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Megabass Megabucks a Boon for Humminbird
  |  First Published: March 2010



The Megabass Megabucks event at Lake Glenbawn saw 34 teams compete in what is regarded as one of the richest bass events in the country. Naming sponsor Megabass spared no cost to ensure all anglers had a handful of their lures and a full belly with a catered dinner on briefing night.

Tim Morgan and Carl Jocumsen took the opportunity to fish together for team Humminbird in the skins event and left with over $7000 and podium finishes in all three sessions.

Let’s take a closer look at each session and how the money winners used specific techniques to get the edge on the other competitors.

Session 1
1st Humminbird
Tim Morgan/Carl Jocumsen
4/4, 4.01kg
$2000 + $850 1st Pro

Humminbird had a milk run of 5 locations identified during prefish. Because of the teams event format, Morgan and Jocumsen took the opportunity to prefish separately, where Carl headed to the upper precincts of Glenbawn while Tim concentrated on the lower half. Meeting up in the afternoon they collated their information and formulated a plan.

Heading off at daylight in the first session, the pair targeted schooled fish in 40’ past Cemetery Point with long casts and slow retrieves with the occasional twitch. Morgan chose to use the 2.5” Atomic Ripperz in rainbow trout rigged on a prototype Impact Tackle 1/2oz jighead, whilst Jocumsen went for a similar 2.5” Ecogear Powershad in the same colour rigged on a painted 1/2oz Nitro jighead.

The duo had soon filled their limit and heading off further up the dam to fish the trees, landing another 12 legal bass and upgrading several times. The final weight of 4.01kg setting the record for the heaviest bag weighed in over the 2-day event.

Notes: Prefished individually to identify locations on the dam giving team Humminbird a milk run of spots.

Session 1
2nd Tree Whiz
Mark Reinbott/Mark Lennox
4/4, 3.33kg
$1400

The pair from Tree Whiz fished submerged trees on the right hand side of Glenbawn dam past Cemetery Point. Pin pointing active fish the two Marks would catch one bass and then move to another nearby location hoping they could tempt the larger fish close to the timber.

Both anglers used Berkley Camo Grubs rigged on 1/6oz TT jigheads. Lennox spooled with 6lb Fireline Crystal with 8lb Yamatoyo leader and Reinbott with Sunline Rockfish braid and 4lb V Hard leader.

“We wanted to get our lures to the bottom quick, so the bullet nose profile of the TT jighead and the thin diameter of the line assisted us in doing this,” explained Lennox.

With one bass needed to fill their bag, the pair found the fish shut down and headed out deeper to 70’. Using 1/4oz jigheads, they soon landed another legal and found that the bigger bass where located further out.

Notes: Used thin diameter line and TT jigheads to get to the bottom quicker in the deep water.

Session 1
3rd Secret Creek Lures
Jody Vernon/Ben Pepperall
4/4, 3.09kg
$800 + $360 2nd Pro

After his win at Lake St Clair a few days early, Ben Pepperall was in form and partnered with Jody Vernon the pair found their fish near the dam wall. Fishing between 40-70’ they used their sounders to find that the 70’ mark had a clean bottom with fish holding on small trees and shrubs.

“We fished a vertical drop under the boat, some fish taking the lure on the drop while others we had to torment to bite with a repetitive slow roll up and down. We could see the jighead on the sounder and the bass suspended in the thermocline. When the jighead dropped to the bottom sometimes the fish would follow. These are the active bass we were targeting,” explained Vernon.

The lures the duo employed were same they used at St Clair, the Berkley Minnow Grubs. Pepperall using the camo colour on a 1/6oz jighead and Vernon a banana prawn colour on a1/4oz jighead.

“We got our TT jigheads custom painted by Mick Butcher from Secret Creek to match the colour of the plastics we were throwing,” said Vernon.

Notes: Targeted fish suspended in the thermocline near the dam wall.

Session 2
1st Humminbird
Tim Morgan/Carl Jocumsen
4/4, 3.32kg
$2000 + $850 1st Pro

The winning pair headed off first and went straight to their spot where they had filled their bag in the morning. Using the same techniques in this session as they did in session one, they had three fish in the well before a strong southerly change came across the dam. Moving further up Lake Glenbawn to the left hand side they fished some trees for another bass before fishing became tough and the bite shut down.

Moving back to Cemetery Point to upgrade, Morgan explained the spot lock feature on his Minn Kota I-Pilot that made fishing in the gusting winds possible.

