2022 ABT Tournament Angler Guide

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Daiwa BREAM Series Qualifier Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Round 7 Round 8 Round 9 Grand Final Australian Open Queensland Open

Date 29-30 January 2-3 February 18-19 March 22-23 March 30 Apr - 1 May 4-5 May 21-22 May 18-19 June 17-18 September 25-27 November 1-3 March 16-17 July

13 Fishing BASS Pro Series Qualifier Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6 Grand Final BASS Australian Open

Date 5-6 February 8-9 February 12-13 March 15-16 March 23-24 April 4-5 June 22-23 October 27-28 August

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Qualifier Date Round 1 27 March Round 2 23-24 April Round 3 12 June Round 4 10 September Grand Final 15-16 October BASS Electric Australian Open 9-10 July

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State VIC VIC TAS TAS WA WA NSW NSW QLD VIC NSW QLD

Location Mallacoota

Gippsland Lakes Derwent River St Helens Mandurah Perth Hawkesbury River Tweed River Gladstone Mallacoota Sydney Harbour-Hawkesbury River Gold Coast / Moreton Bay

State VIC VIC NSW NSW NSW QLD NSW QLD

Location Lake Blue Rock Glenmaggie Dam Lake St Clair Glenbawn Dam Clarence River Cania Dam Clarence River Somerset Dam

State NSW NSW QLD QLD QLD QLD

Location Coldstream River Toonumbar Dam Lake Macdonald Wyaralong Dam Wivenhoe Dam Hinze Dam

Event Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Round 6

Date 3-4 October 5 October 4 November 5 November 7 November 9-10 November

State QLD QLD QLD QLD QLD QLD

Location Lake Tinaroo Lake Tinaroo Teemburra Dam Kinchant Dam Peter Faust Dam Peter Faust Dam

BARRA Australian Open

9-11 September

QLD

Awoonga Dam

2022 West Australian Bream Classics Event Boat Round 1 Boat Round 2 Boat Round 3 Kayak Round 1 Kayak Round 2 Kayak Round 3 Kayak Grand Final Boat Grand Final

2022 Vic Bream Classics Event Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Grand Final

Date 2-3 April 5 June 23 October 20 February 21-22 May 23 October 19-20 November 3-4 December

Facebook: WA Bream Classics

Location Albany Mandurah Swan River Moore River Blackwood River Swan River Albany Blackwood River

www.vicbreamclassics.com.au Date 26-27 March 30 Apr - 1 May 18-19 June 20-21 August 8-9 October 19-20 November

Location Metung Mallacoota Nelson Marlo Warrnambool Metung

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Will we be back to normal in 2022?

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Steve Morgan s.morgan@fishingmonthly.com.au

While it was great to get the BREAM and the BASS Grand Finals out of the way in 2021, wow it has been busy ever since.

We are halfway through January and have sold a whole year’s worth of sponsorship, taken the first tranch of entries and also completed the Tournament Angler Guide in a two week window. We normally take a couple of months to get all of that done.

But that seems to be the way of things nowadays.

Run the events when you can, do the work when you can – be it from home, in the field or at the office. If you hesitate you may miss an opportunity.

Congratulations to all of our winners last year.

From our BARRA Team of the Year through to our Victorians who came up and dominated the BREAM Grand Final, you are all champions. And also a big thank you to the non-boaters who have willingly accepted the trial changes that we are going to roll out 2022.

We trialed individual weights and three fish limits in both the BREAM and the BASS Grand Finals last year. It kept the fields really tight and ultra competitive, 6

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and the anglers took it all in their stride. At any stage most anglers were only ever a kicker fish or two away from glory.

And although the boaters took home some magnificent Alloycraft/Mercury boats, we were fairly proud of the prize packs that we got together for the nonnies. $3000 to $4000 worth of gear spread out on a carpeted board looks amazing. And I’m sure that Jesse Rotin and Paul Mazaroli can attest to the fact that fattens up your kit up quite substantially.

We have heard on the grapevine that some anglers aren’t particularly fond of running tournaments on an app, as opposed to a standard weigh-in event. My advice in this area is; please try it before you decide. There are several reasons we run an app based tournament, anything from legislative requirements through to being able to run an event with a five fish limit.

BARRA guys have been doing it for years and have no problems with the process.

The silver lining is that an app based event gets way more eyeballs than a standard, weigh-in event.

Your fans, family and loved ones can follow your progress throughout the day on a live scoreboard. This engages an audience for hours rather than a 30 minute window at the weigh-in.

If you’re worried about there being no surprises at the end of the day’s fishing, don’t worry. Just watch the final reveal of the BASS Grand Final weigh- in to see what elation and disappointment is all about. A final fish in the final throes of the session swung a $60,000 boat from one angler to another. That gets the heart going.

Well done Dane and sorry Matt Langford.

Additionally, the data that is collected during an ABT App event gets pooled and is submitted to Fisheries scientists or stocking groups in their respective

states. What you are doing by fishing an event is participating in community monitoring of the resource.

And you are doing it by catch-and-release fishing.

You may not know, but most monitoring of the fisheries you love to enjoy is done by autopsy. Creel surveys of commercial fishing catches and boat ramps generally involve dead fish to get an estimate of how many live fish are in the waterway. We can help to collect that data and the fish don’t die at the end of it.

What we are arming ourselves with are tools that

we can you use to refute the argument that what we do is cruel. We all love catch-andrelease fishing, but recording your results and having them contribute towards community monitoring gives us the moral high ground.

And that will help us for decades to come.

If you think that this is not a threat for Australian anglers, think again. There are places in Europe you are not allowed to release a fish once you’ve caught it. Think about that.

But enough being negative, we are back to a full

spread of events in BREAM, BASS and BARRA in 2022.

There are Angler of the Year trophies to win, events to win, Grand Finals to win, boats to win and tackle to win.

Oh yeah, and there’s also cash to win. ABT has literally given away millions of dollars over the years and we think the 2022 could be our return to normality.

If you are an ABT veteran, welcome back. If you are a newangler to ABT, welcome! We would love to see you at your first event.

We do not apologise for the addiction which follows.

ABT TOURNAMENT SERIES APP Practice makes perfect when using the ABT Tournament Series App. The app is available to download through both the Google Play and Apple stores.

A practice event has been set up for you to enter and get yourself familiar with the app functions and features.

Main: The agony and the ecstasy. App tournaments come right down to the wire. Anything can happen in the final hour - like in the BASS Pro Grand Final. A final upgrade can swing the pendulum by $60,000 - give or take. Above: Non boaters took home epic prize packs made up of product from a broad spectrum of ABT sponsors. Without these supporters, we’re fishing for a trophy.

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SLATER ROD ED 2022: Year of the bream jerkbait ABT

Tom Slater

Talk about a red-hot start to the season – the Daiwa BREAM Series will open in 2022 with the ‘Viccy Tour’ double-header in Mallacoota and Gippsland Lakes, as well as a return to Tasmania on the Derwent River and at St Helens (Georges Bay).

I love chasing black bream, in fact, I don’t think anyone who enjoys casting lures to fish in shallow water would turn their nose up at a session at one of these four venues. Even those who don’t fancy themselves bream anglers would have a hard time not falling in love with the sight of a huge black stalking your lure in the shallows.

My love affair with black bream stems from many summers spent holidaying with my family in Bridport on the north coast of Tasmania. Bridport isn’t famous for bream fishing like some spots in Tassie, but there’s ample access to fantastic bream fisheries only a stone’s throw away.

I spent many days with my father walking the banks of estuary systems throughout 8

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Tassie targeting black bream wherever we could get to the water – it’s those experiences that shaped my love of targeting black bream on hardbody lures.

When ABT announced the schedule would include a Victorian double-header followed by Tasmania within the first few months of the year, my mind instantly went into overdrive, mentally organising the assortment of hardbody lures that I would pack for the trip.

The purpose of this piece is not to pigeonhole the southern fisheries into hardbody-only venues. There are plenty of results that prove a well-presented crab or soft plastic can shine down south, however, nobody can deny the adrenaline that flows when a fish belts a hardbody on the pause. My preparation for these events will consist of packing a couple of trays full of my favourite hardbody lures, my go-to rods for jerkbaiting and crankbaiting, and spooling my reels with the correct line to match up.

