bait caster can be easier but not necessary. Plenty of fish are caught trolling with spin gear.

I prefer bait feeder type reels for live baiting and use a normal spin reel for casting. That way they can serve double duty as a jigging reel etc. 

 Will pm you over the weekend mainey and give you my phone number . Do lots of Barra  fishing West Kimberley and happy to share some good info

 PM sent

 God I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy, but it is the great thing about this site when good info can be shared. 

 Will have a good chat to Mainey tomorrow and hopefully sort him out without spending unnecessary cash.

And keep your fuzzy bits to yourself Andy.

 

I had a 14 min chat with the "Billcollector" today and learnt more from him in that short time than from all the fishing shops I've visited :)

This place has some nice people prepared to share with others with their good information

Thank you Rob
Paul

 Cheers Mainey hope that helped. see you when you get up this way

That's the spirit Lads!

Bought a (2nd hand) Shimino Barra rod (8 kilo) off a local who used it when he lived up North, is in perfect condition too.
 

Checked up on weight of Barramundi :)

the 1mt Barra is ~13 Kg

 Have used 6-8kg rods forever and have no problem landing barra of any size

 As per previous conversation the rod will be perfect just match it to a reel so the outfit feels balanced and if livebaiting make sure the reel has a ratchet on it so you can leave it freespooling

 Well I looked at everything and could not justify the price, to me, of the Shimano reels, yes they may be the best available - but do I really need the best available??

Bought this today... It's technical specifications are as good as I need, and possibly as good as some of the 'best' reels available  

• This #300 size baitcasting reel is designed with premium full aluminum frame including gear side plate, which provides incredible durability to handle the bigger fish.
  
  
• It boasts an incredible 33Lbs of drag and a HUGE Hamai cut hardened brass gearing to handle fish way out of its league, it is built for big fish and big swimbaits which make it a great saltwater baitcasting fishing reel, and I remember to set it for just a quarter of that pressure, and less than the strength of line and rod capacity. It's like having a V8, you don't need it till you need it 
  
  
• Loaded with high end components, the #300 size baitcasting reel is a next level baitcaster for pro fishing tournaments and features 8 double shielded stainless steel bearings and one instant anti reverse, paired with Hamai cut hardened brass main gear and pinion gear to ensure the durability, low noise as well as smoothness.
  
  
• Better Choice is the #300 size baitcast reel, as it does come with 8.1:1 gear ratio, and with the strong power handle as standard.
  
  
• Ergonomic and Innovative design, the #300 baitcasting reel comes with a super easy to access thumb bar engage button on the gear side plate which helps you bump back the thumb bar without cranking the handle. Double shafts support line guide system and greatly increases the stability and durability, with the 8 effective magnetic braking system prevents overruns and backlash. Inner wrapped thumb bar pad give you better comfort. 200 yds of 40Lb braid fits on the reel with a huge 36.2" retrieve per turn of the Power Handle.
   
• Most Baitcastors are the smaller capacity #200 size (with smaller line capacity and lesser pull in the fish power) so I'm glad I asked questions and looked at many reel specifications and asked to get the good advice given here by fellow fishers :)
  
  The info above comes from the manufacturers webpage
  Piscifun® Alijoz Size 300 Low Profile Baitcasting Reel Aluminum Frame
  
  
  0ther than the fantastic information from the phone call mentioned, this following info has also helped with the decision too
  
  
• Brand New Alijoz BIG FISH Reel 2019 | Musky -Saltwater - Swimbait - YouTube  
• New Piscifun Alijos Saltwater Reel - Here’s Why You’ll Love it - YouTube
• Piscifun Alijos Reel Review After Six Months - YouTube
  
  These video's (below) are using the red lesser drag rated reel as the example, and that is the only difference between the two reels: 
  Piscifun ALIJOS... Your FIRST swimbait reel! only $99, the BIGGEST BARGAIN ever! - YouTube
  Musky Reel Max Drag Test | SURPRISING RESULTS| Piscifun Alijoz - YouTube)

 Looks like your all sorted but pretty much all we use for baiting is Calcutta 400s and a Tcurve barra/raider

and chronarchs for luring! 

Plenty of good tips above and I dont need to double up.

