The Queensland leg of the Polycraft Summer Sessions kicked off in fine style on the Gold Coast with 51 boats gracing its expansive waters.

Victory belonged to Team QFM who compiled a 5/5, 2.46kg bag to win, while second place was secured by Team River City Marine with their, 5/5, 2.39kg limit.

Targeting the open banks of the canals running into Benowa Waters, Team QFM caught four of their five keepers using Ecogear SX40 hard-bodied lures (colour 339), with the kicker fish in their bag falling to a 4” stickbait rigged on a TT Lures HWS jighead.

“There was a monster run-in tide this morning and that suited hard-bodied lure fishing,” Steve Morgan explained.

“The bream scatter into the shallows and move away from fixed structure and you can cover a lot of water very quickly with a crankbait.”

Morgan explained the crankbaiting technique was simple – cast the lure into the shallows and retrieve slowly and steadily - even if bream are striking the lure. This ensures that missed strikes don’t spook the following fish.

Morgan fished the crankbaits on 3lb Yamatoyo Spinning Fluoro straight through to the lure while Johnson used 4lb Fireline and 4lb Yamatoyo leader. Both used soft-actioned rods and Daiwa reels.

“Until late morning we caught bream regularly on the SX40s but we switched to the slow-sinking HWS rigged plastics as soon as the tide started dropping. That’s when the bream really seem to associate with structure,” Morgan explained.

Only 70g behind in second place was Craig Simmons and Mick Collins of Team River City Marine. Using a soft plastic and hard-bodied approach to fill their well, Simmons and Collins fished the canals in the Miami Keys area, targeting the fish holding up in the shaded pockets.

“We pulled a keeper from the front corner and dead-end of each canal we went into,” Simmons explained.

“The fishing was relatively slow but we managed to eak out the bites that were needed to put fish in the well,” he added.

Their bites came using an alternate presentation of soft plastics rigged on 1/16oz and 1/24 oz Nitro Jigheads, and the new Jackall Chubby crankbait. “The chubby proved to be gun lure today,” Simmo explained.

“The tight action and the ultra-natural hues of the lure seem to turn the lookers into keepers,” he said. Their tackle included Angler DCX 840 and 841 spin rods, matched to an array of Shimano spin reels.

The next round of the QLD leg of the series sees the tour move south to the Tweed River; the second round of the NSW series takes place in the expansive Hawkesbury River system. For more information and event entry forms visit www.bream.com.au or email Simon Goldsmith --e-mail address hidden-- . - ABT