It might sound fussy, but there is a real difference between a pull, a jerk, a roll, a sweep and a twitch. Barra respond to lures worked in different ways, in different places, on different days and even at different stages of the same tide. Of all of them, the one you need to learn first — whether you're chasing your first barra on hard bodies or your thousandth — is the barra twitch.
We teach it on the boat all the time, especially in the dry season when we're fishing the shallow flats, and through the run-off when the fish get finicky. The whole point is to take a barra that is sitting there doing nothing and make it strike out of pure reaction as the lure darts past.
Pull, roll and twitch
When most people step onto the boat, they wind, pull the rod back, stop and wind again. In two of those, the lure has travelled most of the way back to the boat without doing much at all. We call that a pull, not a twitch, and it doesn't do a lot.
A straight roll has its place. Down a current line, or across a coastal creek with fast water running, where you need the lure back before it swings around a mangrove and the fish are already out feeding hard, a steady wind is fine.
But the twitch is what works when the fish are just hanging about and don't want to feed. Picking up a couple of bonus fish in between the bite periods is what it's for.
Set up for it
The right gear makes it a lot easier:
- A short, stout rod. Around six foot is ideal, and shorter again is fine — five foot eight was the go-to for years.
- A quick-retrieve baitcaster to gather line as you go.
- A lure that twitches well. There's no better one to learn on than a gold Bomber. We mostly use the 15 size for the shallow dry-season fishing.
Get the grip right
This is where most people go wrong. After the cast they swap hands and end up holding the reel with a finger over the trigger, trying to twitch with the rod held out in front. Hands get slippery, modern handles are small, and it's an awkward, up-and-down action.
Instead, move your hand further up the rod — about three fingers in front of the trigger — with your thumb on top of the reel's front frame and your index finger down the side. Now the butt of the rod sits up along your forearm and you can work the lure with just your wrist, all day, without tiring. The movement is sideways, not up and down.
Keep the rod tip down and to the front, roughly over your opposite toe. If you finish each twitch with the rod way out to the side, you have nowhere to go when a fish hits. Keeping it in front leaves you all that room to set the hooks hard and get the fish coming your way.
How to do it
Once the lure lands in the snag or the little back eddy you've thrown it into, leave it there. Don't take two or three winds to tidy up the slack — that just drags the lure out of the strike zone. Come up tight by reaching your arms out if you need to.
Then:
- Flick the rod tip forward a little to create a touch of slack.
- Bounce it back on that slack line.
- As the tip goes forward each time, take up about half a turn of line.
That's it. It looks like a lot is happening, but the lure is only moving about its own body length each time. If you get the timing right, the lure darts all over the place and sometimes turns back on itself or flops up to the surface. That is exactly when a barra eats it. A mullet that turns around and stares at a fish is a challenge very few barra will ignore.
The key idea: move the lure with the rod, not with the reel. The reel only takes up the line the rod has just moved. It takes a bit of practice, but it will lift your hook-up rate a long way. Practise it in the pool or the farm dam before the trip.
Why the pause matters
The twitch gets the reaction, but the bit of slack in between each twitch does something just as important. Barra are ambush predators. They use cover and stealth to get close, then open that big mouth so fast that everything nearby gets sucked in. They boof their food.
When a fish follows the lure and decides to eat on the pause, that small amount of slack lets it inhale the lure properly. That's why so many hits come with the lure knocked sideways right on the stop.
Wind in a dead straight line and there's no give in the system. Even if the fish decides to eat, it has to come up and grab it, and over submerged timber with fussy fish that usually means a half-hearted hit. Fast trolling up the guts is a different story, where fish do run lures down — but that's not when you're twitching.
The back of the packet on the bigger Bombers says to pull the lure under and let it float back up. That's the same twitch-and-pause idea in a different style.
How long to pause
The pause is the other half of the twitch, and different lures want different lengths:
- Barra twitch: a fraction of a second — jab, jab, jab.
- Poppers and fizzers: up to about five seconds. You're prospecting and trying to draw fish from a wider area, so give them time to find it.
- Parking the bus: up to 20 or 30 seconds. Wind a suspending hard body down to the fish, jab it, stop, and wait. Hit it again. Spread-out fish come for a look, and by the third or fourth jab they're switched on and eat it. It works well around deeper coastal rocky points.
For parking the bus, you need to know your lure actually suspends. Check it beside the boat. Salinity changes how buoyant a lure is, and changing the hooks changes it again.
Soft plastics and vibes
The same idea carries across. Paddle tails work with a bit of a twitch, but tip-up, letting them flutter back down. Wedge tails are best slow-rolled, and they're a great option for anyone who can't twitch — a slow wind gives a small shimmy that looks just like a little mullet. With flick-tail jerk shads, you have to put the action in yourself: sink it to the bottom, shake it up, let it settle, and repeat.
Whatever you're throwing, it doesn't hurt to twitch and stop. Just remember the action is the last piece of the puzzle. Being in the right spot on the right tide matters far more.
Common questions
What is the barra twitch?
A way of working hard-body lures where you flick the rod tip forward to make a little slack, then bounce it back, moving the lure about its own body length each time. The lure darts and pauses, which triggers reaction strikes from barra that aren't actively feeding.
Why does the pause matter so much when twitching for barra?
Barramundi feed by opening their mouths fast and sucking prey in. The small bit of slack on the pause lets a fish inhale the lure properly. A dead straight retrieve has no give, so fish tend to hit it half-heartedly.
What rod should I use for twitching barra lures?
A short, stout rod around five foot eight to six foot, paired with a quick-retrieve baitcaster. Hold it about three fingers in front of the trigger with the butt along your forearm so you can twitch with your wrist.
How long should I pause a popper compared to a twitched hard body?
A twitched hard body only needs a fraction of a second. Poppers and fizzers can sit for up to five seconds to draw fish from a wider area. Parking a suspending lure near deeper fish can mean pauses of 20 to 30 seconds.
Rather learn it on the water?
This is what the safaris are for.
Three to eight days, one guide, and the same water you have been reading about. Everyone fishes with Watty.