For close to a decade Bryn Mathew has traveled thousands of kilometres across the top of the country in search of saltwater barramundi. From the remote upper reaches of creeks and rivers to the Pit Street congested boat-to-boat thoroughfares. His first trip to Rockhampton was something special, something every barra angler dreams of.

NOT JUST BEEF
Rockhampton is known as the ‘Beef Capital of Australia’ and with that information alone, I committed myself to the trip. Even if I didn’t tangle with a barra, at least I was assured of a great steak. Interestingly enough, on the first night at the pub, I was advised to try their famous chicken parmigiana. I wasn’t sure why a place that has giant bull statues all around town was boasting about anything that hadn’t come off a cow, but I trusted in the locals. Picture your standard parmi from your local, double it, and then add 20 per cent. I left that night without being able to finish my meal. With the disappointed faces of the wait staff burned into the back of my head, all I hoped was the barra of Rockhampton were just as big.
You can literally grab a rod and reel with a couple of lures from Barra Jacks tackle shop, walk down the road to the mighty Fitzroy River and catch barramundi. The endless amount of barra hot spots in and around the rock bars, right in town, are mouthwatering.
Within an hour’s drive both north and south, many locations open up a world of fishing opportunities. It isn’t just barra on the cards either. A huge variety of fish live in the surrounding river systems with blue water species only a stone’s throw away.

BARRAMUNDI EXPECTATIONS
Barramundi are iconic for a reason. They are everything you want fish to be: challenging, aggressive, powerful, agile and enormous. If any other country in the world wanted to design a fish that would inhabit their waters it would most certainly come out identical to a barra.
Rule number one on any barra trip is this: dare to dream. On several occasions I have found myself on both slow and crazy days casting away. Sometimes you are in the zone landing lures tight to banks, focusing heavily on every twitch and bump you feel. Other times you might be mid-conversation, thinking of another spot or even a change of lure. Out of nowhere, a big barramundi welcomes you to its world. When a big barra hits its prey, it does so to kill. That first strike sends shockwaves right up through your forearm and creates a short between your brain and heart that let’s you know it’s on.
Unfortunately, like any species of fish, sometimes you’ll do well just to find one. Barra make you work hard for them. Tides, current flow and structure are all major contributing factors when trying to find them. If you have any experience targeting other species in rivers or estuaries, you are quite easily able to adapt a lot of that knowledge to barra. You might not even chance a legal sized fish depending on time of year or location. For me personally, travelling huge distances to catch smaller fish ‘rats’ is fine. Light fishing for juvenile barra is a bucket load of fun, providing you catch a fair few. It’s a great way to begin to understand where they sit, what lures they like and how they fight. Not long after though, you will want to find the big girls.
A GOOD START
Luckily for me, I landed a spot in a boat with two of the most knowledgable anglers I know from the Sunshine Coast in James Holt and Antonio Guidi. Having fished the system previously, they politely informed me that 50 per cent of my tackle tray was going to be useless.
Rather than fishing the shallower edges around mangroves and flats, a focus was made to target fish holding deeper. By far the best lure for doing so was a soft vibe. Luckily, I had a fair few in my arsenal. With all the praise soft vibes had received off everyone I had spoken to who had fished Rockhampton before, the only concern I had was if the fish had seen them too much. How wrong I was.
With the Rockhampton Barra Bounty competition about to begin, many anglers were out pre-fishing. It became very apparent that using your sounder would be vital in chancing a few fish. Most anglers would pass over potential areas using side-imaging and down-imaging in the hope of seeing some fish on the move. It wasn’t until we sounded our first decent grouping of fish that we met our first barramundi for the trip.
A nicely placed soft vibe cast by James was engulfed as soon as it was lifted off the bottom just on the edge of a drop off. With a pretty tough fight, a very respectable 80 cm fish entered the boat. One thing I noticed was that once spot locked on the electric motor, the fish weren’t sitting still. More often than not, fish would pass through, and getting as many casts at them as possible gave us the best chance of hooking into one.
WHEN HELL BROKE LOOSE
With a few fish in the boat, things were looking great. A fish every 20 casts slowly became a fish every 10. Not long after we hit a red-hot bite period where a fish every 1 or 2 casts became the norm. Then I saw James’ rod out the corner of my eye and heard him grunt “good fish”. A giant flash of chrome swirled up beside the boat. This wasn’t just a good fish; this was Loch Ness-esque.
We both looked on in shock as his line began screaming downstream. We had to chase ‘Nessy’ to what felt like the end of the earth. Witnessing its first jump was mind-blowing. How a fish of that size could fully leap out of the water like that is beyond me. Knowing James had seen his fair share of epic captures over the years, it was comforting to know he entered the stage of accepting this was going to end badly. Just getting this thing into the middle of the river was an effort.
I was sure James had told me he was running 20 lb braid but I was too afraid to bring it up mid-fight. While we watched this fish of a lifetime slowly begin to calm down, the current had taken us over a clump of snags in shallow water. It was at this point the fish went directly under the boat with each branch on this barnacle encrusted tree banging on the bottom of the hull. Fear like that hasn’t been struck on men in a boat like that since encounters with the likes of Davey Jones.
We got through, in no uncertain terms I was told a photograph of the fish going into the net wasn’t needed and with both Antonio and I outstretching the net, a dream turned to reality. Nothing can prepare you for the sheer size of a big barra when it enters the boat. Not just its overall length but its girth, mouth and scales… everything is just big. And there we had it, 125 cm of saltwater barramundi.
SOFT VIBES
These are the two most glorious words in the English language, from first cast to last. Soft vibes have been the most dominant lure choice for the majority of Queensland barra anglers for a few years now. With quite a few brands and sizes on the market, it was interesting to see what performed best and how each lure adapted to different circumstances.
We fished in areas ranging from 2 to 12 metres. While the lighter vibes worked well in the shallower sections, they couldn’t reach bottom when fishing out deeper in heavy current. I will be kicked up the backside for saying it, but I’m a big believer in heavier is better when you are learning any new technique that requires your lure to hit the bottom.
You will no doubt catch more fish by going lighter and giving the lure more time to sink, but to start off with, it’s a far better way to get a feel for the right retrieve. You see when your lure hits the bottom more easily as the slack in your line is far more noticeable. By teaching yourself to allow minimal slack line you can start to gain a rhythm and a feel for what a fish is after.
So, what worked and why?

