The Bream Fishing Project

Episode 26: 2023 Samaki Bream Queensland Open, June 24-25

In this episode we take a deep dive into the Queensland Open. Leading up to this event there was some talk around whether Steve Morgan could take the the two Bream opens and the Bass open. By his own admission, Steve said he typically didn't place highly up there in QLD. I did have a brief conversation with Steve about why out of state anglers sometimes perform really well. This small part of Steve's interview was brilliant and definitely worth listening to before we got into the nitty gritty of his competition. I then spoke with second place Cain Waller who also had a great story to tell. One of my favourite parts of the interview was when Cain spoke about having motor issues, getting towed back and then running like an athlete to put his key tag back on the board. Finally in first place was Chris Lonne, who also had a great story. Chris caught a whole bunch of fish off one location. I have not heard a story quite like this before. For anyone heading to the Hobie round this weekend on the Gold Coast,  this is a must listen!

Episode 25: Hobie Kayak Bream Series, Georges River River, June 17-18 , 2023

In this episode we are off to the mighty Georges River in Sydney. This for me was a very interesting event. In the weeks leading up to the event, the river was fishing very very well. There was lots of large Bream and lots of Mulloway up to the 1m mark. When competition day arrived the river started to shut down a little.  First up we have repeat guest Tony Pettie who fished very well and regained the Batman title fro Simon. For anyone who fished this competiton and struggled this is a great interview. Tony fished basic patterns with good effect. He also won the Atomic Big Bream with a 1.4 kg beast. Tony is one of a few anglers who is making a charge on the AOY points table. In second place we have Jason Marshall who is relatively new to the Hobie Series and is also a repeat guest on The Bream Fishing Project. Jason is showing the way for anyone who would like to come and have a go at a kayak fishing event. Jason has won two Yakhunters bream rounds and has had one Ppodium finish and a top ten in Hobie rounds. Jason had a very interesting story which showed a lot of dedication and tenacity. Jason put all of his eggs in one basket and it paid real dividends. Tune in to hear his story. First place went to the one and only Russell Babekuhl. Russell has had an amazing run in his last 5 events and this is no exception. However, it wasn't Russell's easiest win. He didn't catch lots of fish and he also fished in a way tha is a little different from his usual strategy. I was surprised by a couple of things Russell spoke about.... but you will need to listen in to hear all about it!  

Episode 24: Hobie Kayak Bream Series St Georges Basin, 20-21 March, 2021

In this episode we are winding the clock back to 2021, to March. In this event we fished in some of the worst weather that I have fished in during a competition. For anyone fishing the St Georges Basin round of the Hobie Kayak Bream Series later this year, this episode is for you. First up we hear from Bradley Hart. This was Bradley's first time on this waterway and he shared how he moved around and found fish. Bradley used a few different lures and techniques to fill his bag. In second place we have Pine, who spoke initially about having some average results in prior competitions. Pine decided to commit to fishing the round, head down for a prefish to try and work a few things out. As you will hear this decision to commit to the competition and prefish, really paid off! Then in first place I spoke with Sean Hill. Sean had been fishing very well for a couple of years and it was no surprise that that he was able a win. Sean was in third place over night and on the Sunday we had a shortened competition day. I found it interesting when Sean spoke about what he was thinking on the Sunday morning. The weather was closing in and he had to make a decision about fishing where he fished on Saturday or heading for more protected waters. Listen in to hear what he decided. I also want to make mention of Simon Morley who finished in 4th place. Simon had the same weight as Bradley, but finished in 4th on a count back. I hope to be speaking with Simon in the coming weeks! 

