AFTER 122 anglers fished Glenbawn Dam for three fishing sessions, a mere ten grams separated Murgon fishing guide Matthew Mott and Muswelbrook underground coal miner, Andrew Robinson. Non-boater Mott, however, reigned supreme, and secured his place in the 2004 Yamaha BASS Pro Grand Final, to be held at Lake Boondooma in October this year.

Robinson’s 5/6 bass, 6.86kg limit was good enough for the $3000 Boater first place cheque, while Toowoomba’s Carl Jocumsen (6/6, 6.70kg), Bundaberg’s Dave Robinson (6/6, 6.62kg) and Sydney’s Andrew Homann (6/6, 6.23kg). filled out the top five placings.

Mott’s secret weapon was an Ecogear 3”PowerShad in a olive/pearl laminate that he fished on a 1/2oz Nitro Bass Bullet and scented with both Halco Freshwater scent and Slime-It.

Fishing predominantly Cemetery Point, opposite the main camping area on the lake, Mott targeted bass suspending between 40 and 45 feet in water that varied from 45 to 100 feet deep.

“I think that my slow, rolling retrieve was a little slower than most anglers,” Mott said when asked why he thought he was so successful in a large pack of boats fishing in the same area, “and when I got a hit I wouldn’t change a thing – I’d just keep on slow winding until the bass swallowed the lure.”

Mott’s preferred tackle was a Black Diamond 7’ Flats Ranger rod and Team Daiwa Advantage reel spooled with 4lb Fireline and tipped with a 10lb Berkley Vanish leader.

“I landed around 20 legal bass for the weekend, so I think that I found the bite easier than a lot of other bassers on the weekend,” Mott concluded, “but it’s great to have my first BASS Pro win under my belt. I can relax now and really enjoy the rest of the season.”

With a $3000 cheque in his hand, Robinson didn’t really mind the number two on his badge.

“It was awesome to finish this well on my home dam and I loved the feel of the weekend. Fishing with a great bunch of guys with techniques that we’ve all learned together is what this series is all about,” Robinson reported.

But the really interesting part of Robbo’s story is the way he located the hump near the dam wall that yielded most of his fish for the weekend.

“We bought a postcard from the dam kiosk that showed a view of the dam at 45% capacity. There was a great hump that showed at this depth and upon further investigation, the top of it proved to be 48 feet under – an ideal depth for bass at this time of the year.”

“We’d stay above the summit of the hump and cast off the edge of it, count the lure to 40 and the slow roll the bait through the bass that were suspending around it,” Robbo continued.

The tools Andrew used to extract his bass were a 1/2oz Nitro Bass Bullet/Brown Crawfish Slider grub that he also fished on a Black Diamond Flats Ranger and Daiwa Emblem 2000iA spooled with 4lb Smoke Fireline and 8lb Trilene SensaThin leader.

“I only landed six legal bass for the weekend,” Andrew concluded, “three in the first session, one in the middle and two in the last, but my last bass came less than 20 minutes from the finish of fishing. It just proves that you’ve got to fish hard the whole time to succeed in these tournaments.”

Central Coast’s Mick Mee agreed, after landing only one bass for the weekend – a 2.10kg fish that won the Daiwa Big Bass prize for the weekend. He landed this bass late in the final session and took home a TD Advantage reel and $500 compliments of Daiwa for his efforts.

The next round of the Yamaha BASS Pro series – the Blue Fin Boondooma BASS Pro event takes place in April. Call ABT on (07) 3268 3992 b/h or see [url=http://www.australianbass.com.au/] for further details.

Results

1 Matthew Mott6/66.87kg

2 Andrew Robinson5/66.86kg

3 Carl Jocumsen6/66.70kg

4 Dave Robinson6/66.62kg

5 Andrew Homann6/66.23kg

6 Jason Ehrlich6/66.01kg

7 Harry Watson6/65.92kg

8 Jay Morgan6/65.67kg

9 Steve Kanowski5/65.50kg

10 Wayne Parry4/65.50kg

Daiwa Big Bass – Mick Mee (2.10kg) - $500 plus Team Daiwa Reel.