Over the past few years, myself and Taka Kawasaki at Daiwa have been quietly going about our business, developing a range of new lures that you’re either

already aware of or will be soon enough.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have a return to Tasmania pencilled into my planner for several new lure projects we have on the table right now. This includes the recent addition to the Double Clutch range, the bite-sized 48.

I firmly believe the best trial for any new product is under the time pressure of a tournament situation. I am an ultra-competitive person and want to contest at every tournament I attend. That means I will use whatever is necessary to catch what I think are the tournament winning calibre of fish.

When it comes to crunch time and I reach for one of our lures, that says to me we’ve created something worthy of the Daiwa name.

Likewise, it’s a great source of inspiration when the lure I’m reaching for is something we don’t have or that doesn’t exist at all.

That to me is the lure of the ABT tournaments and why I continue to come back year after year, and why DAIWA is headlining this year’s season as naming rights sponsor again.

Let’s start with the lures, we will cover the necessary

setups for each lure as we go and explore some of my go-to colours at the end. Breaking down a lifetime collection of hardbody lures might be difficult, but these three main lure types have stood the test of time down south, and the records don’t lie.

The first is your traditional Tassie weapons, the ultra slim long profile jerkbait.

The second is the newer deep diving ‘shad shape crank’ style lures, which shot to fame with the ‘dredging’ technique Stephen Parker used to win the Gippsland Lakes BREAM Grand Final back in 2014. Lastly, there’s fat-bodied crankbaits. A

staple for yellowfin bream anglers, these have slowly been gaining popularity down in Tassie on the flats of St Helens but have been a go-to lure at Mallacoota for many years.

SLIM JERKBAITS Arguably the poster child of hardbody fishing for black bream, the slim profile jerkbait is the lure I think we all wish to get bit on every time we travel south.

A lure type that dominates the tackle boxes of black bream experts, a slim profile jerkbait is designed to be fished with a stopstart retrieve method, your textbook ‘jerkbait’ technique.

Black bream in particular love to hit a hardbody on the pause, one that suspends in front of their face and erratically darts from side to side when twitched.

The Double Clutch is one lure that has propelled into mainstream use in Tasmania. Sure, there are plenty of other baits that work, but there’s few that can match the pedigree of the Double Clutch.

I would classify the Double Clutch as a ‘medium’ running jerkbait, not super shallow to fish over the flats of St Helens, but a perfect choice to run along To page 10

Main: Big black bream like this just love to eat jerkbaits and that’s what gets Tom Slater all fired up when the ABT Daiwa BREAM Series heads south. Above: The three smallest members of the Double Clutch family should get a spot in the tackle box for southern bream.

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From page 8

the Bedlam Walls in the Derwent or to throw around the Tambo River. The 75 size is the go-to, but I personally love the smaller 60 and new 48 sizes and will have all three tied on during the southern swing.

When it comes to fishing the rock-strewn flats at the mouth of the Mitchell River, the shallow predominantly sandy flats of Georges Bay or the exposed rock bars in the Derwent River, the tournament proven Presso Minnow 60F is a big-game player. The Presso has accounted for plenty of giants over the years at each of these venues. There’s also a couple of lures that we’re working on currently. These prototypes fill some gaps that I see in our range, and I look forward to throwing them around in the New Year. Early testing is looking positive, and the southern rounds will hopefully be the final tick of approval in the testing phase prior to release.

When it comes to this stop-start jerkbait fishing, I favour a braid and leader setup over straight through fluorocarbon. I love to fish jerkbaits slowly, especially the smaller 60 and 48 Double Clutches, using very small and delicate rod movements.

A braid and leader setup is far more effective for this technique than straight through fluorocarbon.

When it comes time to rig up, increase the length of your leader to build some shock absorption into your setup. This method was shown to me by good friends and ABT stalwarts Cameron Whittam and Warren Carter. This ‘hybrid feel and presentation’ as Cam calls it is the perfect mix of the sensitivity needed to fish a delicate jerkbait and

The 44mm Daiwa Spike - in both the medium and extra deep configurations - will fill some gaps in the Daiwa hardbait range. the stretch provided to keep hooks pinned into that kicker fish. How long you might ask? Whittam and Carter both use a very long leader of 5-7m, which means your knots need to be on-point.

A well tied FG knot is undoubtedly the best choice, but if that is too much work for you, I’m a huge fan of an improved slim beauty knot.

The ‘improvement’ comes where you finish the knot in the same fashion as the FG with alternating half hitches over the tag end and then braided mainline to form a ‘ramp’ up to the thickest part of the knot where the figure eight is tightened down.

The purpose of this very long leader is to act as a shock absorber. Small thin wire treble hooks are great at taking hold, but delicate hook sets outside the mouth are prone to pulling as fish get close to the boat and there’s no give in the system.

This is where the long leader and a softer rod can help. A fast action rod aids with lure presentation, but too heavy and you risk pulling hooks.

I have two go-to rods for jerkbait fishing, both are part of the INFEET range. For the smaller DC 48 and 60, I love the INFEET Z 681LFS, it’s a shorter 6’8” fast action rod which isn’t overly stiff, perfect for the small hooks on the smaller Double Clutches.

The shorter length is great for a ‘tip-down’ retrieve so your rod tip isn’t constantly hitting the water.

For the larger 75 Double Clutch and for the Presso Minnow where distance is not the number one priority, I like the INFEET 6101LFS, part of the more affordable range of INFEET rods, it’s a great option to have in the quiver. If I find myself searching for more distance on the flats, I’ll reach for a longer rod. Recently, I’ve been testing several prototypes and there’s one I’m fishing right now which will debut later this year in the INFEET range which is the perfect match for when distance with a jerkbait is important.

DEEP SHAD SHAPE CRANKBAIT Forever a staple in the kits of BREAMers, the

popularity of the deeper diving shad shape crank has now escalated over the past five years. They are super versatile, lending themselves well to tournament situations where you need to chop and change quickly, especially early on while identifying the dominant pattern.

These characteristics make them my go-to confidence bait the first time I hit the water in search of fish on a new system.

Shads ride the line perfectly between the slimmer jerkbaits mentioned above and fatter crankbaits that we will cover later. The shads’ hybrid profile makes for a versatile offering which invariably elevates them to my number one choice when rigging up at almost any estuary in the country.

If this was written a few years ago, there would have been a couple other lures I would mention. But these days, when I unlatch my tray full of shad shape cranks there’s one lure which reigns supreme, the INFEET Spike.

One of the first projects I began when I started

Tom prefers a braid/long leader hybrid for throwing jerkbaits for bream.

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abt.org.au working for Daiwa was developing a smaller version of the Spike 53. The Spike 53 lure has been around forever, and has proven to be a big fish magnet down south, just as I found out on the pre-fish day of the Gippsland Lakes BREAM Qualifier this year. I love the larger 53mm version, but I always felt a smaller option would be great.

The development of the smaller INFEET Spike 44 has made most of my old lures obsolete, moved to the backup boxes and stored in the garage. These days, my shad box has room only for Spikes both big and small, and one sneaky new sample

able to crankbait some key fish which lead to a top five finish.

When fishing these baits, you can adapt your technique to alter the way that they fish. For example, you can fish them like you would a Double Clutch, you’ll find the ‘darting’ action won’t be quite as sharp or responsive due to the more rounded bib shape, but they can be deadly nonetheless. They can also just be slow rolled and fished like a crankbait on straight through fluorocarbon.

One method, which I affectionately call ‘dredging’ was popularised at the Gippsland Lakes ABT Grand Final in 2014. Stephen Parker

Yellowfin are especially fond of the more natural colours.

Ask seven anglers their favourite colour and you’ll get 7 different answers. which you might even see officially launched at one of these events in the next few months.

The smaller Spike has become a real confidence bait for me. Especially after the 2021 Gippsland Lakes BREAM Qualifier, catching 5.71kg on one of the first samples of the Spike 44 MR. When we made the INFEET Spike 44, I wanted to make two depths. If I could find any fault with the original INFEET Spike 53, it’s that there’s not an extra deep running model. When developing the INFEET Spike 44, we opted to create a MR (medium running) model which dives to 6ft, and an EXDR (extra deep running) version which can reach depths of up to 12ft under the right conditions.

