• TOPWATER TECHNIQUES • ALL THE LATEST LOCAL REPORTS •
QLD
NSW
VIC
TAS
WA
Species Spotlight
Bob Thornton brings us topwater bream
Tested
•
13 Fishing Concept C2 • Whittley FF1950
Features
Scratching the surface with topwater bream • How sustainable are the outer-shelf stocks? • Back-to-basics: Tools of the Trade • Kayaking at Hays Inlet •
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OUR COVER March 2022, Vol. 2 No.11 VIC
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QUEENSLAND The Tweed Gold Coast Jumpinpin Southern Bay Brisbane Northern Bay Noosa Bundaberg Mackay Whitsundays Townsville Hinchinbrook Cairns Port Douglas Cooktown Lucinda Cape York Freshwater
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MARCH 2022
From the Editor’s Desk...
WA
The Queensland Fisheries ‘Green Paper’ was always going to ruffle some feathers on the way through. It was a strategy that created a framework to assess various fisheries’ health and set in place triggers to help them recover. It also is meant to give the Fisheries Managers the ability to enact changes through good science and management rather than having to go through Parliament to get anything meaningful done. In theory it’s a great plan to get stocks to where everyone needs them to be, but there was inevitably going to be some friction when the rubber hits the road. Currently, Queensland’s hot topic is Spanish mackerel and there are rumours aplenty about the fishery being closed due to low stock levels. Under 20% of original biomass, so action needs to be taken.
Autumn is the perfect time to fish for salmon off the beaches. A Neil Slater image. Come and visit Fishing Monthly Group’s official Facebook page for all your monthly fishing information. Download QR Reader to access.
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REGULAR FEATURES Topwater bream Starlo’s back to basics Sheik of the Creek Kayaking: Hays Inlet Sustainable outer-shelf stocks What’s new fishing Testing Booth: 13Fishing Concept C2 WIRF Tournament Calendar Tournaments Trades and Services/Tide page Boat test: Whittley FF1950
Here’s what the current status is: The East Coast Spanish Mackerel Working Group most recently met on the 7-8 February 2022 to discuss the stock assessment and rebuilding options for this fishery. It is important to note that no changes have been made to recreational or commercial fishing rules for Spanish mackerel at this time, and none will be made without public consultation with recreational and commercial fishers. The East Coast Spanish Mackerel Working Group will continue to provide advice on appropriate management options, and develop a harvest strategy for this fishery, consistent with the principles of the Sustainable Fisheries Strategy 2017-2027. A public consultation process is planned for early 2022 to allow commercial fishers, recreational fishers and other stakeholders to have their say on proposed management arrangements. Future management action and the potential impacts of any such action will be considered by the Queensland Government before a final decision is made ahead of the 2022 fishing season, that commences on 1 July. The stock assessment of Australian East Coast Spanish mackerel report, review and response to the review is available at era.daf. qld.gov.au/id/eprint/8226/ You would assume that fishing in some capacity would be allowed… otherwise how would managers get future data to assess when it’s time to re-open it? Time will tell.
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Topwater bream: scratching the surface BRISBANE
Bob Thornton
Throughout their range, yellowfin bream are a challenging but reliable adversary year round, with summer and autumn being the pick for topwater action. During this time, prawns of various species make their way down rivers and creeks, usually assisted by the extra fresh pumping through these systems. These nervous morsels eventually take up residence in the estuary. Down in this more saline water, they are an important food source for many hungry critters, with yellowfin bream being just one of their regular tormentors! At the same time, heightened insect activity sees food falling from above. Crawlies such as cicadas, dragonflies, butterflies and beetles are all on the yellowfin menu. FIND THE FOOD As with most fishing, finding the food source is critical to success, and there are things you can look for to get you into the action faster. Generally speaking, this fishing is done in sheltered
Storm Morgan landed this topwater terror in the Gold Coast canals using a small stickbait. This highly active and visual style of fishing is perfect for kids who can cast a spin rod comfortably. and towns will probably be heavier on the prawns, while brackish creeks with thick native vegetation hanging over the water will likely offer more in the way of insects, so adjust your approach accordingly. We will discuss presentations later on.
– and more likely a group of bream – chasing food in the shallows. Speaking of the shallows, this is where the vast majority of topwater breaming happens. Prawns and other crustaceans like to push up shallow into nutrient-rich mangrove forests where they can feed, with the shallows providing some safety from their hungry assailants. I say ‘some safety’ because bream are determined little customers, and will push up super shallow, sometimes turning on their side to get at a few tasty prawns. Insect activity is usually linked to vegetation, which grows on the banks lining the waterways. Following this logic, bream seeking insects will do best under or nearby this vegetation in – you guessed it – shallow water!
In fact, I seldom venture into water more than 1ft deep when topwater fishing for bream. To a fish that often struggles to reach 40cm in as many years, deeper water is a scary place! Just like their prey, yellowfin bream spend a large portion of their life escaping the jaws of predators. This is why I never shy away from exploring the shallowest margins in search of these little battlers. TOOLS FOR THE TRADE There are people who spend a mint in pursuit of bream, and I believe that with the amount of technique specific equipment available now you will have a huge advantage if you spend a little extra. You can, however, still catch plenty of topwater bream using mid-range and even cheap gear. What matters more is that you apply what
In the heat of summer, heading further into the shaded creeks can be a good move. You can bet there will be plenty of food up there for the bream!
Good size summer whiting are a regular and welcomed by-catch when working the shallow flats. salt or brackish waters, and it’s usually not difficult to find suitable habitat. Mangrove creeks, sandy inlets, small sheltered islands and even heavily built-up canals will all harbour the soft, squishy baby prawns (often called jelly prawns) and flying insects that bream love to chomp. Heavily built-up areas like canals and rivers running through major cities 8
MARCH 2022
In any case it pays to be observant, and luckily with bream, their feeding behaviour is often very obvious and doesn’t require expensive technology to reveal. When motoring through mangrove creeks on hot summer days you’ll often hear that tell-tale surface sucking sound from feeding yellowfin. This exaggerated kissing sound indicates that there is at least one bream
knowledge you have built up for your chosen venue. For rods, anything in the 1-5kg range of spin rods is perfect. Major brands such as Atomic, Daiwa and Shimano actually build rods specifically for topwater bream fishing. These rods are usually around the 6-7’5” range and are relatively soft, which helps keep tiny trebles and assist hooks pinned while fighting fish. Spin reels in the 10003000 size range are standard for yellowfin bream, and I believe that light braided lines are the way to go for topwater breaming. There are anglers who like to use fluorocarbon straight through, and I have done this when employing other techniques for bream. The reason I don’t like using straight through fluorocarbon for surface work is that braid floats,
Rigging up can be as complex or as simple as you like, but it’s important to have a few presentations on hand to make adjustments to your approach as the session unfolds.
while fluorocarbon sinks. Braid allows long, accurate casting under pontoon walkways or overhanging mangroves. Braided lines between 2-6lb will handle most bream swimming. A good rod length of monofilament or fluorocarbon leader is fine, and my choice of leader material depends on my choice of lure. Fluorocarbon, which usually sinks, is helpful when using lures that need to be pulled under the water momentarily to achieve their optimum action. Bent minnow design lures, fizzers and some poppers work best when they are stabbed under the surface and allowed to float back up. Having the trace sink in front of the lure a little bit can help you get the most out of these retrieves. Fly fishers who want their surface flies to ‘dive’ should also use a fluorocarbon tippet.
If I want my lure to stay on the surface and not get pulled under by the leader, monofilament is a better option. Presentations such as stickbaits and surface crawlers definitely work better with monofilament leaders. Leaders should be a similar poundage to mainlines, with 2-6lb being a good range, although I have
ended up in proper Jurassic bream country where 12lb leaders were standard, so it always pays to have something heavier in your arsenal as well! LOADING UP ON LURES Some anglers literally do load up on small topwater for this caper, because it is just so much fun! It’s possible to spend thousands of dollars filling plastic
boxes with jelly prawn and insect imitations, and the nice thing is that these same presentations will be snapped up just as readily by whiting, bass, mangrove jack, trout, sooty grunter, jungle perch and many others. True to my usual form though, I’m always looking for ways to do things cheaply, and smart bream anglers can do the same.
Shallow flats are a great place to toss topwater prawn imitations for bream. This Bassday Sugapen with retro-fitted assist hooks did the damage on this Moreton Bay flat.
