2009 NSW Lowrance Angler of the Year Kris Hickson showed his maiden Taree victory in April was just the start of things of come with a comprehensive wire-to-wire victory in the Bassday Clarence River BREAM Super Series to deliver him his second win for the season and his richest pay day to date on the BREAM tour.
Compiling a 15/15, 8.13kg three day limit to secure the $3,500 winner's cheque Hickson fished a run and gun pattern each day, hitting location after location, as he power fished his way to a full limit and eventual victory.
"The key was to cover water and hit each piece of structure thoroughly before moving on to the next spot," explained Hickson.
With no solid pattern locked in on the prefish Hickson simply fished locations that he'd caught fish in the past and delivered him the bulk of his fish during the prefish.
It was a simply an effective plan that saw him fishing the Yamba Shores Tavern area, natural banks, rock walls and basically any piece of the structure he could find. With the locations locked in Hickson fished to his strength throwing an assortment of soft plastics and crankbaits, all with his usual thoroughness and meticulous precision.
"The fish were locked on the structure so you needed to fish tight to the structure and get your lure in the right the spot to catch the fish,' explained Hickson.
One of the best casters and presenters of a lure in the business Hickson opening his account on day one with a 2.85kg bag, consolidated it on day two with a 2.30kg limit, then blew them all away on the final day with his biggest bag for the tournament a 2.98kg sack.
Starting each morning with soft plastics Hickson would fish an assortment of Squidgy Lobbies in dusk and grenade colour, rigged on 1/16th and 1/28th oz, size 1, TT jigheads, working his way along the bank into the current, casting upstream towards the structure then working the lure back with a series of shakes, pauses and hopes.
"Swimming the lure back with the current was important to get the most natural presentation possible," explained Kris.
The pattern worked to-a-tee with Kris usually catching his limit early and then hunting for upgrades.
With the tide dropping through the session and the soft plastic pattern waning Kris would change tact and swap to a deep crankbait. While his choice of crankbaits were his usual fair, Zip Bait Hickories, Smith Dredges and the new Maria crank, it was the modifications that he made to them that were the biggest talking point.
"The fish where there they just weren't responded to the usual presentation, they wanted something that would hover and hang near them on the retrieve and didn't come tearing through like a normally worked crankbait," explained Hickson.
Using Tungfu Tungsten Sticky Weight Hickson would sit down each night adding weight to the belly of lures and getting his arsenal of crankbaits suspending just right for next day's assault on the Clarence.
His retrieve with his suspending baits was text book, with a pain fully slow rolling that had the action of the lure just ticking over as it swam down deep.
It was the kicker fish in his bag on the final day using the technique that would prove the crucial bite for Hickson and deliver him the win. Weighing 1.02kg it would add another $500 to his winnings as the event's Big Bream and held off a fast finishing Darren Borg.
"The big fish bit the lure down deep in about 15 feet of water and was sitting on the end of a big laydown that extending out from a natural bank," explained Kris.
Caught early in the session it started a roll for Hickson and was the driving force to his sensational final day bag.
The tackle Hickson used for his Clarence River win include a 6'6" Daiwa Interline Tournament Master Z-I rod, Daiwa Luvias 1000 reel, 6lb Daiwa Tournament Hi Visibility PE line, and 4 and 6lb Yamatoyo Rockfish fluorocarbon leader as his soft plastic outfit. While his crankbait outfit was comprised of a 7'1" Daiwa Luvias 701ULFS rod, 200 Daiwa Caldia reel, and 5 and 6lb Varvias Light Game fluorocarbon, fished straight through.
While Hickson's win at Clarence was his second NSW round win for the year it wasn't enough for a successful defence of his 2009 Lowrance AOY crown. With an 18th at the Hawkesbury, and a 6th at Lake Macquarie it all came to down to a bad day two at the Hawkesbury round that handed the title to Australia's number one ranker BREAM Steve Morgan. For full Lowrance AOY points visit www.bream.com.au.
For event runner-up Darren Borg it was another solid result on the Clarence with the former northern rivers local paying the price for a poor day one when he failed to weigh a full limit.
"There was a small window of activity on the first day and a heap of boats in area that kept the fish quiet," explained Borg
While Borg failed to catch a full bag for the weekend he did compile a 14/15, 7.93kg limit for the tournament that as expected came from Borg's much loved and regularly used rock wall soft plastic approach.
Hitting the lower reaches early each morning Borg started shallow throwing Gulp 3" Minnows and 2" Shrimps on 1/28th, 1/20th and 1/16th oz, size one TT Heavy Wire HWS jigheads.
