The weather gods presented us with a magnificent sunrise to kick off the first round of the 2012 Squidgie Southern Bream Series, staged on the Georges River in southern Sydney yesterday. At 7am, all boats and kayaks were eagerly waiting to hear the call of their number, busting to get a lure in the water and find a bag of those magic, prized bream. This same event in previous years saw a number of huge bags weighed, including some clearing the five kilo mark. Hopes were high for fish of the same calibre and with the number of teams entered, there was sure to be a few monsters found.
I teamed up with fellow Fisho writer Greg Seeto, from www.lureandfly.com, for the first round and with anticipation levels high we were both itching to find our own big fish to weigh. After hearing our number called we drove past the official for a live-well check, and put the foot down in order to make some ground towards or first spot. However, just metres from the starting line, Greg noticed something amiss. We’d unfortunately encountered a problem with the 225hp outboard motor, and after several attempts at diagnosing the issue we decided to set forth using only the electric. This is possibly the worst thing that could happen to a competition angler, but by no means were we giving up.
If you’re the suspicious type and knew of the bad luck I’ve had in the past few events, not only as a competitor but also as a media representative, you’d be forgiven for thinking I was some kind of jinx! Was it just me or could we find fish and break whatever curse was afflicting me? As Greg jumped on the electric, we gathered our thoughts and re-planned an attack, deciding our only option was to hit near-by boat hulls, pontoons and any readily accessible structure along the edges of the long and winding Georges River.
Interestingly, my current article in the February edition of Fishing World was based on making the most of your fishing when something goes wrong. Ironically, it happened yet again. Then it was a dodgy sounder, now it was a no-go engine! Whether it’s a sign or just another test I’ll never know, but in the seven hours we spent on the water we utilised everything at our disposal to outclass a few nice fish including three of target species – not a full bag, but a hell of an effort without a motor, I reckon! Overall we ended up 24th out of almost 90 boating entries with three fish totalling 1.715kg.
It just goes to show that persistence will prevail most times and it always pays to look adversity in the face. Every one of us will experience boat or gear failure at some stage in our angling career, it’s only a matter of when. But if you keep your chin up you can still achieve success – especially in comp fishing.
Round II of the Squidgie Southern Bream Series will be held at St Georges Basin on 18th-19th February 2012.
Check out http://www.ssbs.basinlureandfly.org.au For more details.
Boating Results:
1st – Windsor Bait & Tackle (3.39kg)
2nd – Team Squidgy (3.045kg)
3rd – Bream Attack (2.995kg)
Kayak Results:
1st – Lureandfly.com (1.935kg)
2nd – Jason Reid (1.91kg)
3rd – Samiki (1.73kg)
Boat Big Bream: Bass Boy (1.215kg)
Kayak Big Bream: Jason Reid (0.86kg)
All the best,
Warren Keelan
Fishing World
A few images from the event:
