The Bream Fishing Project

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.   

Episode 16: Vic Bream Classic Marlo 25-26 March 2023

Vic Bream Classic Marlo 25-26 2023. This is the first review of a Vic Bream Classic! What an episode. As you will hear, I really like some of the team names…. They cracked me up! One of the things that I really like about the team events is that it not just mates ,but family members can go out together and compete in a competition. In this event we had two father and son teams in the top three. In third place was Paul and Justin Conn of team EGM Revisited. I spoke with Justin who gave me a complete run down of their competition . I found it interesting that Justin spoke about his dad catching so consistently that at one point Justin was basically a just netting fish. I hope we can talk again and ask Paul some specifics about his technique with blades. It seems like he really had it dialled in! In second place we had the experience of team Hummingbird with Shaun Clancy and Jarrod Healey. This was another interesting story because they borrowed a small tinny to try to get into Lake Corringle. Tune in to hear how they decked this boat out for this particular competition. If you are a Hummingbird owner or are thinking about becoming one I think you will find this discussion very interesting. Then in first place I spoke with father and son team Steven and Lindsay Pryke. After an ordinary prefish this experienced team were able to catch a bag quickly.They then upgraded to 5.27 kg on day one which included a 1.24kg kicker fish. On the Sunday they were again able to put together an impressive  bag weighing 5.35kg. The combined bags totalled 10.62 Kg which is a better tha 1Kg average per fish. This bag included a 1.45 kg beast which anchored their bag and helped them take a convincing win. Big bream went to Bruce Robinson and Michael Newman with an absolute beast at 1:55 kg. I really enjoyed recording this episode. Thanks to the anglers who were able to speak with me at short notice and shared so much. I look forward to covering the next  Vic Bream Classic in Mallacoota!

Episode 15: ABT Daiwa Bream Australian Open Preview/ Review

Daiwa Bream Australian Open Preview. In this episode we preview the upcoming 2023 open where the anglers will spend three days on Sydney Harbour. I spoke with 2-time winner Steve Morgan and we covered the up coming open to be held on Sydney Harbour, May 2-4, 2023. Steve spoke about the format of this years of this years competition. Steve also spoke about the reasons why a competition might be run as a weigh-in style or an app-based measurement competition. Steve is one of three anglers to have won this event twice. Steve is always a contender, will he be the first anglers to win three? I then spoke with Kris Hickson and he shared some of the things he did when he won back in 2011. Will Kris be able to win again this year and make him a 2 X Australian Bream Open winner. To round this episode out, I spoke with another 2 x Aus Open winner Scott Towner. Scott was also the first winner back in 2004 when it was a teams event. We spoke about the lures and techniques Scott and his two partners used to win. The Fishin.com.au  Baby Vibe competition continues, tune in to see how you can win. The Daiwa Bait Junkie/ Hobie competition is currently open. This is an absolute must for any keen Bream angler. Listen in to find out how you can win a Hobie Kayak. 

Episode 14: ABT Daiwa Bream Series, Mallacoota 18-19 February 2023

In this episode, we review the Sunline Mallacoota Round of the ABT Daiwa Bream Series. Held on the 18-19 February 2023, this was the second round held in Victoria this year. This event was an app based competition where the fish were measured to the fork of the tail. These measurements were converted into weights using historical data/charts. The big bream I caught at the Bemm river Hobie round measured 38.5cm to the fork of the tail. On the scales this fish weighed 1.24kg and on the chart it was estimated to be 1.266kg. It was an interesting and timely comparison. For anyone interested in the Bream length/ weight table a copy can be found at abt.org.au I spoke with Marlon Thompson, who took first place in the non-boater division. Marlon is new to the ABT circuit and this was his maiden win. An interesting part of Marlon's win is that he was paired with did not catch the same quality of fish he caught. Tune in to hear how he got the job done! I then spoke with 3rd place for the boaters Peter Breukel. Peter is a Hurricane sponsered angler who shared all the information on how he caught his bream. He also eplained how a keen observation helped him to catch some bream in a slightly unusual fashion. In second place was Mitchell Blomquist who shared all of the tricks he used to land second place. Finally in first place, the irrepressible champion Kris Hickson. I was intrigued by what Kris had to say on his form/ mindset coming from Gippsland Lakes earlier in the week. Kris was also generous in his interview explaining all of the techniques he used to catch the winning bag. I hope you all enjoy this episode and I look forward to sharing next weeks episode where the topic is the Australian Daiwa Bream Open.      

Episode 13: Hobie Kayak Bream Series, Bemm River April 1-2, 2023

Here it is! The Bemm River round for 2023 This round for me was an extra special round. Having some of the original anglers turn up was incredible. We all had a teriffic catch up on land and some amazing fishing over the weekend.   The fishin.com.au baby vibe competition was also up for grabs at this competition. A single $250 voucher at fishin.com.au was available to anyone who won the competiton or caught the big bream on a Baby Vibe. I was able to achieve both! Tune in to hear what happened. Repeat guest Dale Baxter has come into some form taking third place.Dale gave a complete run down from pre fish to day 1 and then day 2. Listen in to hear where Dale fished and what he used to catch his fish.   Tune in to hear how Mitch Maddison stayed on shore on Friday (it was very windy) then put together 2 bags over 2.6 kilos which landed him in second place. This was Mitch's first podium finish and after recording this interview I am sure it won't be his last! This is an unusual episode for me. For those who don't know, I attended and won this event. It was the first time I had won a Hobie round for a long long time. So listen in to hear how it all went down. Listen closely to hear how the day one windy conditions helped my find my first bag over 3 kilos. Hear how using Baby Vibes allowed me to gain a solid lead over Mitch on day one and do enough to stay well clear on day 2. I can't wait for the "Retro Round" next year. Maybe we could see all the anglers from the very first Hobie round down there!

Episode 12: Hobie Kayak Fishing Series Woy Woy April 30- May 1st 2022

In this episode I talk with the top three anglers for the Hobie Kayak Fishing Series , Woy Woy, April 30 - May 1 2022. This was an interesting round that saw Steven Pryke  take convincing lead after day one. Then on day two Darcy Harding dropped a massive sack on the scales to steal the victory from what seemed like an unbeatable lead. Repeat guest Corey Gallagher shares the tips and techniques that helped him into 3rd place fishing sometimes with Darcy through out the competition.   Steven runs us through his competition weekend. Steve was able to secure second place and the all important AOY for 2022. Finall Darcy spills the beans on how he went about putting together a massive bag on day 2 and snatched the win from Steve. This is one of the great come from behind stories and is not to be missed! 

Episode 11: Bream Masters / Hobie Kayak Fishing Series. Glenelg River South Australia 11-12 March 2023

In this episode we head down the Glenelg River in South Australia to cover the Hobie associated round with the crew from Bream Masters S.A. I had an interesting discussion with Gary Hanson. After being on the kayak fishing bream scene for a number of years, persistance has paid off and landed Gary his first podium finish in third place. Tune in to hear about the lures and techniques that helped him achieve this impressive result. Then in second place we have repeat guest Tony "Robin" Pettie who once again comes home with enough weight to land him in second place.  With a first and a second place in three rounds Tony is making an early charge for AOY points. Although Tony had a great round finishing in second he still can't call himself "Batman". Tune in to the Bemm River review in a couple of weeks to see if Simon or Tony gets to wear the Batman shirt. Finally we talk with Dale Baxter who took this round out in style, in third place overnight Dale caught just enough to take his first round win. Dale gave a detailed account of everything from prefish through to grinding out a bag on day three. Congratulations to the three anglers who have all done very well on what was a tough round. Thanks again to fishin.com.au for continued support!