Despite the lure of the Tackle and Tinnie Show, the second round of the Daiwa Bassin Qld Series drew a fantastic group of anglers to Boondooma Dam on April 8-9. The excellent turnout of 129 anglers in 63 boats included 10 juniors and 17 subjuniors as well as whole families fishing together.

The friendly family nature of the tournament shone through again with plenty of experienced anglers passing on tips and techniques to newer entrants to the sport.

Saturday morning dawned with a cool temperature and many anglers were looking for an extra layer of clothing.

Those who had been up for a pre-fish headed to their favourite spots, mainly weedbeds, where the fish were schooling up in small numbers. Unfortunately, as the day warmed up the fishing didn’t follow suit.

After the first session Richard Otto led the pack with a 2.55kg bag followed closely by Jason Shepardson and Raymond Knight.

By Saturday evening Raymond Knight had stamped his authority on the competition with two, 2.08kg bags. Dylan (Mini) Mott was a breakaway leader in the juniors with a 1.87kg bag that many of the seasoned veterans were jealous of. With the size of fish Boondooma is capable of producing though there were still plenty of opportunities to move up or down the ranks.

As the stories started to emerge at the Saturday night ‘Bassination Session’ it was fantastic to hear a number of competitors had caught their first tournament bass.

The first two session’s Lucky Weight prizes were given out as the competitors were treated to two very informative and entertaining presentations by Matthew Mott and round one winner David Green. Specialist techniques of spinnerbaiting weedbeds and trolling soft plastics were explained.

Sunday morning was not quite as brisk as Saturday, but the fishing was again sporadic with many competitors trying out the techniques from the presentation. Frustrated anglers were also plumbing the depths in up to 80ft of water attempting to find and entice a fish. Many succeeded only to find the fish was yellow instead of green.

The results began to roll in and the leader board had a few changes. Brett Kleinschmidt’s 1.57kg bass looked set to take out the Big Bass prize until Mark Ganzer weighed in his only fish for the weekend at an impressive 1.74kg.

A solid 2.21kg bag was enough to secure Tom Reynolds third place with a 4.54kg total. Raymond Knight looked set to lose his top spot to Steven Otto as Steven broke the 5kg mark with 5.29kg.

The last half hour, and his persistence were Knight’s saviours however as he caught five fish from drop-offs and weedbeds to finish the session and the series with a tournament winning 5.55kg.

The Knight family’s run continued as Monica Knight secured Top Female Angler honours as well as fourth place overall.

A hard session left Dylan Mott the Junior Champion (2.54kg) ahead of Mark Rampling (2.43kg). Newcomer Mitchell Morgan was elated to learn that his first bass and fourth place finish became a place winner after a default.

In the sub-juniors Matthew Conduit secured third place, while Courtney Green secured second place with her 0.67kg bass, and Zack McKay took the honours with 1.47kg.

The encouragement awards were highly anticipated with prizes including free entry to the next round of the series, a half-day charter with Matthew Mott, and an Eva Kool icebox which made Hamish Stewart’s day.

Lyn Freeman received the early entrant prize of a Gladiator livewell and pump. All competitors should get their nominations in early to qualify for this draw each round.

Every round competitors are also assigned a competitor card which goes in the final draw for a Makocraft boat.

The third round has been moved to Somerset as the water levels at Bjelke-Petersen are very low. Details of all competition dates, results, and information are available at www.bassinqldseries.com.au . – Bassin’ Qld