When imitating prawns, which can range from small rice grain-sized juveniles to banana-length adults, stickbaits, bent minnow styles, poppers and fizzers will cover your bases. Anything that ‘spits’ water as it is worked across the surface is perfect for replicating the panicked fleeing of a prawn, something yellowfin bream are wired to zero in on! If you find yourself a little further up the system where insects dominate the menu, lures such as cicada imitations, poppers and fizzers made to look like grasshoppers, bass flies such as Dahlberg Divers and Muddler Minnows, and even lightly-rigged soft plastics worked along the surface work great. Hook configurations are an interesting point of discussion amongst bream anglers. Small trebles are fairly standard on most lures, and size 10-16 is a good range to have on hand. Retro-fitting assist hooks to lures has become common practice in bream circles in recent years, and these hooks are particularly handy when bream are short striking, which they often do. I have had success using ‘W’ style or double hooks, rigged with the two hook points facing backward. A configuration like this is at
In the more northern edge of their range, mangrove jack can be an exciting way to break up bream captures. Models larger than this are seldom landed on standard bream gear! its best when fishing amongst thick mangroves with lots of roots just under the surface. Rigged like this, lures will tend to ride over structure and not get hung up as often. If you do want to
retro-fit your own hooks, make sure you test the lure out before you fish with it. With such small lures, such a miniscule change in the weight distribution can affect To page 10
Introducing the Rap-V Blade in the NEW 5cm model. Rap-V Blade 05
Running Depth Variable
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@rapalaaustralia MARCH 2022
9
Southern
OLD
Fishing improves as the system cleans up JUMPINPIN
Bo Sawyer
With summer leaving us we can now start expecting things to cool down as we head into autumn. I couldn’t
fishing to improve as well. Mud crabs have been on fire recently and there’s been some good size to them as well. Plenty of fishos have been getting great feeds and the ones I’ve seen have been full and heavy. It’s definitely
Benno has been smashing the crabs around the Pin area.
Benno with a decent flatty caught flicking the shallows. welcome this change enough and I’m really excited to see temps, wind and rain dialled back a little. The fishing has
worthwhile chucking a couple of pots out on the way to your fishing spots, it adds a little excitement to the session knowing you
really well and fresh fish frames or chicken carcasses are a great option. I’ve been seeing thousands of prawns flicking this month, the size isn’t there just yet but it shouldn’t be too far away before we see some good catches. Whiting catches are still going strong. Fishing the lagoons on the northern side of South Straddie has yielded good results using lightly weighted yabbies. Gold Bank or the yabby banks south of the Powerlines are great options as well. Try and keep your bait moving even if that means slowly retrieving your line in the slack water. Light leader is key and I’ve always found
Most of the fish have moved back up the system at the time of writing and, because the water is still dirty, it’s been hard fishing. I’ve still been getting
Mick has been getting onto some nice jacks at the moment.
Jack and Jordan with a tasty feed, great job young fellas.
Mick with a horse flathead caught on a soft plastic. been tough work for the last few weeks, but once the upper system starts clearing up expect the 20
MARCH 2022
might have some big bucks to collect on the way back to the ramp. The whole system has been producing
4lb fluorocarbon to be really good. The flathead fishing has been really tough.
onto a couple of double digit sessions but I’ve had to work a lot of ground and fish hard for those numbers. My pick are the ZMan paddle-tail plastics in the lure department and pilchards, fresh prawns and herring for bait. Google search barometer forecast, I find the bigger fish are more quiet and sitting a little deeper when the barometer is below 1010. If the barometer forecast is predicting levels around 1020 then expect a good bite. With the increased swell it’s been a little tricky chasing jewfish around the pin entrance. If you
do manage to get out on a good day then fish the tide changes in the pin bar and the deeper water off Swan Bay. Soft vibes or 5-6” plastics work well otherwise live mullet, fresh pilchards and big strip bait will get them biting. More often than not though the bigger live baits will get you the better quality fish. Plenty of sharks getting around at the moment as well for the adrenaline junkies. I’ve been losing a lot of live baits to them recently but fresh eel works wonders as well. I’ve had several 2-3m sharks cruise past me in very shallow water out in the pin but you’ll find them anywhere from the Pin mouth all the way up in the Logan. That’s it from me this month everyone, tight lines. • To see more of my fishing adventures on Instagram, follow The Bobo Boat (@ thebobo_boat)
The author with a mid-70cm flatty caught on a 4” ZMan paddle-tail.
Leslie Dam stocked with gold Golden perch fingerlings were recently released into Leslie Dam at Warwick. Warwick District Recreational Fish Stocking Association (WDRFSA) released around 90 000 fingerlings in the dam near structures, providing them with the best chance of survival. Four boats were used in the release, including a Department of Agriculture and Fisheries vessel. Leslie Dam is one of 63 stocked impoundments around Queensland, which provide a sustainable fishing option that reduces pressure on wild fish stocks.
Your SIPS permit fees at work
Your SIPS permit fees at work
Know your limits A fisher has been fined $7500 in the Maroochydore Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to going well over the Spanish mackerel catch limit on two occasions.
The limit for recreational fishers is three per person, and the offender was found on two separate occasions with 14 and 13 excess fish. The Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol use a range of resources and techniques to detect such offences, including checking market distribution points to monitor compliance for important species under a quota.
Visit qld.gov.au and search ‘SIPS’ to learn more about fishing in stocked impoundments.
Net-free zone fan
Did you know there are special net-free zones in Cairns, Mackay and Rockhampton that are closed to all commercial netting? These zones were introduced in November 2015 to increase recreational fishing opportunities, supporting tourism and economic growth in regional areas. Chloe sent in this photo of her 10-year-old son, Taz, who loves to catch-and-release and hook a few grunter and whiting to feed the family occasionally too. “He has experienced first-hand the benefits of the net free zones at St Helens Beach – the size and quality of the fish has improved drastically,” Chloe said.
Species details
Spanish mackerel have a possession limit of 3, or 6 per boat of 2 or more people. Check the rules before going fishing and download the free ‘Qld Fishing 2.0’ app from the App Store or Google Play.
Visit qld.gov.au and search ‘net-free zones’ to learn more about the zones, including maps and regulations.
Download the free ‘Qld Fishing 2.0’ app from the App Store or Google Play
DAF1611 04/2022
Contact us
fisheries.qld.gov.au 13 25 23 FisheriesQueensland FisheriesQld DAFQld MARCH 2022
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WHAT’S NEW X-BRAID FULL DRAG
1
The all new X-Braid Full Drag X8, from YGK, utilises the latest in braid filaments, making it 60% stronger than its predecessor. A mixture of new technologies delivers a high-quality product that really performs. New GD-P technology reduces stretch, and new WX braiding technology produces a tight body of braid with a smaller diameter, offering the ultimate in strength. The super-smooth silicone line surface coating creates less friction as well as less stretch, allowing you to set you hooks at speed with efficiency. The super-thin fibre offers a much longer life expectancy than other premium braids; where you may normally upgrade your braid within a few months, you can expect a longer life from X-Braid line. Full Drag X8 isn’t just a casting line – it has superior abrasion resistance and very high knot strength when you have to lock up big species, making it the ultimate saltwater all-rounder line. X-Braid Full Drag comes in 300m spools in PE3, PE4, PE5, PE6 and PE8. www.xbraidygk.com.au
NEW OKUMA CELILO MODELS
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Whatever your ultralight passion, the range of Celilo Finesse Spin rods have you covered, with their softer, balanced actions and quality materials. Angler requests have led to an almost doubling of the available models, expanding the angler applications for this affordable rod series. Sensitive graphite composite blanks and quality cork grips have made the Celilo range a favourite for anglers chasing a range of species, including trout, redfin, bass, whiting and bream. Other features include aluminium oxide guide inserts, and a stainless-steel hooded Okuma reel seat. The actions of these rods allow them to transfer easily from bait fishing to casting ultralight lures, especially when making accurate casts in tight country. Celilo Finesse Spin rods have a classic look and feel, with a modern performance and affordable price tag. They are available in seven models, all 2-piece for easy transport and storage. Price: SRP $69.90 www.tackletactics.com.au
STRIKE PRO GLIDER COLOURS
