Mark Hope now holds the record for the largest
Tinaroo Dam is well known for its big barramundi. There are also some big mangrove jack in the dam that were stocked as part of a research stocking trial.
During the warmer months from October – March the fish are a lot more active and so you'll have a lot more chances at landing the “Big One”. When fishing for Barramundi look for any holding structure in the lake, shallow weed covered water, or small running creeks where they will ambush their prey.
On warm, balmy, humid days, sunrise and sunset is prime barra time up here. You must be on the water early or late to consistently catch these monsters. As the first, and last, of the suns rays hit the mirror surface waters of the lake, the bait fish go crazy, and so do the Barra.
The maximum water depth is 41.8 metres (137 ft) and at 100% capacity the dam wall impounds enough water from the Barron River to create a lake approximately 75% the size of Sydney Harbour with a capacity of 438,919 megalitres (15,500.3×106 cu ft) of water at 670 metres (2,200 ft) AHD .
Red claw and yabby crayfish are also here in numbers. A permit is required to fish on Lake Tinaroo. Get one at fish and tackle shops or boat hire spots. Tinaroo township on the shores of the lake has camping facilities and other accommodation, a boat ramp and playground.
Best lures seem to be traditional minnows and soft plastics. Bouncing a frog lure across water lilies is also productive for catching barramundi. At night-time slowly retrieving surface popper lures to simulate mullet cruising around on the surface seems to be productive.
Mark Hope now holds the record for the largest Barramundi taken from Lake Tinaroo with a 40.7 kg Monster and holds the record for the All Tackle Length of 130cm 6th September 2012.
The barramundi's lifecycle includes freshwater, estuarine and marine phases. In the wet season (October to April), sexually mature adults migrate from freshwater to coastal estuaries and river mouths to spawn (release sperm and eggs).
Construction of Tinaroo Dam was started in 1953 and completed in 1958. Lake Tinaroo is open all year for those chasing the famous sportsfish, barramundi.
The Town Under Tinaroo
There are rumours circulating in the region that there is town underneath Tinaroo. The Lake was filled too soon after completion, which meant that the nearby town of Kulara had to be abandoned once the waters started to rise.
Lake Tinaroo is a very popular spot for swimmers, skiers, walkers, fishing (permit required), red clawing, ideal for picnics with barbecues available and has five camping areas located around the back of the dam in the Danbulla State Forest.
Goan cuisine
Locally caught chonak (barramundi) is a favourite food, prepared with either recheado (a Goan red masala) or coated with rava (sooji, semolina) and pan fried. The fish is generally filleted on the diagonal.
Fact 1 Barramundi's native waters span from Northern Australia up to Southeast Asia and all the way west to the coastal waters of India and Sri Lanka. Fact 2 Barramundi is known by many around the world as Asian Seabass, although its Scientific common name is Barramundi Perch.
This fish is also know as bhola or bhola bhetki in bengali. The english name for which is barramundi or asian seabass.
The existence of Golden Barramundi in the wild is extremely rare, with the chance of a Golden Barramundi being born one-in-ten million. When Mainstream was founded nearly 20 years ago, there were anecdotal reports of rare golden and platinum coloured Barramundi being in existence.
“When I heard it crash, I knew it was a big fish,” Harrold detailed to the Australian media before throwing out his “barra” and “snodger” comment. Harrold's monster weighed an incredible 44.6kg (about 98 pounds) and measured 135cm (almost 4 ½ feet). Its girth was an astounding 107cm (about 3 ½ feet).
Koyilandy harbour in Kerala is the largest fishing harbour in Asia. It has the longest breakwater. India has 7,516 kilometres (4,670 mi) of marine coastline, 3,827 fishing villages and 1,914 traditional fish landing centers.
Barras like to eat, so getting them to inhale bait isn't very hard, but landing them is. The main reason for this is the Barramundi's extremely hard mouth, which can make it virtually impossible to get them properly hooked. Add to that their jumps and headshakes, and you've got a proper battle of wits and strength.
Size and Weight
They can reach up to 1.5m and 50kg, although most wild-caught fish weigh less than 6kg. Some farmed fish are sold at 400-600g (plate-sized), though increasingly many farms produce larger fish (around 2-5kg).
Barramundi inhabit a wide variety of habitats in coastal waters, estuaries and lagoons in clear to turbid water up to 40 metres deep.
“Lake Tinaroo is known to have a resident population of freshwater crocodiles and these are reported regularly to EHP wildlife officers.”
Lake Tinaroo is currently at 65.83% capacity making for excellent skiing and other water activities. To access the latest dam / lake levels, click this link or on the image and then click on Mareeba / Dimbulah to access Tinaroo Falls Dam level in real time.
Lake Tinaroo
It is now a multi-purpose storage dam providing water to tableland towns, power generation, crop irrigation, stock watering and recreation. Read more about the nature, culture and history of Danbulla National Park and State Forest.