Meech Muscles to Hobie BREAM Victory

The final qualifying round of the 2009/2010 Hobie BREAM Kayak Series saw 22 anglers on day one and 20 anglers on day two hit the waters of NSW Mid North Coast’s Camden Haven River for one of the most anticipated events of the tour. One of the small water fishing gems of the area anglers experienced first the quality of fish on offer on the river with a host of 500gram plus fish hitting the scales.  

For Gosford breamer Jason Meech the event was an impressive final warm up heading into the Grand Final, with Meech securing another tournament win to add to his Scamander victory from February.

Compiling a 3/3, 1.995kg limit to win the event Meech outclassed a talented field of anglers including current Grand Final champion and AFC angler Scott Lovig, and 2009/2010 AOY champion Greg Lewis.  

Also adding his name to the list of podium finishers on the Hobie BREAM Tour was event runner-up and tournament debutant Mark Thompson of Forster. Bagging out with a 3/3, 1.7kg limit Thompson showed his hand as one of the dark horses for next month’s final.  

Victory though belonged to Meech who headed upstream from the start, fishing as he went before reaching Watson Taylor Lake on the upper reaches of the river. His first stop was the bride only a couple of hundred from the take off, and it was here that he opened his account for the day.  

“I cranked the bridge with a deep Atomic Hardz Crank and pulled a fish straight away”, explained Meech.  

With one in the well he hit the edges and fished natural banks with a surface lure approach. Using a Lucky Craft NW Pencil in ghost minnow colour Meech adopted a constant twitching and walking retrieve, pausing it occasionally to give following fish a chance to slurp the lure of the surface.  

The approach paid dividens with the Camden Haven winner upgrading six times, and losing four big fish that he couldn’t stop.  

“I’d never fished the Camden Haven before so I just fished what lay in front of me and it paid off”, explained Meech.  

The tackle he used to catch his winning limit included a 6′10″, Samikai Vamp rod, 2000 Daiwa Luvias reel, spooled with 4lb Daiwa Sensor PE and 3lb Sunline FC Rockfish fluorocarbon.  

With a last start victory and solid form heading into the final event of the series Meech will be hoping that his hot run hangs around for one more event.  

For event runner-up Thompson it was a dream start to his tournament career with the 51 year old breamer fishing a combination of rocky bombies and weeded flats to fill his bag. Starting off on a bombie in 2-6 feet of water near the river mouth, Thompson kicked off with a topwater, throwing a straw and olive green coloured Jazz popper.  

“I had my first fish in the well by 6.30 and it nailed the lure just after it landed on the water”, explained Thompson.  

Throwing the lure past the bombie and working it with a series of little shakes proved to be the key to drawing the best strikes, with Thompson hooking up to another fish on the very next cast.  

“The second fish was bigger that the first but it powered away and busted my off”, explained Thompson.  

With the pattern dying Thompson changed tact and hit the weeded edges starting off with the Jazz popper then swapping to a deep diving crankbait. Returns were quick coming with Thompson picking up the second fish of his limit within an hour of his first.  

“The Jazz continued to pull the fish with active weedbed loving bream whacking the lure with gusto as it blooped across the surface”, explained Thompson.  

The action was short lived and waned as the tide dropped and the fish retreated to deeper water. It was here that Thompson hit the wall and it wasn’t until the final hour of the seven hour session that he picked up his third and final keeper.  

“I was getting worried, after the action at the start of the day it got hard and I was beginning to think that I mightn’t get the third”, explained Thompson.  

Grinding away with his crankbait Thompson picked up his third, sliding it into the well then paddling back to the weigh-in happy and content with his first Hobie event.  

Pulling the scales down to 1.7kg it was a dream start to his tournament career, delivering him second place and a berth into the Grand Final. The kicker fish in his bag adding to his rewards for the event, with the 925 gram delivering him $100 as the day one Boss Hog.  

Michelle Carmody also cashed in courtesy of Hogs Breath, picking up the $100 Boss Hog Prize on day two with her 715 gram fish. Muscled out of collapsed rack upriver of the tournament start line, Carmody’s money fish feel to a chartreuse coloured Lucky Craft Sammy 65.  

Attention now turns to Forster and Hobie BREAM Grand Final, 15/16th May. The pinnacle event of the series that will see 50 anglers fishing from factory supplied Hobie Pro Angler kayaks as they battle for the 2010 Hobie Kayak Grand Final crown. Visit www.bream.com.au for all the details.          

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