It was all action for six New South Wales blokes aboard a Barra Busters fishing charter on the Daly River this week.  But it was Ben Smith, in particular, who showed up his five fishing-mad mates by hooking a 94cm barra in what was an hour of barra-madness on the water on Thursday (April 7).

Ben Smith and Anthony Whittman with a 78cm Barramundi

Anthony Whittman with his barra in the 70cm range

Ben travelled to the Daly with mates Anthony Whittman, Luke Hall, brothers Warren and Al Gruber and Dave Crow.  On Board with Anthony and Luke on Day Three of a four-day Barra Busters charter, Ben caught the biggest Barramundi and secured his place in the friends’ “hall of fame” by being the third of the group (with Dave and Anthony) to catch a 94cm fish. The challenge for their last day of fishing was to beat the record held by the trio.

The friends captured video footage  of the 94cm fish flying off the water before Ben got a firm grip on it and admitted he was tired when it was finally reeled in.

Ben’s 94cm Barra – Video

Luke Hall of NSW with a Barra in the 80cm range

Ben Smith's huge 94cm Barra on the brag mat

The guys left the Barra Busters Base (Daly River Pub) on Wednesday at 7.30am for a 1.5hour journey down the river in search of the elusive Barramundi in what was not entirely ideal conditions due to recent cyclone rains pushing the river level to very high for this time of year, on the cusp of the Dry season. The guys were on their second stop when the hour-long highlight of their day began.

“We got a couple on the first stop but when we stopped a second time on a river mouth, we were on the change of a tide”

The result was the three men caught 25 barra – all 70cm-plus – within the hour, using hard bodies and soft plastics.

“That is what the fishing on Daly River is supposed to be like at this time of year”

Ben Smith with one of his two 84cm Barramundi

Ben Smith's huge 94cm Barramundi

Ben also caught two 84cm Barra on this charter too.  Anthony reckons Ben has always been the lucky fisho among the group, who have been coming to fish the Daly for more than four years.

 

“Ben always jags one or two decent ones – and he’s the cheekiest of the lot too.”

Ben reckons his secret to catching a mighty barra is to know what you are doing.

“You just have to know how to fish – and I was fishing with amatuers!”

He jokes, not letting a chance to dig at his mates go by.

Welcome to our weekly blog for the Barra Busters fishing charter business.
This is our first entry for the 2011 season and we will be updating it weekly from here on out.

To give readers some background on conditions at the Daly River, unfortunately hope of an early run-off was postponed by vast flooding in the area.
Access to Wooliana boat ramp and the Daly River Pub (our charter base) have been closed for near on two months.
We’ve had to cancel a few early charters due to poor conditions but after extensive research and lots of hard work, we commenced our first charter last Monday (March 21).

Along with welcoming a new member to the Barra Busters team, Trevor Hutchinson, and two new boats hitting the water, we’ve had an awesome week with seasoned fishermen to novices reeling in the big ones.

Our guides have reported that fish are being caught in a short time frame in places far down the river due to high water levels from flooding, and we’re getting results with soft plastics and small shallow-diving hard bodies, often on the turn of a tide.

Our biggest fish last week was an 81cm Barra, caught by young Daniel from Ballina, NSW. The fish was a brilliant silver with a bright yellow tail.
Dan was a good sport – because his fish was close to being the size of a breeder, he returned it to its rightful place.
Many of our other charter-goers caught fish in the high 70cm range and enjoyed the scenic surrounds of many crocs and birdlife sighted on the Daly.
The only downfall was light afternoon showers on the return trip back to base.

On a bright note, the fishing did improve late in the week and the Barra Busters team believe that this should be a very high-class, exceptional year due to their previous fishing experiences on the Daly River.

So stay posted for next week’s blog, when we hope hope to report on larger fish and more quantity of it – or if you’d like to hook a fish yourself contact us!  We can create a customized fishing charter that’s personalized for you!

Stay safe, tight lines and happy fishing.