That extra depth can prove crucial – the last time we fished Mallacoota the fish were hanging off the back of Goodwin Sands, a deeper flat of 10-14ft and I was

deployed this Victorian method en route to an emphatic victory. He found a school of fish at the mouth of the Tambo River that responded incredibly well to a deep diver being smashed into the silty bottom, which stirred up silt and mud. He converted fish that most could see swimming around but not catch, into fish in the livewell and a Grand Final title.

I fished only 100m away from Steve in that tournament, it was my first trip to Gippsland Lakes and I could only watch as he dished out a black bream lesson. In retrospect, I had one fatal flaw in my setup which was the difference between Steve and the rest of us. He was fishing his lure on a braid and leader setup, while I was using the far stretchier straight through fluorocarbon. The stretch of the fluorocarbon line prevented my lure from digging up silt when it hit the

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bottom, the line would simply stretch, and my lure wouldn’t cause enough disturbance to attract the attention of the fish. Steve’s use of braided line however, meant that his lures were creating large plumes of silt as they ripped through the bottom, the key to his victory.

This is where it pays to have a few setups with you, ready to make some adjustments. There is no doubt a braid leader setup was the right choice during

Tournament Angler Guide be prepared for anything.

I could go on forever about these lures as I simply love fishing them, but if you take the hints from the slim jerkbait section and the fat crankbait section, you can apply those same techniques to the shad shape cranks and be very effective.

FAT-BODIED CRANKBAIT Anyone who’s competed at an ABT event will know – fat bodied crankbaits flat-out catch fish. A staple in boxes of yellowfin specialists, a

Remember that deep, shallow and fat crankbaits have their place down south. that tournament. But in other trips down to Gippsland since then, slow rolling crankbaits on straight through fluorocarbon at the mouth of the Mitchell River has been a successful technique. You never quite know what the conditions will call for and thus need to

crankbait is a deadly tool for covering water. A simple steady retrieve is all you need to find fish, whether it’s a shallow cockle weed flat in St Georges Basin or the rock walls of the Clarence River. When taking your fat profile lures down to black bream country, there’s a few

tricks I’ve learnt over the years which are worthy of keeping in mind.

Now to be fair, if I had to rank these three styles of lures in order of when they’d get tied on my rods down south, the fat-bodied crank would be third on the list. But that’s not to say they can’t be effective and at times downright excellent at catching fish in the southern states.

The tour is returning to Mallacoota next year where a fat crankbait will be the go-to for anglers targeting black bream mooching on the edges. They are also very effective on shallow sand flats like Goodwin Sands.

Across the Bass Strait, when I last fished the ‘Tassie Tour’ back in 2009, I saw fat-bodied crankbaits catch plenty of fish in the hands of Tristan Taylor.

Black bream love a lure that hangs in their face but there are relatively few fat-bodied crankbaits which will suspend perfectly straight out of the packet.

Since most companies make these lures to fish over lots of rubble and rock, the ability of the lure to float up and out of snags is key to their success.

When it comes time to deploy the crankbaits down south, make sure to pack some kind of sticky weight or

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lead tape to weight your lures to suspend. That way you can turn your favourite floating crankbait for yellowfin, into a deadly suspending option without the need to buy more lures. I personally use lead tape to alter my lures, it’s available from most golf or tennis shops and comes in rolls which are much more economical than the adhesive dots. A 1m roll of lead tape is all you’ll need for at least a few years’ worth of crankbait modifications and a sharp pair of braid scissors cuts it clean and makes for a neat installation.

Once you’ve made your cranks suspend, it’s time to put them to work. I’ve seen the slow roll work in Tassie, but for me the ‘draw and pause’ has been far more successful. I like to think of this technique as a more subtle jerkbait retrieve, if you’ve tried the Double Clutch or the Presso to no effect, the draw and pause of a small crankbait can be deadly. I like to use small crankbaits in this scenario – I’ll often reach for this in a tough bite. A small lure fished slow and suspended in the face of the fish has proven to be the best method of turning a tough day around.

The technique is straight forward, rather than a constant turn of your reel handle, a smooth, slow draw of the rod tip is used to move the lure 1-3ft across the bottom before pausing to take up the slack. Winding up the slack line and re-positioning the rod tip for another go. The length of the pause will be dictated by the mood of the fish, sometimes it can be as short as the time it takes to wind up the slack, but at times a long pause approaching 10 seconds has been best. Therefore weighting your crankbaits to suspend is very important.

If they float, the long pause will force the lure float out of the strike zone and lead to missed opportunities.

For lure selection, the INFEET Rollin’ Crank is my go-to. A relatively diminutive option at only 32mm it’s the perfect bite sized snack for a hungry St Helens bream, which will crawl and dig across the shallows if you’re in less than 5ft of water.

If you need to fish above weed, you’ll need to find a shallower option. There’s also the DR version if you need to get down deep, which has an excellent ability to crawl over even very shallow rocky cover thanks to the bib shape.

Whether you’re slow rolling or employing the draw and pause, my rod and line selection does not change. A long slow tapered crankbait specific rod and straight through fluorocarbon is a necessity.

My preference depends on the structure I’m fishing –

abt.org.au if it’s open and I’m using very light 3lb straight through, I’ll lean to the INFEET Z 742ULRS a 7’4” ultra-light rod, which is my absolute favourite crank rod. If I find myself in nasty structure, I’ll up the line size to 4 or even 5lb fluorocarbon and change the rod to the INFEET EX 722LRS which is another slow tapered rod but this time one step more powerful (Light vs Ultra Light).

When it comes to reel selection, I like to avoid reels with an H or XH gear ratio, as often the slower you go the better when it comes to cranking.

COLOUR SELECTION Now that we’ve covered the types of lures, it’s time to talk colours. I’m a firm believer that you’re better off having any lure in the water regardless of colour, as opposed to constantly chopping and changing hoping to find that magic colour to make the fish bite.

In general, you can sort colours into a few categories which I keep ready to go and alter depending on the lure type.

When it comes to jerkbaits, shiny and reflective colours have a history of success especially in Tasmania. I reach for colours that employ some kind of foil finish, whether

in 2021. Suji Berry, one of our new colours is a dark translucent shrimp pattern with hints of red and green.

For a baitfish pattern, I love the old school Wakasagi, I find it the perfect blend of reflection and subtlety that works incredibly well on black bream.

My crankbait colour selection is straight forward – translucent patterns suitable for shallow clear water are stand outs. Colours like Moebi and Blue Suji Prawn are stand outs. Plenty of anglers rely on solid colours like Matte Black but given it’s not a colour I’ve had huge success on, I tend to stick to more natural translucent options.

Again, whatever colours you prefer, it is more important to simply have a lure in the water. My advice would be to have a few options and gain confidence in each one, learn when to use bright versus dark colours or translucent versus reflective – once you’ve identified your chosen baits stick with them.

The 2022 DAIWA BREAM Series will no doubt start with a bang! Four tournaments in the space of two months in the big bream capitals of East Gippsland and Tasmania will be a terrific start to the season.

The Daiwa Infeet Rollin’ Crank came of age in 2021. it’s a full foil like Lazer Ayu, or a more subtle flash option ‘half-mirror’ foil which I have become a huge fan of in the last few years. You’ll find these lures labelled as ‘Sheer’ finish in the Daiwa range. These foils appear solid when viewed directly side on, but when viewed at an angle or with a light source behind, appear slightly transparent.

For the shad shape crankbaits, I like to keep it a little more subtle, opting for more transparent shrimp or baitfish patterns. Your typical colours like Brown Suji are hard to go past but I’m a huge fan of a colour that served me well in Gippsland

Big bags and big bream will be on the cards for anglers who sign up to the back-toback double headers.

I’ll be spending January preparing the gear, getting my boat ready and rods rigged to take advantage of some of the best hard-body fishing the country has to offer. If that sounds like it will be up your alley, then you still have time to sign up.

You can enter as a non-boater and I guarantee you’ll learn a thing or two. You may also get paired up with me, and at least if we don’t catch many fish, you might get a sneak peek at some upcoming Daiwa prototypes!

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Member Tackle Stores Support stores that support Tournament Fishing in Australia.

When ABT visits an area, there’s usually a friendly local tackle store that makes life easy for us. Sometimes it’s local contacts, sometimes it’s a briefing venue and sometimes they jusy have everything that the anglers need when you’re on the water.

