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A few images of early season trout...The new 3" Milfle ...
byPlin / 2010/8/11
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caught 5 bass during the session
byModerator / 2010/7/21
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Caught this one twitching bugants over a weeded sand fl...
byPlin / 2010/6/14
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Ecogear has done it again at Lucky Craft Mallacoota BREAM Qualifier!! |
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Ecogear SX40 & VX35/40 has won it for 1st and 2nd place for boater and 1st place for non-boater!!
Cool, cloudy conditions set the scene for the first 2009 Victorian BREAM Qualifying event, the Lucky Craft Mallacoota BREAM Qualifier. With a class field assembled and the VIC Bream Classic results still fresh in all competitors’ minds there was an air of expectation heading into the tournament. Would the XL size bream make another appearance or would competitors struggle to find bream in the vast Mallacoota inlet?
Brad Hodges answered thequestion emphatically producing a tournament limit (10/10 9.41kg) to hold off a fast finishing Wayne Friebe (10/10 8.6kg) and adding another victory to his growing tournament resume. Having won the Glenelg tournament in 2008, Hodges showed his prowess on the Mallacoota inlet by cracking the pattern that consistently produced fish over the two days of the tournament. Furthermore Hodges achieved this result without the opportunity to prefish, instead relying on his prior experience to target and find the fish necessary to secure a podium finish.
Day one saw Hodges travel to the top lake where he had previously identified schooled bream. Initially using a Berkley Big Eye blade, Hodges found the going tough and had no keepers after almost two hours. A change to a Berkley 4" turtleback worm in pumpkinseed colour rigged on 1/12 Nitro Bream Finesse jighead saw Hodges catch three keepers in succession and with renewed confidence he persisted with the presentation. Travelling to the rocky shallows Hodges non-boater landed a kilo plus fish, but with no further luck they travelled back into deeper water to continue targeting the schooled fish. With the bites becoming increasingly timid, Hodges would employ a slow lift of 3-4 feet followed by long pauses. The fish would often take the lure while it lay on the bottom motionless and swim away with it. Finding success with this technique, Hodges was able to upgrade five times and put himself in contention going into day two.
Day two saw a return to the same location. With an empty live well by 8.30am Hodges travelled to the shallows to try and secure his first fish for the session. Immediately landing a kilo plus fish, Hodges identified the fish as holding in the darker weed patches in between the shoreline and deeper water. Using a combination of a Berkley 6" worm in camo colour rigged on a 1/32nd Nitro Bream Finesse jighead and an Ecogear SX-40 in colour 307, Hodges landed three further large fish. Sight casting to the scattered weed, the bream would dart out and take the lure making for exciting fishing. The fifth keeper feel to a Berkley Big Eye blade fished in 15 foot of water.
A relieved Hodges admitted to some nerves, but his willingness to adapt and persevere kept him in the hunt for the duration of the tournament. With fellow anglers unable to locate the larger fish, Hodges consistency paid off, with 740 grams separating him from his nearest competitor.
Hodges used a Berkley 609L 2-4kg Pro Tactic rod teamed with an Abu Soron 802 reel spooled with 3lb Berkley Fireline Crystal and 4lb Trilene leader. Leader length was increased to add stealth to the presentation.
Wayne Friebe (10/10 8.6kg) claimed the runners up position, with the tournaments largest bag on day two giving him every opportunity to secure the victory. Anchoring Friebe's day one limit, the 5/5 5.38kg was the largest of the tournament, but the consistency of tournament victor Hodges left too much to do. Humble in defeat, Friebe displayed the camaraderie that has made this talented individual one of the most respected anglers in tournament fishing circles.
Fishing the bottom lake around the Doran Bight area, Friebe targeted weed edges in water up to 3.5 meters in depth. Using Ecogear VX-35's and VX-40's in 439 colour, Friebe would use short hops of 4" followed by long pauses to attract the attention of fish in the area. The timid bream would pick up the lure on the pause and swim away.
On day two Friebe returned to the same location, but found the bite slow. A move into shallower water proved the catalyst with Friebe boating some of the largest fish of the tournament. When the bite slowed Friebe reduced his leader size and retro fitted the rear lure treble with a Owner ST11 VL fine wire version to secure the timid bites on offer. Changing to a VX-35 Friebe moved back into 6-9 foot of water and secured his tournament limit.
Friebe describes the bite on offer and his tournament goals, "The bites were very timid with the bream just plucking at the lure. To maximize my chance of hookups I slimmed down my presentation and the bites stuck. Mallacoota is probably my favourite spot to fish in Victoria so to come here and get a result is great. Also I set a goal to get a 5kg bag while I was competing so to also achieve that is personally rewarding".
Friebe used a Nories Road Runner Finesse Sweeper 6'8" OLS rod teamed with a Daiwa Steez 2508 reel spooled with 3lb Stren Microfuse and 4lb Yamatoyo leader.
Taking out the champion non-boater title was Tom Mclean (10/10 7.32kg). Fishing the top lake area with Warren Carter on day one Mclean used Ecogear VX-40 lures to secure his limit early. The technique employed was a medium retrieve punctuated with small hops. Returning to top lake on day two with William Longani, Mclean again used the VX-40 to good effect, filling his bag early and returning to secure victory by a slim 40 grams.
Mclean used a G Loomis DSR Dropshot 820 rod teamed with a Daiwa Luvius 2000 reel spooled with Berkley 3lb Fireline Crystal and Sunline 5lb FC Rock leader. Fishing in only his 2nd ABT bream event Mclean describes his experience, "I love Mallacoota and to secure this result is great. To also qualify for the Grand Final in Sydney later this year is very exciting". Till then Mclean looks forward to competing as a boater in further ABT bream events this year, starting with the Lake Macquarie Super Series event.
The events Big Bream was taken out by Shane Barling with a 1.61kg session one monster that was never headed. Fishing with Mark Mangold in the Fairhaven area Barling caught the bream in 7 foot of water. Finding his blade lure unreceptive Barling changed to a Berkley 6" worm in camo colour rigged on a Jigpro 1/42nd jighead. The bream hit the lure on the drop, and after putting up a good fight was boated by an excited Barling. With this event being Barling's first as a non-boater we hope to see this amicable angler continue to challenge for a podium finish.
The next ABT BREAM event is the Pflueger Lake Macquarie Super Series, July 3-5. With great cash and prizes on offer, and the top 10 Sunday Shootout for boaters, this event promises to be one of the highlights of 2009. If you are interested in competing in this tournament or any other ABT events please contact ABT on (07)3387 0888 (b/h) or check out www.bream.com.au |
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