I NEED A HIRO

Land-based sensei HIROAKI NAKAMURA shares his hard-won knowledge on catching the mighty barramundi without a boat

I went fishing at Mindil Beach on Saturday, June 17. The sea water was clear and cold thanks to the dry season. As I’ve mentioned before, most people think we can’t enjoy barramundi fishing in the coldwater season. I will dare to disagree with them and say that is so only in their imagination.

Barramundi have a high level of cautiousness in clear, cold water. A beginner in barramundi fishing should know the actions of large-sized barramundi, how they travel from the shallow waters where they live to deeper waters with a more stable temperature in the cold-water season.

On the other hand, we are able to see a lot of small-sized barramundi in the shallow water in our dry season. And in the evening, even large-sized barramundi follow schools of small fish into the shallow water at this time of year.

What you catch depends on how you fish barramundi in the cold-water season. As far as I have experienced, the rolling action is more efficient than the wobbling action when I use soft-plastic lures.

First, I caught a small barramundi on a Squidgies Fish 80mm. Second, I caught a 48cm barramundi on a Squidgy Pro Mongrel 90mm.

As the fish available to catch were not so big, I used a light fishing rod and small reel. I enjoyed this fishing very much.

You can watch a video that shows some aspects of my real land-based fishing at Mindil Beach on YouTube (search Land based barramundi fishing near town in Darwin Vol. 10).

THE LOWDOWN

Where: Shallow water 30-50cm Water: Very clear and cold, outgoing Line: Sufix 832 10lb Leader line: Black Magic Leader 40lb Knot: The Slim Beauty Reel: Shimano Sustain 1000FG Rod: St. Croix Avid/AVS66LF2 4-8LB 1/161/4oz Fast Action Clip: Force Ten Stainless Duo Lock Snaps #2 Action: Steady retrieving