Follow these simple steps and you are in the running to catch trophy fish like this one. There are plenty of stories of the famous one that got away. Everyone has one of these. There are even better stories and photos of some great fish that didn’t get away. Not everyone can tell these. Here are a few points to help you tell those stories! Big Barra fishing is an art. I call catching one or two big barra on the odd occasion "lucky." I would like to help you take the luck out of landing big barra and replace it with good old fashion skill. Here are six important tips for catching Trophy Barra. TIP #1: WATER CLARITY In most cases (not all) you can have all the other steps right but failing this one will ruin the lot for you. I like to name Water Clarity as the top of my list for the 6 tips. Water clarity for large barra in estuaries needs to be crystal clear. You can never get it clear enough for big barra. The colour I like to use to describe this is Guns n Roses green, because from a distance that’s what the good water will look like to you. TIP #2: MOON PHASE I go with Moon phase for my second tip because the moon actually dictates feeding patterns as well as the tides. . The moon also plays a roll in feeding patterns relevent to the moons position in the sky both at night and during the day. Also, I suspect that the quarter moon is good to fish when it is shaped like a smile, but is bad when it is shaped like a frown. This forms a a part of both the Australian Aboriginal and New Zealand Maori fishing calenders. A lot of big fish are caught on the full moon and new moon, so I believe the moon plays an important roll in catching big barra. TIP#3 :TIDE TIMING Timing when to fish during the tides is my third tip for catching big barra. When fishing in estuarine areas and rivers, timing is everything for catching that big trophy fish. For instance: the top of the tide is always a good time to troll for trophy Barra as is the first part of the run in. I think a lot of this has to do with the movement of the bait and that brings me to my fourth tip. TIP#4: BAIT A well known Fishing identity on one of his Fishing North Australia DVD’s once said “ You can’t beat bait.” Alex Julius was dead right. Sometimes; not all the time; you can get tip 1,2,3,5 and 6 right but without bait, the big barra are not going to hang around and feed. The bait needs to be at the spot you are working, You won’t always see bait on the surface sometimes you will need to locate them using a good sounder. Bait comes in the form of mullet large and small, tarpon and sometimes other barra. If you get step 1,2,3,4 right you only need to add structure to target the fish and you will land yourself a trophy Barra. This brings me to step 5. . TIP#5: STRUCTURE I have chosen structure as my 5th choice. Big Barra feed around large structure as both an ambush point and a spot where bait tend to congregate. Good structure can vary in form of a big snag fallen in from the bank to a rough rock bar. I like to fish for big barra in 10 to 14 feet with good structure rising at least a couple of feet from the bottom. So don’t be scared of losing the odd lure to a snag or a savage rock bar. It is a good area for big barra and it is also good for the tackle business! HA HAH. TIP #6: LURE CHOICE In one way this one of the most important tip out of all the steps we have talked about. I have put it last because I have occaisionally seen some odd looking lures that don’t swim properly, catch big fish. I put this down to being in the wrong place at the right time. There must be over 1000 different lures on the market, most of which catch fish without a doubt. In my professional opinion there are only a handful of lures which I would use to target trophy barra. They are mostly Australian designed lures made for the job with quality hooks and hardware. Amongst the best are Halco lures, RMG lures, Classic lures, Bomber lures, Reidys lures, Nilsmaster lures. One of the big things is to get your depth right. Trust your sounder. If your sounder is showing up big fish time after time after time in 8ft of water take off your 10ft lure and put on a lure, which dives between 8 and 7ft. In lure selection terms this means that your lure must be of good quality and have consistent swimming characteristics. Don’t forget barra feed above their head. Their eyes are set to see upwards at a 45 degree angle. Get your colour and contrast right. If you have followed these 6 steps correctly you are fishing in clean water with deep snags or on rockbars. You will need a lure with a natural colour with strong contrast. One of my favorite colour schemes is Guns N Roses. This should stand out enough to lure the fish into eating your lure. Don’t forget that’s where these funny plastic things get their name. In summary Big Barra are fun to catch. Sometimes it is by fluke. To catch these fish consistently follow these 6 simple steps and you will always be in the ball game. And most importantly. The big barra are the breeding females. So take a photo for evidence, use your brag mat, and put them back to catch again another day.