“The I-Pilot feature means the GPS in the head of the Minn Kota is able to be used to ‘spot lock’ a location. This is basically a silent anchor that the Minn Kota adjusts for direction and speed keeping the boat within 5 feet of the target,” he said.

Further to this the duo then fished a nearby bank by using the Minn Kota’s auto pilot, pointing the motor into the wind and adjusting the speed to slow their drift so the pair could work the bank from the back of the boat.

Notes: Used the Minn Kota’s I-Pilot and Auto Pilot features to assist them in fishing their locations in the strong winds.

Session 2
2nd Fish n Bits
Matthew Anderson/Ashley Sims
4/4, 3.25kg
$1400 + $360 2nd Pro, $500 1.24kg Big Bass

After a disappointing first session only landing a solitary bass, the Fish n Bits pair changed technique and targeted fallen submerged timber rather than standing timber in 40-50’ of water.

“Casting out to find a tree you would often get snagged,” explained Anderson. “Moving the boat over the snag with the electric, you could then shake it free to drop further into the tree where the bass would take the lure,” he continued.

Using the rainbow bass coloured Atomic Ripperz rigged on a 1/2oz Nitro jighead the pair had six rods all rigged the same, ready to go in case of a snag. Using a combination of 2lb Berkley Fireline and 8lb leader, the event’s big bass actually came on a rod rigged with 4lb Unitika fluorocarbon leader.

“I was just happy to get that one out,” said Anderson. “We have to thank the Humminbird boys for helping us out over lunch, we did the same for them at the Megabucks at Borumba last year and shows that the ABT motto of ‘who shares wins’ is alive and well,” he concluded.

Notes: Freed snagged lures to result in captured bass.

Session 2
3rd Secret Creek Lures
Jody Vernon/Ben Pepperall
4/4, 3.02kg
$800

Fishing their chosen location near the dam wall the duo of Vernon and Pepperall were happy to get their 4 legals early in the session.

“Once the wind came through, it made the fishing tough and 2’ waves were crashing over the nose of the boat,” explained Vernon.

With the boat crashing up and down in the waves the technique of suspending the soft plastic baits in front of the schooled fish was tough. The boys were happy to weigh in 3kg and claim another prize cheque.

Notes: Scored their limit early before the strong southerly change.

Session 3
1st Secret Creek Lures
Jody Vernon/Ben Pepperall
4/4, 3.33kg
$2000 + $850 1st Pro

The cashed up duo from Secret Creek Lures headed out in the final session to their location near the dam wall but found the bite slow once the sun hit the water. Moving to fish a nearby bank Vernon fished a 3/8oz Secret Creek Spinnerbait in chameleon while Pepperall used a black/gold Megabass Smatra.

“I actually snagged the lure on a shrub as I let it sink. As I ripped it off the snag a bass hit it and at 1.08kg we where happy to get it in the well,” said Pepperall.

Notes: Moved to fish nearby bank when sun rose and bite shut down.

Session 3
2nd G A Hayward Pty Ltd
Stephen Almond/Greg Parkes
4/4, 3.22kg
$1400

The pair of Almond and Parkes had been close in the other sessions, but the final day proved to be their biggest bag and paid dividends. Fishing in 50-60f’of water in Yellow Buoy Bay they used Berkley Gulp Minnow Grubs and 2.5” T-Tails in a variety of colours.

“We rigged these plastics on 1/4oz Nitro jigheads finding the vibration from the profile an added attractant,” claimed Almond.

Using 4lb Berkley Fireline and 6lb leader, the pair used a vertical jigging technique to target the bass, jigging the lure up and down and watching the fish follow on the sounder.

“When the school came up higher in the water column, we would change technique and cast out before retrieving, these were mainly smaller fish with the bigger bass holding deeper,” Almond explained.

Notes: Used a variety of colours in the Berkley plastics and found the Nitro jigheads an added attractant.

Session 3
3rd Humminbird
Tim Morgan/Carl Jocumsen
4/4, 3.16kg
$800 + $360 2nd Pro, $500 1.24kg Big Bass

Humminbird made sure they continued their winning ways on day two, but with the school now dispersed they found the bass holding tight to the timber. Fishing another chosen location further up the dam on the left, the duo found the fishing frustrating with short strikes and losing plenty of tails on their plastics.

With 3 fish in the live well, including the equal 1.24kg big bass, the duo headed towards the dam wall to find their final keeper.

