Friday, March 29, 2024
Kayaking

Mallacoota: Hobie Kayak Bream Series Round 3 wrap

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Carl Dubois with his “Boss Hog” winning bream of 1.2kg

MARCH 5th and 6th saw 93 kayak anglers from New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and South Australia hit the legendary fishing town of Mallacoota in Victoria’s East for what was to be an exceptional weekend’s fishing. Round three of the Hobie Kayak Bream Series delivered the goods with a massive 134 full bags of three bream. A total of 458 fish with a combined weight of 307.42kg were brought to the scales over the weekend.

While anglers were looking for the round win, they were also chasing a spot in the Australian Championship as well as qualifying points towards the 6th Hobie Fishing World Championship to be held later this year and another, yet to be announced international event. On both days, anglers headed off from the Power-Pole Start Line, splitting up with half the field heading for Top Lake & The Narrows and the other half opting for Bottom Lake and the flats leading to it.

On Day one, Tony Pettie from Traralgon in Victoria sat at the top of the Lowrance leader board with a solid three bream bag weighing 3.01kg, including a “Boss Hog” competition leading fish weighing in at 1.15kg. At the close of weigh in, there was less than 500g separating the top 13 and only 750g separating the top 20. Coming in to day two it was still wide open and anyone’s for the taking.

Ultimately it was Carl Dubois from Sydney who scooped the top prize with six Bream for a total weight of 5.47kg. Tony Pettie held on to second place with six for 5.44kg and third place went to Josh Kilmas from Victoria with six for 5.20kg. Dubois pushed through from second place on day one to take the title, scoring himself a sponsors prize pack, a $2,590.00 pay cheque and 100 points towards qualifying for the 6th Hobie Fishing World Championships for his weekend’s work. Dubois also took out the Hog’s Breath Cafe, Boss Hog Big Bream award with his 1.20kg bag kicker on day two, adding another $100.00 to his prize tally.

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The podium from Round 3 of the Hobie Kayak Bream Series. Carl Dubois (1st), Tony Pettie (2nd) and Josh Klimas (3rd)
Dubois finishes top in a tight one!

When asked about his tournament Dubois said, “I loved it! This is my first time here and I’ve heard so many good reports about the location. It was awesome that this year everything fell into place and I could come down and fish it. I’ve had a great comp!”

“Pre-fish was a fairly average day, I only got about 6 legals but the actual competition days were just great! I got my bag nice and early and caught about 10 or 11 legals each day. My plan was to get to the flats for the early bite while the light was still low, I thought they’d be on the flat and they were. Using 2.5” Z-Man GrubZ in bloodworm I had my bag within 20 minutes each day. I just wanted to lock in my bag early and search for the bigger ones later,” Dubois said.

Day one

“The big fish all came from about 2.1m depth on a Gladiator purple and black Shiver Vibe. The rest of my bag came from over the flats in around 1.5m on an Evergreen Tiny Predator, they look a bit like an OSP Dunk with a green back and a cream belly.”

Day two

“On day 2 the bream were going after the Shiver Vibe and it seemed like they went after a bit more noise so I put on the Jackal Chubby Vibe in Purple and Black and I think that bit of extra noise was what they wanted and they just zeroed in on it and that’s what I got the big fish on today.”

Winning Tackle

Line: Braid – Gosen PE 9lb.
Leader: Reloaded BASS FC 6lb
Rod and reel: Gladiator Psyborg matched to a Psyborg 2000 reel.
Scent: Squidgy.
Lures: Gladiator Shiver Vibe in purple and black, Jackal Chubby Vibe in Purple and Black & Evergreen Tiny Predator.
Winning Ways: “With the Tiny Predator I was going for long casts and cranking it down quick to get it deep to the bottom and then used a slow roll to keep it digging into the bottom. With the vibes I was using subtle, little, lifts only 4-5” and keeping the slow roll going as well.”

This is Dubois’ second Worlds qualifying round after fishing Bemm River in January, with another 100 points towards his qualifying score Dubois is sitting on 159 points with the Forster round still on his calendar, there’s still plenty of work to do to claim a spot for Worlds. “I’d love to qualify for Worlds. I don’t know where it is but if I get in I’m going!!!”

Divisions

This year, Hobie has introduced divisions to the series as an exciting way to encourage new anglers to try their hand at tournament kayak fishing. All anglers compete in the general open category but there are also Youth (16-21), Women’s, Masters (60-64) and Grand Masters (65+) divisions which provide another layer of incentive to anglers. Division winners take home sponsor prize packs.

Stephen Pryke from Victoria took out the Youth Division with 6 for 4.45kg. Tracey Wright from New South Wales landed the Women’s Division with a 3.08kg bag. Masters Division winner Gary Hanson from Victoria scooped the top spot in his class with 6 for 4.35 and the Grand Masters Division went to long time competitor Brian Rutledge from New South Wales who landed the biggest bag on day two and third biggest bag of the competition with 2.84kg giving him a total weight of 4.42kg for 6 bream.

More information including the full results from each round can be found on the Hobie website.

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