After all - nobody knows the local baits as well as the locals.

There is a network of ABT-friendly tackle stores across a lot of ABT venues. The shops listed below support

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the sport that you love and are happy to help ABT anglers get on (or back on) the water.

Make sure you drop in and say g’day to these stores when you’re in the area. They think tournament fishing is as awesome as you do.

These guys are the Tablelends’ only Humminbird/ Minn Kota pro store and stock a full range of boating accessories if you’re fishing Tinaroo Dam.

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LJs Compleat Angler 613 Bryan Jordan Dr Gladstone Marina QLD 4680 P: (07) 4972 7283

Don’t be fooled that LJ is located at the home of reef trip departures, it’s full of Awoonga barra gear and the advice to go with it.

Bass to Barra Fishing 10/119 Youngman St Kingaroy QLD 4610 P: (07) 4162 7555

This is where the “little shop in the middle of nowhere” actually is. Australia’s biggest Garmin dealer and pretty handy setting you up for the local impoundments for bass or barra.

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The Tackle Warehouse 436 Old Cleveland Road Camp Hill QLD 4152 P: (07) 3398 6500

Brisbane’s best stocked tackle store with knowledgable staff - including BARRA champ, Adam Meredith.

Sporty’s Fishing 32 Strathaird Rd Bundall QLD 4217 P: (07) 5531 6511

Tony and the team specialise in local gear for bream and bass, but have all local options covered with tackle and advice.

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Ballina Bait and Tackle Shop 19, Ballina West Shopping Centre River St; Ballina NSW 2478 P: (02) 6686 2527

You’ll find it hard to find a better selection of upmarket bream and bass gear. It’s like Brett’s secret treasure trove of hard-to-find stuff.

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Casino Outdoors and Disposals 171 Centre St Casino NSW 2470 P: (02) 6662 4848

Joey Urquhart is the man to see about all local bass fishing options - places and baits. Handy selection of saltwater gear and camping as well.

Manning River Marine 13 Victoria St Taree NSW 2430 P: (02) 6552 2333

The Hicksons have you covered for Mercury motor repowers and servicing, as well as Savage boats and a tackle assortment curated by the best in the business.

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Aberdeen Fishing & Outdoors 69 New England Hwy Aberdeen NSW 2336 P: 02 6543 7111

Everything you need to fish Glenbawn and St Clair. Nick’s got the shop stocked with all of the favourites and lot of left of centre stuff.

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7

6 8

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Tolga Traders 10 Albrecht St Atherton QLD 4883 P: (07) 4095 4296

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Are barra on skirted jigs a viable option?

ABT

Jason Crofts

With the modern Tournament angler always on the look out for the next best thing, I’m starting to believe we often overlook proven methods or fail to spend the time to refine existing techniques. While jig fishing is about as far from new as one can get.

The use of football, swim jigs and the like is an under-utilised technique on barramundi.

About 13 years ago I had a short-lived play with jigs while sight casting for barramundi on the weed flats at Peter Faust Dam. I quickly learnt that the jigs available in those days where certainly not up to the task of handling metre-plus fish. Over the best part of two years, I was hooked on sight fishing the Faust weed flats. Over this time one thing became very clear, at certain times of the year, barra become fixated on eating crustaceans. To the point where large fish would happily allow small schools of bony bream, spangled perch and banded grunter swim around with them.

As the barra swam through the weed beds the perch would nail any small shrimp or baitfish that left the cover of the weeds. The barra would show no interest in the fish shadowing their 16

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every move - only coming to life when a large shrimp or more importantly a red claw would flee its cover, causing the barra to explode off and take chase.

Picking up on this rather quickly, I sourced any shrimp/crayfish profiled lures I could get my hands on. While catching fish on many of these lures, I quickly learned that not all were up to the task of handling big fish in shallow, tight country.

Fast forward 10 years and pitching skirted jigs for bass had fast become one of my favourite ways to target them.

During a jig session at Cania dam the bells rang why am I not fishing these for barra?

After a quick web search, I again found that there was not much available locally in the way of barramundicalibre jigs on the market.

Not long after a few social media posts started popping up where guys were getting special orders of jig made up through Bassman Spinnerbaits and the others from an American company.

Asking around my circle of mates I found out a couple of the boys were also making their own jigs - mostly for use in the salt. These jigs where pretty bloody good and about as tough as you could get at the time. Getting my hands on a few these home-made jigs as well as

sourcing a couple from the US, it was time to put them to the test.

After a couple of hours casting to tailing fish without success, I changed my game plan focusing on large laydowns in 2-3 metres of water. It didn’t take long, nailing a 108cm fish in the first 100 metres of bank.

The take, like most jig bites, was subtle but the strike was hard. Going hard

on the fish to keep it clear of the large laydown it came from, the fight was over quickly. The jig had held up and I had my first jig caught barra and a proper rig at that.

I boiled and missed a couple more fish on the jigs that day and was really happy with the results.

While still a very long way from being a barra jig expert, there are a few important points I have

picked up over the past couple of years. Firstly, jigs do not make the greatest search tools due to the slow nature in which they are fished. I wasted a lot of fishing time just pitching them around in the wrong scenarios in the hope of getting a bite. Like many other Barra techniques jigs have a time and place, thus must be considered as another “string in your bow”, so to speak.

While I have caught fish at night on jigs, my best results have come during daylight hours. The finesse way in which jigs are fished is aided by the extra visibility, as I believe most strikes are often seen rather than felt. In saying that I have had some good success on dirty water banks, where the jigs are fished a little more aggressively. In the past 12 months with the

Main: Believe it or not, flats fishing for barra existed before YouTube and that’s where the author got the bug for barramundi on skirted offerings. Above: Don’t be afraid to use big jigs with strong hooks. The barramundi’s mouth can accommodate.

aid of live sonar I have been using jigs more and more to target shut down fish during nonproductive bite times.

Due to the very nature of which jigs are designed to be fished. It made perfect sense to target these shut down fish often holding tight in heavy structure. When you can see the fish on your sounder, laying hard up in the back of a log jam. A slow dragged jig can be too much resist and will often get the bite when fished in front of their noses, where a different lure fished a metre or two away is often ignored.

One of my favourite areas to target barra with jigs is along rocky banks and outcrops, with broken weed beds dropping away into 3-4 metres of water. Rather than randomly casting along the bank I prefer to concentrate my casts around pockets in the weed edges or around rocky clusters, timber, jetties or other structure barra tend to hold up or stage on.

With the use of a good sounder or live sonar, you can target barra holding hard to the bottom. Once located these fish can be accurately cast to. I’ve found casting in front and just past them, allowing the fish to intercept the jig works best in this scenario.

I used this technique with good success at the 2021 ABT Faust all nighter.

Early in the afternoon we located fish sitting hard on the bottom a few metres off a broken weed bed along a rocky bank. These fish showed no interest in vibes or slow rolled plastics.

I grabbed my jig rod and

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You will soon work out whether you are targeting structure dwelling edge fish or barra sitting a little wider on the flats. made a short pitch to a small rocky outcrop sitting just in front of the weed bed. It did not take long, second cast and I had a 99cm Barra on the brag mat.

10 minutes later I had it handed to me as I was smoked through the weeds and around a submerged stump. In the next half hour, I missed 2 more good fish before they moved off the flat for deeper water.

Next morning with 30 minutes to go we decided to fish the pontoons. Seeing a couple of good fish on the livescope hard up in there, my jig was pitched into action. With in a handful of

There’s not much more exciting in fishing than turning a timid tick on the line into a metre of rampaging barramundi.

Although you can catch barramundi on skirted jigs at night, daytime allows you to more accurately target structure where a shut-down fish will hold.

casts we had a solid 103cm onto the mat. With 10 mins left I pulled the hooks on another good fish then it was time to call it.

While far from having all the kinks worked out for this style of fishing. I have leant a few things through trial and error regarding the gear and equipment you’ll need.

My current jig combo consists of an ACM Custom rod built on a 7’6” Revelation blank. Rated at 10-25lb, 3/8 to 1 1/4oz. this rod is crazy sensitive yet has the power to stop big barra in their tracks. I have matched it with a Daiwa Ryoga 1520H, 40lb Sufix 832 braid and 60lb fluorocarbon leader.

