Position, position, position is not only the catch call for real estate but it seems that, as it turns out, it also applies to where ambush predator species like to hold. This definitely applies to bigger ambush predator river fish and for them one of the prime locations for them to live or hold in is around bridge pylons and other mid river structure. The type of ambush predator river fish that I am specifically target using this technique is Barramundi but I expect it also will work on other ambush predators such as Mangrove Jacks, Grunter, Cod and Jew fish and other predator species such as GT’s and Queenfish.
When the currents or tides are running fast these bigger fish hold pretty close to the structure taking advantage of the slower water or back current directly behind structure as they wait for passing prey. With the water running fast it’s almost impossible to cast a fly to a position where it can sink to the appropriate depth before the current whips the line and the fly away from the zone.
The time to target these fish is on the ebb of both the high and low tide. I prefer the ebb of the low tide for two reasons. First it is much easier to get the fly down to the required depth and secondly, particularly at the time of the smaller tides, the week or so after the full moon, the water is a little clearer than when the bigger tides are pushing relatively more water and are churning up sediments.
It seems that on the ebb of the tides these ambush predator fish often relax and move away from the pylons to search out additional food or just to cruise about or to school up for whatever reason.
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My 9 cm articulated swimmer is my preferred fly for prospecting barra in dams or discoloured river water but but keeping in mind that big flies catch big fish, and that your window of opportunity is only half an hour or so of ebb water, I suggest that you carry a couple of relatively big flies to target these fish. This is the “mega” version of my articulated swimmer which is 15 cm long is the fly that I tie on when I know I am targeting particularly big barra. It’s too big a fly for me to cast properly for long durations but I am happy to tie it on to target a specific fish ore to fish that short period of the ebb tide when I am targeting big barra known to haunt bridge pylons and mid river structure that are only accessible for the short period of the ebb tide.
I fish #10 rods for barra and match that with 30lb Maxima Ultragreen leaders and either intermediate or fast sink lines depending on the depth of water being fished. Set the drift of your boat up so that you can cast around the pylons or other cover covering water up to 7 or 8 meters around the structure and put out as long a cast as you can muster. Give your line and fly time to settle to the preferred depth and then try different retrieves to entire a strike. Have an exit plan in place, and when you get a hit, quickly put that into practice using the electric to get the fish as far away from the structure and into unobstructed water as you can whilst at the same time you man handle your line onto the reel and hopefully get the fish under control.