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Mallacoota Outdoes Itself Again at Bream Classic

Whenever a tournament is scheduled for Mallacoota Inlet there is always high hopes coming from the field that this mighty system would produce tournament fishing anglers only dream about, but on the 19th and 20th of March Mallacoota produced fishing that would surpass any dream. The Eco-Gear East Gippsland Bream Classic saw 73 teams converge on Mallacoota for Rnd 2 of the 2011 Humminbird Bream Classic and the fishing that unfolded over the 2 day competition was truly remarkable. If a total of 605 bream weighed in wasn't big enough, there was 43 teams that weighed a perfect bag of ten for the weekend along with 53 teams who weigh in over 5kg. With such brilliant fishing it was going to take a special 2 day bag to win which is exactly what newly formed Team Minn-Kota's Cameron Whittam and Warren Carter managed to achieve.

The word coming from the anglers after the pre-fish day was that the tournament would be won and lost in the bottom section of the system with large numbers of Yellow Fin Bream being on the chew. The weather couldn't have been better in the morning of Day 1 for a fast paced start with most teams blasting their way to either the Fairhaven or top lake locations. For Team Minn-Kota, they fished the same plan each day focusing on getting their bag in the bottom lake and then moving to the top lake to upgrade. Using a combination of G-Loomis Rods matched to Daiwa Certate 2506 reels and Shimano T-Curve Rods matched to Twin Power Reels, spooled with either 4lb braid and Varivas Absolute Fluorocarbon or straight through with 3lb Sunline Sniper fluorocarbon, Team Minn-Kota threw hard-bodied lures for the entire weekend with exceptional results. "We started fishing in the bottom lake on both days and moved to the top lake to finish our bag. We threw hard-bodies hard up onto the bank which resulted in a lot of snags and pesky lure stealing flathead. We targeted edges with weed and rocks because a lot of weed has died off in the past twelve months and the presence of these two features was imperative to our success" Cam said. With 5 quality fish in the well on day 1 the boys headed to the weigh in and when it pulled the scales down to 5.82kg Team Minn-Kota had secured 1st place leading into day 2 with Team Affair with Tip hot on their heals in 2nd position with 5/5 for 5.6kg. The other highlight of Day 1's competition was the thumping 1.64kg Eco-Gear Big Bream that Team Pelagic Extreme's Gary Tebb and Wayne Sleep weighed which couldn't be challenged all weekend.

With such good results on day 1 it was only sensible for Team Minn-Kota to return to the same locations on day 2. "While we threw hard-bodies for the entire weekend Warren and myself did throw different types. Warren stuck to Smith lures all weekend and threw Camion dr's and sr's as well as his trusty Jade 43's, while I used a multi lure approach consisting of Lucky Craft Pointer 48's in Ghost Brown colour, Eco-Gear SX 40's and Cranka Cranks in Wicked Prawn colour. Working hard against the edges again proved successful for Team Minn-Kota as they again boated 5 quality bream to head to the weigh with. As the Day 2 weigh in progressed the suspense was built for the crowd as 2nd place Team Affair with Tip managed to produce 5/5 for 5.06kg giving them 10/10 10.66kg securing them the outright lead with only Team Minn-Kota able to catch them. As Cam walked up to the scales he was keeping his cards close to his chest not letting on how big their bag was, but as it hit the scales and they showed 5.86kg Team Minn-Kota had not only secured the Eco-Gear East Gippsland Bream Classic victory with 10/10 for a cracking 11.68kg, but the 5.86kg bag had won them the Atomic Bassday Best Bag Prize.

For more information on the 2011 Humminbird Bream Classic Series including entry forms, rules and regluations or to see the full results from any of the tournaments along with Club Marine Team of the Year standings, log onto www.vicbreamclassics.com.au or call Bill Hartshorne on 0409 823 070.