The weekend of the 2nd and 3rd of February 2013 saw round one of the 2013 Humminbird Bream Classic Series head to Docklands for the Atomic BIA Bream Classic.

The field of 32 teams were keen to get a good start to the season to gain some form and jump out in front on the Club Marine Team of the Year points table. For the new pairing of Cranka Pro Staffer Steve Wheeler and Atomic/Major Craft Pro Staffer Dan Mackrell their first tournament together as Team Major Craft – Cranka would return the perfect result coming from 8th place on day one to take victory in style.

Day one saw anglers wake early for the 6am start and were greeted with windy conditions and a sky that threatened to rain. Plans had to be revised for a number of teams planning on heading to the Werribee River or Patterson Lakes confining the majority of the field to the Yarra and Maribyrnong rivers.

Dan Mackrell said “with the weather conditions not favourable to venturing outside into Port Phillip we decided to fish some flats and edges near the entrance of the Yarra, but with only small fish gracing the net after the first couple of hours we ventured into the Maribyrnong River and continued to work edges”.

“At 10:30am and still with no legal fish in the well we decided to make a move into Docklands and fish structure which produced the results we needed” Dan said.

Using a combination of Samurai 101, 102 and Daiwa Black Label and Daiwa Saegake Rods match to Daiwa Certate Reels spooled with 9lb Varivas Braids, the team started fishing the Docklands structure.

“The strategy involved me casting tight to pylons with a Dark Shad Atomic Semi Hardz and Steve fishing a little deeper with a black Cranka Vibe and it turned out to be a good move as we were able to put together a bag of five fish for 2.19kg which while not huge, managed to keep us in the top ten going into day two”.

Day one did produce some good results for a number of teams with Team Minn-Kota’s Cameron Whittam and Warren Carter taking the lead with 5/5 bream for 3.28kg and the Eco-Gear Big Bream being set by Team Original Source’s Daniel Kent and Matthew Kearton with a cracking 1.36kg fish taken from the rocks at the mouth of the Yarra River.

Day two produced much calmer conditions for the anglers with no wind and an overcast sky helping to keep bream on the bite all day. For Team Major Craft – Cranka the conditions enabled them to execute the original plan and find the quality fish they needed.

“We went to an area that Steve had found fish at the same time last year. Fishing a shallow reef I used a Megabass x55 in Avocado and Steve was using a shallow Cranka Crank in the BBQ Prawn colour, with this combination we were able to put together a bag of fish before 8am and continued to upgrade until around 9:15am at which time the wind picked up and the bite slowed” Dan said.

As they worked their way home they decided to stop at a drain outflow site in Williamstown and picked up another solid upgrade adding more weight to an already healthy docklands bag of bream. The boys had done all they could to put together a cracking bag but would it be enough to climb over the top ten to victory.

The scales loaded, settled and 5/5 bream for 4.69kg was huge and easily smashed the 3.28kg from day one to give the boys the Maria Lures Best Bag for the weekend and almost snared them the Eco-Gear Big Bream prize with a 1.34kg fish only just missing out on that honour.

After they weighed in all eyes turned to team Minn-Kota to see if their bag would be enough to hang onto first, but as their five bream bag graced the scales and only managed to hit 2.82kg it wasn’t going to be enough and Team Major Craft – Cranka’s Dan Mackrell and Steve Wheeler where crowned the 2013 Atomic BIA Bream Classic Champions.

In a new prize for 2013, Team Hurricane’s Peter Nord and Robert Lee took out the Austackle Monster Movers prize for the team that moved the most places up the leader board on day two moving 15 positions to finish 13th.

Next stop sees the 2013 Humminbird Bream Classic Series head to Nelson on the Glenelg River for the round two Hobie Bream Classic.

For more information contact Bill Hartshorne Tournament Director on 0409 823 070 or visit www.vicbreamclassics.com.au