MARINE electronics leader, Lowrance, has congratulated Mark Healey and Adrian Neoh of Team Lowrance for securing first place at the 2014 Berkley Evinrude Team Series.
Taking place every year since 2010, the BETS has grown into an elite and well respected tournament series that sees the nation’s best bream anglers fight it out for the very respectable $20,000 first prize. Featuring six qualifying one day rounds in some of the finest NSW bream fisheries, the series finishes up with the grand final two day event in August for the top 20 teams.
As seasoned bream anglers, who have fished the event for the past five years, Mark and Adrian are not surprisingly, delighted with their win. They first won this event in 2010 and have since placed second at each Grand Final from 2011 to 2013.
Mark Healey commented after the win “We’ve worked very hard all year to qualify for the grand final and then to fish as well as we did and take out first prize is extremely satisfying. After day one of the grand final we were sitting in third place and knew we had to produce a 4kg + bag for the second day. We ended up with a 4.84kg bag and finished up with total weight of 8.59kg which was 140gms higher than the second place winner, Team Simrad.”
Fishing out of a Skeeter ZX190 equipped with Lowrance HDS-9 and HDS-7 Gen2 Touch with StructureScan sonar imaging, Mark and Adrian used their electronics to get the best out of a competitive fishing situation.
Here’s an excerpt from the Grand Final wrap-up by by Chris Gates of BETS:
After a bruising pre fish that saw strong winds and even worse, few fish, no-one would have predicted how the Grand Final would play out on Sunday. Carrying a hefty lead through to Day Two Team Simrad’s Scott Butler and Guy Struthers set the bar supremely high with a massive 4.69kg bag on a day when all but a few teams struggled to find fish. Conditions were good albeit very chilly and the fishing was arduous at best with teams reporting the number of fish presented to be weighed was equal to the number of bites they had. The bag was helped along in no small way by two cracker fish, a 1.39kg kicker and a 1.48kg thumper.
Opening on Day Two that near kilo lead had Team Simrad in an enviable position with teams knowing the tough fishing was not likely to change any time soon. Team Lowrance’s Adrian Neoh and Mark Healey were sitting in third and departed with one goal in mind – they knew they had to get big fish to have any chance of a challenge.
As the boats returned at 2pm, everyone’s thoughts seem to have been confirmed – the fishing had been even tougher than the first day and before long it was shaping up to be a battle of the Harbour giants with Simrad, Lowrance, Pflueger/Evinrude being joined by Kris Hickson and Daniel Brown of Team Hobie/TT Lures.
As Team Simrads’ Scott and Guy climbed the stairs is was clear they had another good bag and within a few nervous moments the scales had settled at 3.76kg. That set Team Lowrance an mountainous 4.71kg to win something rarely seen in bream tournaments.
There was a distinct unease on stage as Scott Towner noted there were four quality fish but a smaller unit that would make or break the bag. The chat settled, the crowd fell silent and the bag gently sat on the scales. A deafening roar signalled something very special had just happened. The scales settled at 4.84kg and Team Lowrance had won the 2014 Berkley Evinrude Team Series.
Team Simrad’s Scott Butler and Guy Struthers took out 2nd place.
Kris Hickson and Daniel Brown of Team Hobie/TT Lures took out 3rd.
Not only had they won the battle between anglers they had won the battle between history and probability – after winning the first BETS Final five years ago the pair have been second in every subsequent Grand Final.
Shattered at missing out Team Simrad’s Scott Butler and Guy Struthers took out Second Place and $6000. Whilst their pain was evident it was nonetheless a quite superb effort and the pair should be incredibly proud of their achievement not only in the Final but also over the round stages. It took something very very special to surpass their efforts.
Team Hobie/TT Lures’ Kris Hickson and Daniel Brown took out Third Place for the second year running with 6.18kg. Veterans of the tournament scene the pair showed their experience and class on a tough arena.
