Fitzroy River Barra
John Haenke Profile
Fishing Guide, Videographer and TV Producer
John Haenke is well known for his television and DVD fishing productions such as “Escape with ET”, “Wildfish With Peter Morse” and the “Fishing Downunder” series. But he’s an exceptional angler in his own right – when he’s not busy filming Australia’s fishing elite. John also runs a boutique and very personal guiding service out of Rockhampton for barramundi, king threadfin and a multitude of other species.
John Haenke’s Tips For Fitzroy River Barramundi Fishing
1. Be prepared with good quality spinning or baitcasting gear in the 10kg line class. Barramundi take a heavy toll on terminal tackle, so beef up your lure hooks and use 24 – 30kg fluorocarbon leaders.
2. Be persistent. Learn how to recognise barramundi on your sounder, and once you’ve found them, stay with them. Try switching lures or changing retrieve styles until you find what’s working on the day. Often when they’re quiet a smaller lure can make the difference
3. The time and tide are critical. It pays to start downstream at the bottom of the tide and follow the tide as it moves up the 40km of Fitzroy River Estuary. The best tides are making tides shortly after the neap.
John’s Top Lures For Fitzroy River Barramundi
1. Soft vibes in the 20-30g sizes. These can be hopped along the bottom with small twitches or fished faster and more aggressively.
2. Suspending hard body lures in the 100-125mm size range for fishing deeper rock bars and snags. Floating, shallow swimming crankbaits for shallow flats and around the mouths of small drains.
3. Small poppers and stickbaits (90-100mm) when fish are surface feeding.
4. Weedless soft plastic lures are prefect for fishing for barra in freshwater areas around Rockhampton.
John’s Pick: Time Of Year & Tides For Top Barra Fishing
1. Best tides for Fitzroy River Barra are building tides following the neap. The last couple of hours of the runout and the first hour of the run in can also be good, especially along the edges of flats or in the mouths of small creeks.
2. September and October are prime big barra times in the Fitzroy River.
3. March, April and May can be especially productive if there has been a decent wet season, but timing is absolutely critical – it depends entirely on the wet season on any given year.
Episode 593: Great Sandy Straits Autumn Fishing With Ryan Holdsworth
The Great Sandy Strait has almost unlimited barramundi, mangrove jack and threadfin habitat….. you just need to know how to fish it. Fortunately, today’s guest Ryan Holdsworth gives his tips freely and will put you on the right course to success!
Episode 591: Mackay Headlands Barramundi With Jono Clark
Jono Clark is probably best known as an gun impoundment barra angler, but he also chases barra (and a ton of other species) in shallow water on headlands. Today he gives us the good oil on how to go about putting some solid fish on the deck.
Episode 581: Chambers Bay Runoff Barramundi With Tristan Sloan
The barra fishing in NT during the runoff period is legendary and today’s guest has had plenty of opportunity to experience it. Tristan Sloan shares his tips and advice for one of his favourite runoff barra haunts – Chambers Bay!
Episode 577: Lake Tinaroo Barramundi With Brodie Quaas
Lake Tinaroo is famous for producing some if the largest impoundment barra you’ll find anywhere, and our guest in Episode 577 is fast developing a reputation for putting his clients onto some massive specimens!
Episode 593: Great Sandy Straits Autumn Fishing With Ryan Holdsworth
The Great Sandy Strait has almost unlimited barramundi, mangrove jack and threadfin habitat….. you just need to know how to fish it. Fortunately, today’s guest Ryan Holdsworth gives his tips freely and will put you on the right course to success!
Episode 591: Mackay Headlands Barramundi With Jono Clark
Jono Clark is probably best known as an gun impoundment barra angler, but he also chases barra (and a ton of other species) in shallow water on headlands. Today he gives us the good oil on how to go about putting some solid fish on the deck.