Hobie employee and kayak tournament fishing junkie Greg Lewis (6/6, 4.55kg) ) claimed his 6th win of the Daiwa-Hobie BREAM Kayak Series with a wire-to-wire win in the St Georges Basin round of the 2010/2011 series.
Claiming victory in the NSW State Titles event Lewis once again showed that he is virtually unbeatable at the moment with a comprehensive 970 gram win over second placed Richard Somerton (6/6, 3.58kg) of Melbourne.
Victory though belong to the kayak fishing wunderkind, with the boy from Burrill Lake snatching a 490 gram lead on day one then blowing it out to nearly a one kilo winning margin on day two thanks to a lift and drop blade bait approach.
Fishing Erowal Bay to catch his fish Lewis alternated between two locations, a 2-4 metre deep flat near Tomerong Creek that featured broken weed and a similarly structured location near Bream Beach.
“Ian Miller fished the area in a tournament last week and he put me onto it, and his suggestion was spot on”, explained Lewis. The key ingredient that Lewis was looking for to ensure success was bait on the sounder.
Day one was the standout with Lewis finding the bait at Tomerong and the first two fish of limit in quick time. “I got the first two quickly then swapped over to Bream Beach and this is where I picked up the third”, explained Lewis.
The productive technique involved casting the blade out, sinking it to the bottom then working it back with an aggressive lift, pause, n’ drop retrieve. The approach delivered Lewis his limit by 10am and 16 fish on day one. Day two proved a lot tougher with Lewis struggling to find bait and bream.
“They didn’t bite early or at Tomerong like they did on the first day so I swapped to Bream Beach and started catching”, explained Lewis. Making up for lost time Lewis quickly filled his bag and had his limit once again by about 10am.
“The fish were there but I needed to slow down the retrieve to get them to take the lure”, explained Lewis. The change in approach delivered Lewis nine fish for the session and enough weight to keep his rivals at bay and in turn claim his sixth win of the series.
The tackle he used to catch his fish included a Millerod Bream Brawler rod, Shimano Stella 1000 FD reel, Unitika Egi PE and 3lb Sunline FC Rock fluorocarbon. The lure that did the damage was an olive coloured Ecogear VX35 with a hint of Squidgy S-Factor added to sweeten the deal.
With two more rounds and a Grand Final to go in the series will Lewis make it seven wins for the year? Westlakes next month is when we will find out.
Claiming his best result to date on the Daiwa-Hobie BREAM tour was event runner-up Richard Somerton. Like Lewis Somerton fished Erowal Bay and used Ecogear blades area to catch his fish each day.
His go-to spot was a 2-3 1/2 metre deep area featuring cockles, baitfish and plenty of bream. “I fished it on the Friday prefish, caught seven fish early and was off the water by 11am”, explained Somerton.
Heading straight here on day one Somerton picked up where he left off, catching his fish early with an in-your-face lift and drop retrieve. “They wanted it quite aggressive on day one with the fish hitting the lure as it sank towards the bottom”, explained Somerton.
Day two was harder with Somerton struggling early to find fish. "I moved out a little wider and it didn't take long too long (I think it was on my second cast) before I started to catch them", explained Somerton.
The wider option not only allowed Somerton to fill his bag on a tough second day but enabled him to super size his day one bag by over half a kilo and charge up the scoreboard, leap froging from 7th to 2nd.
The tackle he used for the tournament included a Daiwa Procaster rod, 2000 Daiwa Certate Finesse reel, 4lb Daiwa PE, and 4lb Unitika fluorocarbon leader. Somerton used two different blades, a green and grey coloured Ecogear VX 35, and a brown and grey coloured ZX 30 blade.
Somerton made two small changes to his blades, removing the middle treble to reduce the lure hanging up on the bottom and adding Squidgy S-Factor to make the lure more enticing. The benefits of both are evident in Somerton’s placing, $600 in winnings and his berth into the Port Macquarie Grand Final in October.
The Boss Hog Prize for the event changed hands many times over the two days of competition but eventually went to Joel Crosbie for his day two 1.09kg kicker fish. Caught of a 3-4 metre deep weed edge near Sussex Inlet Crosbie caught his money fish on a gold coloured Ecogear ZX30 at around 12.30pm on the second day of competition.
Tempted by a lift n’ drop retrieve Crosbie caught the money winner using a Shimano Starlo Stik rod, 2500 Shimano Stradic FI reel, spooled with 6lb Super PE mainline and 6lb Sunline FC Rock fluorocarbon leader.
The next stop of the Daiwa-Hobie BREAM Kayak Series sees the traveling tournament tour hit South Australia for the 15th round of the series at West Lakes, 17/18th September. Visit www.bream.com.au or www.hobiefishing.com.au for all the event information.