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Strike Pro has released two new fishcatching colours in its popular range of Glider lures. The Glider is built tough, and resembles a bony bream or a baby redfin to a tee. Each lure features a double joint with a bike chain linking system, and features an outstanding lifelike swimming action. The Glider slowly sinks so it will stay in the strike zone and in the fishes’ face for longer. The Glider is only 6.6cm long, weighs 6.2g and it dives to approx. 6ft. This lure has been highly effective for anglers targeting Australian bass, yellowbelly, estuary perch, redfin, trout, bream and more. To find out more visit the Juro Oz Pro website, or look up “Strike Pro Glider” on YouTube. www.jurofishing.com
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MARCH 2022
PRODUCT GUIDE
DAIWA 22 EXIST
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The flagship spin reel in the Daiwa light tackle range again elevates spin reel design to a new level with the release of the 22 Exist. The original Exist was released in 2006, and now the 22 models introduce new designs and technologies to deliver anglers their most advanced light tackle Daiwa spin reel to date. The foundation of the 22 Exist’s design is Daiwa’s new Airdrive Design, a four pillar (Airdrive Rotor, Airdrive Bail, Airdrive Spool, and Airdrive Shaft) design concept that reduces weight, and enhances rotational smoothness and responsiveness. The new Airdrive Rotor and Airdrive Airbail combine to reduce weight at the top of the reel to improve rotational smoothness and start-up speed, and to minimise rotational resistance and inertia. These design benefits are further enhanced thanks to the Exist’s new weightsaving, optimally-balanced Airdrive Spool. Airdrive Design and Airdrive Shaft feature a low-contact structure between the mainshaft and pinion, resulting in reduced internal friction and improved rotational smoothness. A leap forward in Daiwa light tackle spin reel design, Daiwa’s Airdrive Design concept combines with proven Daiwa technologies including Monocoque Body, Magseal, Tough Digigear, ATD, and Twistbuster, to deliver anglers their most advanced Exist reel ever. www.daiwafishing.com.au
ZEREK FLAT SHAD X WEEDLESS
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At the heart of the Weedless Flat Shad X is the patented belly slits that allow the plastic to easily compress in any direction, exposing the hook to ensure solid hook ups. The Flat Shad X also incorporates a Kevlar webbed tail that is segmented to provide incredible movement from the boot tail. This creates a rolling action as well as a beautiful undulating movement that fish can’t help but attack when retrieved at the slowest of speeds. The Weedless Flat Shad X also has a stinger eyelet attached on the weighted worm hook, giving anglers the option to add a treble stinger or attach a flashy blade. There is also a further stinger attachment eyelet above the eye of the lure on the head. This allows anglers to place a treble up on top in weedy or snaggy country and swap out the bottom stinger for a flashy blade or similar. Available in 11 colours that include natural patterns and attractor colours, the Jighead Rigged Flat Shad X is available in a 130mm/23g, 145mm/30g and 170mm/44g option. www.wilsonfishing.com
VMC MANGROVE INLINE
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VMC’s new Mangrove Inline Hooks are a great option when fishing around weed beds. These hooks can be retro fitted to lures to increase snag reduction and produce better hook-up rates. Mangrove Inline Hooks have a needle-sharp point and are coated with a new PTFE coating, which increases penetration speed by 50% and is five times more corrosion resistant than a classic PTFE coating. Other features include a micro barb, vanadium wire construction, and a Technical Locking Curve (TLC) shape designed to lock fish in place, delivering consistent, solid hook-ups. Mangrove Inline Hooks have been designed to equip hardbodies from 60-120mm. For more information check out the Rapala Australia Facebook page or look up ‘VMC Mangrove’ on YouTube. www.facebook.com/rapala.australia
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TESTING BOOTH
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13 Fishing Concept C2: A reel for all occasions One of the testing booths I did in 2021 was on the 13 Fishing Concept Z2 Slide baitcast reel (July 2021 issue). It is a very impressive reel, which now has pride of place as part of my favourite baitcast outfit. However, what do you do when a couple of your local fishing locations (Enoggera Reservoir and Lake Manchester) have fish that are increasing in size, but prefer smaller profile lures, which this outfit isn’t overly suited to?
be. I caught a number of larger fish that day and never felt underpowered, either in in line class, the rod, and certainly not the reel. It was a very exciting first impression. Facts about the reel Firstly, the Concept C2 reel is a very distinctive white colour and has a serious list of features (if you want to check those out go to www.13fishing.com), however the key specifications are: 9 ball bearings, 10kg of drag, weighs a tiny 162g, and is available in both left- and right-hand
The two outfits the author tested. The only difference is the retrieve ratios of the reels. 8.3:1 on the reel at the bottom and 6.8:1 for the one at the top.
Small lures like this Rapala Rippin Rap can easily be cast with 13 Fishing Concept C2 reel. This is the ultimate result; a solid 42cm bass comes to the kayak. You have a word to 13 Fishing’s Australian distributer Rapala Australia and see what may suit within their range. The answer, a 13 Fishing Concept C2 reel spooled with 10lb Suffix 832 braid and matched to a Storm Adventure Xtreme 662L rod. An outfit designed to cast lures between 5g and 12g and hopefully ideal to use on these small profile lure eating fish. The first time I was able to put this outfit to the test was at Lake Manchester and, I won’t lie, I did bring a back up spin outfit with me – better safe than sorry. Would my right thumb be educated enough to feather the spool and allow me to cast these small light offerings! A 50mm, 9g Rapala Rippin Rap was the first lure I cast with the outfit and although I was tentative as first, I needn’t have worried as with some minor adjustments of the spool tension, I was off and casting like a pro in no time. The eye opener for me was just how powerful a finesse outfit can
wind. There are two models in the right hand wind range with varying retrieve ratios (6.8:1, and 8.3:1) and one in the left (6.8:1). Approximately 120m of 10lb braid went onto the reel I tested. To summarise, you have a lightweight reel that can be used for either light line or heavy line applications and with 10kg of drag it has more stopping power than most people will ever use. Back on the water After such a successful first outing, I was keen to get back on the water again. Nevertheless, the reel I was provided had an 8.3:1 retrieve ratio, which caused no issues for me in the more open waters of Lake Manchester, however at Enoggera Reservoir I tend to fish small pockets of water amongst lily pads and weed beds. My lures were in and out of the zone way too quickly, so I wasn’t fishing as effectively as I would have liked. Slowing down helped, but I really wanted to try
Heavier lures and tackle are no issue for the Concept C2 reel. This golden perch ate a 5/8oz spinnerbait meant for a Murray cod.
the same outfit with a 6.8:1 ratio reel. A quick look online and I could buy the exact outfit from Freak Sports, which I promptly ordered and received in three days. What you hope after making this kind of investment is that the solution works and, yes, it did. The difference is approximately 15cm of line retrieved per wind, which made all the difference fishing tight country. So as much as I had my light lure baitcast dilemma sorted, the Concept C2
The right set up is essential and the reel is a massive part of that. Being lightweight with good casting systems the Concept C2 offers the option to put it onto a finesse set up, perfect to cast and use these lures. Like the Concept Z2 Slide I am very impressed with the Concept C2 reel and I
The author’s first outing was at Lake Manchester. It provided a great first impression for what the Concept C2 combo was capable of. isn’t just a finesse fishing reel. The specs for the reel suggest that it will comfortably deal with heavier lines and the species that go with it. For me, that generally sends me down the native fish path: Murray cod, golden perch, Australian bass and saratoga. In the salt, barramundi and mangrove jack spring to mind, but I am sure if I thought hard enough there are plenty more. I wasn’t able to target the later species however, Christmas in Canberra offered a few opportunities and the Concept C2 dealt with casting 5/8oz spinnerbaits and surface lures for cod without blinking an eye. Another discovery was the advantage of a higher retrieve ratio reel when casting skirted jigs. That extra 15cm of line makes a big difference when fishing these lures. Picking up slack line quickly is super important when fishing these lures. Final thoughts Prior to testing the 13 Fishing Concept C2 baitcast reel, I don’t think I would have considered a baitcast outfit to cast the types of lures I have been (an image of a few of them is hereabouts). Many would have considered them spin tackle only.
believe if you are in the market for a new baitcast reel they are well worth a look, even more so if you are looking to fish smaller lighter lures. To find out more about the 13 Fishing range of baitcast reels go to their website www.13fishing.com or check them out at your local tackle store.
Many of these lures were not considered by the author as baitcast tackle options. He has since changed his mind.
