Round 1: Glenelg SA

Burbidge Back on Top

On both days of the tournament Burbidge took the long run up to Taylor’s Straight in search of fish actively feeding on the edge. “I stopped to fish on the way up but I failed to find any active fish holding on the edges so I quickly moved on,” said Burbidge Once in Taylor’s Straight Burbidge was able to locate active schools of fish holding tight to the edge and high in the water column. For this Burbidge relied on his Tonic polarised sunglasses to spot fish actively moving in the shallows. Early in the session Burbidge used a top water approach, rotating between a Jackall Chubby Pencil in suji shrimp and an OSP Bent minnow in p74 colour. Burbidge would cast his lure tight to the edge before starting a rapid rolling and twitching retrieve. Rotating between the two lures allowed Burbidge to present two different options to each school of fish, inturn maximising his returns Once the fish began to move off the edge Burbidge would then change tact, opting to go deeper and fish a Cranka Vibe in black. He would cast his lure tight to the edge before slowly rolling it back to the boat, allowing it to stay in touch with the bottom as it came down the drop off. “I knew the fish would still be holding in the area it was just a process of keeping the lure in their face for as long as possible,” said Burbidge. With increased boat traffic and strong winds on day two Burbidge was unable to repeat his early topwater pattern from day one. “My surface plan was not paying off, I was confident that the fish where still in the area and in the end it was my small black vibe that did the damage,” said Burbidge. Burbidge’s tackle of choice was a Mossops Ultra Cast 1-3kg rod delivered to him on short notice by Peter Stanley, matched with a 2004 Daiwa Steez reel spooled with 8lb Sunline PE and 3 & 4lb FC Rock. “I have to thank fishin.com.au and Tonic eye wear for all the support they have given me over the past couple of years,” said Burbidge.

Brady Catches a Bunch

Young gun Daniel Brady kicked off his season with a bang taking out second place. On day one Brady headed to the flats near the mouth of the river, and with light winds and clear skies he targeted fish holding in the deeper holes near adjacent to the flats. Brady would cast his crankbait past the deep holes before cranking it down into the deeper water. Once in the strike zone he would then twitch the lure in the fish’s face for as long as possible. “It was just a process of holding the lure in the fish’s face and waiting for them to react,” said Brady. His lure of choice for this work was a Cranka Shallow Crank in bling prawn colour. With thirty fish hitting the deck on day one Brady knew his was on a good pattern. With the wind howling on day two Brady believed the fish would be more active but it would take a change of tack to catch fish in the testing condition to ultimately catch them. Rather than blindly cast, Brady opted for a less is more approach and only targeted fish that he could see bedding in the shallows. Once he spotted a fish he would then cast up past the fish and then crank his lure into the area where the fish were bedding, then park the lure in the fish’s face. His lure of choice for this work was again the Cranka Shallow Crank in bling prawn colour. Brady’s tackle of was a Megabass Kirisame rod matched with a Daiwa Certate 2506 reel spooled with 2lb Yamatoyo spinning fluorocarbon.

Boss Hog

The Hogs Breath Boss Hog for the event went to Chesney Fung with the prize winning fish (1.07 kg) caught late on the day two.

Winning Tackle

Rod- Mossops Ultra Cast 1-3kg Reel- Daiwa Steez 2004 Line – 8lb Sunline PE Leader – 3 & 4lb FC Rock

Winning Edge

“I always fish areas that I have confidence in, confident anglers catch fish. For me that is fishing up river in tight cover,” said Burbidge.