Episode 422: Kinchant Dam Kayak Barramundi With David Brace

David’s Kinchant Dam Kayak Barramundi Tips

• Kinchant is a relatively small dam and is very kayak friendly, all of the bays in close proximity to the camp ground are worth fishing. When you’re fishing from a kayak, weed is your friend, and the quiet, stealthy nature of a kayak with minimal wave slap and the ability to get into places that boats can’t gives you a powerful edge. Prime times for kayak fishing in Kinchant are from late September to April
• David prefers to troll from his kayak most of the time, switching to casting once he finds the fish. He finds that a good approach is to place a spin rod in the rod holder with the bail arm open and the lure sitting on his leg until his kayak reaches the right speed, then throw the lure by hand and flip the bail. The lure might be as little as 5m behind the kayak and the turbulence created by the paddle causes the lure to swim erratically at quite slow speed.
• When fishing in the daytime, focus on the thick beds of hydrilla weed around the edges of the lake, which contain some holes and clear water areas the size of a couple of backyard swimming pools. You’ll often find lilies in these clearings also, providing cover and shade for the resident barra.
• A good deep water tactic for daytime in Kinchant is to work a large soft plastic past the steep edges of the weedbeds. Watch for pelicans, seagulls and terns working, especially in the late afternoon over deeper water, where fish have pushed the bait up near the surface and mark these on your GPS.
• For night-time fishing, return to places where the bird life or baitfish presence was observed before dark and slow troll a large soft plastic paddle tail.
• The predominant winds are either NE or SE, which tends to blow microorganisms and oxygenated water into the bays. It might take 6-7 hours after a change of wind direction for these currents to re-establish, so barra may continue to feed for some time after a wind shift.
• David gets best results on Kinchant on either side of a full moon. Moon set tends to be a prime time when fish get seriously active.
• Anchoring your kayak by hanging a leg on each side and into the weed will allow you to make casts into clear water and bring the lure back towards the weed, where it’s inevitably hit 3-4m from the edge.
• If you’re struggling to put a fish in the yak, it’s worth focussing on the “Barra Highways” such as the original creek beds, which barra use to traverse from one location to another. Often there will be fish moving through these areas to get to windblown areas, but the trick is to maintain a trolling speed of 3 to 3.5 km per hour, which is tough, wet work in a strong wind.

David’s Kinchant Dam Barramundi Fishing Tackle

• A 6’6”, 6-10kg fibreglass spin rod with a relatively long butt is a good choice for Kinchant barra fishing. An Okuma Helios SX 40 reel, with at least 30lb braid and a minimum of 60lb fluorocarbon leader and up to 80lb leader or more.

David’s Top Barramundi Lures For Kinchant

• For fishing dense weed, David uses a 6” Zman Swimmerz in pearl or smokin shad colours rigged on TT Lures 1/4 oz, 8/0 Snake Lockz jig head. David cuts the tip off a plastic squid skirt and threads it onto the line before tying on his lure, which acts as a shield for the loop knot, without which the knot tends to get quickly fouled by the weed. Slow the troll speed down as the kayak moves over the clear water, allowing the lure to sink deeper.
• Switching to a 3/4oz Snake Lockz head with the 6” Z-Man Swimmerz is perfect for trolling the deeper edges of the weedbeds both during the day and at night. Conversely, the 1/4oz jig head enables the angler to stop trolling and make casts once he’s located fish.
• Zman 4” Hard Legged Frog is great for surface water fishing, keep your rod tip high and use hard rips to break the hydrilla weed away from the loop knot.