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Bad Weather doesn't deter the bream from biting at Nelson

The weekend of the 18th and 19th of June saw 60 teams brave the elements and head to Nelson on the Glenelg River for the 2011 Eco-Gear Glenelg Shire Bream Classic. Being round 4 of the 2011 Humminbird Bream Classic Series time was starting to run out for teams to snap up a qualifying position for the grand final in November. With the weather closing in and the bream fishing challenging it was sure to be a hard fought tournament for all teams. For Team Mt Gambier Camping World's Leon Megaw and Jamie Allen they executed a plan that had them produce consistent bags on both days competition which subsequently lead to their first victory.

Anglers awoke on day 1 to cold wet and windy conditions which turned out to be the theme for the entire weekend. The general consensus among anglers based on the pre-fish was that the tournament was to be won and lost at the mouth of the river with the better fish coming from that area. The gamble teams faced in this system was whether or not to hit the mouth for the chance at a larger fish or head up river where there would be potentially more numbers but smaller size. With the amount of teams that headed to the mouth on Day 1 the pressure on this part of the system could spell disaster for many teams chances of backing up a good bag on Day 2. For Team Mt Gambier Camping World they decided to leave the mouth of the river alone and head up stream to find their own stretch of river where they could execute their plan of account. "On Day 1 we worked the section from Donovans to Lasletts where we focused on targeting the bream that where sitting on the first drop off with vibes Leon said" The boys used a combination of G-Loomis DSR 820 and Samurai Reaction Bream 201 rods, Diawa Steez and Luvias reels spooled with Sunline 10lb Braid and Sunline 4lb Flourocarbon leaders. The boys used Eco-Gear VX 35's in colour 435 and Koolabung transparent X-Ray blades in green and golds colours. "The main technique that we used was to cast the lures towards the bank and then let them sink back down and over the first drop off. As they sunk we gave them small hops with long pauses in between. The fish would pick the lures up on the pause and hook up" Leon said. This technique worked sensationally for the boys as at the end of Day1 they had picked through the small fish to weigh in a quality bang that pulled the scales down at 5/5 bream for 3.93kg. Not far behind were Steve Ditterich and Steve Mew from Team Reel Addiction who weighed 5/5 bream for 3.60kg keeping the pressure well and truly on Team Mt Gambier Camping World going into Day 2.

With the weather worsening going into Day2 and the fishing getting much tougher there was only really 5 teams in striking distance of Mt Gambier Camping World that had the chance to take the honours. Based on the Day 1 bite Leon and Jamie from Mt Gambier Camping World headed back to Donovans as this had produced the previous day but they found that the fish had moved on. With time ticking away they had to make some hard decisions as to where the fish had moved. Taking the gamble and heading up stream not down they found fish around the Princess Margaret Rose Caves. "Even though the fish had moved once we found them the same technique and lures worked well and we managed to land another solid 5 bag for the day. As they approached the scales it was apparent from their bag that they would be very close to clinching victory and when the bag of 5/5 bream pulled the scales down to 3.13kg the result was beyond doubt and Team Mt Gambier Camping World had taken out the 2011 Eco-Gear Glenelg Shire Bream Classic. Along with their victory their first days bag of 3.93kg won them the Atomic Bassday Best Bag prize . The Eco-Gear Big Bream prize went to Team Reel Knob's Steve Terbos and Graeme Nuske for their solid 1.12kg day 2 bream.

The 2011 Humminbird Bream Classic Series will have a break for winter and once everyone thaws out they will head to the Hopkins River mid October for the Hooked On Rod's N Reels Bream Classic, the last chance for Grand Final qualification. For more info on the series or if you are interested to get on board in 2012 please check the www.vicbreamclassics.com.au website or call Bill Hartshorne on mobile: 0409 823 070.