“We sounded an area 100m out from the bank in 40-50ft of water that we thought was less pressured,” explained Morgan. “We then used the Humminbird sounder side and down imaging to locate fish holding on some timber scattered on the flat,” he finished.

Notes: Used the Humminbird sounder’s imaging capabilities to target unpressured bass.

Once again the crew from Frogley’s Offshore and Megabass pumped up the atmosphere at the Megabass Megabucks 2010 by having a full display of rods, reels, plastics and hard bodies and giving away plenty of product including a Megabass rod to one of the teams who failed to weigh a fish but were victors in the paper, rock, scissors play offs.

Attention now turns to Lake Somerset for the TT Lures Qualifier, the first Queensland round and the home of XOS bass, it is sure to draw a large field.

For more information visit www.australianbass.com.au or ph ABT on 07 3387 0888. – ABT

Facts

Session 1 Top 3

PlaceTeamFishWeight (kg)Payout
1HUMMINBIRD44.01$2,850
2TREE WHIZ43.33$1,400
3SECRET CREEK LURES43.09$1.160

Facts

Session 2 Top 3

PlaceTeamFishWeight (kg)Payout

1HUMMINBIRD43.32$2,850
2FISH N BITS43.25$1,760
3SECRET CREEK LURES43.02$800

Facts

Session 3 Top 3

PlaceTeamFishWeight (kg)Payout

1SECRET CREEK LURES43.33$2,850
2G. A HAYWARD PTY LTD43.22$1,400
3HUMMINBIRD43.16$1,660

Facts

Overall Rankings

Place TeamAnglersFish Weight (kg)
1HUMMINBIRDTim Morgan/Carl Jocumsen 1210.5
2SECRET CREEK LURESJody Vernon/Ben Pepperall 129.44
3TREE WHIZMark Reinbott/Mark Lennox 129
4G. A HAYWARD PTY LTDStephen Almond/Greg Parkes 118.18
5MEGABASS/MCPHAIL REAL ESTATEKylie Cornish/Vicki Winter 127.71
6PFLUEGERWayne Beazley/Stephen Kanowski 117.21
7EVINRUDEPeter Leggett/Mike Connolly 106.83
8FISH N BITSMatthew Anderson/Ashley Sims 96.19
9TEAM SOOTERPaul Cooper/David Mudd 96.05
10JACKALLDavid Young/Chris Galligan 95.63
11DUBBO BAIT & TACKLEJohn Loudon/Steve Lowcock 95.58
12SEQ FISHSteven Otto/Matt Johnson 84.96
13TEAM TIVOLI MARINESimon Barkhuizen/Glyn Barkhuizen 54.65
14AUSTRALIAN YELLOWBELLY CHAMPIONSHIPSBruce Anderson/David Williamson 64.61
15SUNLINEMichael Pascoe/Joel Norman 74.6
16BASSCAT BOATS/KUSTOM FISHING TOOLSWayne Reed/Greg Beattie 64.09
17SHIMANOAaron Mogg/Alan McNamara 73.79
18TOTAL HOARDINGSDaniel Clancy/Luke Parsons 63.79
19HYPER MARINEWayne Blundell/Freddie Sawyer 163.69
20LAKE GLENBAWN KIOSKSteven Richards/Ron Jones 53.31
21GAMAKATSUSteve Eldred/Adrian Melchior 43.13
22MEGABASSJay Morgan/Andrew Smith 53
23BASSIN NSWWayne Parry/Mick Elsley 52.94
24HARDMAN OUTDOORSGarry Hardman/Jamie Hardman 42.52
25BASSIN.COMDan Ryan/Justin Scott 31.95
26BASS TO BARRA OUTDOORSBill Schloss/Jacinda Schloss 31.88
27SKETTER/X FACTOR SIGNSJosh Batterson/Richard Potter 31.84
28HARDMAN OUTDOORS IIToby Wilson/Marty Vanvegchel 31.73
29HUMMINBIRD/MINN KOTACraig Simmons/Kristoffer Hickson 1.46
30RMDKen Murray/Ross Murray 20.99
31TEAM TENNESSEEJohn Brider/Benjamin Campbell 10.51
32BASS STINGERThomas Stoneham/Paul Piper 00
32PIRTEK – ROCKLEAScott Dakin/Anthony Bull 00
32TEAM FISH HEADTom Slater/Josh Carpenter 00

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