On a weekend where Victoria suffered severe weather with strong winds and rain, brave anglers battled it out on the Glenelg River for the SA AOY and the precious three qualifying spots to the Daiwa BREAM Grand Final.
In a river system with approximately 6-7m of fresh water sitting on top of the dense saltwater, bream were concentrated towards the river mouth sulking close to the bottom.
In a tight wrestle, Warren Carter claimed victory, ecstatic to win the Lowrance AOY trophy and his second triumph for the 2010 season after Mallacoota earlier in the year. The Shimano sponsored angler used a T-Curve T Series rod matched to a new Stradic 2500 C14 reel spooled with 4lb Berkley Crystal Fireline and 4lb Varivas fluorocarbon leader.
In what was really a vibe fest for the anglers involved, Carter used Ecogear VX35 and VX40 blades in colours 445 and 439 smeared with S-Factor.
Fishing down the front of the Glenelg River system for both days, Carter commented that while fishing deep on day one scored him two bream. It was the decision on day two to anchor in the one spot and work his blades up the drop-off rather than down, that ultimately landed him his full limit.
“It was a grind. You had to be patient and work the area,” said Carter.
Parked in the shallows, Carter worked the drop-off from 7-20ft.
“The fish were schooled in the dirty water, I constantly worked the blade with small hops, casting into the deep water and up the drop-off,” he said.
Scoring his only upgrade for the day late in the session, Carter claims this was the 100g he needed to score victory over Jordan Trusty.
Trusty was situated next to Carter down the front of the system with day one leader and last year's Glenelg champ Daniel Mackrell. Having already qualified as a non boater to the Grand Final, Trusty was happy to make the progression to boater.
He used a 7’3” Millerod Bream Buster XF rod and Shimano Twin Power 2500 reel spooled with 5lb Power Pro braid and 5lb Yamatoyo Spinning Flouro.
His lure of choice for the weekend was the 8g Squidgy Devilfish vibe in brown snake colour smeared with S-Factor and fitted with ultra light trebles.
“With the tough fishing, I changed the trebles to ultra light to give myself the best chance of hooking up to fish,” he said.
Anchored in the shallows near the first pole Trusty worked the Devilfish vibe up the drop-off back to the boat similar to Carter.
“I found the bream following the lure up the drop-off and biting a couple of metres from the boat. With the fresh water pushing the fish down the front, it was a matter of making as many casts in seven hours to get your limit,” said Trusty.
Champion non-boater in his first ABT tournament was Andrew Hamilton. Scoring a few lessons on the prefish with Warren Carter, Hamilton revelled in the tough conditions.
He used a borrowed outfit from Carter that included a 6’10” Shimano T-Curve Flight 1-4kg and Shimano Stradic 2500 C14 spooled with 5lb Power Pro braid and 4lb Varivas leader.
Fishing with Daryl Baird on day one and Dean Truman on day two, Hamilton also fished the front of the Glenelg River system using Ecogear VX35 and VX40 blades in colours 439 and 445, as well as Smith Sea Bullets in the black/orange colour.
Working his lures constantly with small hops, Hamilton found the bream hit on the top of the lift.
“What great prizes,” he said, talking about his newly acquired Daiwa Interline rod and Luvias reel.
“I am looking forward to the Mallacoota Grand Final at the end of the year,” Hamilton ended.
Big bream for the weekend was a 1.095kg specimen caught on day one by Barry Thomas. Not only did he claim the $500 cheque but the additional Ecogear lure pack offered by Mick Rantall from Hooked On Rods & Reels in Warrnambool.
Thomas landed the bream on a VX35 blade in colour 439 down the front near the Popes Nose. The bream took the lure on a slow retrieve and came around 12.30pm when the tide began to change.
With the inclement weather all weekend it was a pleasure to have a dry weigh in area at the Nelson Hotel. The Father’s Day crowd gathered to watch the final weigh in and weren’t disappointed with the nail biting finish.
For more information log onto www.bream.com.au or phone ABT on 07 3387 0888. – ABT
Boater Results
PlaceAnglerFishWeight(kg)Payout ($)
1 | Warren CARTER | 7/10 | 3.960 | 2000 |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 | Jordan TRUSTY | 8/10 | 3.915 | 1000 |
3 | Daniel MACKRELL | 8/10 | 3.860 | 800 |
4 | Dean TRUMAN | 5/10 | 3.170 | 600 |
5 | Barry THOMAS | 4/10 | 2.525 | 900 |
6 | Don JOHNSTON | 4/10 | 2.445 | 400 |
7 | Darryl BAIRD | 4/10 | 2.070 | 250 |
8 | Stephen PARKER | 4/10 | 1.740 | 250 |
9 | Wayne FRIEBE | 3/10 | 1.710 | |
10 | Matt LEACH | 4/10 | 1.660 |
Non-Boater Results
Place | Angler | Fish | Weight(kg) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Andrew HAMILTON | 4/10 | 2.675 |
2 | Richard LINOSSI | 3/10 | 1.800 |
3 | Paul TOWART | 3/10 | 1.550 |
4 | Blake HOCKING | 2/10 | 1.160 |
5 | Jason BIRD | 2/10 | 1.120 |
6 | Mark HAYES | 2/10 | 0.935 |
7 | Michael LINKE | 1/10 | 0.690 |
8 | Jamie ALLEN | 1/10 | 0.670 |
9 | Kristina PLACKO | 1/10 | 0.590 |
10 | Matthew WINGARD | 1/10 | 0.515 |