"The fish were super shallow in the morning so I chucked the plastic tight to the wall then let it drift along with the current, waiting for fish to dart out and eat it," explained Borg.
The hits were swift and quick with the bream hitting the plastic within the first two metres of the surface and not long after the lure had landed on the water.
"Getting the bites was the easy part, being able to muscle them out and not get busted up proved the biggest challenge," explained Borg.
Loosing a string of fish on the first day Borg upgraded leader size, finally settling on 8 and 10lb fluorocarbon to stay connected to the fish.
While Borg steadfastly using Berkley Minnows and Shrimps as his lures of choice it was his selection of colour that showed far greater variance.
"I got about 20 packets of plastics of different colours and mixed them all in together in one tub. I then just worked my way through the tub throwing a different colour each time I used one," explained Borg.
Borg's system of rotation helped him keep the fish biting and reduced the chances of them becoming gun shy from seeing the one lure and colour repeatedly.
As each day progressed Borg headed up stream and hit Browns Rocks, swapping from the shallow rockwall pattern of earlier to a deep water reef pattern, once again with Berkley Minnows and Shrimps.
"Browns was your typical deepwater, big jighead, hop and drop pattern," explained Borg.
Upsizing to 1/12th to 1/6th oz, size 1, TT Light Wire jigheads, Borg fished in about 8-10 metres and drifted with the current, bumping his lures across the bottom and into the path of waiting bream.
While Borg increased jighead size, he decreased leader size, downsizing to 3 and 4 lb to get the bites.
"Browns had a lot of pressure during the tournament so it was important to keep the leader light to set yourself apart from the pack and catch the bigger fish," explained Borg.
His final day bag on Sunday saw him do exactly that, weighing in the biggest bag for the tournament a 3.42kg limit.
"I didn't think I had enough to catch Kris, I was pretty sure I needed one more upgrade to get him, and it proved to be right," explained Borg.
Falling just 200grams short of equaling Hickson tournament limit, Borg's near miss would once again prove how important it is to catch your limit each day.
Borg's arsenal of tackle included a 7', 3-5kg Duffman rod, 2500 Daiwa Certate, 10lb PE and an assortment of 8, 10, 3, and 4lb fluorocarbon leader.
While Borg fell short of adding another win to his impressive tournament CV he did reclaim the number one spot as the highest money earner on the BREAM earnings list. With $54,825 to his name and more events to come at the tail end of the season Borg is on song to finish 2010 cashed up and ready for Christmas.
On the non-boater front Bundaberg breamer Chris Horne claimed his maiden non-boater title victory, with a 7/10, 3.6kg limit to secure the title over Tracey Mammen from the Gold Coast.
Fishing with Jay Perham on day one and Daniel Brown on day two Horne like many anglers in the field fish a deepwater soft plastic approach on Browns Rocks and Middle Wall to catch his fish.
Hitting Browns Rocks on day one with Perham, Horne fished in about 30-40 feet of water, casting up onto the reef (14 feet) in a location known as the Graveyard.
Using new penny colour Berkley 2" Gulp Shrimps rigged on 1/20th to 1/4oz, size 2, Heavy Wire TT jigheads, Horne would make a cast, sink the lure to the bottom then use a hoping retrieve, bumping the lure across the bottom.
Weighing in three fish for the session Horne sat in 6th place and was confident that day two would deliver another productive day on the Clarence. On Middle Wall with Brown the approach was very similar to the day before, sink the lure to the bottom, then hop it back through the snags down deep.
With the current pushing hard against the wall and the bream holding in deep water (56 feet) Horne kept his jigheads heavy (1/8th and 1/4 oz) and his line light to keep his lure in zone and in the bream's face.
Using the new penny coloured Berkley Gulp Shrimp from the day before Horne finished the day with 2.25kg in the well and a Clarence River BREAM Super Series win to his name.
The tackle he used to secure the win included two 6'10" Ben Pilch custom made rods, one matched to a Daiwa Luvias 1003 reel and spooled with the 1lb Berkley Crystal Fireline and 4lb Sunline fluorocarbon leader. While the other was matched to a Shimano Stradic CI4 reel, spooled with 3lb fluorocarbon, and fished straight through.
Event naming sponsor Bassday made the tournament one of the standout events of the year with each competitor receiving five complementary lures at the event briefing. The rewards for anglers didn't end there with two Samurai Reaction rods on offer each day for the biggest bream weighed in on an Atomic and Bassday lure. The biggest bream of the four winners then valued added their rewards with a $500 Megabass, Atomic, Bassday and Unitika pack.