Please email contributions to: nicole@fishingmonthly.com.au MARCH 2022
55
Sydney
NSW
Get ready for what’s on offer SYD ROCK & BEACH
Alex Bellissimo alex@bellissimocharters.com.au
The fishing scene is hot at the moment. You can target just about anything that Sydney has to offer and be in with a chance to catch most species when you target them. For me, fishing is like exercising. It’s better
go home fishless? Having the heavy rock gear for a king (24kg+ size outfits) will likely be suitable for a groper as well. Harvesting crabs at the location you’re fishing for kings may be an option (always check that you’re allowed to harvest bait at that location). Another option is having lighter spin outfits suitable for pelagics such as salmon, tailor and, at
Iyad Jayyousi with a 43cm whiting caught off the beach. This fish was released, and the smaller 2933cm whiting kept for a feed. Having live beach worms will greatly increase your chances of success. to have frequent, shorter exercise sessions than it is to have rare, long exercise sessions. If you want to maintain your fishing ‘fitness’, it’s a similar story. Keep your gear at the ready in your car or at home, and pick it up and just GO! Even if you fish for just a short period, at least you’re getting out there, maintaining your knowledge, learning new things and, as bonus, maybe catching a few fish for a feed or sport. Here’s what’s been caught lately around Sydney off the rocks and the beaches. ROCK FISHING When you target kingfish, remember they can be one of those species that might let you down on the day – sometimes for no apparent reason. True, the kingy fishing can be great on a lot of days, but if it’s quiet you should have a backup plan. The same deep ledge you are fishing for kings may be a suitable location for a groper as well, so why 58
MARCH 2022
this time of the year, frigate mackerel, mac tuna and of course, smaller kings. Spinning with metals like the 40g SureCatch Bishop is a good happy medium – small enough to entice fussy feeding pelagics focusing on little baitfish, and heavy enough to still get distance in a punchy wind. Sometimes the pelagics won’t be within 50m off your rock ledge so you need to be able to cast it out a longer way. A 7-15kg outfit like the Daiwa Over There 109MH will be suitable, with 10kg braid like J-Braid Grand and 20-25lb fluorocarbon leader and a suitable reel like the 500D BG MQ. This rod is also great for spinning metals and plastics, and is also a good outfit for wash snapper and rock blackfish off the rocks. For the bonito, I like the Shore Spartan Break Through 120mm in the sardine colour, and the Shore Spartan Power Splash popper 140mm in the dekanago colour. Kings up to nearly a metre long have been caught by some anglers off the rocks. A client caught one recently that went near 80cm on a whole sea gar on a set of Mustad 6/0 gangs with an occy skirt that goes over the garfish beak as an added attractor. I’m not sure why it works well; maybe the king thinks that the gar has grabbed a squid or small octopus, or the occy has grabbed the garfish? Luderick are in good
numbers at the moment, with bags of 6-10 fish being quite common. Many anglers assume that luderick are solely a winter species, but these fish can actually be caught at least nine months of the year and, in a lot of cases, all year round. Some quality groper are showing up as well. A solid 78cm fish was caught by a client of mine, and it was his very first fish – how crazy is that! The big blue groper was estimated at least 10kg, and was released. Two more fish to 57cm were caught as well, and the brown groper were kept for a feed. I have a new policy that any blue groper over 70cm are to be released. That’s because they are a residential species, and the big blues gets fished pretty hard in Sydney. The Fisheries bag limit is two fish per person, with one blue groper over 60cm and one brown groper. At the end of the day it is up to you whether you want to keep a big blue when fishing on your own trips. Snapper have thinned out a little but they will increase in numbers again. I recently caught a nice 50cm+ fish on a fresh slimy mackerel fillet distance casting with 5oz snapper sinker, casting out approximately 100m at North Avalon rocks around the front near St Michaels cave. There are also good numbers of rock blackfish. Peeled prawns (king,
Chris Minehan with a beautiful 80cm king. When these fish are on the bite, the action can be chaotic!
The author caught this snapper distance casting up to 100m out to reach the sand/rubble patches. Fresh slimy mackerel fillet was the bait. endeavour or banana) in the larger size are preferred compared to the smaller school prawns. On some occasions the sweep, mados and yellowtail are so prolific you are best not peeling the prawns. The shell acts like a temporary shield against these baitevaporating pests. Some spots to fish for kings, bonito, frigate mackerel and mac tuna are the deeper ledges like The Hat and Bluefish below the climb, both in the suburb of Manly. Luderick, bream and groper can be caught from there as well. Other areas include Flat Rock at South Curl Curl for luderick and pelagics, and for rock blackfish North Curl Curl and Mona Vale headland. BEACH FISHING Beach fishing for the smaller species like whiting, bream and flathead has been quite good. The crowds at Manly Beach don’t seem to deter the fish too much, although it often deters anglers because they think that fishing on a crowded beach is out of the question, except for night fishing opportunities. Look at it this way – Sydney Harbour and Botany Bay can be very crowded with lots of activity from boat traffic and commuter water craft, but the fish get used to it and still feed as usual. Fishing Manly beaches South Steyne to Queenscliff you have several options to fish. You can normally find a patch where there is a good gutter away from the surfers, surfing school, swimmers and walkers on this beach. I often take my clients here and have some great catches despite all of
the activity that’s going on. Whiting up to 40cm, sand flathead to 42cm and bream to 34cm have been coming off this beach of late, caught on live beach worms. Manly can be a very good tailor beach in March. Chopper/tailor are active and quite reliable just before sunset and after sunset as well. Tailor from 32-40cm are being caught on a set of three 3/0 or 4/0 gangs and a whole pilchard bait. Salmon are also in the mix and are very often caught whilst fishing for tailor. Other beaches you can fish for good results are Curl Curl and Dee Why (although kelp weed can be a problem) and Bungan Beach. ESTUARY FISHING Kings have been biting of late, along with other pelagics like tailor, salmon and small tuna species like frigate mackerel and mac tuna. Some bonito are still around although they will become fewer as the month progresses. You will find that the pelagics can be fussier about the food they eat in the Harbour. These predators can be focussed on smaller baitfish, and matching a lure to suit can be challenging. One method that can work is using a small plastic occy skirt, no. 1/0 or 2/0 hook, approx. 60cm of 20-30lb fluoro leader tied to a 30kg swivel, then a size 2-4 ball sinker then a turnip float (you can also purchase the weighted version) and a float stopper approx. 1m above the float. A 3-5g metal works well too because it is matching the size bait that the To page 59
NSW
Sydney
Kingfish on the chew SYDNEY NTH
Steve Winser
Well we appear to have gotten off to a reasonable start to the year, despite the arrival of the ‘all new and improved’ COVID. At least we have seen no lockdowns here so far (touch wood). Wi t h water temperatures on the rise and the persistence of the La Niña cycle and the associated wild weather swings, we are facing some ‘interesting’ conditions for fishing this month. As predicted, the kingfish action in the harbour has ramped up again, with good numbers of fish in the lower reaches in the 70-90cm range, with the odd metre-plus fish amongst them. These fish are very well fed, which means that they have been From page 58
pelagics are eating. Cast and retrieve at a fairly fast rate for good results. The reason for this rig is so you can cast out the small occy skirt or tiny metal at distance, otherwise you would be not able to cast it out more than 10-20m except with really light 2kg outfit. A light outfit is often not realistic because you’ll be fishing up higher or in rough rocky terrain
picky. Primo squid baits are your ticket to success. True, the odd fish has been coming on live baits, but you want squid for your best chance. Many kingfish headed offshore to do the spawn thing earlier this year, but now they’re moving back and this month should fish well for them in the lower reaches. By the time you read this, the larger breeders should hopefully be showing up in catches. Squidding has been sporadic, and a concerted effort is needed some days to catch them. The ribbon weed beds have been producing the best for us, with smaller jigs in the size 2.0 to 3.0 range in orange or green being our go-to at the moment. The surface fish (salmon, tailor and bonito) have been present in the upper and lower reaches,
but have been laserfocussed on very small bait. To tempt them, I recommend using small metals (7-10g range) or 2-3” soft plastics. The fly guys have been doing well on them too, and a live bait tossed into the schools has proven effective also. The old reliable summer flathead have finally woken from their winter slumber. Fishing the edges and drop-offs, particularly running off shallow banks on the dropping tide, is a good way to catch these fish. Curly-tail soft plastics in the 3-5” range, in orange or natural colours, have been working for us. Next month should see an improvement across all the aforementioned species, and fingers are crossed that the weather will give us a bit of a break! • Fishing Sydney Tours
in some cases. A client recently landed a nice king on the ever-reliable sea garfish bait. Whole squid suspended 2-6m under the float are working well also. The inside Of South head approx. about 200m into the harbour southward can fish well for these species. It’s also quite good for bream and some rock blackfish as well. There are whiting at Camp Cove and Watsons Bay beaches, along with
bream and some flathead. It can fish best at night because it’s quite crowded during the day. Balmoral Beach in from of the Pavilion in Mosman is also producing these species. Please note: there have been quite a lot of rock fishing fatalities off the Ocean Rocks in recent months. Remember that it’s mandatory to have a lifejacket, and steel spike shoes are absolutely necessary as well. If
Daniel with a nice kingfish from the lower reaches. takes pride in tailoring every trip to the customer’s preferred species, style of angling, and level of expertise, all within a friendly and relaxed atmosphere at competitive
rates. There are some excellent fishing spots that can be accessed straight off Sydney, and we will show you where. We offer harbour, wash and offshore fishing for species ranging
from kingfish and mulloway through to snapper and mahimahi. For more info go to www.fishingsydneytours. com.au, call 0481 120 600 or look up ‘Fishing Sydney Tours’ on Facebook.
you’re going rock fishing and you’re not sure about the sea conditions, I recommend that you go beach fishing or estuary fishing instead. There are always other safer options on the day. You can also take a trip with me and I’ll
teach you how to fish the rocks safely, and prevent a bad situation from happening. Be safe, fish smart and have fun! I could write thousands of words about rock fishing safety. • For rock and beach
guided fishing or tuition in the northern Sydney region, visit www. bellissimocharters. com.au, email alex@ bellissimocharters. com.au or call Alex Bellissimo on 0408 283 616.