For me this setup has the perfect balance of power and sensitivity and with the SV spool on the Ryoga it pitches/ casts jigs extremely well.

Any rods 7’-7’6”, up to 25lb in a moderate-fast action are a good starting point. Just like your bass jig combos these beefed-up rigs need to consist of rods with a soft sensitive tip to allow you to fell every movement of your jigs and the lightest of takes. Yet need plenty of backbone to help in hook setting, then slug it out in close quarter battles.

Most modern baitcaster reels are more than up to the task of handling this style of fishing. Although a 6.3:1 or higher ratios and a solid drag go a long way in recovering line and the white-knuckle battles that follows while putting the brakes on angry fish. Unlike my bass jig combos, I do prefer to run 30-40lb braid rather them straight through fluorocarbon. Solely due to the shear size of the fish you’re targeting. I have found that once you go over 40lb you do start to lose sensitivity, critical to knowing what your

jig is doing.

As barra jigs are still few and far between, look for the strongest with a 5/0-7/0 hook that you can get your hands on. Weights ranging from 3/8 to 1oz will pretty much cover any scenario you will find yourself fishing. As for trailers there are literally 1000’s of crayfish/creature baits on the market. I tend to

go for more natural colours in the 4-5” size range. Match them with natural-coloured skirts and you’re ready to go.

With barra jig fishing still in its early stages, I am excited to see what the future hold for this style of fishing. Jig fishing for bass is an extremely effective, addictive technique and often catches better fish. The

same can be said for barra on jigs often producing better fish in shut down conditions.

The more time I put in to refining this style the more I see its potential for tournament barramundi fishing. As gear and jigs evolve, I do believe we will be seeing more jigs on the decks of barra anglers boats and the fish that they catch.

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Going for glory at ABT events!

A highlight of events run on the ABT Tournament Series app is seeing how creative anglers can get when sending through their glory photos - especially when awesome prizes are on offer as incentive.

Here’s some of favourites from 2021 events!

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Tackle box must haves for 2022

We have a saying at ABT. It’s two words ... “sponsor karma”. It describes the disproportionately large number of times an event sponsor’s angler or product leads or wins an ABT event.

It happend all the time.

If you want to partake in some Sponsor Karma yourself, simply buy ABT sponsor products! They represent the top shelf of BREAM, BASS and BARRA gear.

Maui Jim - Byron Bay MSRP $299.00 Lowrance Ghost Trolling Motor from MSRP $5219 13 Fishing Z2 SLD MSRP $459.00

Here’s a selection.

VMC 7548 BD Bladed Treble #2 MSRP $14.95

bass

Garmin GPSMAP 8412xsv MSRP $4999

Pro Lure 80mm Live Cray Soft Bait MSRP $10.95/pk7

Rapala DT20 MSRP $25.95

BKK Striker + Assist from MSRP $9.99

Zman 2.5” Slim Swimz MSRP $12.95/pk with TT Demonz Jighead MSRP $11.95/pk

Maui Jim - Local Kine MSRP $319.00

Versus Meiho Bucket Mouth

Palms Slow Blatt Cast 20-40g from MSRP $12.95 Ecogear ZX40/43 416 - Dark Knight MSRP $20.99

Humminbird Transducer Mega 360 Imaging T/S Ultrex 22

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Sunline X Plasma Asegai PEx8 MSRP $49.00

Bait Junkie 2.5” Minnow MSRP $11.99/pk

Shadow Rap Jack Deep 07 MSRP $26.95

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Maui Jim - World Cup MSRP $299.00 BKK Viper-41 Trebles from MSRP $14.99 XBraid Full Drag

Rapala Hooded Jersey MSRP $89.95 Double Clutch 115 - Barramundi Tune from MSRP $29.99

Zerek Flat Shad X MSRP from $15.99

Combat V2 200 MSRP $300.00

Humminbird MEGA Live Imaging

Keitech Swing Imact Fat MSRP $17.99

Westin Ricky the Roach 14cm RNR pre-rigged - Spangled Perch MSRP $17.99

Garmin Panoptix Livescope System from MSRP $1999

Mustad MT 117 MSRP $49.95 Samaki Redic DS100 - Whitebait MSRP $26.95

Molix Shad 140 MSRP $15.95

Rapala X-Rap Peto XRPT14 Live Roach (ROL) MSRP $32.95

Zerek Fish Trap from MSRP $17.95 Maui Jim - Southern Cross MSRP $319.00

Zman 5” Herculez MSRP $11.95

Sufix 832 150yd 30lb Coastal Camo MSRP $39.95

Zerek Live Mullet MSRP $22.95

Lowrance Active Target Live Sonar System from MSRP $2299 abt

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Tournament Angler Guide

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Liquid Mayhem Shrimp Scent MSRP $19.95

Mastervolt DC-DC Converter Mac Plus

Infeet Spike 44MR/44EXDR MSRP $22.99

Pro Lure Clone Prawn 62mm/92mm - Green Tiger MSRP $11.95/pk6

Ecogear Bream Prawn AU-03 - Salty n Pepper MSRP $14.99

Zman 2.5” Grubz MSRP $12.95/pk with TT HWS Jighead MSRP $11.95/pk

Garmin Force Trolling Motor MSRP 50” $4999 / 57” $5099

XBraid Shangrilla Buck’n Bass Rain Suit MSRP $1454

Atomic Metalz from MSRP $17.95

Keitech Mad Wag Mini 3.5” MSRP $12.99

Maui Jim - Peahi MSRP $299.00

BaitJunkie 2.5” Grub MSRP $11.95 Pro-Cure Super Gel Scent (MSRP $24.95) & Pure UV Liquid (MSRP $32.95)

Rapala Shadow Rap Fat Jack MSRP $26.95

Pro Lure S36 Crank MSRP $16.96

Lowrance Elite Fishing System from MSRP $1699

BKK Spear-21 SS Trebles MSRP $10.99

Shadow Rap Solid Shad MSRP $26.95 24

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Sufix Invisiline Leader from MSRP $16.95

Maui Jim - Kanio Coast MSRP $349.00

Atomic Hardz Crank 38 MSRP $21.95

Pro Lure ST72 Minnow Wakasagi MSRP $19.95

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Tournament Angler Guide

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ZX has four selected sizes, 30 mm,35 mm, 40 mm and 43 mm. Each size has been carefully balanced and fine tuned to provide ultimate action and appeal. The varied line-up allows any angler to quickly adapt to changing fishing conditions for effective fishing and continuous catches.

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Tournament Angler Guide

Deep cranking bass is where it’s at RAPLAL VMC AUS.

Mitch Petty

Some were surprised when the first day of the Rapala BASS Queensland Open was led by a big bag of Somerset fish on deep crankbaits. Some weren’t.

They’re becoming a musthave piece of kit in any tournament bassers box.

When it comes to crankbaits particularly deep crank baits, there are several variables that need to be considered when starting out, reaching new depths with a different technique specific bait is often key to success.

To target deep water bass, anglers typically would use a sinking lure like lipless vibes, blades, soft plastics or spoons. However crankbaiting has gained a lot of momentum over the past few years in both tournaments and recreational fishing particularly for Australian bass and yellowbelly. This style of fishing has been seriously effective for not only catching fish in very tough conditions but also accounting for better quality bass as well.

Crankbaits are one of the oldest styles of lures and have been traditionally made from carving timber. These timber lures are still one of the most successful cranks in the bass scene particularly in the United States and 26

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consistently win countless tournaments for anglers.

Balsa wood is one of the most popular timbers used due to many of its properties leading to specific traits in the crankbait itself. Balsa is a very light and soft wood that displays an unusually high degree of buoyancy that allows for an effective tight wobbling action. This tight wobbling makes it a great choice especially in cold water to trigger those lethargic fish to strike.

A particular brand that has specialised in balsa baits for more than 80 years and is respected as one of the best baits out there is Rapala.

One of the most popular and effective balsa deep crankbait that Rapala makes that has suited the Aussie Bass market extremely well is the Rapala DT (Dives To) series.

The DT crankbaits come in a range of different models that dive to a particular depth dictated by their model number. A DT20 will dive to 20ft where as a DT16 will dive to 16ft on the cast which is incredibly helpful if you need to target suspending fish or structure at a particular depth. They all, however, dive exceptionally fast, having an ultra-thin polycarbonate lip that allows them stay in the strike zone longer - meaning more time the bait stays in front of the fish.

Main: Rapala’s balsa DT series lets you know how deep they dive - it’s embedded in the name of the bait. Above: Big, tournament winning bass like this can be very receptive to the deep crankbaiting and longlining techniques.

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Tournament Angler Guide

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For Everything

Bream. Bass. Barra.

We’ve Got You Covered.

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Tournament Angler Guide

From page 22

Made from balsa wood combined with carefully placed internal weights and a slender tail design creates the ultimate swimming action.

The slight internal rattle is tuned perfectly for maximum sound performance that bass have no trouble honing in on.

All DT’s come with premium VMC black nickel hooks that are extra sharp, which is vital when fishing crankbaits.

When it comes to using crankbaits, tackle is undoubtably one of the most important factors that needs to be considered.

Firstly, not all rods on the market are suitable for throwing and retrieving deep crankbaits effectively.

A deep cranking rod should have relatively slow action but still have adequate power as there is plenty of resistance when retrieving

big, bibbed crank. You want a rod that has somewhat of a slower action will help cast baits further helping cover more water and absorbs any sudden erratic movements during the fight.

Traditionally crankbait rods were made using fibreglass blanks, however the advances in different carbon and resin mixtures have allowed companies to create lighter blanks with the same properties as the glass blanks.

The benefit of using a medium action rod is that it gives bass more capacity to inhale the bait reducing the chance of premature hookset.

When fishing out in open water there is no obstructions anywhere close by making it perfect for using a long rod.

Typically, a rod of at least 7 foot but close to 8 foot length with a rating of 10-20lb

When things go right, double hookups are commonplace.

seems to be most beneficial to obtain maximum distance when casting.

Reels are little less critical for effective cranking however a lower gear ratio is usually preferred like a 5:6 or 6.8 will perform exceptionally. Baitcasters are usually preferred but if spin is all you have or you feel more confident with it, it will work. Make sure any reel that you chose has ample line capacity at least 100m since you will be making long casts or when longlining, a technique I will explain later.

Finally, what attaches the bait to the reel is of course the line. There are two options that are typically used when cranking, braid to leader and straight through fluorocarbon. Both have got pros and cons either way but for first timers I would suggest braid to fluorocarbon leader. Braid is a lot more sensitive than straight through meaning that you can feel the lure swimming and deflecting off structure.

Also, braid is lot smaller in diameter than fluorocarbon and this is beneficial for two main reasons.

Firstly, you can fit more braid on the spool than fluorocarbon of the same weight. Secondly, it passes through the water with less resistance allowing the lure to reach its diving depth quicker. One downside to braid is the lack of stretch and this can be one cause of hooks pulling or short strikes from bass. When running braid to leader I recommend 8lb Sufix 832 braid with 12lb Sufix Fluorocarbon Invisiline leader.

Straight through fluorocarbon also has pros, it does sink which can help obtain maximum diving depth from your lure particularly during long lining when you let the line settle. It also becomes a

Lots of bass tournament anglers now have a great selection of deep diving crankbaits in their box. If you don’t you may be missing out. shock absorber having more stretch than braid. This can help when fighting fish to soften the load of headshakes or sudden burst runs that big bass are renowned for.

In some circumstances bass can be very line shy and spook from seeing braid go past. Having line that is nearly invisible can make the difference between an average day to an awesome day.

One downside is the drag through the water when retrieving the lure. To try get around this issue it is best to go as light as possible. This normally means a thinner diameter line to cut through the water with ease. My personal preference I prefer to run is 10lb Sufix Advance Fluro straight through which is 100% fluorocarbon and virtually invisible.

So now that equipment has been taken care of, we now need to focus our attention on how to deep crank and where it shines the most. Firstly, we need to find the schools in order to

If there’s any wind, I like to cast with it. On calm days, use your long rod to get as much distance as possible.

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then start fishing for them.

Great places to start scanning around with your electronics and mapping units are main river channels, long tapered points, deep water ledges or open flats.

All our freshwater impoundments that run down the east coast of Australia will have at least a few of the following features previously mentioned.

In selected dams bass tend to be near the main river channel running through a lake as they use it to move up and down the dam. Different times of the year bass will set up in different sections of the river channel using it like a highway to go from one spot to another.

You will find that some schools will roam around on open flats away from the river certain times of the year. But eventually they will retreat to the river to do their migration up or down depending on the season.

Once a good concentration of fish has been located then it’s a matter of how to approach them. I like to fish up wind of schools because it is very helpful when casting with the wind if there is any.

Position your boat with the fish location in mind to increase the number of bass you will cross paths with. While talking about angles don’t be afraid to try different angles on the same patch of fish. Sometimes they will strike a lure when it’s travelling in a certain direction. So, moving the boat around and casting at them at different angles can be what triggers those tightlipped bass to fire up.

With crankbaits, fishing structure and banging along the bottom is essential as the deflection from the bait hitting a rock, stump, or any other structure is where many bites occur. Whether it is a big loud crankbait with lots of rattles or a subtle timber bait that sneaks up on fish, deep cranking is one

of the best ways to locate schools of active fish.

One technique that has had some serious success over the years when targeting Australian bass on deep crankbaits has been long lining. Long lining is when an angler locates a school of bass on the sonar unit, turns around and makes a cast. Then drives back over the top of bass with the reel disengaged. Once you have either reached the end of the bass school or run out of line you can stop the boat and begin retrieving the crankbait.

This technique allows the angler to work the crankbait through the entire school or cover maximum ground.

This is by far one of the most productive ways to use deep crankbaits particularly when it gets tough.

The benefit of long lining is that more line out means more time in the strike zone and in fact will go deeper than on the cast. For instance, long lining the Rapala DT 20 will obtain depths of over 26 feet with 10lb straight through fluorocarbon.

With bass they seem to want to follow the boat when you sit on top of them or close to them and then sulk under the vessel most of the time. The beauty of long lining is that it prevents that from happening and can keep bass actively feeding once they are in the mood to eat.

As soon as you start catching deep water bass on crankbaits you will get an understanding on how fun and effective these lures can be. One downside to deep cranking is that it can become very addictive and will result in you buying copious amounts of different styles, colours, and depths.

Crankbaits can catch fish just about all year. So next time you are out fishing for natives in the impoundments - or you’re trying to win a tournament make sure to have some deep crankbaits in your tackle box.

abt

Tournament Angler Guide

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Manning River Marine

www.tournamentboats.com.au

(02) 6552 2333

(07) 3387 0888

13 Victoria St TAREE NSW 2430

1/11 Knobel Ct SHAILER PARK QLD 4128

BucknBass165x6.indd 1

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Tournament Angler Guide

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Flat Shad X - Designed to be modified WILSON FISHING

Stephen Booth

That’s a pretty big heading saying a lure is designed to be modified, but having lived through the almost three years of development of the Flat Shad X, I have no problems letting every angler know that this lure is deliberately made to be modified.

Many ask why Zerek would make a lure that requires work after sale and the answer is as simple as talking to any barra angler – something the designers did a lot over the three years of development. Without exception, they all wanted something slightly different in their barra plastic.

Some wanted heavier for plundering deep fish, some wanted lighter for shallow water work, some wanted the running depth to mimic other brand lures. Some anglers wanted weedless for fishing in the weed and timber, some wanted hook points everywhere to give the maximum chance of a hook up and yet others simply wanted a single jighead hook point. Some wanted a small lure, some wanted a one size fits all lure and yet others wanted a lure big enough to 30

TAG 2022 abt

only tempt big fish.

All of these requests are impossible to meet in the one lure, so the designers made 6 barra-sized lures that could be highly modified by the end user yet retain a brilliant action at low speed, moderate speed and even at fast speeds!

The Flat Shad X will be available in three barra sized jighead rigged versions (130mm, 145mm and 170mm) and three weedless rigged versions (130mm, 145mm and 170mm). That gives anglers 6 options out of the packet, but let’s look at the individual models and their specific features and talk about how anglers have been modifying these lures.

FLAT SHAD X JIGHEAD RIGGED 170 The 170 Jighead Rigged Flat Shad X is the big boy of the pack. It’s the heaviest out of the packet at 74g and comes pre-rigged with a bottom stinger treble. There is also an extra stinger eyelet just behind the tow point for the addition of another treble if that’s what the angler wants.

