Alex's Column 4 April 2025

With all this rain around and the big rivers on the rise, now’s the time to start thinking about teeing up some more solid Runoff sessions.

Once this latest burst of rain clears out, the rivers should start dropping again, and that’s when things can really fire.

In the meantime, let’s have a bit of a chat about lures for the Runoff.

There are three main types of barra lures: hard-body diving lures, hard-body surface lures, and soft plastics. Each has its own style and technique, depending on how you want to fish them.

Hard-body Diving Lures

These days, soft plastics seem to get all the attention, but don’t write off hard-bodies just yet, especially around the mouths of feeder creeks with a nice colour change.

They’re still a top option during the Runoff.

The key part of a diving hard-body is the bib: the little plastic bit under the nose.

The size and angle of that bib determine how deep the lure dives when you’re retrieving it.

That’s your first trick: picking the right depth for the conditions.

You can keep it simple: just chuck it out and wind it in. The lure will do its thing and, the faster you wind, the more frantic the action.

But if you want to step it up, give the rod tip a few downward jerks as you bring it in. This works a treat with shallow-divers like Bombers.

Usually, when you give a lure a twitch and then pause, it’ll float back up a bit on the slack line.

But some lures are suspending: they just hang there mid-water without floating or sinking.

These are absolute weapons when you’re using forward-facing sonar and need to keep the lure in the zone longer.

Hard-body Surface Lures

These lures are all about noise and surface action; perfect for night fishing or when barra are up top.

There are three main types: cup-faced poppers, surface sliders, and propeller lures (aka fizzers).

Poppers are worked with a simple jerk-and-pause retrieve: cast it out, wind in the slack, then rip the rod down so the cup face digs in and gives a nice “bloop” sound. Let it sit, then repeat.

Sometimes barra smash it on the pause, so don’t rush it.

Sliders look more streamlined, sometimes banana-shaped, and are designed to glide from side to side across the surface.

They’re quieter than poppers but leave a wake that can draw fish in from a distance.

You can fish them steady or give them a bit more aggression with sharp jerks.

Fizzers are like poppers with attitude: they’ve got little propellers on one or both ends and make a heck of a racket when worked with a rip-and-sit style retrieve.

They are great for attracting curious barra when the water’s still, particulalrly in backwaters.

Soft Plastics

Softies have come a long way and are now a staple in most barra boxes.

They come in all sizes, from little ones to big grubs, and can be rigged in heaps of ways: weighted at the front, belly-weighted, or even with the weight added manually.

One of the best things about soft plastics is how versatile they are.

You can rig them weedless, which means you can throw them right into heavy cover or structure without constantly snagging up. When a fish hits, the hook pops out and does its job.

Then there’s vibes, which are a whole other beast.

These are a type of soft plastic with internal weight and usually a couple of trebles.

They shine when barra are hugging the bottom, especially around submerged ledges or creek mouths.

Let them sink, then work them with a slow or sharp jigging action; they’re deadly when used right.

All softies, including vibes, can be retrieved at different speeds, jigged, or paused; just mix it up until you find what gets the bite.

AJ’s nice Runoff barra absolutely scoffed the green Classic 120 hard-body lure… you can only just see the bib and a bit of colour.

The big olive-coloured Bomber has become a favourite hard-body barra lure during the Runoff.