T S A O C EAST 2 2 0 2 S E RI
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e er • $150 Final $200 p tries back d en n f • Gra $100 o m u m ey. s. • Mini e mon % of entrie z i r p s a 100 rbour d Final ney Ha • Gran d y S • arch arie Macqu : 6th M e k a L ROUND 1 asin April • rges B : 10th o 2 e D G N U t O R S iver May • bury R s : 15th e 3 k D N w U O a R e•H Bay otany th Jun 5 B : • 4 r D N e r U b RO Harbou Septem y e h t n 8 d 1 y : r•S ROUND 5 Octobe h t 9 : L A FIN GRAND
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OOD SPORTS
Monetary prizes will depend on number of entries for each round plus sponsor prizes. Entry form & terms and conditions can be found at
www.wsbb.com.au Entry & payment should be submitted 7 days prior to each event
Bonny and Rod Won with their kids Olivia, Rose and Lawrence enjoyed a fun outing on the beach chasing whiting. There were several more fish landed and released as well.
au . m o c b.gmail.com b s w . wwwail: wsbream@ Em
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Payment via direct deposit (Details on entry form)
Series MARCH 2022
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VIC
Summer pelagics still on the go WARRNAMBOOL
Mark Gercovich mgercovich@hotmail.com
Even with March being the first month of autumn it’s still all about the summer species, probably even more so than in December. Fishing has been productive recently, despite a prevalence of east in the wind, which is usually not a good thing
because locally it results in choppy and stirred-up waters. Fortunately, it has coincided with some stretches of low swell, which has made conditions become fishable a little quicker than usual. All the summer pelagics have been out in force when conditions have allowed, with some quality kingfish, tuna and salmon being taken. The best king I have heard of this season so far was a 128cm,
19kg beast taken by Nick Alexeyeff. Fishing with Dean Beckman, the boys saw a shower of garfish and managed to put a Slug-Go through the area quickly to obtain the hook-up. There have been a number of other kings over a metre taken, as well as plenty of medium fish and rats, which is a good sign for the future. Interestingly, we had a kingfish we tagged last season recaptured this season. Phil Pirotta
Summer tuna have been providing plenty of action offshore.
landed the 89cm fish which had grown from 73cm last season. The fish had returned to the same area as last year so it goes to show it’s probably not a good idea to be consistently taking bag limit captures (and five kings is a pretty generous limit) as they will be potentially the bigger fish you might catch next season. The summer run of tuna has once again been productive. On a flat day it can be easy to spot school after school of these fish, which can range from 4kg rats right up to 20kg+ fish. Getting them to bite can be the issue though. We have been finding small to medium poppers working well on the tuna when they are in cruise around on top and ignore everything mode. For those who have been fishing the bottom, the snapper have been excellent in the 25-35m range off most of the local ramps. King George whiting have been steady all summer, and March is still a great time to target them on a calm, warm evening. Fishing shallow waters in the 2-3m depth around Killarney, Lady Bay and Point Fairy can produce some excellent fish in the 40cm+ range. Add to that some quality squid, and an inshore session can produce some great table fish. At
A 128cm, 19kg king taken by Nick Alexeyeff. night, spotlighting and dip netting gars is another productive thing to do on a warm March evening in the shallows. The Hopkins estuary
has remained fairly quiet on the bream front. Some good perch have been taken in both the lower regions and up in the fresh during low light periods.
Expect better weather ahead PORTLAND
Nigel Fisher
G’day everyone, hope you all have had a great summer. The last couple of months have certainly
been very busy here in Portland over the holiday period, with plenty of new faces in town. We had some very good fishing periods, with good feeds of kingfish and school tuna, but unfortunately there were
The author and Braden caught this nice mixed bag off Julia Reef.
A beautiful spot at Port Fairy to fish off the rocks. It produced a tasty Aussie salmon for the smoker.
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MARCH 2022
Ayden Nolte with a very nice 69cm snapper from the North Shore area.
quite a few easterly winds which made it harder to target these great fish. However, with March upon us, we should hopefully see the winds settle and more opportunities for anglers to get out and enjoy some great fishing. In the coming weeks we can still expect to find kingfish and tuna lurking around the North Shore area, mainly due to the warmer waters. Tuna will also be encountered around the anchorage.
If you want to catch kingies, you can use live or fresh baits, troll small skirts, small hardbodies, squid strips etc. Smaller stickbaits and soft plastics can also work well. Tuna at this time of year do generally still like smaller skirts and small hardbodied lures. Stickbaits and plastics can also do the job. The lee breakwater has been fishing well. When the conditions are right we To page 85
VIC
Good numbers and sizes APOLLO BAY
Craig Rippon
The weather has been a bit up and down and the wind has had some say in our fishing days, but when we’ve been able to get on the water the fishing has been solid all along the coast. To start with, close to home the harbour in Apollo Bay has been fishing unreal, with nice catches of good-sized King George whiting. Some people have been picking up between 10-15 fish, and those are great numbers off the pier and jetties. Also trevally, squid and garfish the odd flathead have been caught. It was awesome to see so
many families fishing in the harbour as it’s very safe for kids and people who don’t own a boat. There are a lot of species to catch in there and you don’t need to break the bank on tackle. There have also been some kingfish swimming around the entrance, which would be good fun if you were able to hook one. Outside the flathead have been in good numbers and sizes, with plenty of bag limits coming in. The snapper have still been really good, as have the gummies and school shark. If you can get nice, fresh bait, you’re nearly guaranteed a good feed of gummies. I have seen some fish coming in around the 25kg mark, and those are
good size fish. There have also been a couple of nice makos caught around the 100kg mark. There’s plenty of bait in the water, and I am expecting them to be around a bit more as anglers are catching a lot up the coast. I had a look for kingfish down the coast with no luck, but I have since had a report from a diver that he saw a nice school of kingies while diving. He said they were about 10-12kg fish. This is the time of the year they get around here, so hopefully I’ll be able to go and have another look as they are one of my favourites to catch down here. The tuna haven’t turned up yet but there are a lot either side of us at Portland
and Barwon Heads. They could turn up at any time. Last year was one of the best seasons I can remember for large tuna down here; I can remember a lot of people getting 100kg fish. During the summer holidays it was great to finally see so many people fishing in Apollo Bay. The fresh water has been a bit slow, and the water is pretty warm at the moment and there are plenty of mullet getting caught off the bridge. At the Aire River a few bream have been caught, but nothing of any size. One camper got a feed of eels, which not many people fish for these days. Eels are nice put through the smoker, and are also a great gummy bait.
A change of saltwater scene COBDEN
Rod Shepherd
In recent times the saltwater scene switched over to summertime mode, with plenty of school yellowtail kingfish to 16kg predating in our inshore waters. Mixed in amongst the kingfish catches are southern bluefin tuna to 12kg. Trolling large minnow lures and occy rigs amongst feeding fish, as well as jigging lures such as knife jigs, has caught plenty of sizeable fish. Live or dead baiting with slimy mackerel has also attracted hook-ups. Anywhere where inshore reefs exist there is the distinct possibility that kingfish are on the prowl. Recently I paid a visit to Boat Bay at Peterborough and it was extremely busy, with traffic launching and retrieving throughout the day. Some vehicles and trailers were parked out on the Great Ocean Road which indicated that the car and trailer park were full at one stage. One From page 84
can still see kingfish caught in March but we generally see whiting, pinkie snapper, squid and the odd gummy, schoolie or bronzie. This is still one of the best landbased platforms around. Fishing the bay in March can be very productive, with good whiting numbers and pan-size snapper. Blacknose Point, Water Tower and North Shore are easy areas to get to for a good feed of whiting. You can either anchor and berley up for these guys or, on the very good days, drifting is a great option. Both options can get you a good mixed bag. Baits and soft plastics are the go. Kids and families are
Stephen Toose with an Apollo Bay gummy caught on a fresh salmon fillet on a 10/0 circle hook.
A decent Curdies bream taken on a Tassie Strike Tiger plastic near the river mouth. enjoying the new Town Jetty inside the harbour and we are seeing some good feeds of squid, whiting, salmon, pinkies and so on. Smaller squid jigs tend to work best in the harbour. Trawlers Wharf and Canal are also great family fising areas. Now that hopefully the weather is more settled, trips to the deeper awters are on the cards. Bridgewater is a very popular fishing spot for great size flathead and gummies, and when cruising home, Cape Nelson Lighthouse area is also a popular spot for snapper, nannygai, and sharks – schoolies, gummies and (the most popular sportfish) makos. Use berley and big baits to entice these big fish.
big boat that would have measured 8m had just been retrieved when we paid a visit mid-afternoon. Quite a feat for the vehicle towing the boat up that steep ramp. Plenty of divers were seen working the inner reefs, no doubt with crayfish being a top target on their fishing lists. On the estuary side of things, only the odd boat attempted to launch from the town boat ramp into the lake. Low water levels and an abundance of weed has made launching further upstream at Boggy Creek the better option. W e visited the boat ramp at Boggy on the same day and found the park full of vehicles and trailers. An angling club from (possibly) Warrnambool were commencing their weigh-in when we arrived. I noted that some nice bream had been caught, which is great to see.
Rabih Assafiri with a very healthy thresher shark.