BAITCAST VS SPIN
People often ask what the ideal barra set up is. Most anglers who travel to target them are looking to take one or two rods max. After taking a ridiculous number of rods on some trips and lasting days hanging onto a single combo on others, I can safely say it pays to carry at least one baitcast setup and one spin. The biggest trick is not going too heavy!
Most of the areas we fished around Rockhampton had little structure with more emphasis based on finding muddy drop offs and distinct current lines. When selecting a baitcast rod with the intention of working soft vibes, try something with a fast action, around the 6’7” mark. Look for something with a bit of backbone but enough sensitivity in the tip to feel each rip of the vibe. Running 30 lb braid and 40 lb leader will be plenty as going much heavier eliminates using any lighter lures to their full potential.
When selecting a spin setup, you can stay a little lighter. Prior to this trip I thought 20 lb braid with 40 lb leader on the exact combo I used to chase golden perch at Windamere was nowhere near gutsy enough to take on barramundi but to my surprise it handled itself very well. Providing you use a reel with a smooth drag and a leader that has good abrasion resistance you can play big fish to the boat with some skill and a lot of fun. Being able to feel the vibe is essential. Over the few days on the water we found different retrieves attracted different fish. Slower single lifts off the bottom accounted for barramundi while more aggressive rips attracted salmon from a mile away.
HOW GOOD IS THIS PLACE?
Having grown up in a Rugby League dominated area of New South Wales, it’s fair to say three nights of the year I’m not that fond of Queensland. But over the years a pinch of jealousy has slid its way in with their ridiculous thrashings. “Beautiful one day, perfect the next,” is the claim made by anyone above the Tweed.
This statement applies to the fishing in Rockhampton 100%. Packing the rods away while leaving giant barramundi that were still on the bite most certainly makes you want to return. Great fish, great environment and great people. With the benefits of a net-free zone already being shown, it’s crazy to think what it will be like in years to come.
Based in Wagga Wagga NSW, Bryn Mathew mainly targets freshwater species specialising in Murray Cod and Golden Perch. Bryn is a keen up and coming presenter having had the opportunity to film several times with the AFN Fishing show.