I spent more money on barra fishing than I was earning in my Darwin days lol - Car, boat, fishing gear, camping gear, guns, ammo, oh my head hurts haha

My biggest tip, don't overcomplicate it - fish with what makes you comfortable being spin or bait caster, many a fisho has bought a top dollar chronarch, calcutta etc only to spend the first few days picking out over runs being a tad over excited a free swimming fish whilst the guy beside him stuck to his spin outfit having a ball because he knows how to use his outfit.

If you do buy a bait caster, spend some time in the local park casting a range of lures so your not that guy I mentioned above lol.

Good luck and have fun.

By the way, I would have a multitude of outfits setup for every conceivable option when out fishing, spin, bait caster, fly, you name it - don't be that guy, its expensive, but that's barra fishing lol

 In Kununurra in July and did a charter with Hairy Dog at Ultimate. We had a great day out on the lower ord, caught 3 ok fish at about 65-68cm. Recommend them if your at a loose end up that way.

We were using smallish 6-8kg rods (5.5 - 6 foot) with small overhead reels spooled with 20lb mono. Was a good day and we caught them in the sticks and also casting quite near the weed banks and coaxing them out from cover to hit a hard body lure.

To be honest the day was spent fishing in a manner totally different to what I thought was the go after watching many vids on utube haha.

My tip is to get as much local knowledge as you can if you plan on fishing the lower ord.

 Watched one of the 4WD shows on telly Sunday, the guys went to an area that is almost never fished, was no road into the area and they had to drive overland.
They were catching big Queenies and Barra over 80cm - one Barra was ~110cm. 
They had one on a line and another line went off, was like that for the program, so must have been heaps there, they were throwing them back in as fast as they were being landed.
Could have, may have been the Roper River area in the Gulf, but is not a nice place to get to as they took 3 x days driving off road and a few tire failures.

 The reel arrived today so had to get it spooled up with some good braid, thinking it holds 205 Yds of 40 Lb Braid, so will use 200 Yds of 40 Lb braid and with 2 Yds of Flourocarbon leader to the pointy end :)

and also buy a half decent rod too 

Bought a N-S Black Hole (C583) PE3 rated "light jigging game rod" with all the specifications I will ever need.
 

the shop also loaded up my Baitcaster reel with 190 yards of 40 Lb multi color 'J' Braid and joined on 2 x mt of Flouro 60 Lb leader, the fancy joining knot passes through the guides with-out hassles.

All up it come to $310 for the complete set-up mentioned above, which is less than I expected to pay for a rod, so can be seen I did listen :)

As was said, the fish don't know how decent the rod and reel is, they only bite the 'bait' presented to them.

Took the new 'Barra combo' to the local park this morning to check out some handling characteristics.

I trimmed the reel so it would cast a sinker for some reasonable distance with-out causeng a 'birdsnest' at the reel and with-out thumbing the reel, just using the magnetic brake.
I was getting 5 x braid colors out onto the park and returned to the reel by the single nice to use power handle.

Have since been advised each different 'color' is 10mt, so it goes out a minimum of 40 plus mt, possibly even 50 + mt.

Watch these comparison videos: 
https://tinyurl.com/baitcaster-comparison

from about the 13 mins time span for the interesting info (the word your listening for is Shimano) as this reel beat ALL the big brand reels.
This reel is from same manufacturer as what I have bought but is about 1/2 the price, less spectacular and it beats ALL decent competition.
It will cast for about 50 mt too 

and this too:  
https://tinyurl.com/DRAG33test

This #300 reel casts really well as a combo and I'm happy I listened and bought what was used by most other guys up North.
I can buy 2 of these combo's for less than the price of just one Aussie made rod I was so intent in buying 

 .

Bought a 2 x piece Carbon baitcaster rod today as replacement for the 'Jigging' rod.

The Jigging rod had a weird shaped handle that made it dificult to hold the but/handle stable when winding in the line (Barra)

On this new carbon baitcaster rod the tip area is thinner than a biro refill, however rod is rated @ 16 Lb  

sorry can't upload photo's 

I've played with the setup, picking up some heavy weights off the floor that were 8 Lb and the rod bent nicely but handled it ok.

 You already had a good Barra rod Mainey.....