Other reports point to fish as long as 40cm being caught on quality bait and lures. The average size of the bream coming onboard is more like 34 but that’s still a reasonably sized fish. Grayback minnow freshly netted using hauling nets in the lake remains the number one bait. One angler was targeting estuary perch by suspending a greyback minnow under a float and away from the bank, and he was quite surprised to have bream swim up from the depths and take the bait as well as perch. Soft plastics in minnow and shrimp patterns in light colours have also worked when hopped slowly over the bottom near the bank. Small salmon and mullet freshly filleted with the skin left on and fished in strips is also attracting bream bites. The big boys will also get more chances to head to the shelf for some deep bottom fishing. Popular targets include blue-eye trevalla, pink ling, gemfish and more. Plus, at this time of year out at the shelf, the chances of seeing tuna and albacore could be on the cards. So all in all, March is usually a very good time to fish. • For all your bait and fishing needs call in to Portland Compleat Angler and say g’day to the Fisher crew. You will find them at 61 Bentinck Street, Portland right next to the Gordon Hotel. You can also contact them on 03 5521 1844 or via Facebook Messenger. MARCH 2022
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ADVERTORIAL
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MARCH 2021
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41
BREAM SERIES presented by
Queensland raiders take Mallacoota trophies The two anglers who travelled furthest to fish the opening round of the 2022 Daiwa BREAM Series took home the trophies. The Maui Jim round was won by first time ABT BREAM competitor Tommy Wood on the non-boater side and veteran Steve Morgan in the boater division. It was like the 2021 BREAM Grand Final where two Victorians – Mario Vukic and Jesse Rotin – won on the Clarence River, but in reverse. Both used a topwater technique to put fish into the boat, albeit in different parts of the lake. To dovetail with the subsequent event, this round was run on the ABT Tournament Series app, with anglers measuring, photographing and releasing their bream at the point of capture. Overall, over 1,000 bream were logged between the competitors.
Two Queenslanders, Steve Morgan (L) and Tommy Wood (R), took top honours in the season-opening event of the Daiwa BREAM Series 2022, the Maui Jim Qualifier at Mallacoota. Steve Morgan’s win, self-admittedly, started very slowly. “I only landed one decent fish during practice on a pink grub, and that was sight fishing on a bright, sunny day, so I was a bit lost when it dawned overcast,” Morgan said, “I couldn’t see any fish with the clouds so I just went
From then on it was quality fishing, twitching a white O.S.P. Bent Minnow in 1-2ft of water and racking up the weight,” Steve said. He fished the topwater on a 6’8” Daiwa Infeet rod and MQ Caldia reel loaded with 6lb J-Braid and 7lb
Yamatoyo Chinu Harris leader. On the Sunday he swapped the outfit out to the 7’3” Infeet with a 3000 Revelry to gain a little extra casting distance. Paired with Stuart Walker on Sunday, the pair landed just under 30 bream that weighed more than 600g. Quality fishing. You can watch some of it in the highlights by scanning the QR code hereby. “It was all about a toned down retrieve. The black bream, in particular, like a bit of time to commit to taking the topwater bait, but they usually sip it down when given the opportunity. It was definitely a slower retrieve than I’d use further north,” he concluded. The win was his 10th in ABT BREAM Qualifiers. HODGES SLIPS TO SECOND PLACE Day 1: 5/5, 4.942kg Day 2: 5/5, 4.209kg Total: 10/10, 9.151kg After leading the event on day one with just under 5kg of Mallacoota yellowfin bream, perennial Victorian placegetter, Brad Hodges slipped to second place when fishing finished. Dropping just 450g behind the winning pace.
Scan the QR code to watch the Non- Boater Winner Interview
Morgan relied on big black and yellowfin cruising in the back of shallow bays in less than 2ft of water to secure the win. Lengths are converted to weights to create a live scoreboard, which was viewed thousands of times by spectators all weekend on the ABT website. It was the start of a fourevent tour that encompassed two BREAM events and two
BASS events in Victoria in which nearly $30,000 in cash and $20,000 in prizes were awarded. MORGAN RODE TOPWATER PATTERN Day 1: 5/5, 4.894kg Day 2: 5/5, 4.715kg Total: 10/10, 9.609kg
to the bank when I knew I was struggling and fished everything.” That realisation was at Fairhaven, and he immediately lost a good yellowfin on a Bent Minnow and broke another off on a stick minnow. “After finding those fish cruising shallow, I focussed on the Bent Minnow and just covered water,” he said. An hour later he had a limit and then he hit what was to be the winning spot around halfway through the session. “As the Fairhaven arm shallowed at the end, the shallow flats were loaded with a mixture of big yellowfin and black bream.
BOATER RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 108
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Angler Steve Morgan Brad Hodges Liam Carruthers Grant Oliver Jason Mayberry Byron Hill Peter Breukel Jarrod Healey Scott Towner Jesse Rotin
Fish 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10
It didn’t take Tommy Wood long to translate his barra skills into bream skills. He caught a string of cracking bream from the back of Brad Hodges’ boat.
Full results at abt.org.au
Weight(kg) 9.609 9.151 8.896 8.740 8.691 8.628 8.255 7.851 7.837 7.739
Payout $3,100 + $250 Mercury $1,500 + $500 Big Bream + $125 Mercury $1,000 + $75 Mercury $900 $800 $700 $600 $500 $500 -
BREAM SERIES presented by Hodges found good yellowfin on the weedy flats in the lower lake near the entrance of the system and a 38cm fork length fish cemented his choice. On day one he fished a C’ultiva Zip-n-Ziggy quite aggressively for the first part of the retrieve after casting it as far as possible. Once a fish showed interest, he’d slow Scan the QR code to watch the Day 1 Highlights
it sown and talk them into eating it. His prime outfit was an Abu Garcia Salty Stage Light Casting 722UL rod paired with an Abu Garcia ALX 2000 sized reel spooled with 8lb Berkley X9 braid and a 4lb Vanish leader. Day two saw the
registered nearly a dozen bream over 30cm, all on topwater. Quality fishing in anyone’s books. WOOD BEST FROM THE BACK Day 1: 3/3, 2.452kg Day 2: 3/3, 2.987kg Total: 6/6, 5.439kg If you are wondering whether the name Tommy Wood is the same angler that’s part of the current BARRA Team of the Year pairing, you’re correct. The BARRA champ won his first ABT BARRA event in November 2021 and his first BREAM event in January 2022. In doing so he simultaneously knocked back Stuart Walker into second place and quelled any doubts that he was a Barraonly specialist. And you can’t deny his passion; when his planned traveling partner couldn’t make the trip, he jumped
How’s that for a cracking Daiwa Infeet hard bait prize pack for the winning non-boater? No need to re-stock for Tommy. 4lb leader. He fished with Scott Towner and Brad Hodges over the two days and used a variety of techniques to put together his three-fish bags. Non-boaters are fishing for a 3-fish limit in 2022. “Scotty was smashing them on day one on plastics, so I used a Samaki 2.5” grub in motor oil on a 1/16oz jighead and got a good one on my first cast,” Wood said. He also used Daiwa Spike cranks to add to his limit.
Day two with Brad Hodges, though, was all topwater. “Brad was catching them on a larger topwater, but I used the Daiwa Infeet Slippery Dog (65mm), fishing it quite fast until I got a boil behind it, then I’d slow it down,” Wood said. Scan the QR code to watch the Day 2 Highlights
“Bream might be a lot smaller than barra, but anything you catch in a tournament is exciting. I’m stoked to do so well in my first BREAM event,” he concluded. It was a tight finish in the end between Wood and Walker, with a kilo-class fish in the last hour proving vital. “Brad swapped locations in the final hour and that’s where I caught the winning fish,” Wood said. All of Wood’s fish were yellowfin bream on day two.
BUCK-N-BASS BIG BREAM
Stuart Walker has nudged plenty out of top spot over the years, but was on the other side of the equation at Mallacoota. fish a little spookier and responding the pressure of several days fishing. He dropped to a Berkley Slurp 65mm as the fish were more responsive to smaller baits. Even though the fishing was tough, he still
in his car and drove the 20 hours to the events solo. A Samaki-sponsored angler, Woods had just taken delivery of a 7’ C-12 rod, which he paired with a Shimano spin reel, 16lb Oltollos braid and a
Brad Hodges won the $500 and Buck-n-Bass gear for the Big BREAM award. The 1.31kg yellowfin ate a C’ultiva Zip-n-Ziggy on day one over shallow weeds in the lower part of the system.
