Barramundi fishing in West Papua | Papuan Bass & Spottail
Barramundi, Spottail & Papuan Bass Fishing in West Papua
We have finally developed a brand-new adventure for you: an unforgettable fishing expedition to one of the most remote fishing destinations on earth. Welcome back to fishing in West Papua! Together with our trusted local partners, we have opened up a safe, exclusive, and truly unique fishing area after many years of preparation.
Join us on this extraordinary fishing trip and experience world-class barramundi fishing, intense spottail bass fishing, and raw Papuan bass fishing in pristine waters far from civilization. Catch powerful barramundi from the shore and battle some of the strongest freshwater predators in the world.
Sample Itinerary
Your group fishing expedition starts with an international flight from your home airport to Jakarta. From there, you continue to Timika, the regional airport of West Papua. Depending on the flight schedule, you will either spend the night in a hotel in Timika or continue directly north on the same day to the first stage of your fishing trip.
Upon arrival in the north, you will check into a simple local hotel and enjoy a relaxed evening before the adventure begins.
Part 1 – Spottail Bass & Papuan Bass Fishing
Early the next morning, you travel by car and boat to the first fishing area. After a journey of approximately three hours, you reach a simple stilt house directly on the river. Depending on water levels, you will either head straight to the Spottail Bass Camp on the river or to the Papuan Bass Camp located near a lake. This remote camp will be your home for the next few days.
Please note: this is a true fishing expedition. Due to the extreme remoteness of the area, accommodation is basic, but authentic and perfectly suited to the adventure.
After setting up camp, you prepare your tackle for spin fishing for spottail and Papuan bass. These fish are famous for their explosive strikes and incredible fighting power. Heavy-duty rods, strong hooks, solid snap rings, and swivels are absolutely essential. Weak tackle will not survive these fish.
In the afternoon, you head out for your first fishing session in search of spottail and Papuan bass.
Fishing locations vary depending on conditions:
- River sections dominated by spottail bass
- Smaller lakes mainly holding Papuan bass
- Large lagoons with strong Papuan bass populations and occasional spottail bass
For the next three full days, you will fish rivers, lakes, and lagoons using pure spin fishing techniques. Surface lures, deep-running wobblers, jerkbaits, and swimbaits are used. The strikes are brutal and often feel like the rod is being ripped from your hands. During the fight, you must stop the fish quickly before it reaches submerged obstacles.
Fishing is done from traditional local boats, each accommodating up to three anglers. The boats are stable and provide enough space for comfortable spin fishing.
On the final morning of Part 1, you fish for half a day before spending the night in a stilt house by the river. The following morning, you return to the airport and fly back to Timika, where you spend the night in a simple hotel.
Part 2 – Barramundi Fishing
Early in the morning, your transfer takes you to the harbor (approx. 1.5 hours). From there, it is a four-hour boat ride to our remote barramundi island.
After arriving, you set up camp and prepare your spinning gear for barramundi fishing. In the afternoon, you head straight out for your first fishing session.
Barramundi are fished both from the shore and from boats. Shore fishing is similar to sea trout fishing: wading along the coastline and casting methodically. This style of fishing is incredibly exciting and allows for spectacular fights. Barramundi are powerful fish, and because there are few underwater obstacles, lighter spinning rods can be used.
Effective lures include slim, shallow-running wobblers, soft plastics, jerkbaits, small poppers, and swimbaits.
Like in Gabon, barramundi fishing in West Papua is highly tide-dependent. Fishing sessions are planned around the best tide windows using precise tide calendars. In addition to barramundi, there are good chances of catching queenfish and threadfin from the boat.
Barramundi fishing is extremely addictive: brutal strikes, hard fights, and light tackle create an unbeatable combination. You will fish four full days for giant barramundi, which can grow well beyond one meter in this untouched fishing area.
Return Journey
After the final day of fishing, you pack your gear and travel back to Timika. An additional overnight stay is planned before your return flight home the following day. The fishing expedition ends upon arrival at your home airport.
