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The Southern Bream Series organisers recently (Start of the series) decided to include a Kayak section in their tournament rounds. While the first few went unnoticed and numbers were nonexistent, the fourth series attracted a few members from AKFF who made the pilgrimage down to Burril Lake (South Coast NSW) to sample the atmosphere and enjoy a social competition amongst some obviously gifted anglers.
Having fished in all of the inaugural Hobie ABT series rounds during the beginning months of the year I was keen to get my game face on. Rumours abound that the next tournament series offered up by Hobie and ABT will be massive, the more practice one can get before these kick off, the better.
The organisers did a wonderful job arranging accommodation discounts at the local Big4 van park with the parks main beach being the start and end of days competition. Breifing was at 6:45am with a 7:00am start and the turnout from all was quite good. Many boats had launched from other facilities on the lake and made their was over to the starting point (All whilst observing the 8 knot rules).
It was at this stage I realised many Kayakers who had shown interest previously had not showed up, there were only five of us competiting. Things started bad for me when I realised my Live Well battery wasn’t charged properly (I double checked everything else, thrice!) but with the lakes water temperature so cold the decision was made to hand cycle water and take a risk instead.
The fishing was deemed tough by local Hobie Fishing Team member Greg Lewis, for the first part of the day I wholeheartedly agreed with him. It wasn’t until the later parts when the sun came up that I noticed massive Bream skirting round the old racks using the channel as a highway. Most of the boats were fishing deep water so Paddy Curran and I gave it our best shot (To get one hit and a Tailor monstering between us).
The seven hours took its toll; I was struggling to land anything. Only watching boaters pull healthy fish using blades and plastics offered me any encouragement. The strange looks we initially received waivered until the return to the weigh in station and even then I felt they were justified. Only Greg Lewis managed to land a legal fish of just over 500gms and what he christened his ‘Last cast’.
Greg has the knack; it’s his backyard after all. He was wrong about a few things though, massive amounts of fish were weighed in with many being over a kilo (That’s a seriously big Bream folks). I was in awe at the bags weighed in, some great fish caught by some great anglers. It was a well run event and one series I will try to keep competing at this year and beyond.
Fore more information on the SBS Southern Bream Series:
http://www.basinlureandfly.org.au/southernbreamseries.php
Having fished in all of the inaugural Hobie ABT series rounds during the beginning months of the year I was keen to get my game face on. Rumours abound that the next tournament series offered up by Hobie and ABT will be massive, the more practice one can get before these kick off, the better.
The organisers did a wonderful job arranging accommodation discounts at the local Big4 van park with the parks main beach being the start and end of days competition. Breifing was at 6:45am with a 7:00am start and the turnout from all was quite good. Many boats had launched from other facilities on the lake and made their was over to the starting point (All whilst observing the 8 knot rules).
It was at this stage I realised many Kayakers who had shown interest previously had not showed up, there were only five of us competiting. Things started bad for me when I realised my Live Well battery wasn’t charged properly (I double checked everything else, thrice!) but with the lakes water temperature so cold the decision was made to hand cycle water and take a risk instead.
The fishing was deemed tough by local Hobie Fishing Team member Greg Lewis, for the first part of the day I wholeheartedly agreed with him. It wasn’t until the later parts when the sun came up that I noticed massive Bream skirting round the old racks using the channel as a highway. Most of the boats were fishing deep water so Paddy Curran and I gave it our best shot (To get one hit and a Tailor monstering between us).
The seven hours took its toll; I was struggling to land anything. Only watching boaters pull healthy fish using blades and plastics offered me any encouragement. The strange looks we initially received waivered until the return to the weigh in station and even then I felt they were justified. Only Greg Lewis managed to land a legal fish of just over 500gms and what he christened his ‘Last cast’.
Greg has the knack; it’s his backyard after all. He was wrong about a few things though, massive amounts of fish were weighed in with many being over a kilo (That’s a seriously big Bream folks). I was in awe at the bags weighed in, some great fish caught by some great anglers. It was a well run event and one series I will try to keep competing at this year and beyond.
Fore more information on the SBS Southern Bream Series:
http://www.basinlureandfly.org.au/southernbreamseries.php