NON- BOATER RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Angler Tommy Wood Stuart Walker Matt Perry Bobby Sproule David Shanahan Neil Fleming Jason Lane Ruth Beeby Col Wilson Haydan Fitzgibbon
Fish 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6 6/6
Full results at abt.org.au
Weight(kg) 5.439 5.372 5.114 4.868 4.765 4.706 4.603 4.388 4.272 4.212
Payout Daiwa pack Daiwa pack Daiwa pack Samaki pack Atomic pack ProLure pack Rapala pack Ecogear pack Keitech pack Toadfish pack MARCH 2022
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BREAM SERIES presented by
Paynesville piers secret to Gippy Lakes The second of the Victorian rounds for the year took us to the expansive Gippsland Lakes system for the Mercury sponsored round of the 2022 Daiwa Bream series. Renowned for its thumping big black bream, many anglers travel big miles interstate to try and take out this event, however
the Gippsland Lakes system plays host to a number of artificial structures in the form of piers, wharves, boat docks, pontoons and moored vessels. Two particular piers were where Baird focused his efforts for the two days. Upgrading his leader to 8lb Berkley Vanish from his typical 3-4lb after getting a quick dusting on
Darryl Baird has been a familiar face at ABT events for around 10 years now and he claimed his first victory as a boater fishing piers with a technique he learnt in his time as a non-boater. down the front of the pier and they’d either eat it on the drop or you’d only give it the tiniest movement and the fish would load up.
Daiwa’s anglers had a strong showing at the Gippsland event. the crown stayed in Victoria this year with local angler Darryl Baird taking out first place with 10/10 fish for 10.775kg. Second place in the boater division went to Jesse Rotin with a 10/10 limit for 10.113kg. In the Non-Boater division Richard Patterson from Daiwa Australia won with a 6/6 limit for 5.652kg. WHO SHARES WINS Darryl Baird has been on the ABT circuit for many years as both a boater and non-boater. In this time,
moved off the pier from day one and onto the next pier over. Once more, he was able to work his way around the pier with his UV Cranka Crab and catch his entire day two bag without having to move from the one pier. On the tackle side of things, Baird used a 7’ Samurai Inflict together with a 2500 sized spin reel spooled with 8lb
Scan the QR code to watch the Non- Boater Winner Interview
Daiwa J braid that he used exclusively for the whole event. Mr Baird would like to thank his wife Heather along with Matt and Karen from Struddy Marine for
Scan the QR code to watch the Boater Winner Interview
he has learnt a lot from fellow anglers and different arenas. In a twist of fate, he went out and used a Cranka Crab technique that he learnt from Jesse Rotin at the Grand Final in Yamba last year, then leapfrogged Jesse on day two to claim first place from the day one leader. The Paynesville area of
Brad Hodges had a slow first day, but added three kicker fish like this to finish fourth. day one, Baird went on to catch his entire 5.198kg bag off just one pier in Paynesville. Pitching the crab tight along the front of the pier and half a dozen poles back along the pier to catch his bag. “I’d just let it drift
At times it was like the less movement the better,” Baird said of his technique. After receiving a replacement crab off Andy Moore at take-off and heading to Paynesville again, Baird quickly discovered the fish had
BOATER RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 110
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Angler Darryl Baird Jesse Rotin Gary Carruthers Brad Hodges Tom Slater Brett Crowe Alex Franchuk Scott Towner Grant Oliver Daniel Kent
Fish 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 7/10 9/10 7/10 5/10
Ruth Beeby proved that ABT is inclusive for keen female anglers.
Full results at abt.org.au
Weight(kg) 10.775 10.113 7.853 7.088 6.344 6.225 5.775 5.285 5.219 5.212
Payout $3000 $1500 $1000 + $250 1st place Merc owners bonus $900 + $125 2nd place Merc owners bonus $800 + $75 3rd place Merc owners bonus $700 $600 + Maui Jim mystery weight prize $500 no payout no payout
BREAM SERIES presented by supporting him to get out on the water. PATTERSON GETS THE WIN Richard Patterson from Daiwa Australia got stuck into the fish from the back Scan the QR code to watch the Day 1 Highlights
of the boat and was able to score himself first place in the Non-Boater division with nearly a 1kg fish average. Drawing Tom Deer as his day one boater, the pair set off to Paynesville where he was able to fill his limit late in the day fishing a 2.5” Daiwa Baitjunkie grub in motor oil colour with a 1/8oz jighead, along with a Daiwa Steez blade. Fishing in 10-12’ of
A Daiwa man through and through, Richard Patterson put a beat down on the southern black bream from the back of the boat to take 1st place in the Non-Boater division. water with a strong wind meant he had to lean towards the heavier baits to remain in contact with the lure and feel the bites. Setting off for Paynesville again on day two with boater Dan Kent, it was a small 100m stretch of bank with three pontoons that held all the fish for their day. Throwing a UV Cranka Crab around the end of the piers and their poles to secure his bag. Working for Daiwa Australia certainly is
not without its perks, as Patterson gets to fish with some of the finest bream tackle in the country. It was one particular outfit he leaned on: a stout Daiwa Infeet EX 702LFS paired with a 2500 Caldia MQ and with 6lb J braid with a 5lb leader. Scan the QR code to watch the Day 2 Highlights
Going light to get the bite was required on day two as Patterson was unable to get the bites on 8lb leader, before moving down to 5lb and instantly started to catch fish. “I was throwing 8lb all morning and the instant I picked up my rod with 5lb on it, I had a fish first cast,” Patterson said. Expect to see some more great content from Daiwa over the coming weeks and months from Richard and all the team!
BUCK-N-BASS BIG BREAM
A true giant of Gippsland Lakes. People travel from far and wide to try and wrestle with these fish. Alex Franchuk landed this 1.430kg monster and landed him the $5,000 Buck-n’-Big Bream in the process.
Like every ABT BREAM and BASS event, Mercury pay the top three owners extra cash for using their product.
NON- BOATER RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Angler Richard Patterson David Shanahan Harry Young Allan Morrison Tommy Wood Lindsay Pryke David Morris John Parkinson Neil Fleming Kevin Beams
Fish 6/6 6/6 4/6 6/6 3/6 5/6 6/6 6/6 4/6 4/6
Full results at abt.org.au
Weight(kg) 5.652 5.159 4.096 3.827 3.697 3.659 3.585 3.317 3.233 3.170
Payout Daiwa Prise pack Daiwa prize pack Daiwa prize pack + $500 Buck n’ big bream Samaki prize pack Atomic prize pack Prolure prize pack Toadfish prize pack Ecogear prize pack Keitech Prize pack Toadfish Prize pack MARCH 2022
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BASS SERIES presented by
Reigning AOY kickstarts his 2022 campaign The ABT BASS tour has ventured further south in recent years, thanks to successful stocking efforts in some of the smaller impoundments in Victoria, and anglers are reaping the rewards in the form of good sized, hard fighting Aussie bass. Scan the QR code to watch the Boater winner interview
Many anglers travelled a long way interstate to fish the first round of the 2022 13 Fishing BASS Pro Series on Lake Blue Rock in Victoria, sponsored by Ecogear, with some well-travelled anglers achieving top results. Matthew Langford from
DO THE MILES GET THE SMILES Our reigning 2021 BASS AOY Matthew Langford got his 2022 AOY campaign off to the best possible start with a first place in the first round of the year. Langford ran away with the event too, winning by a margin of just over 2.5kg. After flying down from Queensland and borrowing a boat from Dave Lawson (for which he is very thankful), Langford set to work figuring out the bass in Blue Rock via LiveScope technology. Using the Livescope to find the fish holding deep on trees, together with his knowledge of the smelt type of bait the bass feed on in Blue Rock, Langford refined his baits down to
Reigning angler of the year, Matthew Langford has kicked his 2022 campaign off in the best way possible, taking out the first event on Blue Rock Lake in Victoria. Stradic. Alternatively, for the Gulp technique he used a custom-made Millerods JigFreak that he got made by Ian Miller when he first began bass fishing. “Admittedly I’m not
Scan the QR code to watch the Non-boater winner interview
This 2.048kg Blue Rock behemoth won Matthew Langford the Buck-n-Big bass prize of $500 and gave himself a nearly 3kg lead on the opposition. sunny Queensland once again found himself in the money with a cracking 10/10 fish bag for 7.450kg, finishing in 1st place with a huge 4.941kg bag on Sunday, which included the 2.048kg Buck-n-Big bass. Closely following him in second was good friend Mitchell Cone with another 10/10 fish limit for 4.933kg. Leading the Non-Boater division was new-comer Wil Stockton with a 4/6 limit of bass for 1.533kg in his first event as a non-boater.
