Vic Bream Classics Home

Metung Produces Vic Breams First Back to Back Winners

The weekend of the 21st and 22nd of March saw a huge field of 52 Teams make their way to the beautiful Metung on the Gippsland Lakes for the Club Marine East Gippsland Bream Classic. Being the 2nd round of the 2009 Humminbird Vic Bream Classic Series all in attendance were keen to get a good early result on the board in the series, but it was a come from behind record breaking victory that gave Mitchell Fishing & Outdoors Aaron Dyer and Graeme Dear the title and the bragging rights of being the first team to go back to back in any Vic Bream Classics tournament.

With the Gippsland Lakes turning on the both the weather and greatly improved water clarity the scene was set for a highly competitive tournament which is exactly what unfolded. The early feedback from the water on Day 1 was that the bream were there in huge numbers, but a combination of bright sunshine, no wind and crystal clear water was proving difficult to get the larger bream to bite. For some of the teams in the field they were able to find feeding fish and when the right lures were presented, solid hook ups were the results. For Team Rippin Lips Warren Carter and Craig Siegnor they had cracked a pattern that would have them leading after Day 1. Using a combination of Smith Camion and Squidgy Stiffy lures in clear to natural colours the boys headed to Newlands Arm and after picking through some small fish they finally managed to temp 5 solid specimens which had them leading after day 1 with 5/5 fish for 4.98kg. With Team Mitchell Fishing & Outdoor's Aaron Dyer and Graeme Dear hot on their heels with 5/5 fish for 5.40kg the scene was set for a big day 2 of competition.

On day 2 the anglers awoke to find still and clear conditions, but with the forecast predicting a strong north westerly change later in the day all in the field were eager to get their fish in the well early as no one could tell what the change would do to the bream. Following Team Rippin Lips closing at the start of day 2 with the Vic Bream TV camera the boys picked up where they left on day 1 quickly tempting 5 legals into the well. Things were looking very good for Team Rippin Lips as by 12.30pm Team Mitchell Fishing & Outdoors who were in 2nd position only had one legal in the well and it looked as though time would get the better of them. A last minute move by the boys to the mouth of the Nicholson River would prove to be the defining moment of the tournament. "With the breeze coming up we decided to make a move to fish the flats at the mouth of the Nicholson which we knew was our last hope. This certainly paid off! Over the next hour and a half, we landed approximately 20 - 25 fish all around the kilo mark" Graeme said. The boys used a combination of Brawler, Millerods Bream Buster Classics and Starlo Stix rods matched to Shimano Fireblood & Stradic reels with Castaway Braid and 3 & 4lb Yamatoyo fluorocarbon leaders. The lure that did the damage in the manic last minute session was their trusty Stiffy Minnows. With Team Rippin Lips only managing to weigh in 5/5 bream for 3.40kg the door was left open for Mitchell Fishing & Outdoors to snatch victory and that's exactly what unfolded. Aaron and Graeme's bag of 5/5 bream pulled the scales down to an impressive 5.88kg giving them a comprehensive victory by almost 2kgs at 10/10 bream for 10.28kg.

Team Mitchell Fishing & Outdoors not only took out the Club Marine East Gippsland Bream Classic victory, but along the way took out the Berkley Best Bag for the weekend with their 5.88kg day 2 bag along with the Eco-Gear Big Bream which was a cracker at 1.72kg and to top it all off managed to set a record 2 day bag for a Vic Bream Classic tournament at Gippsland with their magical 10.28kg haul along with being the first team to ever go back to back in any Vic Bream Classic event . With the 2009 Humminbird Vic Bream Classic Invitational being held at Gippsland Lakes in October this year, Team Mitchell Fishing & Outdoors would have to go in unbackable favourites to take out the championship, although I'm sure there are 49 other teams that will be out to stop that from happening. It was great to see Gippsland lakes back to some of its former glory and lets hope this continues into the future with more tournaments being held at the venue once again.