Well friday arvo we set out for our weekend camping adventure. We stopped by Eagle Boys on the way out for a pizza each and then headed to Cossack. Launched the boat, cracked a tinnie then went to get some bait. As usual, bait in cossack was plentiful and it wasn't long before we had heaps of plump mullet. By this stage the sun was down and it was time to anchor up in a hole to fish for some barra. We weren't really concerned about catching fish on friday evening as we just headed out to give ourselves a head start for the trip further up the coast early on Saturday morning - any fish is just a bonus. Things started fairly quickly with a couple of good runs but no solid hookups.



Eventually I hooked up but it felt small so I called it for a cattie. It got closer to the boat so Glenn got the torch out and surprisingly a small barra around 50-55cm jumped out of the water. Second jump saw my hook get ejected from the fishes mouth and he sunk back to the inky depths.



Things quietened down after that so we kicked back and had a few brews while we waited for the wind to die down and decide what we were going to do. Around 1am we made the decision to head up to our next creek. The run there was fairly uneventful but it did start to blow up and get quite rough during the last qtr of the trip. On arrival we realised that our chart plotter had marked the channel way out so we ended up hitting a sand bar. Not to worry, we had plenty of water and it was on the way in. Eventually we found the channel and got in OK. We headed down to where we wanted to sleep/fish and anchored the boat.



Still had a few livies left from cossack so threw them out and sat down for another brew. Unfortunately all we caught were sharks but the tides weren't ideal so we packed it in and hit the sack. The following morning we woke up and started our trolling run. We trolled for about an hour but the fish weren't biting as well as they were last trip so we decided to get some livies.



Bait was scarce, very scarce. We struggled for around an hour and with only about 2 (small) mullet and a couple of good sized bonys we decided to fish with what bait we had before we missed the tide. We anchored up and I threw out a bonie. Soon after I had the distinct tap tap of a bream having a go at my bait. I hooked him and brought him in. Threw the now dead bony back out. Seconds later my rod went ballistic so I called it for a shark (based on what bait I had in the water) but I was surprised when a barra blitzed out of the water (first time hooked one on a dead bony). Unfortunately it spat the hook on the second jump. Geez, seem to be losing a lot of barra lately



The rest of our baits were taken by the usual bait snatchers, bream, catties, sharks etc.. We saw some fish busting up near some mangroves close by so closer inspection was in order. We motored over and I lobbed a snap back in the vicinity. Instantly it was snaffled by a decent fish and soon after I pulled in a nice King Threadfin.





Nice thready on SP



What proceed was the best session on threadies we've ever had, all on artificials which was an added bonus. Glenn and I caught around 20 King Threadfin Salmon between us with a couple of bluennose mixed in between 40-75cm.





Another threadie





Glenn hooking into a nice threadie





Biggest threadie for the trip



There was also a few other fish caught a by-catch... mangrove jacks (a new first for me), bream, cod and flat head.







Aferwards we decided to go and have another try at getting some bait before the tide came in too far so we could use them on the evening low. We found a spot where the mullet were fairly plentiful. Catching them wasn't the problem though, we struggled keeping them alive. Some parts of the creek (flats areas) were 34 degrees and it didn't take much for the water in our bait bucket to exceed that temperature. Unfortunately we only managed to keep about 4 livies alive for the evening.



Once it got to the high tide we shot off down the creek and met another couple of guys. We anchored near them and had a yarn and a few brewskis while we waited for the tide to drop once more so we could go chase some barra.



Once the tide dropped far enough it was a last chance effort to try and get some livies and then over to a spot where I've caught barra before. Unfortunately we had no luck except for a couple of sharks all evening. The other guys that were down the river fished another spot but they had no luck either so it was a quiet night all round.



The following morning we woke up early for one last fish before we came home. Once again bait was extremely hard to get. We got about 4 really small livies and then anchored up. I was hesitant about using one of the livies as they were so small I thought I'd be better of using a big dead bait. I took the risk and threw out the mullet.



It wasn't long before my rod went ballistic in the rod holder. I picked it up and started to play the fish. He had one good run then came in quite easily. There was no jump and he slogged it deep in the creek so he had me guessing a shark for sure. When he emerged from the depths boatside we realised he was a good barra. It was a frantic effort to get the net ready while he had a couple of nice jumps boatside. He wasn't quite ready to come in so I just played him close to the boat for a bit. A bit of spectacular network by Glenn and he was landed. When he went for the first net shot he jumped out of the net and then Glenn caught him in it as it was about to re enter the water.



A really healthy and fat fish he was 880mm long but much heavier than other barra I've caught around that size. After tagging him and a quick photo he was released unharmed. A bit late in the trip but better late than never. Now I could breathe easy knowing we wouldn't have a 0 fish trip.





880mm pilbara barra





Posing with the barra





... and then releasing him



Afterwards I threw out a big dead bait. I left the rest of the livies for Glenn so hopefully he could land a barra for the trip. It wasn't long before I got another hit but he pulled the bait right off the hook. Meanwhile Glenn's livies get destroyed by little catties. I put another big deadie on and cast him out. I'd barely put the rod in the holder before Glenn shouted "you're on!"



It screamed off at a massive rate of knots. Took about 70m of line before slowing down. Imediately I called him for a big shark but I dismissed it soon after. I've caught big creek sharks before but you can usually knock 'em over in about 5 minutes on 30lb gear. This on the other hand wasn't coming in so easily. It was a wrestle for about 15 minutes of the typical gain some, lose some, gain some, lose some kind of fight. I called him for a big threadie which I guessed for 120cm+. When he surfaced about 20cm away we saw the massive yellow paddle tail and we both said, 'BARRA'!. The pressure was on now as this would easily be a PB if it was a barra and waaaay over 1m in length.





About half way through the battle... he's taking another surging run so I take a break on the handle work



I fought him for a bit longer and when he got closer I realised he was an unusual looking barra. Then I realised he was a big Black Jew, no barra but probably the next best thing. He slugged it out for ages next to the boat and then we got the net ready. We realised he was way to big to fit in the net so I got him close to the boat and Glenn leadered him through the transom door.







We measured him and he was 114cm long and est around 15kilos. Unfortunately he was gut hooked and bleeding quite bad. Big jewies like this have little chance of survival so we made the choice to keep him.



After that we put in another half an hour with no more action then decided to head home. Trip home was great as we made it just before the wind picked up. Overall a bit dissapointing on the barra side of things but there was plenty of them around we just didn't have the means to catch them (ie.. not enough bait). Still had fun with the threadies on SP's and the Jewie topped off another good trip in the wonderful Pilbara.



JB