Barramundi (Asian sea bass)

Big silver fish with a small, pointed head, a large upturned mouth and bright eyes that glow red-gold at night. The back is gray-green to bronze, the tail is rounded and broad, and the spiny and soft dorsal fins are joined by a deep notch. Looks a lot like a giant snook but with a rounded tail and no black lateral line.

20–35 in and 5–20 lb; "metre barra" (over 39 in) are the trophy every angler chases.

About 6 ft and over 120 lb (60 kg).

Mullet, prawns, small catfish, crabs, garfish and almost anything that moves; big barra even eat smaller barra.

An ambush predator that sits beside snags, rock bars and creek mouths waiting for the tide to bring food. Barramundi are born male and many turn female at around 30 in. They move between salt and fresh water: adults spawn in estuaries and river mouths in the wet season, and the young move up rivers and into floodplain lagoons.

Found from Queensland & the Great Barrier Reef, Northern Territory & Western Australia, Southeast Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam), Indonesia (Bali, Komodo, Raja Ampat, Sulawesi), Philippines, South Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea, China, Hong Kong & Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives & Pakistan and Red Sea & Arabian Gulf (Egypt, Oman, UAE). Tidal rivers, mangrove creeks, estuaries, coastal rock bars, floodplain billabongs and freshwater rivers; also stocked in lakes such as Tinaroo, Awoonga and Monduran in Queensland. Famous waters include the Mary River and Shady Camp (NT), Cape York, Hinchinbrook and Lake Tinaroo.

Tidal rivers, mangrove creeks, estuaries, coastal rock bars, floodplain billabongs and freshwater rivers; also stocked in lakes such as Tinaroo, Awoonga and Monduran in Queensland. Famous waters include the Mary River and Shady Camp (NT), Cape York, Hinchinbrook and Lake Tinaroo.

2–30 ft; often in just a few feet of water along the banks.

Snags, drains and rock bars in 3–15 ft.

All year in the tropics. The run-off after the wet season (about March to May in the NT) is the classic time; the build-up (October–November) brings big fish to the river mouths. Queensland closes barramundi from November 1 to January 31 on the east coast (October 7 to January 31 in the Gulf), and even catch-and-release is not allowed then.

Dawn, dusk and night, and any time the tide is draining a creek or floodplain.

The first half of the run-out tide, when bait drains off the flats and out of the creeks; the turn of high tide is good too.

Warm, stable weather; the build-up before the wet season and calm, overcast days are excellent. Heavy rain muddies the water.

Live mullet, live prawns, bony bream and herring; fished on the bottom or under a float near snags.

Hard-body diving minnows (3–5 in), soft-plastic paddle tails and prawn imitations, vibes, and surface poppers and walkers at dawn.

7 ft medium-heavy baitcasting or spinning rod (6–10 kg class); 8–10 weight fly rod.

Strong 4/0–7/0 live-bait hooks; upgrade lure trebles to heavy-wire ones.

20–40 lb braid.

40–80 lb monofilament or fluorocarbon — barra have sandpaper mouths and sharp gill covers.

Cast lures tight to snags, rock bars and drain mouths on the falling tide, and slow-roll them back; troll deep divers along the edges of channels; or anchor up-current of a snag and drift live bait back into it. Hold on when it jumps and shakes its head.

When a barra hits, keep the rod tip low and pull to the side to stop it jumping; most barra are lost on the first jump when they throw the lure.

Catch and release: wet your hands, keep the fish in the water when you can, and release it quickly. Use circle hooks and a dehooker.

Excellent eating — one of the best-tasting fish in its range.

Bleed and ice it right away. Fillet, then remove the skin and any dark bloodline.

Excellent: firm, white and mild. Fish from salt water taste best; freshwater fish from muddy billabongs can taste weedy. Skin it and fry, grill or bake.

Saltwater crocodiles live in barramundi country across northern Australia, New Guinea and Southeast Asia: never wade, clean fish at the water's edge or lean over the side of a small boat. Gill covers are razor sharp.

Queensland has a 58–120 cm size slot, a bag limit and the summer closed season; the NT has a minimum size and lower bag limits on rivers like the Mary; Western Australia has its own limits in the Kimberley. Asian countries set their own rules, and many fishing parks are catch-and-release. Always check current local rules. Licenses and rules differ by country across the Indo-Pacific: Australia's states, Asian countries and the Pacific islands all set their own bag limits, size limits and marine park zones. Check the local rules or fish with a licensed charter.

Release the big females (most fish over about 3 ft are female) so they can spawn.