Most anglers are fishing the 170 straight out of the pack with a tiny dot of super glue behind each eye to secure everything for fishing. Straight out of the

packet, the 170 will retrieve at around the 4.5m mark on a slow roll, a depth that gets right in the face of those barra sitting off the weeds on deeper snags or features.

It also makes this lure an option for trolling, with the 12-15 foot depth being a popular trolling depth.

At Teemburra fishing the weed edges, anglers fished this lure with a lighter

jighead that was either rigged internally or rigged out the front. Interestingly, just like the original Flat Shad, the 170 when rigged with a jighead out the front had an increased body roll!

Anglers fished weights from 21g up to 56g to give the 170 a slower fall and a shallower running depth and it was fantastic to see anglers changing it up to suit their

needs – exactly as we hoped they would.

FLAT SHAD X JIGHEAD RIGGED 145 The 145 is the workhorse of the Jighead rigged versions. Like the 170 it too comes with a bottom rigged stinger and an extra stinger eyelet on top of the lure.

At 52g, most anglers have been fishing this lure straight out of the packet

with a dot of glue behind the eyes. The 52g head weight supplied allows this lure to run at about 10-12 feet on a simple cast and retrieve, a depth that many anglers are happy fishing.

However, when the boys were fishing Faust, the barra were in very skinny water so they changed out the 52g head weight and rigged

Main: Stephen Booth covered the tour and watched various anglers modify the lure to catch fish. Above: There’s a way to rig the Flat Shad X that suits the fishing style you prefer in the place you want to throw it.

To page 32

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Tournament Angler Guide

abt.org.au

Brutally tough for Brutal Battles 7’ Baitcaster 8kg

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abt 1

2

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1&2. Start with the baits from the tackle store, some rings, trebles and split ring pliers. 3. Add the belly ring and glue the plastic into place on the jighead. 4. Add the stinger treble. 5. Send them into the depths to get attacked by a barramundi.

32

TAG 2021 abt

Tournament Angler Guide From page 30

up a 28g internal jighead.

They spent time rigging up a stinger set up to the jighead with the stinger on the bottom. The lure was cast and retrieved at pace in water as shallow as 1m and the barra were all over it!

It was at Kinchant though where the 145 really shone. Team Wilson (Kord and Jezza) won the Kinchant round fishing unmodified 145 Flat Shad X Jighead rigged lures. Their method was to cast the lure out and simply wind it in at a consistent slow roll. The barra couldn’t help themselves following the lure before belting it as it started an upward trajectory towards the boat.

Our other team, Team Venom (Dicko and Adam) fished the same lure, unmodified in a completely different way. Team Venom cast the Flat Shad X out, ripped it over the top of the weed (there was about 2-4 feet of clear water above the weed) and when the lure hit the weed edge, they would free fall it to the bottom. It was during this free fall that the barra sitting in the weed columns would burst out and nail the lure on the drop.

It was great to see the same lure, set up exactly the same working in two completely different retrieves showing just how versatile these lures are in the field without any modification.

God only knows how many more places these lures will go with angler modifications.

FLAT SHAD X JIGHEAD RIGGED 130 The 130 is the smallest of the barra sized lures and weighs in an easy to cast 28g (1oz) making it perfect for casting on almost any tackle, but, unlike its bigger brothers, does not have a ready-rigged treble on the jighead stinger attachment.

For me this is great as it means you can fish this lure through timber more easily, you can fish it through weed beds easier or you can fit a treble of your liking for a bit of extra hooking ability.

I chose to fish it with a treble attached underneath as I was fishing in Kinchant near weed beds but not through the weed beds. I was fishing with Rob Payne and we were targeting the gaps between weed towers, so the extra hook points were important to us.

The method I used was to cast out in 10-18 feet of water, let the lure sink to the bottom and then slow roll the lure for 10-15 winds. I’d then let the lure sink again and repeat the process for the entire retrieve. This retrieve kept the lure within a metre or so of the bottom and with a slow retrieve speed the tail pulsed beautifully.

In two hours of mayhem we landed 8 barra between 73cm and 98cm and I was

totally sold on how good the Flat Shad X 130 was for chasing barra.

FLAT SHAD X WEEDLESS RIGGED At the time of writing the only weedless version of the Flat Shad X in hand is the 130mm, however all the weedless Flat Shad X lures come rigged with a weighted and weedless worm hook only. The worm hook has a stinger attachment secured in the lead weight that anglers can attach a treble stinger or a flashy blade. There is also a stinger hook attachment above the eye on the top of the lure so anglers can add a stinger on top when fishing in weedy or snaggy areas, yet they still want some exposed hook points.

The weedless versions of the Flat Shad X are much lighter than their jighead

abt.org.au name would suggest), heavy weights that punched the lure deep into the weed were seen as detrimental so the lighter weights were used.

Like all the other Flat Shad X lures, the weedless version can have the worm hook changed out for a heavier or lighter version

weedless version has an almost unlimited ability to be modified by the angler to meet their needs.

With the recent rains, most of our barra impoundments have had a sharp rise and there is a magical 2-4 foot layer of water over the top of the

There’s no doubt that the barramundi like eating an ‘X.

FLAT SHAD X RIGGING TIPS • • • • •

Regardless of the rigging set up, a drop or two of glue behind the eyes or on the jighead collar will provide a secure hook/jighead placement Rigging a jighead internally leads to a beautiful tail action and slight body roll Rigging an exposed jighead will increase body roll All similar length bodies are transferable to supplied jigheads or worm hooks These lures are made to be modified, so set them up for your fishing needs.

rigged counterparts with the 130 weighing 24g, the 145 weighing 30g and the 170 coming in at 44g. As these lures were designed to be fished through weed (as the

depending on the terrain you are fishing. The body of the weedless lure can also be rigged on any jighead you like as well, so like all the other Flat Shad X lures, the

Top: Kord Luckus used the X as an essential tool in his BARRA Tour kit. Middle: Troy Dixon loves seing the benefits of his years of research.

Bottom: The Flat Shad X is destined to become a tournamen and social angler favourite.

weed beds and this is exactly where the weedless version shines.

Switched on anglers are casting out the weedless lure, letting it drift to the top of the weed, ripping it up and slow rolling the lure over the weed. If the lure hits weed during the retrieve, they are ripping the rod up to rip through the weed and then recommencing the slow roll – it’s an old tactic that these new lures are exceptionally good at performing, so keep that in mind when you’re next on the barra lakes.

GO GET THOSE BARRA With 11 colours, 3 sizes and 6 different weights, along with two entirely different pre-rigged options, the Flat Shad X gives you an amazing array of lures to choose from straight out of the packet.

But, almost all barra anglers are crazy tinkerers with their own specific ideas on what is needed and the designers have tried to allow them to be as creative as they want to be.

They’re definitely not a one trick pony and the early success in the barra impoundments has surprised and delighted.

These lures are in shops now and will add a brilliant slow retrieve tool to your tackle kit, but this lure can also be retrieved with a fast burn if that’s what is required to get the bites.

The size variations, colours and different weights, plus the ability to alter just about everything on the lure apart from the tail, mean the Flat Shad X is going to catch a truck load of barra in the coming months and years.

Exciting times ahead.

abt

Tournament Angler Guide

abt.org.au

4.5”

5.5”

65mm

95mm

110mm

160mm

23g

35g

10g

23g

30g

78g

22 Colours

13 Colours

90mm

130mm

145mm

170mm

8g

28g

52g

74g

31 Colours

3.5”

4.5”

5”

7”

9”

10g

17g

23g

61g

111g

28 Colours

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10 Colours

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14 Colours 11 Colours

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Tournament Angler Guide

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2021 AOY and TOY for barra, bass and bream

ABT anglers of the year – congratulations!

Many anglers regard the Angler of theYear (AOY) title as the ultimate trophy on the ABT tour. Sure, win a Grand Final and you take home a great payday, but it doesn’t reflect the consistency across the season and across all of the arenas that ABT fish.

In case you don’t know, the Angler of the Year point score is made up of a minimum number of events.

You may fish more events than this, but your worst events are dropped. This means that you can win an

AOY trophy by fishing the minimum number of events, but you can upgrade your worst event by fishing more than that.

