Best time of the year to fish the Fitzroy for big barra?

[mangajack]

What time of the year is best for targetting big barra and threadies in the Fitzroy River @ Rockhampton?

[Huxstang]

If you follow Youtubers I would say take a look at Silvester’s Saltwater.   He just (as in last 15 minutes) released a new video.  Fishing mouth of Fitzroy.  His name is Dean Silvester and is a tournament fisher and guide.  Based on his video he was fishing just through the current new moon peak bit period - so in the last week I reckon.  Other tubers have been fishing up near the bridge in the past month/6 weeks.   All of them are livescoping,

[Neil Stratford]

Spring to early summer ie October to January ,just  before the rain hits it.

 

[mangajack]

4 hours ago, Huxstang said:

If you follow Youtubers I would say take a look at Silvester’s Saltwater.   He just (as in last 15 minutes) released a new video.  Fishing mouth of Fitzroy.  His name is Dean Silvester and is a tournament fisher and guide.  Based on his video he was fishing just through the current new moon peak bit period - so in the last week I reckon.  Other tubers have been fishing up near the bridge in the past month/6 weeks.   All of them are livescoping,

I have been following Dean for a long time....also following Pelagic Pursuit who did a couple of shows a few weeks ago....he said this is old footage and said it is not current....leaving the peak time in question. Matt was in his new tinny placing it after late January this year.

Dean is fishing emerald for big barra for the past 8 weeks until last week where he dropped down for some goodoo, then the rocky vid.

The Fitzroy barra bash is in October each year.

Corey and Aaron both release videos months after thier captures in the system....Corey released a vid in february....Aaron in November...funnily enough they both were in the backgrounds of each others videos....

Seems there is a lot of diversion to keep the peaks secret there.....

[mangajack]

3 hours ago, Neil Stratford said:

Spring to early summer ie October to January ,just  before the rain hits it.

 

This is what I used to believe.....this year threw that well and truly out with the river fully fresh since about November last year.

 

[Huxstang]

I assumed Deans was fairly recent as it must have been a bit cool as he was in beany and jumper in the morning.  Did seem to be a bit of a longer daylight than we get down here in winter….but he did say it was blowing so it could have been any day this year 

[Huxstang]

8 hours ago, mangajack said:

I have been following Dean for a long time....also following Pelagic Pursuit who did a couple of shows a few weeks ago....he said this is old footage and said it is not current....leaving the peak time in question. Matt was in his new tinny placing it after late January this year.

Dean is fishing emerald for big barra for the past 8 weeks until last week where he dropped down for some goodoo, then the rocky vid.

The Fitzroy barra bash is in October each year.

Corey and Aaron both release videos months after thier captures in the system....Corey released a vid in february....Aaron in November...funnily enough they both were in the backgrounds of each others videos....

Seems there is a lot of diversion to keep the peaks secret there.....

Yet if you lived in Rocky all you would need to do is look over the bridge and see the boats with livescope fishing and know when they are on!

I guess it has to be in the open season so Feb to November 

However to be more helpful, I like Greg Vinall podcasts, so had a look on his site.  This might help.https://doclures.com/fitzroy-river-barramundi-john-haenke/

 

[Neil Stratford]

Closed season for east coast barramundi is 1st Nov to 31 st January.This was introduced to give the barra a good chance to breed  uninterrupted during that period.They should not be directly targeted during this period BUT there are many still caught accidentally and released.

Fortunately ,You can fish for all other species ie threadfin ,  during this period of time ,but if you do happen to catch a barramundi it must be released quickly unharmed and must not be taken and  found to be in your possession. 

I certainly wouldn’t discount fishing the Fitzroy just because of the closed Barra season.Target Threadfin and release any accidentally caught Barra .

Suggest to maximise your chances of success ,  you consider planning your trip with neap tides , low tide mid morning, not much recent rain  , and most importantly water temperature over the magic 19 deg C number. I’d also be staying away from the crowds which usually congregate around where the utubers shoot there videos. Also avoid the Barra bash - too many boats which scare the fish .

It’s  a huge system with many rock bars, timber ,eddies , creek mouths and ambush points all   well worth fishing.