Vic Bream Classics Home

Cranka Bream Classic Puts Anglers to the Test.

The weekend of the 13th and 14th of October saw 68 teams head to the might Mallacoota inlet for the Cranka East Gippsland Bream Classic. Being the last round of the 2012 Humminbird Bream Classic Series all teams were eager to put in a good performance for 2 reasons. Firstly for some teams it would be their last chance to earn some much needed points to secure their spot in the Humminbird Bream Classic Invitational at Metung in November, but for a select few teams it was also their final chance to make a charge at taking out the 2012 Club Marine Team of the Year trophy. For Team Gamakatsu/Atomic's Paul Malov and Alex Franchuk they would make the most of their opportunities on the water to secure victory and take out the 2012 Club Marine Team of the Year in fine style.

After fearing the worst for conditions on Day 1 after strong winds blew through over night anglers surprisingly woke to fine conditions and no excuses to get amongst the action. Paul and Alex from Team Gamakatsu/Atomic started the day in fine form with a full bag in the live well by no less than 9am. Using a combination of Samurai 101 and 201 rods matched Daiwa Steez 2004 and 2508 reels, spooled with 10lb Unitika Aorika II braid and 4 or 6lb Unitika Aiger fluorocarbon leader tied to Atomic Hardz Bream Shad 50's in Matt Ayu and Bassday Kangoku Shads in C83 colour the boys got their bag off snags, rockwalls and muddy/sandy wind blown edges. Paul and Frank didn't rest after their 9am bag they kept working hard to land a further 3 solid upgrade including a 1.33kg yellow fin that shot their bag to a cracking 5/5 5.69kg giving them overall lead on day 1 and also handing them the Maria Lures Best Bag prize for the heaviest bag for the weekend. Day 1 also saw the lead for the Eco-Gear Big Bream change hands a number of times by the narrowest of margins but it was Team Rantall Rattler's Paul Tippett and Michelle Gamble who dropped a 1.37kg cracking bream on the scales that couldn't be matched all weekend giving them the Eco-Gear Big Bream prize.

While the weather was picture perfect on Day 2 the fishing certainly wasn't with most teams finding the going tough in all parts of the system. This was also the case for Team Gamakatsu/Atomic who were having a very different day to day1. "We only had 3 small fish by 11.30am and a bust off by a big blue nose bruiser had us scratching our heads wondering what to do. A decision was made to try our luck on some wind blown muddy/sandy banks and this proved to be a tournament saving decision. Upon arrival at the new location, several fish were spotted with their noses down, tails up and actively feeding on the flat. The fish were very receptive to a fast twitched 2? Atomic fat grub in Avocado and Old Penny and 2 solid fish in 10 minutes just turned our day from very average to promising" Paul said. Over the next hour the boys continued to fish similar banks for 2 more solid upgrades including a 38cm fork black bream that weighed in at 1.2kg. As they approached the scales those last few upgrades helped to give them 5/5 bream for 4.77kg giving them a 2 day total of 10/10 bream and breaking the magical 10kg mark with 10.36kg and smashing the their nearest rival by 1.4kg and easily handing them the 2012 Crank East Gippsland Bream Classic victory.

If taking out the victory and winning the Maria Lures Best Bag for the weekend wasn't enough the win also gave Team Gamakatsu/Atomic a crucial 100 points in the Club Marine Team of the Year race and with a total of 300 points for the season the boys were also crowned the 2012 Club Team of the Year. They will now go into the 2013 Humminbird Bream Classic Series free of charge and will leave from position 1 in all 5 qualifying rounds which I'm sure will make Team Gamakatsu/Atomic's Paul Malov and Alex Franchuk a force to be reckoned with in 2013. Next stop will be the 6th and final tournament for the 2012 Humminbird Bream Classic Series and it's the big one the Grand Final. The top 50 teams from this years series will head to Metung to see who is the best and can take claim to be named the 2012 Humminbird Bream Classic Series Champions.