Nigel Webster 6/6, 2.18kg has taken out the Noosa round of the Hobie Kayak series. The Tewantin based angler used his local knowledge to target bream throughout the two days of competition, and was the only angler to secure his limit each session. The  Noosa round was the first kayak event in the Hobie Series that used a combined 2 day bag weight whilst also serving as the QLD State Title event.

 ”This is my first ever kayak event, so to come here and get this result is great. Having the event in my local waters meant I had a good chance of knowing what the fish were doing as well as making it easy to attend”, explained Webster.

Webster targeted a variety of locations each day to fill his tournament limit. Starting on pontoons in the midsection of the Noosa River, Webster found the bream receptive early. Using a Berkley 2″ Gulp shrimp in Pepper Prawn colour rigged on a 1/50th gram Nitro jighead Webster targeted the shaded areas around the pontoons and other structure.

“The bream were sitting in the shady areas so casting accuracy was important. The goal was to get the lure into the correct location and have it fall lifelessly in front of the fish.”

When the bites slowed as the sun began to rise, Webster paddled to his secondary location, a shallow flats area with weeded edges.

“The paddle from the pontoons to the shallow flats took about 10-15 minutes. Once at the location I set up drifts with long casts across the area. I used surface lures, specifically a Lucky Craft pencil which I retrieved using a walk the dog action.”

Finally, Webster targeted shallow reef patches in the river system. Using blade lures alternated with a Berkley 2″ Jigging Grub in Watermelon colour Webster sought fish in deeper water.

“As the sun rose the fish progressively move deeper. The fish seek out protection in the deeper water whilst still seeking out bait to feed on. It was in these deeper areas that I was able to catch better fish in larger numbers. The key was keeping the lure on the bottom. Throughout the session I would adjust the weight of the jighead as the tide changed, moving from a 1/50th to 1/20th to 1/16th in order to keep the lure in the intended area.”

Webster’s outfit consisted of a Berkley Pro Tactics 6′9″ 2-4kg rod teamed with a Abu Soron STX20 reel spooled with 3lb Stren Microfuse braid and 2-4lb Stren fluorocarbon leader.

Chris Lacey 5/6, 1.50kg captured second place on a count back, such was the close nature of the competition. Fishing his second ever kayak event, Lacey targeted shaded structure around the many jetties, pontoons and bridges in the river system.

Using a 2″ Ecogear grass minnow in Okiama colour rigged weightless on a worm hook, Lacey found the bites early before going deeper to fill out his limit.

“The bites came early each session. After about 9.30am the bites shut down, which made for hard work. I targeted shaded areas using a weightless presentation (also known as pink grubbing) and used a constant retrieve to attract the bites. The key is the lure, which mimics a fleeing shrimp, and the speed, which dictates a reaction strike from the bream. If you slow down the retrieve the bream just shy away so movement was the key”, explained Lacey.

As the sun rose Lacey used the same lure rigged on a 1/32nd weight jighead to target the fish.

“The bream slowly move back into the shaded areas as the sun rises. Using the slightly heavier jighead allowed me to put the lure about 6 inches under the water, targeting those bream in the cover.”

“This is my best result in a kayak tournament so I am very happy with this result. Being busy with final Year 12 studies makes for a busy schedule, but hopefully I will get the chance to compete in another round this year.”

Lacey’s outfit consisted of a Nitro 1-2kg 7″ rod teamed with a Shimano Stradic 1000 reel spooled with 3lb Berkley Fireline Crystal and 12lb fluorocarbon leader.

The tournaments Boss Hog big bream went to Stephen Mass with his session one 660 gram fish taking the overall honors. Fishing upriver under trawlers, Mass caught the bream using a   Squidgy wriggler rigged on a 1/14th TT jighead. Caught first cast early at the location, Maas called the fish for a Trevally before, to his excitement, netting the largest bream for the weekend. Overall the Boss Hog big bream prize capped a successful weekend for Maas who also secured 4th position in the tournament.

The Noosa round generated 5 Grand Final qualifiers, who now all look forward to the season ending BREAM Kayak GF in May (Location TBA).

The Hobie BREAM kayak series now moves to St Georges Basin in N.S.W, Jan 23rd, for the 6th round of the series. For any further information check out www.bream.com.au or contact ABT on 07 3387 0888 (BH)

Steve Mass with a Noosa Bream (Day 1 photos)

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