Episode 23: WATA Kayak Bream Classic , Blackwood River, May 6-7, 2023

Episode 22: ABT, Daiwa Bream Series Lake Macquarie 3-4 June 2023

In this episode we cover the recent round of the ABT Daiwa Bream Series held at Lake Macquarie on the 3-4 June 2023. We have 5 angler interviews for this episode and each has an interesting story. Starting with second place in the non - boater division Daniel Reynolds.  Daniel is a local to Lake Mac and usually fishes land based. Dan has only fished a handfull of events in this interview you will hear how he was able to finish in second place. In first place for the non - boater division I had a quick chat with Lance Marsh. I have to admit, this was one of my favourite interviews. You will hear how Lance was able to win this event with just 5/6 fish. If you have listened to my interviews for a while you will know that I like to hear about the father and son teams. In this interview you will hear about a relationship with a difference. We then move back to the boater division and talk with former Australian Open champion  and previous Bream Fishing Project guest Jamie McKeown. Jamie talked though all the things he had to do to end up in third place. Jamie was fishing within casting distance of the winner Mark Healey and he spoke about all the decisions he made over the 2 days of competition. Jamie also spoke about all of the extra things a competiton angler needs to contend with while fishing in a very specific location on Lake Macquarie. In second place was an old fried of mine from the Southern Bream Series days, Jason Mayberry. Jason fished differently to Mark and Jamie and used 2lb to catch some of his fish. Jason spoke about how one of his bigger fish had him in "knots"  during the fight. Tune in to get hear about a slightly different approach. Then for the second competition in a row, I spoke with the winner Mark Healey. There wer a couple of parallels between this competition and the last competition on the Hawkesbury River. Fishing along side Jamie, Mark concentrated his efforts in one location to grind out a win. Over the years Mark has proven himself to be a champion angler and this interview and the last interview from the Hawkesbury River round some true insights about Marks approach. I would also like to say thanks to Berley Pro who have come on board as a new sponsor. Next week I am hoping to announce full details of their promotion. Thanks also to James from Hunter Watersports for continued support. Thanks also to Adam at fishin.com.au for his continued support.     

Episode 21 Hobie Kayak Bream Series Woy Woy , May 20-21 , 2023

This was the biggest kayak bream round ever held in Australia! You will hear from our first female guest Marlee Percy and her fiancee Peter Cook. This was Marlee's first kayak fishing event and what an event it was for her. Marlee finished 1st in the womans and 27th overall. I am looking forward to seeing how the womens division develops ove the next year or so. Then we have repeat guest Steve Pryke back to the show with another impressive performance. Steve finished in third place and also took out big bream for the competition. Steve now has an impressive record at Woy Woy and you will get to hear how he targetted and caught his fish. Then you will hear from Guy Sruthers who travelled from Queensland to fish this event. Tune in to hear how Guy caught his fish. Guy is a professional fishing rod builder and he talks about some of the rods he used at this event. Then we move on to our winner and repeat guest Glenn Allen. This has been along time coming! Glenn is one of the most talented anglers I know, but he has not been able to take a win in a Hobie Round. I think in talking to Glenn there was as much relief as there was happiness in taking the win. Congratulations to my good mate Glenn. Thanks to Adam at fishin.com.au for his continued support! Thanks also to our new sponsor Hunter Watersports for coming on board. Tune in to hear all about it!   

Episode 20: ABT, Daiwa Bream series Hawkesbury River 6-7 May 2023

This is another huge episode of TheBream Fishing Project.   On the Saturday the anglers fished in super calm conditions which then changed to periods of strong wind and rain at different times on the Sunday. The fishing was difficult on both days for different reasons. It was interesting to hear how the anglers adapted to the conditions     In the first interview I spoke with Grayson Fong but we did this with a little twist. You will need to tune into this to see how this played out. We did have a lot of fun and I hope you enjoy it too! However we did get down to business and spoke about lure design and then moved on to talk about how he caught his fish. As usual Grayson has some interesting insights about being a non - boater. At one point Grayson was being out-fished by his boater and he borrowed  a few lures from his boater.      I then spoke to the winner of The non-boater Division Taka Kawasaki and he went through all the things he did to bring back his  fish and take the win.  This was Taka’s first win and he was happy to share everything  that helped to get the job done.This was Taka’s first visit to The Bream Fishing Project, but he still managed to do two interviews.      I didn't spoke to the angler in third position in the  boater division, Kris Hickson. Kris  had  just come off the back of third place in the Australian Open and backed it up here with the third place again.  In this conversation you'll hear how he ground it out particularly on the second  day. Kris  then landed a 41 fork bream to anchor his bag and put over 4 1/2 kilos on the scales.   In second place in the boat of division was Michael Colotouros. This was the first time I  have spoken to Michael we had a very interesting conversation.  We went through everything from  what lures to how he works them through to rods reels and line combination. Michael has been an amazing angler over the years, in this interview he gave us all some insights into how he achieves his sucess.    Finally in first place, I spoke with Mark Healey who dropped a huge bag on the scales on the Sunday to take the win. This was also the first time I have spoken with Mark and we had an awesome conversation  that I think you will all enjoy. Mark too has been a very successful competition angler over the years and mark also gave us some great insights into how he caught his fish.    This was another fun podcast episode to put together. I got to speak with anglers I've never spoken to before and they were all very giving In what they shared. Thanks again to all the anglers who gave up their time to have a quick chat.

