2007 REEL WOMEN BARRA CLASSIC
Sheryl Thomson with her 101.4cm longest barra
OUR FIRST YEAR AT THE FINNISS RIVER, DUNDEE BEACH
After many discussions and emails with past competitors, the decision was made to move the Reel Women Barra Classic to Dundee Beach and fish the Finniss River. Those who competed in the 2006 event would be aware of the challenges that were encountered due to the flooding of the Mary River System and the late wet season. The Mary River / Shady Camp also presented continual issues with long distance driving to and from the Bark Hut each day on wet and muddy roads and also issues with boat launch and retrieval. Read the 2006 fishing report for full details.
Some thought was given to move the event back to Corroboree Billabong to be a September build up event but the aim of the game is to catch barra. The Reel Women had a taste of big barra fishing at Shady Camp and in previous years Corroborree has not returned great fish numbers for anglers. Dundee Beach was the perfect choice.
The Finniss River is located 10km up the coast from the Dundee boat ramp. The neap tides on 11 and 12 May produced excellent barra fishing on the Finniss River as the river was still holding plenty of freshwater from the wet season. The best part of this year’s comp would have to be the numbers of women that landed their first ever barramundi. I would rather ten ladies say “I caught my first barra” than hear one lady say “I landed a barra over one metre”. Having said that, Sheryl from team “Reel Therapy” did us all proud and landed a big girl that measured 101.4 and as Sheryl said, “that’s not a radio station.”
It was a great comp all round and I think we were all pleased with the decision to find a new location for Reel Women to fish.