The Victorian township of Nelson played host to the opening round of the 2009/2010 Hobie BREAM Kayak Series, with 29 day one and 32 day two anglers hitting the waters of the Glenelg River to kick start the series.

The first of 13 qualifying rounds in the series saw anglers pitted against a freshwater plagued river system that produced tough fishing and a seemingly over supply of undersize fish and an under supply of legal fish.

Claiming first bragging rights for the season was 33 year old NSW south coast breamer Greg Lewis who waiting until day two to make his mark, delivering the only full limit (3/3, 1.82kg) to the scales for the tournament to secure victory.

Fishing upriver of the tournament start line Lewis focused his attention on a section of river located half way along the ski zone.

“My original plan was to fish down the bottom near the mouth, but it was just too crowded so I decided to head upriver and find my own water”, explained Lewis.

The move was spot on with Lewis sounding fishing holding tight to the bottom with his Lowrance HDS 5X sounder then using an aggressive rip, drop, and drag blade presentation to catch his bag.

Working a dark coloured Ecogear VX blade out from the edge and into about seven metres of water Lewis found the fish willing to take the lure at different stages of the retrieve.

“Sometimes they’d hit the lure as you were dragging it across the bottom, while at other times they pick it up off the bottom as it sat motionless”, explained the Glenelg River Hobie champ.

Catching his first legal fish at 9.30am and his second at 10.30am Lewis then hit a slow patch with legal fishing playing hard to get.

“I struggled to get my third, so I left it alone for an hour in the hope that giving it a rest would get them back on the bite”, explained Lewis.

With plenty of bait in the area and solid showings on the sounder Lewis was quickly rewarded on his return.

“I had my third legal and an upgrade by midday so giving it a rest definitely paid off”, explained a satisfied Lewis.

Landing twenty undersize bream and a 2 kilo estuary perch for session Lewis was wrapped with the quality of fishing on offer on the Glenelg.

“For a river that by all reports was fishing tough it produced some great fishing. I had a great weekend and can’t wait to come back”, explained Lewis.

The tackle he used to compile his tournament winning bag included a Millerods Bream Buster XF, Shimano Stella 1000 FD reel, spooled with 4lb Daiwa Tournament PE and 4lb FC Rock fluorocarbon leader.

Securing his second Hobie BREAM Kayak round victory, his first being the Gold Coast round in 2008, Lewis firms as one of the guys to watch for the remainder of the series.

“It’s great to qualifying for the GF in the first round so now I just want to concentrate on doing well in the rankings and AOY”, explained Lewis.

Claiming second place in only his first Hobie BREAM Kayak event was Melbourne based kayaker Robert Greetham (2/3, 1.29kg). Scoring his prize winning bag on day two Greetham fished within stones throw of the start line working a current buffeted rockwall to catch his fish.

“The current pushed down along the rock wall and out into the middle of the river”, explained Greetham.

Fishing a pearl coloured Strike Pro Cyber Vib, Greetham worked the lure out from the wall using a double-hop n’ drop retrieve.

“I’d hop the lure twice then pause the lure to allow it to sink back down. Once on the bottom I’d allow it sit there for a least ten seconds before giving it another hop”, explained Greetham.

It was on the pause that the hits would come, with the bream taking the lure as it sank, then sat on the bottom. The technique delivering Greetham his first fish half an hour after the start, and his second proving allusive until the last hour of competition.

“It was hard throughout the day with undersize a problem. Cracking the 28cm mark was hard as we all found”, explained Greetham.

The tackle he used to kick start his Hobie BREAM career in grand style included a Shakespeare Sigma rod, Daiwa Sol 2000 reel, spooled with 6lb Berkley Crystal Fireline and 10lb Line System fluorocarbon leader.

The battle for the Boss Hog prize each day was a close affair with day one seeing two 0.89kg fish sharing in the $100 prize. David Varney claimed his $50 share of the prize with his blade eating bream that came from seven metres of water in a productive rock lined stretch near The Island.

Falling to a lift n’ drop retrieved black and orange coloured Ecogear VX35 the day one Boss Hog winner came at 10.30am and delivered Varney his only legal fish for the session.

Also cashing in on day one was Neil Carstairs who like Varney caught his $50 winning fish near The Island on a black and orange coloured Ecogear VX blade. Falling to the larger VX40 model the fish came on Carstairs’ second cast of the day and proved to be his only legal fish for the day.

Day two saw smaller fish hit the scales with the $100 Boss Hog going to Josh deGroot for his 0.73kg fish. Close challenges for the day two included Scott Lovig (0.71kg) and Scott Smith (0.69kg).

Twenty three fish hit the scales for the two days of competition with a frugal five fish on day one bettered by a more productive 18 fish on day two.

The next round of the 2009/2010 Hobie BREAM Kayak Series sees the tour travel to Narrabeen Lakes in NSW, Nov 7-8th, with the 2-day event taking place in conjunction with the 2009 Skeeter BREAM Classic Championship being held on the Hawkesbury River.

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For more information on the Hobie BREAM Kayak series also visit www.bream.com.au or phone ABT (07) 3387 0888.