the majority of the big fish bites for the weekend. “I found the smaller legals between 27-30cm were eating the spoon and as soon as I hooked one and got it in the boat, I could see the bigger fish come across on the sounder and I’d drop down a Gulp,” said Langford regarding the Gulp technique. Both very specific techniques required technique specific tackle. For the spoon, Langford used a Millerods VibeFreak with a 2500 sized Shimano
just two key lures. The first was a 7g Jig Para spoon that was almost identical in profile and colour to the smelt that the bass were feeding on. He fished this with really fast, jolting hops right on the fish’s nose to really stir up a bite from the smaller, bag-filling models. That technique was the segway to his second lure and technique, which was a black 3” Berkley Gulp minnow grub on a 1/4oz Bassman jighead, which was responsible for
BOATER RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 112
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Angler Matt Langford Mitch Cone Declan Betts Collin Robinson Mick Johnson Graham Ford Tim Oakley Corey Goldie Alan Mcnamara Dane Pryce
Fish 10/10 10/10 8/10 9/10 10/10 10/10 6/10 10/10 7/10 10/10
2021 BASS Pro Grand Final Champion, Dane Pryce found that Blue Rock bass love chatterbaits.
Full results at abt.org.au
Weight(kg) 7.450 4.933 4.423 3.635 3.537 3.448 3.015 2.989 2.815 2.766
Payout $2500 + $250 1st Merc bonus + $500 Buck n ’Big bass $1200 + $125 2nd Merc owners bonus $1000 + $75 3rd Merc owners bonus $700
BASS SERIES presented by a huge fan of Gulping, however I found they really liked the Gulp in this dam and the JigFreak is perfect for it. It has a really soft tip so when the fish eats it you see the tip load up and you set the hooks,” said Langford. Seeking shaded banks early in the morning and hopping between them to stay shaded until well into the morning was a crucial part of Langford’s strategy. This allowed him to stay targeting those feeding bass that felt protected by the shade. Each day along these banks he found a different submerged tree that happened to be stacked with fish, and where he was able to do a lot of upgrading. About 12:30pm
in at a whopping 2.048kg, not many (if any) have seen a fish of this calibre out of this dam before. Hopefully a sign of what’s to come in future years. Scan the QR code to watch the Day 1 Highlights
YOUNG GUN COMES OUT FIRING Wil Stockton has only just turned old enough to legally enter an ABT event and he wasted no time in climbing straight to the top of the podium with a 1st place in the Non-Boater division at Lake Blue Rock. Fortunate enough to
Wasting no time in his first ever event as a non-boater, Wil Stockton put a chatterbait to work for the weekend to secure his win from the back of the boat. rod spooled with 14lb Daiwa J braid and 12lb Sunline invincible leader. Fishing for his best three fish, he caught his whole bag on Saturday, however Sunday was a grind with only one fish coming on
his second last cast of the day and with only a few grams separating him and second place Non-Boater Luke Gilbert, it was that one fish in the dying hours that ultimately claimed him his first win.
From left to right: 2nd place Mitchell Cone, 1st place Matthew Langford and 3rd place Declan Betts were all using Mercury motors, earning themselves a nice little bonus on top of their winnings. on day two, Langford stumbled across one of these submerged trees on LiveScope and was able to upgrade his whole bag off it in about a 1.5 hour time period before weigh-in. This included the 47cm fork-length 2.048kg monster that took out the Buck-n-Big bass prize. BUCK-N-BIG ONE The Buck-n-Big bass for this event not only won Matt Langford an extra $500 from our sponsors at Buck n’ Bass, it also blew apart all preconceived ideas of how big a ‘big bass’ out of Blue Rock Lake actually is! Coming
draw two prolific NSW anglers in Mitch Cone and Simon Marchant, Stockton slotted in seamlessly at the back of the boat and went about catching his bag Scan the QR code to watch the Day 2 Highlights
with a relatively simple chatterbait technique. Throwing his chatterbait out into a depth of 15-20ft, he would allow the lure to sink to the bottom before beginning
a slow rolling retrieve back to the boat. “You want to roll it so you can only just feel it start to chatter,” Stockton said in his winner’s interview. Obviously a hardcore Daiwa man, a ghost shrimp coloured Daiwa Steez Cover chatter in a 3/8oz size rigged with a baby bass coloured 2.5” Daiwa Baitjunkie trailer was his choice of lure for the event. Throwing his chatterbait on a matching Daiwa combo of a Tatula 100H Baitcast reel and a 6’6” 2-5kg Daiwa Tatula 19 (661MLB) baitcast
NON- BOATER RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Angler Wil Stockton Luke Gilbert Leigh Mirams Daniel Holder Tony Neal Taj Duff Jake Hardie Kelvin Hatton Bradley Turner Nick Brown
Fish 4/6 5/6 6/6 5/6 5/6 5/6 6/6 5/6 3/6 3/6
Weight(kg) 1.533 1.498 1.485 1.441 1.020 0.703 0.630 0.499 0.445 0.426
Mick Johnson was one of several Queenslanders who made the big trip down south and loves the Victorian bass lakes.
Full results at abt.org.au
Payout Rapala prize pack + $250 1st Rapala bonus Rapala prize pack + $125 2nd Rapala bonus Bassman Spinnerbaits prize pack + $75 3rd Rapala bonus Maui Jim prize pack Ecogear prize pack Prolure prize pack Keitech prize pack Toadfish prize pack Toadfish prize pack MARCH 2022
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Whittley FF 1950 powered by Mercury 135hp
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Main: Whittley FF1950 is a rebadged version of the previous CW1950. The test boat was fitted with a 3L Mercury 135hp outboard. Above: Theoretical range was just under 300km at the most economical cruising speed.
Like all modern big-bore 4-stroke outboards, the Mercury 135 was quiet and packed a punch. power plant has stood the test of time, and the large displacement means that there is plenty of power at hand. Made in Melbourne, Australia, Whittley boats have had associations with Yamaha and Volvo Penta over the years that I have been testing boats. Their current association is with Mercury, 128
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and you’ll be seeing a few Whittley/Mercury tests over the next year or two. “This boat is a tried and true offshore hull,” said Laurie Jackson from Whittley Queensland sales, “so there’s no problem taking it offshore on days you are comfortable and the ride if soft and dry.” Indeed, this boat is all
about fishing from the helm back, but comfortable in the cabin area. If you are looking to move up into a family suitable boat from a tinny, this is well worth looking at. Whittey’s custom foam decks mean that clean up is easy after a trip and there’s plenty of clever storage – under the cockpit floor with a kill tank, under the helm seating with esky space and double side-pockets eat up the regularly used gear. There is also an aftermarket drop in, wide bait station on the transom, a transom door is standard and a live bait tank in the back can hold your lives. The test boat was also fitted with a raw water deck wash. There is also plenty of rod storage in the rocket
launcher that is built in to the canvas bimini top. And if you are a serious angler, rest assured you can flush mount a multifunction display up to 12” right into the helm. It is fitted on a twin axle bunk trailer that is easy to
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Those who are fans of Whittley boats will not be familiar with the new way that some of the hulls are named. If you have watched some of our previous boat tests you will notice that the CW range is now called the FF range. This was the very first question that I asked Whittley Queensland’s Laurie Jackson when we were presented with the FF1950 to test. The test rig was fitted with a 3L Mercury 135hp outboard. This 4-stroke
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drive on and off at the ramp. The whole rig will tow easily and safely with nearly all twin-cab utes. This boat doesn’t come with a lockable cabin, so remember this if you’re looking for a rig that will get left unattended from time to time. Performance wise, this rig hit 65km/h at 5800rpm, giving the economy of 1.2km/L burned. The most economical cruising range was at 3500rpm and 36km/h, which gave us 1.9km/L.
FMG
Couple this with a 150L fuel tank and you get nearly 300km of theoretical range. Personally, I’d opt for the 150hp outboard, which is the maximum for this craft. It’s the same weight and would give similar economy, just with the extra punch that you may need on a bar crossing. As tested, this rig comes in at $93,990, although packages can start from under $80,000. Check out www.whittley.com.au or your local Whittley dealer for more details.
PERFORMANCE RPM ............Speed (km/h) ... Economy (km/L) 800 .................................. 5 ......................... 0.9 1000 ................................ 8 ......................... 0.9 3000.............................. 27 ......................... 1.2 3500 .............................. 36 ......................... 1.9 4000.............................. 47 ......................... 1.7 4500 .............................. 53 ......................... 1.7 5000.............................. 60 ......................... 1.5 5800 WOT ..................... 65 ......................... 1.2
SPECIFICATIONS Length:.............. 6.17m Beam:................ 2.20m Fuel: .................... 150L Max hp: ................. 150 Capacity: .... 6 persons
The FF1950 is right in the hitting zone for families that want to remain comfortable, but still give anglers plenty of fishing room and range.
Top: Like all modern big-bore 4-stroke outboards, the Mercury 135 was quiet and packed a punch. Above: The transom door is standard and helps getting in to and out of the boat, especially while on the trailer.
The split windscreen gives easy access to the anchor well. The test boat however was fitted with a winch.
Custom rubberised decks are virtually standard in most offshore boats nowadays. The Whittley ones look great.
From the helm forwards, it’s all about shade and comfort.
The bait board fitted into the test boat is aftermarket. It has plenty of room though and comes out very easily.
Left: Serious anglers will love the size and location of the underfloor kill well. Top and Bottom Right: This model Whittley has very clever use of space. There is ample shelf space and the battery area is accessible.
Left: You can fit a 12” multifunction display flush into the dash, as well as all of your necessary switches and gauges. Top Right: There is a plumbed live bait well fitted into the port side of the transom. Bottom Right: Keep your rods out of the way while fishing with this rocket launcher mounted onto the bimini. MARCH 2022
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