Australian Championship Day 1 Report & Gallery 2016

Day One Gallery

Yesterday morning was the first day of competition in the Hobie® Bream Series 8 Australian Championship. The national tournament has its event site located in Broadwater Parklands on the Gold Coast in Queensland. From this location anglers start and finish each day and in mid afternoon the weigh-in of their catch takes place. After they are officially weighed-in all fish are released live at the site.

On day one 53 elite kayak anglers from across Australia and two from China, including 2015 Hobie Fishing World Championship runner up Haiyang Li, blasted through the gates of the Power-Pole Starting Line at 7am. The field split into two distinct packs, one heading north to the canals, banks and the Seaway wall, while the others veered south to the marinas, canals and up into the Nerang River.

Conditions were encouraging, as overnight rain had cleared, the 90% cloud cover was beginning to break up and the temperature began to climb above 20 degrees Celsius. There was a light breeze of less than 5kts blowing and the tide had peaked.

Those who headed to the Nerang found it tough early, frequently spotting fish but unable to entice them to the bite. When the light breeze began to penetrate the canals and the tide started to run out, the fish while still finicky, were now becoming more interested in lure presentations. A similar situation existed to the north where those who had stopped at the banks were also finding it difficult to bring the bite on.

Anglers all over the massive arena where testing their preferred areas and readjusting their plans of attack. Some pedaled their MirageDrive Pro Angler 14 kayaks huge distances testing their endurance before finally stopping to fish, but for most their tenacity paid off and many brought sizeable (for the location) bags of 4 bream back to the weigh-in at the end of the day.

Many anglers from some interstate regions had only fished for Black Bream and the smaller Yellow Bream on the Gold Coast reacted differently to presentations than the anglers were familiar with. Some would give a simple shake of the head and give in, while others would smash the lure leaping from the water. Many found the “yellows” much more feisty, than the “blacks”, particularly when they were measured, and quite a few competitors lost highly active fish off their measuring boards.

At the close of the session 2013 World Champion Richard Somerton from Victoria was in the lead with 2.17kg. Kris Hickson from New South Wales followed in second with 2.15kg and fellow New South Welshman Glenn Allen was in third with a four fish bag of 2.02kg. The biggest bream caught in the championships so far, the Hogs Breath Café Boss Hog Big Bream caught by Glenn Allen weighing 780g.

Today with all anglers now battling it out on the water until 2:30pm the situation could change dramatically. One thing’s for sure, by late this afternoon we will know who is the 2016 Australian Champion.