Two words that have gone hand in hand for as long as I can remember are “Curado and Barramundi” Subsequently the Curado is my go-to reel when chasing barra in both the freshwater and the salt. There are several versions of the Curado and each has its place in my boat when it comes to chasing these iconic fish. The main two I run for impoundment fishing are the 300 Curado and the 200 DC. The 300 is my go-to for tackling those long weedy points, while the DC is handy for light lures and accurate casts.
For big barra impoundments like Lake Awoonga I like to run soft plastic swimbaits and a lot of my fishing is done in the dark. When I fish in the dark I run the big single handle on the 300-size Curado. The big handle slows down my retrieve for when I need to concentrate to keep the bait slightly above that weed line. Also ensuring that I don’t drop the handle when I get that big unexpected hit from an Awoonga barra.
When it comes to fishing impoundments, there are two main ways that I target the fish. The first and most common is the main lake weedy points, I like to position a good distance from the point so that I can fish the various positions where the fish may be located. Initially, I am looking for the active fish above the weed at the far end of my cast, this is where the 300 reel really comes into its own. Running mid-diameter lines in PE3 class means if you do a long cast on a reel with less line capacity at the start of your retrieve the line on the spool is small so your inches per turn is down when you need it at its highest. At 88cm per crank, the 300 Curado is ideal for this.
The remainder of the retrieve is often as important as the initial part of the cast, the fish between the boat and the weed line are transitioning from the deep water up to the weed to feed and can be picked up on their way in or their way back out. Barramundi travel super close to the bottom so that is where the big single handle helps, the longer arm and single knob makes the revolution by my hand slower to complete so it naturally reduces my retrieve speeds. With the fish being close to the bottom it's important to keep the lure as deep as possible with a consistent slow retrieve without hitting any of the slime weed that fouls up the lure. The barra will often track the bait almost back to the boat until the lure starts to change course with the line angle as you get closer to the boat.
No reel can cast a lure quite like the Curado DC, hence that is why it's my go-to reel for throwing around hard-body jerk baits. The ease of casting means I can accurately put light lures where I need them even throwing into the wind. Lake Awoonga hasn’t been firing on jerk baits like it used to but when the smaller fish start to come back with recent stocking this will see a surge in hard body fishing again. Lake Monduran is a different story, with all the heavy timber and the wide variety of fish sizes in Mondy it’s the ideal location for fishing jerk baits! It is not just the smaller fish in that place that take the jerk baits so don’t skimp on the braid or leader size, I happily run PE 3 on the 200 DC knowing that I am not casting super far due to the structure but at the same time have plenty of line capacity on the Curado. Jerk baits are twitched rather than straight retrieve so the inches per turn aren’t pivotal at the start of the cast. However the high-speed version is easier to use when it comes to twitching the lure, you have to turn the handle-less per twitch of the rod to pick up your slack line. The high-speed ratio reel also makes it easier to keep the line tight on a crazy fish racing at you through the timber. The last thing you want is slack line on a barra, they will also jump almost instantly when they realise they are hooked so the high-speed reels ensure you keep that line tight and the hooks where they need to be.
So when choosing your next reel for chasing barramundi, think about the technique and the lures you will be using before selecting the reel. It's not the other way around. 300 Curado for long casts and bigger baits, 200 DC for accurate casting of lighter lures.
