THE AUSTRALIAN Bass Association’s Impoundment Fly Fishing Tournament was held on November 23-24 at Hinze Dam. Long-time ABA supporter Steve Morgan beat a field of top fly fishermen to take out Champion Angler, and teamed with John Schofield to win the Champion Team category.

The pair stuck with John's famous Bass Vampires in a green/black colour combination, fishing several locations in the eastern arm of the dam to accumulate their scores.

“I've never seen Hinze this low,” said Morgan. “A lot of the spots that we fished in this tournament last year were high and dry, so we had to really find the pattern as we went along.”

The successful pattern eventually involved targeting water between 13 and 20 feet deep and fishing the flies right on the bottom.

“The Humminbird Legend 3005 sounder was showing the bass right on the bottom, so that's where we deducted the flies had to be,” Morgan explained. “We did see showings of fish on a couple of points and one big flat near the Narrows, so we moved between these spots during the day.”

The pair fished #7 Scientific Anglers Striper Taper lines and 14lb twist fluorocarbon leaders. Aiding speedy movement between the spots was a 36V 101lb MinnKota electric motor. – Stephen Booth.

[FACT BOX]

RESULTS

Champion Angler – Steve Morgan

Runner-up Champion Angler – John Schofield

Ben Monks Memorial Trophy Biggest Bass – Steve Danyluk (45cm fork)

Champion Team – Steve Morgan, John Schofield

Runner-up Champion Team – Steve Kanowski, Jamie Kanowski

3rd Team – Steve Danyluk, Brett Gumm

4th Team – Gavin Dunn, Col Singleton

5th Team – George Voysey, Jeremy Collett.