Lowrance Navigation and Pre-fish Day 2016

Pre Fish Day Gallery

Anglers in the Hobie® Bream Series 8 Australian Championship had their first opportunity today to get out on the water in the brand new Hobie Pro Angler 14 kayaks provided by Hobie Cat® Australasia.

The session commenced at 7:30am in a temperature already in the low twenties, with very little breeze and near high tide. Most anglers headed in a northerly direction, some travelling well over 10km before settling in on their chosen fishing ground.

The diverse natural and manmade environment provides the competitors with the opportunity to fish canals with their docks, jetties, boat hulls and rock walls. There are mangrove, covered islands, marinas, moored boats, bridge pylons and sand flats with drop offs and channels. Other than oyster racks the area offers the bream angler every opportunity to exploit their particular skills.

The aim of the Lowrance Navigation and Pre-Fish Day was to enable anglers from around the country and abroad to familiarize themselves with the new kayaks, to navigate and sound out the waterway and to identify locations where they will fish when the championship begins tomorrow. During the session the 53 anglers were allowed to fish the arena, to identify appropriate tackle and lure combinations that are working in the current environment and conditions, and when a competitor caught a fish they were immediately released.

As the wind was picking up to a moderate level, less than the predicted 15kts, and swinging further to the north, the tide ran out quickly and the sun climbed high with temperatures in the open reaching well into the mid thirties. The competitors began to fish their way slowly back to the main event site in Southport.

All competitors had to be back today by 1pm or they could possibly incur a delay to their starting time on competition days on Saturday and Sunday.

With all anglers safely back on shore there came reports of solid catches in a number of locations and many will return to the same grounds tomorrow, while a number of less fortunate will need to seek out new territory if they are to do well.

The general consensus was that the new MirageDrive® 180 is an amazing addition to the Hobie Pro Angler 14 kayaks and the ability to reverse out of tight situations was as great advantage that all found a use for.

Tomorrow the Australian Championship takes off in a big way on the Gold Coast in Queensland, with a very competitive field from across Australia and two competitors representing China. With Australia’s elite kayak anglers gathered in one location and two international competitors, this is going to be an extremely exciting tournament and a wonderful culmination to a record breaking season.

Watch the live streamed weigh-in from 2:30pm at https://www.hobiefishing.com.au/.