The weather was almost perfect again for the 4th and final round of the sooty grunter winter League at Eungella Dam on 19-20 July.

Little wind, no rain on Saturday but on the Sunday morning we had ice cover on the boats due to a frosty cold morning. The dam had been reported to be fishing very well during the week with reports of over 20 sooties being caught in a session from 2 anglers.

The cold snap put a damper on the quantity but some of the biggest sooties we have seen in the last 2 years since the inception of the MTA Sooty Grunter winter league were brought to the weigh scales. We have learnt that a cold snap will make it a tough bite, but as usual if you found the fish some of them were willing to feed.

There were 8 out of 25 anglers without a fish in the first session on Saturday morning. There were 11 anglers who caught their 2 fish bag and 6 anglers with 1 fish, making 21 sooties weighed for a total weight of 46.47kg.

The second session fished Saturday afternoon slipped a bit with 10 anglers getting their 2 fish bag and 7 anglers getting a single fish with a total weight of 40.64kg

The thrid session fished Sunday morning proved to be the toughest with 12 anglers failing to boat a fish and a total weight for the session of 35.99kg. The sooties caught for the whole event weighed 123.101kg. As stated earlier there where some good quality fish weighed in with 2 fish weighing 5.7kg with the biggest 3.2kg and measuring 54cm in length.

The water level for the dam has started to drop, as is expected his time of year. The water temp maxed out over the weekend around 18ºC and started around 16.9ºC on Saturday morning. The weather conditions were good during the comp although the varying wind direction did not help matters.

Neil Wilson was leading the field after the first session with the biggest bag of sooties ever seen in the MTA comps since its inception 2 years ago. The bag weighed 5.7kg with one fish weighing in at 3.2kg. Neil concentrated in the trees around Waterfall Bay with the fish falling to a 3” Gulp Grub.

Neil’s partner, Daniel Grech who knows the dam better than anyone also had 2 good fish for 4.24kg giving him second place Daniel’s fish were caught on a Rapala Clacking Rap.

Mick Detenon also found 2 good fish for 3.73kg to continue his great form from the previous rounds. Mick put most of his effort in the trees around the island.

The second session started Saturday afternoon with Daniel Grech moving up from 2nd place after the first session to take the lead with a session weight of 3.61kg and a total of 7.85kg.

Neil Wilson dropped to 2nd place catching only 1 fish for 1.67kg in the second session but the weight from the massive first session kept him in contention with a total of 7.37kg.

Charlie Hohn from Rockhampton fishing the dam for the first time moved up from 4th to 3rd place with 2 nice sooties for 3.37kg giving him a total for the two sessions of 7.02kg.

The third session on Sunday morning was expected to be tough, which usually changes things! Shane Snell moved up from 4th place after the second session to take out the tournament with the second biggest bag of the event of 4.66kg and a total of 11.67kg. Shane tied on weight with the second session leader Daniel Grech but Shane was awarded 1st place on count back with his last session total beating Daniel’s best session total.

Third place was won by Rance Barnett fishing his first MTA event and had a great last session bag of 4.34kg with one of the fish weighing in at 3.2kg coming out of an edge in the main basin, which gave him a tournament total of 10.83kg. Most of Rance’s fish where caught on a 4” Gulp Curly Tail in pearl white. Rance concentrated on 3 main areas, in a bay behind the island western side lily pad edge and the main basin.

The 2nd division prize list comes into play when we achieve more than 20 anglers. After the second session the comp is divided into a 1st and 2nd division; 1st division are 1-13 and 2nd division are 13-25. This is to encourage new tournament anglers just learning to have a target and prize potential. Prize list for the 2nd Division was 1st place Shane Snell Jnr, 2nd place Coleman Roberts and 3rd place Geoff Busbridge.

The Sooty Grunter Winter League for 2014 has now closed. MTA competition calendar for 2014 with the new membership and barra comps starting in September. The barra calendar for 2014/15 is available on the website with any other relevant information about MTA available.

TACKLE USED

Shane Snell

Rod: GL2

Reel: Stella 3000

Braid: 15lb Power Pro

Leader: 15lb Black Magic

Lure: TN50 in black and gold

Daniel Grech

Rod: ACM Sooty Caster

Reel: Daiwa Steez

Braid: Suffix 832 20lb

Leader: 25lb Suffix invisi line

Lure: Rapala Clacking rap

Rance Barnett

Rod: Daiwa

Reel: Abu Premier

Braid: Sufix 832 15lb

Leader: Kato 20lb

Lure: Gulp 4” Grub in pearl white 1/4oz TT 3/0 Little Lucifer

Sooty Grunter Winter League Round 4 Results

PlaceAnglerWeight(kg)Payment ($)

SOOTY AOY 2014 Final Result

MTA AOY 2014

BARRA AOY 2014 Final Result