Lee Co. anglers discover joy of catching barramundi
Originally posted on April 11, 2007
According to the International Game Fish Association, The barramundi is a distinctive fish that bears a close resemblance to its relative the snook.
Also according to the IGFA, one must travel to northern Australia, the Phillipines, southern China or the coasts of India to catch these snook, for which the all-tackle world record is a whopping 83 pounds.
Optionally, one can drive up the road to St. Cloud, Florida, where catching a barra is absolutely guaranteed.
Boredom isnt a problem with these fish, said Byron Hennecy, owner of Osceola Outback Adventures. Hennecy has access to some 10,000 barramundi in the fish-farm ponds operated by Eco Barramundi owner, Tony Burraston of Australia.
Burraston raises and sells barramundi as a high-end seafood product under licensing from the Florida Department of Agriculture.
Hennecy sells the opportunity to catch enough of the high-flying fish to put knots in your forearms.
Without qualification, three adventurers from Lee County said they recently had big times participating in just such self-induced torture.
Trapper Rudd, 44, owns a fly shop and outfitting service in Colorado and takes frequent fishing adventures to exotic hotspots as far flung as Central and South America, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea and Indonesia, where he pioneered the great bonefish fly fishery.
Youre in such a unique environment catching the only barramundis in North America thats neat, said Rudd, who caught dozens of barras ranging from six to eight pounds on fly.
It was mindless angling. Just pure unadulterated fun. You knew you were going to hook up. It was just plain fun to just hook and land fish.
Jon Hazelbaker, a Fort Myers Beach resident whose greatest thrills come from spearfishing the reefs of the nearby Gulf, wouldnt argue.
It was a great day, time well spent, Hazelbaker said.
Any time your rod bends that much, its fun.
Hazelbakers friend and neighbor, Bill Sharp, caught his first barramundi 14 years ago in Australias Northern Territory on a fishing pilgrimage.
The fact that there is some small, industrial nature to it did not detract from the fishing, Sharp said.
I thought that was a fun trip. In fact, Sharp said, he would readily go again.
Sharp was top rod with 57 barras caught in about four hours, losing an even greater number that managed to fling out the barbless leadhead jigs supplied by Hennecy.
In Australia he used topwater dog-walking plugs and Rat-L-Traps with reinforced hooks and split rings to withstand the punishment of the big barras. And on the negative side, he had to be constantly on the lookout for voracious, 20-foot saltwater crocodiles.
At a maximum size of 8 pounds (reached at a rate of a half-pound per month) the pond-raised barras werent bending any hooks, but they had nothing of which to be ashamed.
Rudd rated the barras, averaging about two feet long, in the upper echelon of game fish, with good strength and outstanding acrobatic ability.
Compared to snook, all agreed barramundi are stronger inch-for-inch. That is because they are deeper-bodied, and thus pack on more pounds per inch.
Snook, however, were thought to be a little faster and stronger, pound for pound.
As for price per pound, anglers can buy a dead barra for takeout at a whole-weight cost of $6 per pound, or $36 for a 6-pounder that will yield roughly 3 pounds of fillets.
Snook, on the other hand, are priceless not for sale under any conditions. And there absolutely are no guarantees on catching a keeper.
That makes the price of barra fishing in Florida $800 for four hours, for up to four anglers quite a bit easier to swallow.
Originally posted on April 11, 2007
According to the International Game Fish Association, The barramundi is a distinctive fish that bears a close resemblance to its relative the snook.
Also according to the IGFA, one must travel to northern Australia, the Phillipines, southern China or the coasts of India to catch these snook, for which the all-tackle world record is a whopping 83 pounds.
Optionally, one can drive up the road to St. Cloud, Florida, where catching a barra is absolutely guaranteed.
Boredom isnt a problem with these fish, said Byron Hennecy, owner of Osceola Outback Adventures. Hennecy has access to some 10,000 barramundi in the fish-farm ponds operated by Eco Barramundi owner, Tony Burraston of Australia.
Burraston raises and sells barramundi as a high-end seafood product under licensing from the Florida Department of Agriculture.
Hennecy sells the opportunity to catch enough of the high-flying fish to put knots in your forearms.
Without qualification, three adventurers from Lee County said they recently had big times participating in just such self-induced torture.
Trapper Rudd, 44, owns a fly shop and outfitting service in Colorado and takes frequent fishing adventures to exotic hotspots as far flung as Central and South America, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea and Indonesia, where he pioneered the great bonefish fly fishery.
Youre in such a unique environment catching the only barramundis in North America thats neat, said Rudd, who caught dozens of barras ranging from six to eight pounds on fly.
It was mindless angling. Just pure unadulterated fun. You knew you were going to hook up. It was just plain fun to just hook and land fish.
Jon Hazelbaker, a Fort Myers Beach resident whose greatest thrills come from spearfishing the reefs of the nearby Gulf, wouldnt argue.
It was a great day, time well spent, Hazelbaker said.
Any time your rod bends that much, its fun.
Hazelbakers friend and neighbor, Bill Sharp, caught his first barramundi 14 years ago in Australias Northern Territory on a fishing pilgrimage.
The fact that there is some small, industrial nature to it did not detract from the fishing, Sharp said.
I thought that was a fun trip. In fact, Sharp said, he would readily go again.
Sharp was top rod with 57 barras caught in about four hours, losing an even greater number that managed to fling out the barbless leadhead jigs supplied by Hennecy.
In Australia he used topwater dog-walking plugs and Rat-L-Traps with reinforced hooks and split rings to withstand the punishment of the big barras. And on the negative side, he had to be constantly on the lookout for voracious, 20-foot saltwater crocodiles.
At a maximum size of 8 pounds (reached at a rate of a half-pound per month) the pond-raised barras werent bending any hooks, but they had nothing of which to be ashamed.
Rudd rated the barras, averaging about two feet long, in the upper echelon of game fish, with good strength and outstanding acrobatic ability.
Compared to snook, all agreed barramundi are stronger inch-for-inch. That is because they are deeper-bodied, and thus pack on more pounds per inch.
Snook, however, were thought to be a little faster and stronger, pound for pound.
As for price per pound, anglers can buy a dead barra for takeout at a whole-weight cost of $6 per pound, or $36 for a 6-pounder that will yield roughly 3 pounds of fillets.
Snook, on the other hand, are priceless not for sale under any conditions. And there absolutely are no guarantees on catching a keeper.
That makes the price of barra fishing in Florida $800 for four hours, for up to four anglers quite a bit easier to swallow.
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