Episode 19: Yakhunters, Woy Woy, May 7 2023

In this episode I cover the Yakhunters Woy Woy Round held on May 7  2023. This was an interesting competition that was held on a day that had very strong winds forecast to hit around 10AM -12PM.  On this day, the second day of the ABT Daiwa Bream Hawkesbury River was being run from Pittwater. Although I did not see a tournament boat on the Sunday, you will be able to compare the reports when the ABT Hawkesbury show is released. As noted above, I did fish this event and caught decent fish. I finished in 5th position in the elite division and gave a short run down of how I caught my fish. Warren Allen came in third place in the amateur division. Warren is a well seasoned angler who would normally compete in the elite division, tune in to see why he competed in the amateur class. Jaydan Pepperall is a young angler who is making some waves within the Yakhunters competition. I had a quick chat with Jaydan to see how his day went.  Claudio Araujo is an angler that has competed in competitions catching Bass on Portugal. Since moving to Australia he has continued to compete in a few competitions here. Tune in to see how he won the amateur division. In third place in the elite division was the second Allen brother for this episode, Glenn Allen. When we recorded this segment I expected that it would be released prior to the Hobie Competition held on May 20-21, despite this Glenn shared all the tips and techniques he used to finish in third place. The final angler on the show was Jason Meech who finished in second place. Anyone who has heard Jason on the show will know Jason is an inspiring angler and excellent speaker and that this segment is not to be missed. Finally we have a mystery guest, who would normally be fishing this event. Tune in to see why I asked him to appear on the show!        

Episode 18: Daiwa Bream Australian Open May 2 - 4 , 2023

Daiwa Bream Australian Open 2023   This is one of the biggest and most anticipated events on the Bream calender. The event was held on May 2-4 , 2023 at The Drummoyne Sailing Club in Sydney Harbour.     First up you will hear a first time observers perspective from Nic Eggleston. Nic was a last minute inclusion in the observers group (thanks to his brother Lucas), but was lucky enough to spend day 2 with Steve Morgan and day 3 with Kris Hickson. Hopefully this will inspire a few more observers to attend next year.   In third position Kris Hickson shared the highs and lows of his three days on the harbour. One of the things I found interesting was the bait caster setup that Kris used to muscle Bream out of the washes. He explained why he uses it and what reel and rod it he prefers. I found it interesting and encouraging that Kris weighed fish that he caught in the dying minutes of a session. Kris also speaks about his sounder time being two minutes late and how it nearly made him late.   Tom Slater from Daiwa Australia was the angler that finished in second place. Tom explained how he fished some areas that would usually produce fish, but didn’t catch any in these locations. He learned later that the locations had been recently fished by the human bream vacuum that is Kris Hickson.   While Tom had a fantastic event finishing in second, he dropped a fish on day three that “would have made things interesting.“ Tom gave an in depth account of how he fished the competition including lures and techniques.   Finally this huge episode is concludes with Steve Morgan who dominated the event using his Garmin Live Scope. As the tournament progressed Steve dialled in his techniques using the Live Scope and the Outback Breamer Baits Mussel lure. Steve also snuck in a little Baby Vibe action. Steve shared everything including a run down of how he has his sounder set up. I also messed up the intro for Steve, but his response made me laugh, so I left it in the final cut.   Finally thanks to Steve, Tom, Kris and Nic for for coming on the show so quickly after the event. The anglers had a huge week, away from their families and still made time to speak to me on my timeframe. This was a huge effort and I appreciate their time, effort and willingness to share.   This was a cracking episode and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed recording it.

Episode 17: Hobie Kayak Bream Series, Georges River March 30-31-2019

With the upcoming Hobie kayak event on the Georges River in June 2023, we are reviewing the Georges River march 30-31-2019. First up we have repeat guest Jonathon Chen in 4th place. After a rough start on day one, Jonathon was able to locate some bait on the sounder and used that information to great advantage throughout  the competition. Jon gives a complete run down of the lures he used to finish in 4th only 10 grams behind Kris Hickson. In second place Glenn Allen runs through his competion weekend. Glenn explained how he uses lightly weighted plastics on the edges. Glenn also spoke about how he and Luke Kay fished the same area and both were able to catch awesome bags of fish. In first place was Luke Kay with a massive bag weighing in at 5.63kg and was 980gms ahead of 2nd placed Grenn Allen. On the Friday night before the competition, Luke had given a talk with Jason Meech at fishin.com.au in Miranda. Luke told everybody there exactly what he was going to do in the competition. Luke then went out and dominated the field doing exactly what he said he would do. This talk is still available on YouTube, search for the fishin.com.au channel.  In this podcast, Luke breaks down how he put together his bags using Pro Lure S36,D36 Cranks and Pro Lure Live Yabbies.