DAY One of the 3rd Hobie Fishing World Championships being held in East Gippsland and presented by Daiwa, got off to a sensational start with 34 of the 46 competitors picking up fish.
Justin Carter of Team USA went on to take out first place for the day with a healthy 3.03kg bag, followed closely by Richard Somerton (AUS) with 2.98kg and Jason Meech (AUS) with 2.86kg.
The day kicked off with heavy cloud cover and a light breeze picking up to a 20 knot wind adding to the difficulty for anglers unfamiliar with the arena, generating some pretty choppy conditions and making it tough to feel the fish on light lines and lures.
Justin headed for the cover of fallen trees to get a better feel for the bites and started by pitching like he would for bass and said the bream seemed to like it. He went on to pick up three solid 1kg bream to take out the first day.
The Australians, Richard Somerton and Jason Meech took a different approach with Richard heading to the entrance for the run-in tide chasing yellowfin bream, picking up his bag by 8:30 with a couple of upgrades later in the day putting him safely in second place.
When asked, Richard said he was relieved as he picked up a “cracker” in the pre-fish, which is never a good sign.
Aussie entrant Richard Somerton with a nice pair from the Bemm.
Jason on the other hand, headed for the choppiest conditions he could find and just kept plugging away at it banking on crank baits, the oxygenated water and food supply to deliver his bag by 8:30. He switched it up to plastics in the afternoon and secured a couple of upgrades placing him 3rd for the day.
The competition looks set to pick up on Saturday with very different conditions in Marlo to those of Bemm River. There will likely be a much stronger tide making pedalling tough on the anglers. The weather for Marlo is looking good for Saturday but is expected to turn for the last day of competition on Sunday keeping things interesting for all involved.
The Hobie Fishing World Championships is an annual kayak fishing competition in its third year. The inaugural competition was held in Port Maquarie, Australia, followed by the second in Austin Texas and is this year held in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The competition includes top anglers from across the globe who are all competing for kayak fishing’s most coveted prize.
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