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The Southern bream series is run by a South coast fishing club called Basin lure and fly anglers inc. and is held on various estuaries along the NSW south coast. The club has received a major sponsor now, and next years series has expanded and will be held from as north as Sydney, and south to Tuross lake, and 10 rounds in total.The 2009 series saw the introduction of the new kayak section, and all of us here at KFA were keen to get into it. The locations for the Grand final were Saturday 28/11 was at St.Georges Basin and Sunday 29/11 was the Shoalhaven river/Greenwell point.
Day 1: St.Georges basin.
Competition start time was 0700hrs at the basin view boat ramp. 25 boats and 9 kayaks eagerly awaiting the start siren was a great sight, and once the siren sounded it was full throttle for the boats turning the water into washing machine like conditions while us kayakers quietly pedaled and paddled our way to our chosen destinations. Myself, Derek and Jason all started off fishing reasonably close together, and within the first 40 minutes Jason informs me he already has a mid 30's bream in the livewell. I was struggling however, a few good surface strikes resulted in zero hookups from the target species so a change of plan was needed.
Shallow diving hard body lures were the next option, and many many casts later over a lot of ground still i had no fish in the livewell, and the fear of heading back with nothing to weigh in was growing stronger by the minute. With time running out quickly i decided on another change of tactics, and found a likely looking area in approximately 2 metres of water and changed to a lightly weighted jighead with a 80mm Squidgie wriggler soft plastic. Shortly after i finally landed my first legal bream which measured 31cm, so he was carefully placed into the livewell and the fishing resumed in hope of the second Bream ( 2 fish is the limit for the kayak category).
Plenty of flathead and whiting followed but no sign of another Bream, so i pedaled over to a nearby moored yacht and cast close up to the front of the yacht and let the SP slowly drop carefully watching the line, and sure enough i saw the smallest of twitches in the line so i raised the rod tip and felt weight on the other end.
I actually called it for another flathead at first, as this one was not doing much to resist but as i got it closer i saw the silver colour and thats when it saw me as well and took off on a run straight under the mooring ropes.The wind had pushed me in the wrong direction to pul him out so i had to open the bailarm and turn the yak around for a better angle, once i was back into position the fish didnt fight dirty and came back out from under the ropes and into the net.
I took a quick measurement of 33cm and slipped him into the livewell and breathed a sigh of releif.It was at this time i decided i had better make my way to the weigh in, with a 9.5klm pedal into a 30knot headwind i was not looking forward to it. Knowing of Jason's solid Bream from the early morning, i was not confident i had enough to be in front, and i had not seen another yakker for at least 2hours so i had absolutely no idea how anyone else was going. After about 2 hours of flat out pedaling i finally made it to the weigh in location, i was the last to arrive and everyone else had already weighed in, i was not confident in my catch but knew it would at least give me a decent chance to make up for it on day 2.
Much to my suprise, i was placed 3rd at the end of day 1, 45 grams behind Jason Price (KFA) in 2nd place, and 250 grams behind the very consistent Stewart Dunn in 1st place. Stewart had managed a good lead going into day 2 but it was still very much anyones game.
Results after day 1:
1 Stewart Stewart Dunn 30 1.290
2 Team AKFF #1 Jason Price 33 1.085 (KFA)
3 Team AKFF #2 Craig Coughlan 35 1.040 (KFA)
4 Lucky Catch Johnathan Chen 34 .615
5 The World of Tackle West Ryde Wayne Robinson 32 .355
6 Wild Cast Bill Woods 31
7 Hobie Fishing Derek Steele 36 (KFA)
8 Patrick Curran 37 (KFA) - Had to pull out at the last minute, did not compete
9 Andrew Death 38
Day 2: Greenwell point.
The same start time of 0700hrs, and we were off again, most of us still very tired from the long paddle at the Basin. Most of us fished the oyster racks first up, while Derek tried something different and fished the mangrove lined shore with surface lures which paid off, securing him his first keeper bream for the comp.
An hour into the comp, and again i find myself way up the back of the system with not another boat or kayak anywhere to be seen, so i was able to work the area hard but provided no result, i tried nearly everything i had but could not tempt a legal bream with anything i had to offer.
A change of location was needed, so i headed for the deeper channels with soft plastics, blades and deep diving minnows, still for no fish in the livewell. I eventually caught up with Jason and Derek, and they informed me that Jason had no fish, and still just the one for Derek but others had 2 in the livewell which was a bit of a concern. We go our seperate ways again trying to secure a bag limit but the time is ticking away and hope started to fade with it. I decided to pedal a short distance to a spot i had fished in the past and spotted good bream but didnt manage a fish on that occasion, but this time was different, on one of my first few casts i landed a keeper bream, that was only just legal but it was still very welcome to go into the livewell, at least it gave me some sort of chance to hold onto 3rd place.
Within the next 10 minutes i was on again to a better fish, after a decent fight in shallow water a 31cm bream makes my bag limit and hope was restored, now i just needed an upgrade for my just legal bream.I fished the area hard, and had some solid bream hitting at the surface lure, some of them striking 5 or 6 times without hooking up which was very frustrating, being able to see the size of these bream trying to take the lure but missing the hooks. I fished the area until time was pretty much gone, then made my way back having a few casts in likely looking spots on the way back without anymore luck, so no upgrades.
Jason was heading back at the same time, and informed me he also had managed 2 fish which was great news considering last i spoke to him he was struggling as much as i was. We all weighed our fish, and eagerly awaited the return of the comp leader Stewart to see what he had managed for day 2. My bag out weighed Jason's enough to put me in 2nd place, but once Stewart arrived, he confirmed he had 2 fish in the livewell so i knew i wouldnt have enough to better him by the required 250+grams, i fell short by 126grams and had to settle with 2nd place, which im more than happy with.
It was a great weekend, and a very exciting comp, remaining fairly close right to the end for the top 3.The series for 2010 should be much bigger, with more prizes and hopefully more competitors in the kayak section. Im looking forward to the next series and im sure the others do as well, congratulations to everyone that participated and to those who caught fish over the comp period in those tough weather conditions, and congratulations to Stewart Dunn for the well deserved win.
Final results for the 2009 Southern bream series:
1 Stewart Stewart Dunn 30 1.290 0.635 1.925
2 Team AKFF #2 Craig Coughlan 35 1.040 .750 1.79 (KFA)
3 Team AKFF #1 Jason Price 33 1.085 0.535 1.62 (KFA)
4 Lucky Catch Johnathan Chen 34 .615 .665 1.28
5 Andrew Death 38 .750 0.75
6 The World of Tackle West Ryde Wayne Robinson 32 .355 0.345 0.7
7 Hobie Fishing Derek Steele 36 .365 0.365 (KFA)
8 Wild Cast Bill Woods 31 0
9 Patrick Curran 37 0 (KFA)
