They say that Rockhampton is the only city in Australia where you can fly in, check in, and be on the water chasing trophy-sized barramundi in under an hour.
Gary Howard did just that joining Nathan Johnston from Guided Fishing DownUnder on day two of the Fitzroy River Barra Bash.
Each year the Frenchville Sports Club in Rocky puts on what is Australia’s richest Barramundi fishing tournament with a prize pool of $80,000! It’s a comp for teams of two.
The Fitzroy River became net-free in 2015 and that is absolutely paying dividends.
The Barra Bash is catch and release so it’s all about capturing photographic evidence, and sending it on to the judges.
There are prizes for the biggest and the most metres so every fish counts.
Aside from angling, spending a day on the Fitzroy is a pretty special eco-tourism experience.
The estuary system has 45 kays of fishing options … and Nathan sees plenty of barra action around the mangroves.
“They’re an efficient fish, or a lazy fish dependent on how you want to look at it so the structure allows them to get out of the tide and watch that rolling banquet come past their face without having to expend too much energy,” he said.
The name Barra Bash is actually a bit deceptive because both barra and King Threadfin count on the scoreboard.
Two and a half days of competition is followed by a family fun day that’s open to the whole community.
As they say, you’ve got to be in it to win it – and there’s also the chance to win a boat package worth about $30,000.
If you want to know what’s planned for this year’s Fitzroy River Barra Bash, jump on the Frenchville Sports Club website.
If you’re looking for accommodation then we can recommend the Tourism Award-winning Empire Apartment Hotel.