Accommodation West Papua Fishing Expedition
Your accommodation
Spottail & Papuan Bass
Spottail & Papuan Bass Camp
During the first part of your fishing trip, you will stay in traditional local huts on stilts or in a tented camp. As mentioned, these are the only accommodation options available locally. As this is an expedition, you should not expect luxurious accommodation. Each guest will have their own tent in the accommodation. There is a simple bush toilet and the river for showering.
Catering
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Drinks: Water and non-alcoholic beverages will be provided. Alcoholic beverages can be purchased on site according to consumption.
Barramundi
Barramundi Camp
Barramundi Camp is a tent camp where each customer has their own tent. The camp is set up on the beach or in a sheltered spot, depending on conditions.
There are chairs and tables available, as well as a simple bush toilet and the sea and limited fresh water for washing. As there is no fresh water on the island, we bring our own and therefore have to use it sparingly. The local cook provides traditional Indonesian cuisine.
Catering
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Drinks: Water and non-alcoholic beverages will be provided. Alcoholic beverages can be purchased on site according to consumption.
Your fishing boats in West Papua
Boats
Fishing is done from traditional local boats suitable for three anglers. The boats are adequately motorized, and guides often paddle silently to the best spottail bass and Papuan bass fishing spots.
Fishing Spottail & Papuan Bass
3 Anglers per boat
Fishing is done from traditional local boats suitable for three anglers. The boats are adequately motorized, and guides often paddle silently to the best spottail bass and Papuan bass fishing spots.
Dieses Angelgerät benötigt ihr für Barramundi, Spotted & Papuan Bass!
Tackle Talk
For fishing for spottail and Papuan bass, you need high-quality and, above all, strong spinning rods! You will need two rod sets for the first part of the trip. One set for fishing in the lakes and one for fishing in the river. For the lakes and lagoons, use PE4-6 spinning rods (50-70 lb). For fishing in the river, you will need stronger rods in the PE 6-8 class (80-100 lb).
Lighter spinning rods are used for barramundi fishing. Rods in the PE2-4 class (20-30 lb) are sufficient for fishing for barramundi. Reels in sizes 2500-4000 are used. It is important that the reels are saltwater resistant! Longer spinning rods allow for longer casting distances. Spinning rods for barramundi fishing should be at least 2.70m long!
- Heavy Spinning Rod: PE 6-8, 80-100lbs braided line, 2,0 – 2,4m
- Heavy Spinning Reel: Shimano Stella 8-10k, Daiwa Saltiga 8-10k
- Medium Spinning Rod: PE 4-6, 50-75lbs braided line, 2,0 – 2,4m
- Medium Spinning Reel: 6000 – 8000er size, saltwater resistant
- Light Spinning Rod: PE 2-4, 20-30lbs braided line, 2,4 – 3m
- Light Spinning Reel: 2500 – 4000er size, saltwater resistant
These are the lures you need!
Spottail & Papuan Bass Fishing Lures
Different lures are used for fishing for spottail and Papuan bass. This depends on whether you are fishing in the river or in the lagoons. For river fishing, you mainly need deep-running wobblers and crankbaits such as the Salmo Fatso 12 cm, Deps Cascabel, Salmo Hornet 9 cm, or the Halco Poltergeist 80 & 100. Rapalla X-Rap Magnums also work very well.
When fishing in lagoons, surface lures and floating stickbaits, jerks, and swimbaits are usually used. Lures between 12-15 cm are recommended here, such as the Duo Realis Pencil 130 & 150, the Sakura Naja 145s, or the Rapala Precision Xtreme Pencil 130. The Halco Roosta 135 is a good popper. Be sure to bring the Hybrida J1 as a jerkbait and swimbaits up to 15 cm.
Spinfishing for Barramundi!
