Johnny Mitchell is your Lake Awoonga Barramundi Fishing Guide. He was born and bred in Gladstone, the mothering town of Lake Awoonga. Johnny is a highly experienced and very successful angler in many fields of fishing, the envy of many in his local district. He has over 20 yrs of barramundi fishing experience which includes 20 yrs of saltwater barra fishing from the Northern Territory to Gladstone, as well as over 10 yrs of impoundment barramundi fishing.

Johnny has closely followed the stocking programme at Lake Awoonga since its beginning over 10 yrs ago. He has also captured and provided many of the wild broodstock barramundi and Mangrove Jack that the local Gladstone Fish Hatchery uses to produce the fingerlings that stock Lake Awoonga.

Johnny's fishing, hunting and bush experiences in his 31yrs of living see him as being highly tuned to the environment, whether it is above or below the water. He has spent over 6 yrs filming a coastal island off Gladstone, showing his enthusiasm to nature and its inhabitants.

He has a strong focus, clear thought processes, and a precise memory bank for fishing that helps him piece together patterns and behaviours that all assist him to monitor the movements and mannerisms of many animal species, including Lake Awoonga's healthy and ever-growing barramundi population. It is a specialist field.

He spent 6 yrs as a deckhand, working on many offshore reef charter fishing operations, also on scuba, spear fishing and free-diving vessels. Running the deck on a game fishing boat on wild Coral Sea reefs was a highlight, an incredibly valuable experience. He also has gained knowledge in the tackle trade as a tackle store salesman, and familiarity with marine bulk ships and pilot transfer, as well as another 4 years commercially fishing by himself, living on a remote section of a remarkably wild island.

These fishing experiences, matched with his bush sense, along with his truly genuine and friendly nature has seen Johnny acquire the fundamentals required to succeed and to offer a proficient barramundi fishing charter service. His approach, patience, knowledge and specialized ability will be very useful for anyone who chooses to fish with him.