SIXTY two entrants presented themselves last Sunday morning for a classic Forster “rack ‘n’ flat” breamfest!
It was to be an interesting round as being the fourth outing it would give the first clear picture of how the race for twenty BETS Grand Final places was shaping up. Some teams chose to use this round as a “bye”, others preferring to consolidate their position.
Many of the teams that chose to compete, either had local knowledge, had done well in the ABT Megabream event the previous weekend or in the case of a few, both.
One such team was father and son team Anthony and Rodney Thorpe – Team Ima Lures. Having lived in the Forster area for many years and on the back of an excellent 2nd place on Day 2 of Megabream, the pair had a good idea of the spots and techniques that would work for them.
Choosing not to pre-fish too hard, Anthony spent the practice day scouting out boat traffic and seeing if their favoured spots would receive some angling pressure. Come Sunday morning Anthony and Rod headed straight to their favoured spot at the southern end of Wallis Lake. Targeting patches of broken shell, rock and sand amongst the weeds, the team chose a soft plastic technique over the more popular hard body approach.
Using 4lb leaders and Berkley Gulp Shrimps sporting a stinger hook on the tail they converted tentative strikes into fish in the well. The technique allowed the team to confidently accumulate a quality bag that whilst had no one outstanding kicker fish had five fish of sufficient quality to bring the scales down to 3.74kg.
A touch heavier than the bag that secured 2nd place the previous weekend, it was just enough to secure the “Dad and Lad” team First Place, a winner’s cheque for $2700 and an Engel Prize Pack.
Round 4 winners Anthony and Rodney Thorpe (centre).
In what was to prove to be a “Dad and Lad” trifecta, second place was secured by another father and son combination, that of John and Beau Startin of Team Bream On. Being locals to the area living in Coolonogook, it made sense that the team base themselves in the Coolonogook River, east of Forster – a formula for success.
The team weighed in a 3.59kg bag to take second place, a cheque for $1900 and a $480 Mako Eyewear Prize Pack.
Father and son team Atomic/Unitika of James and Ian Ison came home strongly to take third place. Weighing in a solid 3.38kg James guided the team to a $1500 payday along with two $150 Tacklepower vouchers for good measure.
Richard Potter of Team Atomic Evinrude with the 1.38kg Big Bream winner.
St Georges Basin hosts Round 5 of the BETS tour on May 29.
