Dancing In The Moonlight – 2015 Rapala BARRA Tour
Anglers gathered at Teemburra Dam for the second stop of the 2015 Rapala BARRA Tour, the Sunline Night Championship event. A true test of skill, endurance and patience the event saw anglers start at 4pm and fish through till 8am the following morning. With 16 hours to catch their five largest barramundi, using only lure or fly, the Night Championship event is rightly regarded as the Everest of catch and release fishing tournaments. With Teemburra Dam fishing well the only question remaining was who, of the nineteen teams competing, would find the elusive big barramundi to challenge for top honours.
In total 84 barramundi were scored during the event for a combined total of 6096cm, giving the event a healthy average of 72.57cm. The Austackle Big Barra was caught by Michael Weick of team Tree Huggers and measured an impressive 122cm. The winning team Reflexion/Bassman (Dan Curry/Ash Sims) took out the event with an impressive 5/5, 486cm total. Sitting in second place in the Team of the Year title race they will be one to watch heading to the final round at Peter Faust Dam in Proserpine.
The Rapala BARRA Tour is a three event series that travels to some of Queensland’s most famous barramundi impoundments. Each catch and release event requires anglers only to use lure or fly to catch their fish, testing anglers and their gear to their limits. Fishing in teams of two anglers attempt to catch, and land, the barramundi, then quickly measure and photograph the fish before carefully releasing it back into the water. At the end of each session the overall length of barramundi caught is totalled with one point allocated per centimetre of fish. The largest five barramundi caught each session goes towards the collective team score.
If you are interested in competing in the final event of the 2015 Rapala BARRA Tour, the Storm Peter Faust (Proserpine Dam) evening event it is a simple as logging on to www.abt.org.au for all the information you need. At the site you will find links to our 2015 Rapala BARRA Tour calendar, entry forms and rules. ABT membership and boat insurance are also required to fish our events. At this point in time ABT only accepts further entries on the day of each event (from 2pm), so if you have a boat that meets minimum specifications and a partner willing to come and have a go, you too could be in the hunt for the cash and prizes on offer.
Place | Team | Angler 1 | Angler 2 | TF | TL (cm) | BB | Cash | Prizes |
1 | Reflexion/Bassman | Dan Curry | Ash Sims | 5 | 486 | $725 | Storm Rod, Rapala Aggressor reel, Sufix 832 braid, Rapala lures | |
2 | Humminbird/EJ Todd | Craig Griffiths | Karim De Ridder | 5 | 469 | $625 | Omen Green rod, Sufix 832 braid, Rapala lures | |
3 | Triton Boats/Edge Rods | Rick Napier | Dustin Sippel | 5 | 463 | $425 | Rapala Aluma-pro fish gripper, Sufix 832 braid, Rapala Lures | |
4 | Tree Huggers | Mick Weick | Brendan Barnett | 5 | 443 | 122 | $225 | Omen Envy rod, Rapala lures, Austackle Big Barra prizepack |
5 | Lowrance HDS | Geoff Bradshaw | Lachlan Achilles | 5 | 425 | |||
6 | Master Cabinets | Glen Boys | Matthew Manley | 5 | 394 | |||
7 | Fired Up | Mat McFarlane | Shane Clarke | 5 | 372 | |||
8 | Fishing Monthly Group | Steve Morgan | Tom Slater | 5 | 346 | |||
9 | Team Toray | Wally Wilton | JakeMitchell | 5 | 341 | |||
10 | Skeeter/Westin | Paul Butler | Greg Thomas | 5 | 339 | |||
11 | Swamp Donkeys | Rhyce Bullimore | Luke Kerin | 5 | 331 | |||
12 | Venom/Nugsy | Talin Payne | Jonathan Clark | 5 | 328 | |||
13 | Lowrance/Reidy’s Lures | Peter Price | Andrew Susani | 5 | 307 | |||
14 | Team Minn Kota | Justin Welsh | Cameron Johnson | 5 | 303 | |||
15 | Red Rocket | Mick Slade | Beau Nielsen | 5 | 268 | |||
16 | Dobyns Rods/Toray Fishing Lines | Colin Brett | Steve Lill | 5 | 248 | |||
17 | Tackle Happy | Andrew Harris | Tim Kidd | 3 | 160 | |||
18 | Likely Lads | Geoff Newby | Phill Lyons | 1 | 73 | |||
19 | Get Flicked | Shane Snell | Ryan O’Donoghue | 0 | 0 | |||
84 | 6096 | |||||||
72.57 |