And that’s exactly whet anglers chasing this trophy often do.

Whether you are fishing for the BARRA Team of the Year or the BASS Electric Angler of the year, competition is fierce no matter what species you are chasing. Nobody has won an AOY title through luck.

It’s a combination of skill, perseverance, good decisions and maybe a little bit of luck

at the end of it.

You can check out 2021 Angler of the Year points tables right here.

Congratulations to the winners and to the anglers who finished consistently throughout this whole, disjointed season.

What prizes do the winners get for the AOY award? Basically nothing.

They get a take-home trophy. Some of them get a perennial trophy as well that they have to give back the following year. It’s all about the achievement and the recognition of your peers.

Matthew Langford (L) and Kelvon Hatton (R) took out the 13 Fishing BASS Pro Anglers of the Year.

Rob and Tommy Wood narrowly pipped their rivals to claim the BARRA Team of the Year trophy.

1

Jamie McKeown

2

Steve Morgan

Jamie McKeown picked up his firat AOY accolades, while Stuart Walker added a 6th trophy to his bulging mantelpiece

3

Tristan Taylor

4

5

Mark Crompton

2021 BREAM AOY NON BOATER

2021 BREAM BOATER RANK Current Rank

First Name

Surname

Points

1

Jamie

McKeown

393

2

Steve

Morgan

377

Current

First Name

Surname

Points

1

Stuart

Walker

397

2

Jake

Aiken

328

Colin

Wilson

323

3

Tristan

Taylor

361

3

4

Darren

Borg

349

4

Bernard

Kong

323

Joel

McKenzie

312

5

Mark

Crompton

344

5

6

Kris

Hickson

339

6

Gordon

Pullin

301

Chris

Curtis

271

7

Blake

O’Grady

326

7

8

Paul

Langley

320

8

Sam

Peck

259

John

Parkinson

256

9

Peter

Breukel

283

9

10

Mark

Saric

281

10

Justin

Reeves

249

Kurt

Thomson

244

11

Andrew

Moore

278

11

12

Charlie

Saykao

273

12

Glen

Sturrock

243

Neil

Kelly

242

13

Luke

Rogan

270

13

14

Scott

Wilson

270

14

Tani

Konsul

236

Simon

Martin

197

15

Alan

Lister

261

15

16

Mathew

Fatafehi

256

16

Chris

Lonne

196

Dallas

Blatchford

192

17

Tom

Slater

256

17

18

Craig

Templar

252

18

Andrew

Williams

190

19

Cameron

Hall

187

20

Steven

Dee

186

19 20 34

Darren Borg

TAG 2021 2022 abt

Travis Jason

Ryan Mayberry

230 220

abt

Tournament Angler Guide

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www.bassmanspinnerbaits.com

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TAG 2022

35

abt

Tournament Angler Guide

1

Matthew Langford

2

Mike Nelson

3

Kris Banks

4

Graham Ford

5

Brad Wickson

2021 BASS AOY NON BOATER

2021 BASS BOATER AOY Current

First Name

Surname

Points

1

Kelvin

Hatton

365

370

2

Beau

Eveleigh

337

352

3

Paul

Mazaroli

330

Ford

347

4

Shane

Richards

323

Wickson

343

5

Bridgett

Currey

322

Dylan

Walsh

337

6

Jason

Sheehan

268

Bill

Latimer

328

7

Tony

Neal

267

8

Trent

Blake

320

8

Nick

Brown

264

9

John

Ciancio

320

9

Aiden

Bichel

263

10

Gregory

Burke

317

10

Troy

Lowe

255

11

Mark

Lennox

310

11

Giacomo

Pippo

252

12

Keeghan

Painter

307

12

Greg

Rigby

243

13

Ian

Wratten

306

13

Mathew

Cameron

239

14

Bill

Rose

287

14

Barry

Reynolds

239

15

Mitchell

Cone

276

15

Allan

Price

219

16

Philip

Nix

273

16

Rodney

Thorpe

218

17

Dane

Pryce

269

17

Adam

Wilson

189

18

Simon

Marchant

266

18

James

Browning

189

19 20

Corey Tim

Goldie Oakley

250 246

19

Michael

Goodwin

178

20

Heath

Kimber

169

Current Rank

First Name

Surname

Points

1

Matthew

Langford

381

2

Mike

Nelson

3

Kris

Banks

4

Graham

5

Brad

6 7

SC Marine Doctor

1

Anita Barra

2

1

Mathew Flynn

Charles West

2

2021 BASS ELECTRIC AOY

2021 BARRA TOY Current Rank

Team

1

SC Marine Doctor (Rob Wood/Tommy Wood)

520

2

Anita Barra (Liam Robinson/James Wilson)

519

Current

First Name

Surname

Points

1

Mathew

Flynn

296

2

Charles

West

295

Peter

Bostock

295

Points

3

Dobyns Rods (Mick Slade/Ben Willcox)

519

3

4

T.B.C (Peter Laine/Ben Williams)

515

4

Chesley

Lennon

284

Tom

Reynolds

284

5

Wilson Fishing (Jeremy Cornelius/Kord Luckus)

510

5

6

Venom (Troy Dixon/Adam Meredith)

500

6

Peter

Woods

281

Stephen

McLean

280

7

Fishing Monthly (Steve Morgan/Nicholle Smith)

498

7

8

About Town Bait & Tackle (Michael Detenon/Luke Mulcahy) 488

8

Shaun

Ezzy

272

Kane

Rowswell

196

9

Imakatsu (Colin Brett/Quintin Maclean)

488

9

10

Smak Wild (Thomas Herbohn/Brett Turner)

481

10

Sam

Lauritzen

195

Mark

McKay

193

11

Wagon Wheel (Gavin Gaw/Chalan Gilley)

456

11

12

Tolga Traders (Cameron Browning/Liam Sohier)

426

12

Will

Kleinschafer

191

Brian

Rudledge

190

13

Barra Bandits (Moz Khan/Glen Smith)

426

13

14

Lowrance (Peter Price/Greg Thomas)

398

14

Luke

Atkinson

189

Glen

Swanson

187

15

Garmin (Matt Mott/Tom Griffiths)

394

15

16

Mustad Swap Dogs (Jono Clark/Adam Walker)

380

16

Rod

Shorten

186

Cristian

Manolea

182

17

Part-Time Hookers (Aaron Beck/Jamie Brady)

366

17

18

ACM Dogtooth (Jason Crofts/Trevor Crofts)

264

18

Jake

Schwerin

100

19

Nathan

D’arcy

100

20

Tim

Morgan

99

19 20 36

abt.org.au

TAG 2022 abt

Barra Drama (Keegan Hayden/Geoff Newby) Fitzroy River Barra Bash (Ricky Conrad/Dean Lill)

250 246

abt

Tournament Angler Guide

abt.org.au

ALL THE TOURNAMENT WINNING LURES IN ONE PLACE BUILT ON HOOKS

CRANK 38 MID AND DEEP

BREAM CRANK

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JERK MINNOW 65

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The brand developed out of the tournament scene to become one of the most popular tackle brands on the market.

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FAT GRUB

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www.millerods.com.au abt

TAG 2022

37

abt

Tournament Angler Guide

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Do you really want to win tournaments?

Then you really need ZMan. Innovative. Reliable. Proven.

The new Molix Glide Bait 18 s a 3oz slow sinking jointed glidebait designed in collaboration with Carl Jocumsen. Ideal for tempting big cod, barra and flathead. Available in 5 colours.

Explore the full ZMan Lures range:

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Sunline Xplasma Asegai Following four years of development, Sunline have recenty launched Asegai braid featuring patented Xplasma technology that dramaticaly improves slickness, abrasion resistance, and water repellence.

Slickness and smoothness are improved 370% and 260% respectively over our conventional braided lines.

The Xplasma process also improves hydrophobic capabilities of Asegai over 240% over our standard braided lines allowing for longer casts.

Some of the best anglers in the world contributed to the development. Asegai is a premium eight streand Japanese braied made PE with a tightly woven surface for ultimate performance.

Available in light green for higher visibility.

150m (165yd) 6lb (PE0.6) to 50lb (PE5) 300m (330yd) 6lb (PE0.6) to 50ob (PE5)

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38

TAG 2022 abt

abt

Tournament Angler Guide

abt.org.au

MEGA

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