Barramundi Fishing Lures
For spin fishing for barramundi, you will need shallow-running wobblers, rubber fish, jerkbaits, and swimbaits. The lures should be between 10 cm and 15 cm in size and be able to be cast far. Twitchbaits such as the Illex Arnaud, Zeck Murdock, Duel Tide Minnow Slim, Lucky Craft Pointer SP, Waylander Pulse Runner 13 cm, Yozuri Mag Slim F & Crystal 3D Minnow F11 and 13, Rapala MaxRap 15).
The lures should be long-casting and should fly well even in strong winds. The further the lures can be cast, the better.
Surface lures such as poppers (Storm Rattlin Salwater Chug Bug 11) and floating walk-the-dog stickbaits (Lucky Craft Gunfish 115 & 135, Rapala Precision Xtreme Pencil 13cm or Waylander Waward 120LF) are also a good choice.
Rubber fish between 8-12cm in bright, natural, and silver colors are also effective.
The best line and leaders for fishing in West Papua!
Leader & Main Line
Leaders between 80-130 lbs are used for heavy spin fishing. For medium spin fishing, leaders between 60-70 lbs are used. Leaders for barramundi fishing should have a breaking strain between 40-60 lbs. Here, care should be taken to ensure that they are quality leaders, such as those from Fishermen, Varivas, Nomad, or Climax.
The main lines should be high-performance PE lines. A PE8 (80 lb breaking strain) for the heavy setup and a PE6 (65 lb breaking strain) for the medium rod should be sufficient. For barramundi fishing, you need a PE3 (30 lb breaking strain).
Good lines include Gosen Diver x8, Daiwa J-Braid x8, JB Line One, or other high-performance lines!
Terminal Tackle
Hooks, Split- & Solid Rings
In general, you should replace all hooks and snap rings on your artificial lures. BKK and Owner ST 66 hooks that match the size of the lure are recommended. Owner also offers good snap rings (Owner Hyper Wire Xtra Strong). We recommend using barbless hooks as these reduce the risk of injury.
You should only use snap rings from quality brands such as Owner or BKK. The fish develop tremendous power when fighting, and the snap and solid rings must be able to withstand this force. We recommend Owner Hyper Wire Xtra Strong & BKK Split Ring 41).
Hilfreiche Tools für eure Angelreise
Sonstiges Angelgerät
In general, it is advisable to bring a good split ring plier. Here we can recommend the hPa Game Plier split ring pliers. This allows you to open super strong split rings without any problems.
A good, waterproof boat bag is also recommended. The company Zeck Fishing has a few good bags on offer. We recommend the Tackle Container Pro or the Tackle Container Pro Catfish!
Since you are often jigging for several hours at a time, we recommend that you bring a pair of good gloves with you.
Since it can get very warm in West Papua, we recommend UV protection shirts, a sun hat and LF50 sunscreen! You can order our Expeditions UV shirts directly from us!
Good polarized sunglasses are essential for fishing. We recommend glasses from gloryfy unbreakable. The best polarized sunglasses for anglers currently available are also indestructible!
You can take a closer look at the gloryfy unbreakable polarized sunglasses for anglers here: Polarized Sunglasses for Anglers!
How much does a fishing trip to West Papua costs?
Price
Included
- english speaking tour guide**
- 3 Nights in a Hotel, DBL, B&B
- 9 Nights in tented camps, single tent, FB
- Expedition Equipment
- 4 Days fishing for Spottail/Papuan Bass with guide
- 4 Days fishing for Barramundi with guide
- Airport- & Boat transfers
- Fishing Licenses
- Photo- & Videodocumentary**
Not included
- Tips for Crew* (ca. 200€ / Angler)
- International Flight & Visa
- Domestic Flights
- Travel Insurance*
- extra luggage fees*
- additional meals/drinks
- * optional/exempt **only if the minimum number of participants is reached
- Minimum number of participants: 6
Price per person
3999,-€
Extras
On request
Booking statuses
Barramundi & Papuan Bass Fishing Trip
2026 / 2027
Barramundi, Spotted & Papuan Bass Fishing
The best catches!