| Place | Angler | Status | F1 | W1 | F2 | W2 | TF | TW | Boss Hog | Cash | Prizes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greg Lewis | Pro | 3 | 2.37 | 3 | 2.180 | 6 | 4.55 | 1.02 | $900 + $150 (1st Pro) | Hobie, Berkley, Gulp, Atomic Hook/Lure Prize Pack |
| 2 | Richard Somerton | Kayak | 3 | 1.46 | 3 | 2.120 | 6 | 3.58 | – | $600 | Hobie, Berkley, Gulp, Atomic Hook/Lure Prize Pack |
| 3 | Martin Fellows | Kayak | 3 | 1.88 | 3 | 1.560 | 6 | 3.44 | – | $350 | Hobie, Berkley, Gulp, Atomic Hook/Lure Prize Pack |
| 4 | Scott Marcinkowski | Kayak | 3 | 1.71 | 3 | 1.690 | 6 | 3.40 | – | $300 | Hobie, Berkley, Gulp, Atomic Hook/Lure Prize Pack |
| 5 | Chris Burbidge | Kayak | 3 | 1.70 | 3 | 1.670 | 6 | 3.37 | – | $250 | Hobie, Plano, Berkley, Gulp, Atomic Hook/Lure Prize Pack |
| 6 | Tony Pettie | Kayak | 3 | 1.51 | 3 | 1.660 | 6 | 3.17 | – | $200 | – |
| 7 | Gary Cooke | Kayak | 2 | 1.12 | 3 | 1.890 | 5 | 3.01 | – | $150 | Hobie, Plano, Berkley, Gulp, Atomic Hook/Lure Prize Pack |
| 8 | Joel Crosbie | Kayak | 1 | 0.59 | 3 | 2.360 | 4 | 2.95 | 1.09 | $100 + $100 Boss Hog (1.09kg) | Hobie, Berkley, Gulp, Atomic Hook/Lure Prize Pack |
| 9 | Jonathon Chen | Pro | 2 | 1.07 | 3 | 1.540 | 5 | 2.61 | – | $100 | Hobie, Berkley, Gulp, Atomic Hook/Lure Prize Pack |
| 10 | Clark Wilson | Kayak | 1 | 0.50 | 3 | 1.970 | 4 | 2.47 | – | $100 | Berkley, Gulp, Atomic Hook/Lure Prize Pack |
| 11 | Stewart Dunne | Kayak | 3 | 1.79 | 1 | 0.350 | 4 | 2.14 | 1.07 | – | – |
| 12 | Darryl Head | Kayak | 1 | 0.44 | 3 | 1.550 | 4 | 1.99 | – | – | – |
| 13 | Scott Brownless | Kayak | – | – | 3 | 1.470 | 3 | 1.47 | – | – | Lowrance Endura Out and Back GPS (RRP $300) |
| 14 | Steve Fields | Pro | 1 | 0.24 | 3 | 1.150 | 4 | 1.39 | – | – | – |
| 15 | Luke Kay | Pro | 1 | 0.75 | 1 | 0.610 | 2 | 1.36 | 0.75 | – | – |
| 16 | David Hedge | Kayak | – | – | 3 | 1.320 | 3 | 1.32 | – | – | – |
| 17 | Kylie Pettie | Kayak | – | – | 2 | 1.310 | 2 | 1.31 | – | – | Lowrance Endura Out and Back GPS (random draw RRP $300) |
| 18 | Lynden Briggs | Kayak | 1 | 0.41 | 1 | 0.880 | 2 | 1.29 | – | – | – |
| 19 | Jason Lambert | Kayak | 1 | 0.52 | 1 | 0.590 | 2 | 1.11 | – | – | – |
| 20 | Paul Blenkin | Kayak | 1 | 0.66 | 1 | 0.400 | 2 | 1.06 | – | – | – |
| 21 | Ian Seeto | Kayak | 1 | 0.67 | 1 | 0.210 | 2 | 0.88 | – | – | – |
| 22 | Ronnie Sonter | Kayak | 1 | 0.46 | 1 | 0.390 | 2 | 0.85 | – | – | – |
| 23 | Jason Reid | Kayak | 1 | 0.62 | – | – | 1 | 0.62 | – | – | – |
| 24 | Glenn Chester | Kayak | – | – | 1 | 0.620 | 1 | 0.62 | – | – | – |
| 25 | Jim Barrie | Kayak | 1 | 0.55 | – | – | 1 | 0.55 | – | – | – |
| 26 | Scott Baker | Kayak | – | – | 1 | 0.510 | 1 | 0.51 | – | – | – |
| 27 | Brian Rutledge | Kayak | 1 | 0.49 | – | – | 1 | 0.49 | – | – | – |
| 28 | Jason Meech | Kayak | 1 | 0.48 | – | – | 1 | 0.48 | – | – | – |
| 29 | Carl Dubois | Kayak | – | – | 1 | 0.460 | 1 | 0.46 | – | – | – |
| 30 | Michelle Carmody | Kayak | – | – | 1 | 0.420 | 1 | 0.42 | – | – | – |
| 31 | Matt Petrie | Kayak | – | – | 1 | 0.410 | 1 | 0.41 | – | – | – |
| 32 | Gary Beazley | Kayak | – | – | 1 | 0.320 | 1 | 0.32 | – | – | – |
| 33 | Adam Richards | Kayak | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0.00 | – | – | – |
| 34 | Chris Poppett | Kayak | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0.00 | – | – | – |
| 35 | Craig Coughlan | Kayak | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0.00 | – | – | – |
| 36 | Dennis McMahon | Kayak | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0.00 | – | – | – |
| 37 | Derek Steele | Kayak | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0.00 | – | – | – |
| 38 | Ian Reeves | Kayak | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0.00 | – | – | – |
| 39 | Matt Reeves | Kayak | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0.00 | – | – | – |
| 40 | Peter Woods | Kayak | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0.00 | – | – | – |
| 41 | Rob Chambers | Kayak | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0.00 | – | – | – |
| 42 | Scott Carmody | Kayak | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0.00 | – | – | – |
| 43 | Shane Hollands | Kayak | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0.00 | – | – | – |
| 44 | Tristan Hooft | Kayak | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0.00 | – | – | – |
More photos at www.hobiefishing.com.au
