On a day that was more suited to ducks than to lure-wielding bream anglers, Team E-Tec/QFM showed a clean pair of heels, capturing the first round of the three-event Polycraft Summer Sessions.

With conditions punctuated by heavy rain and squalling winds, Team E- Tec/QFM, (Julian Gascoine and Steve Morgan) showed their prowess and delivered five fish and the tournament winning weight of 2.51kg.

Gavin Dunne and Brad Turner also landed a five-fish bag limit to finish second place, while the only other team to snare their full bag for the tournament failed to produce a fish large enough to challenge Gascoine and Morgan.

Choosing not to focus their attention on the potentially rain-influenced rivers and creeks in the middle and upper reaches of the Pumicestone Passage, Gascoine and Morgan choose to stick with their pre-event game plan and make the 35-minute run to the southern end of the passage to fish the Pelican Waters canal system.

Targeting pontoons and jetties, they found the fishing to be relatively quiet, yet consistent enough to enable them to eke out their five fish required from their allotted seven hours of fishing time.

Fishing the omnipresent Berkley Bass Minnow in watermelon colour, Gascoine and Morgan opted to modify their rigging of the plastic to suit the conditions, using one of the new near-weightless Hideen Weight System TT jigheads.

“A normal jighead drops through the water column too fast, so rigging the plastic this way was definitely the way to go,” Morgan explained. “In most cases when they grabbed the plastic it was in the first few feet from the surface.”

The overall quietness in the fishing experience by the field was also reflected in Gascoine and Morgan’s catch statistics, landing six fish for their day’s efforts, five of which delivered them victory. Their success was further sweetened with the addition of the $100 Big Bream prize for their 740g ‘kicker fish’.

The less than ideal conditions, the earlier summer start time of 5.30am didn’t deter the ever-keen bream anglers of the east coast, and with the second round of the Polycraft Summer Sessions moving to the Tweed River on the 5th December, anglers both new and familiar to the tournament fishing bream style will be well rewarded.

Along with cash prizes on offer at each event, all competitors have a chance at winning the Polycraft, Humminbird, and Minn Kota boat package, to be randomly drawn at the 3rd and final event at the Gold Coast, 9th January 2005. All event enquiries for the next two rounds of Polycraft Summer Sessions can be directed to Simon Goldsmith on (07) 3268 3993 b/h, --e-mail address hidden-- or by visiting www.bream.com.au.