Barramundi
- the Predators of Freshwater
Barramundi is a highly sought after freshwater game-fish amongst sport anglers. Although a native species of Australia it’s widely distributed around the world. Among the countries are U.S. of America, southern Japan, in southern China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, India and even some European countries. Other Names Other names for this fish are giant perch, silver perch, ‘barra’ by the Australians, siakap by Malays, Asian sea bass, sea bass and many others depending on the countries and languages. Characteristics The body is elongated, long concave forehead, big mouth with beautiful pinkish-color eyes which glow in the dark. The tail is round and a lateral line running horizontally across the body. They’ve 2 sets of dorsal fins setting close to each other. The gill flaps are razor-sharp easily slicing through fishing line and nets so take good precaution when handling. They’re greenish-gray on the back; the sides are silvery and a rather whitish stomach. They can grow to more than 120 lbs or about 60 kg and 5 ft in length. Though commonly caught with fishing tackle is smaller around 5-10 kg. The all-tackle world record is 63 lbs 2 ounces. The funny part of these freshwater predators is that they’ve 2 genders in their lifespan. They start living their lives as males and become females around 5 years old. Wonderful isn’t it? I wish I am too. Most large barramundi about 10 lbs. are females. Habitat They can be found in estuaries, near mangroves and coastal waters usually close to the shore. They live between fresh and saltwater preferring warmer brackish waters. Sometimes they can be found moving upstream into freshwater streams and rivers, especially the young of about 6-8 months. Spawn Research has it that barramundi do not spawn in freshwater though it’s considered as a freshwater species. Each female can produce more than half a million eggs. Diet They feed on live mullets, prawns and some other small live fishes. Fishing for this sport-fish is not by all means easy. They can be very elusive at time. They like hiding near submerged logs waiting to ambush their preys under cover. It’s quite a challenge for anglers to fish them in these snags as there are strong fighters too. These hard-fighting predators when hooked will go airborne, shaking wildly to throw off the hook. Methods and Tackle There are various methods that can be applied for barramundi fishing. Casting, trolling and drifting with live bait are some of the best methods. Both spinning and baitcasting tackle can be used. The reels should be spooled with 12-20 lbs. test line which is more than sufficient. The main line can be either monofilament or braided, added with a monofilament leader of 30-50 lbs. test. Fly fishers using streamer flies are excellent too. They accept almost all kinds of artificial lures. Soft plastic lures from Berkley with scent and luminous are very effective as well as noisy poppers, particularly in the night. Barramundi are good eating fish, a favorite table fare enjoyed by many worldwide. The meat is white, firm, sweet-favor and with only few big bones. Those weighing below 20 lbs or even less are better preferred for eating. back to top of page:
Barramundi the Predators of Freshwater
Freshwater Fishing
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