There were close on 100 nice barra caught in last weekend’s final round of the Top End Barra Series (TEBS) held on and around the lower Adelaide River estuary system. This is a great area to fish during the build-up on neap tides, and always offers the chance of a bigger barra. According to TEBS co-ordinator, Ross Abraham, there was concern that the recent downpours may have impacted on water clarity, which is an essential ingredient of successful lure fishing for barra, but it turned out not to be the case. “The weather over the weekend was good, hot and humid, as can be expected in this stage of the build-up,” Ross told me. “Fortunately, the afternoon storms passed by well away from competitors and those who camped out on their boats had a dry night. “Unfortunately, the water temperature was way too high – up to 33 degrees – and impacted a bit on the barra fishing. “Saturday was quiet on the water for some people and this may have been a result of the smaller tidal movement. “People who took the time for a pre-fish reported that the previous few days saw good fishing. “Sunday seemed to be the better day; I fished Wiltshire Number 2 on Sunday and we had steady fishing throughout the day,” Ross said. “At sunrise, we came across a concentrated school of tiny barra in a shady cutaway, and they would not leave our offerings alone. “This changed when a solid 70cm fish decided it was time to get in on the action. “A lot of the competitors were using vibes around the deeper structures to entice the fish to strike. “The popularity of vibes is increasing all the time and new models such as those produced at Reidy’s are proving deadly on all manner of species. “Mainstream soft plastics are always good fish producers in the right environment and were used to much success over the weekend, while trolling deeper lures was also fruitful,” Ross reported. The biggest barra caught came from sight casting on the flats: a solid 102cm barra which was Joe Sheridan’s first metery. As always, the Narrows was popular and produced both jewfish and threadfin salmon. “We often throw in a mystery fish in TEBS and Charli Syme landed a very respectable jewfish at the Narrows to take out the biggest caught on a lure,” Ross said. Kai Argent won this final TEBS round, followed by Peter Cooper and James Park. The junior winner was Danny Morgan who caught a solid 90cm fish, followed by Laurence Russo with an 83cm barra. By all accounts, the 2017 Top End Barra Series was again a great success. The final results after six rounds will be announced at the presentation next week. The 2018 TEBS will commence with round one at Shady Camp in March. Check out the website and Facebook for information on how to be part of this great series. PHOTOS: 1. Joe Sheridan’s 102cm barra was the biggest of the final round of the 2017 Top End Barra Series.
2. Danny Morgan’s 90cm Adelaide River barra helped him win champion junior at last weekend’s TEBS event.
3. Laurence Russo – pictured here with his 83cm barra – was another top junior in TEBS Adelaide River.
4. Charli Syme bagged a beaut black jewfish at the Narrows in last weekend’s competition.