Competitors had to contend with heavy rain during the fourth round of the Daiwa-Hobie BREAM Kayak Series on the Tweed River, last weekend.
The 26 angler field saw the Tweed deliver plenty of fish, although finding the “legals” amongst them was difficult. In the end Hobie employee Greg Lewis (3/3, 1.47kg) managed the conditions the best to claim his third Daiwa-Hobie BREAM Kayak event win. Not far off the pace was event runner-up Bob Boss (3/3, 1.265kg), with the Eumundi breamer securing second in only his second event.
Victory though belonged to Lewis with the southern NSW tournament addict turning a less than perfect prefish into a red hot tournament-day topwater bite.
“I went down river on the Saturday and caught nothing and found the deep water and fast current hard to fish and hold position in”, explained Lewis.
Changing tack on tournament day, Lewis headed upriver and fished the mangrove edges between Fingal and Chinderah, and the Chinderah flats.
“I started out on topwater early then changed to a crankbait once I was on the flats”, explained Lewis.
Making his first cast within eyesight of the start line Lewis threw an Atomic K9 Pup stickbait in ghost gill colour and worked it with a walk-walk-pause retrieve.
The approach was spot on and delivered Lewis his first legal at 7.20am, the second at 7.30am and the third at 8.00am. Plenty more fish were to come on the K9, but it wasn’t until he hit the Chinderah flats that he was to catch the kicker fish in his bag that would deliver him victory.
“The big fish came towards the end of the session and came on a Daiwa crankbait as it was being wound slowing across the flat”, said Lewis.
Weighing 800g, Lewis’ upgrader value added his 1st place winnings with the fish claiming the $100 Boss Hog Prize.
Event winner Greg Lewis
For event runner up Bob Boss is was a perfect first trip to the Tweed with the Sunshine Coast angler fishing the Chinderah flats with Atomic Crank 38s to catch his fish. Fishing only his second Daiwa-Hobie event and only a recent convert to crankbaits, Boss kept his technique simple, yet effective.
“I’d make a long a cast as possible then just slow roll the lure back to the kayak”, explained Boss.
The approach was on the money with Boss landing his first legal at 8.30am, the next at 9.30am and the last at about 11am. While catching only three legals for the session Boss did landed about 15-20 fish in total and gained a wealth of confidence when it comes to crankbaiting for bream.
The lure that did the damage for Boss was the new muddy prawn coloured Atomic Crank 38 in the mid depth model.
Will Lee continued his good form from his Ballina win with the opening round winner securing 3rd place and the 1st Pro cheque. Like Boss, Lee will be one to watch for the AOY crown.
The next round of the Daiwa-Hobie BREAM Kayak Series sees Victoria play host to the first round for 2011, with the Bemm River round on January 25.
Will Lee scored a surprise catch in the form of a solid mangrove jack (left).
Visit www.bream.com.au or www.hobiefishing.com.au for details.