Tournament fans on the final day of competition also received the Bassday experience, with a casting alley, giveaways, display tank and lure demonstrations warming up the crowd before the 2pm weigh-in. With over $12,000 worth of prizes handed out to anglers and spectators over the weekend it was definitely a Bassday weekend on the Clarence.
The next round of the tour sees the Daiwa BREAM Series head north for the second Queensland round of year, with the Ecogear Bribie Island BREAM Challenge slated for 7/8th August. For event entry and information visit www.bream.com.au or contact ABT (07) 3387 0888.
| Daiwa BREAM Series: Bassday Clarence River BREAM Challenge Boater Results | |||||||||||
| Place | Angler | State | F1 | W1 | F2 | W2 | F3 | W3 | TF | TW | Payout |
| 1 | Kristoffer HICKSON | NSW | 5 | 2.85 | 5 | 2.3 | 5 | 2.98 | 15 | 8.13 | $3500, $500 Mercury Bonus, $500 Big Bream 1.02, Yamba Prawn Blades |
| 2 | Darren BORG | QLD | 4 | 1.58 | 5 | 2.93 | 5 | 3.42 | 14 | 7.93 | $2000, Yamba Prawn Blades |
| 3 | Matthew FINNEY | NSW | 5 | 2.61 | 5 | 2.3 | 5 | 2.4 | 15 | 7.31 | 1500, Yamba Prawn Blades |
| 4 | Robert KWIATKOWSKI | Qld | 5 | 2.31 | 5 | 2.26 | 5 | 2.61 | 15 | 7.18 | $1,200 |
| 5 | Steve MORGAN | QLD | 5 | 2.05 | 5 | 2.45 | 5 | 2.49 | 15 | 6.99 | $900, $795 1st Pro |
| 6 | Steve ELDRED | QLD | 5 | 2.45 | 3 | 1.55 | 5 | 2.91 | 13 | 6.91 | $900, $341 2nd Pro |
| 7 | Chris BRITTON | QLD | 5 | 1.94 | 5 | 2.42 | 5 | 2.47 | 15 | 6.83 | $600 |
| 8 | Daniel BROWN | NSW | 5 | 2.5 | 5 | 2.17 | 5 | 2.14 | 15 | 6.81 | $600 |
| 9 | Michael TORLEY | QLD | 5 | 1.97 | 5 | 2.04 | 5 | 2.35 | 15 | 6.36 | $300 |
| 10 | Joseph URQUHART | NSW | 5 | 2.23 | 4 | 2.16 | 3 | 1.57 | 12 | 5.96 | $300 |
| 11 | Nigel WEBSTER | QLD | 3 | 1.38 | 5 | 2.36 | 8 | 3.74 | |||
| 12 | Shayne GILLETT | NSW | 5 | 2.23 | 3 | 1.39 | 8 | 3.62 | |||
| 13 | David MCKENZIE | Qld | 5 | 2.45 | 3 | 1.12 | 8 | 3.57 | |||
| 14 | Ian SEETO | NSW | 2 | 1.1 | 5 | 2.42 | 7 | 3.52 | D2 .76 Atomic (BB) | ||
| 15 | Michael STARKEY | NSW | 5 | 2.46 | 2 | 1.04 | 7 | 3.5 | |||
| 16 | Stephen WILSON | QLD | 1 | 0.42 | 5 | 3.02 | 6 | 3.44 | |||
| 17 | Adrian MELCHIOR | NSW | 5 | 2.18 | 3 | 1.21 | 8 | 3.39 | |||
| 18 | Scott BUTLER | QLD | 3 | 1.29 | 5 | 1.92 | 8 | 3.21 | |||
| 19 | Mick LEAVEY | NSW | 5 | 2.32 | 1 | 0.61 | 6 | 2.93 | D2 .61 Bassday | ||
| 20 | Peter KELLEHER | NSW | 3 | 1.24 | 3 | 1.61 | 6 | 2.85 | |||
| 21 | David WELFARE | NSW | 2 | 1.28 | 3 | 1.51 | 5 | 2.79 | |||
| 22 | Adam WARD | NSW | 5 | 2.57 | 5 | 2.57 | |||||
| 23 | Scott CORBY | QLD | 1 | 0.49 | 5 | 2.07 | 6 | 2.56 | |||
| 24 | Michael HORN | QLD | 1 | 0.5 | 5 | 1.97 | 6 | 2.47 | |||
| 25 | Dean HAMMOND | NSW | 2 | 0.79 | 4 | 1.63 | 6 | 2.42 | |||
| 26 | Craig SIMMONS | QLD | 1 | 0.39 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 2.39 | |||
| 27 | Tim MORGAN | QLD | 1 | 0.52 | 4 | 1.86 | 5 | 2.38 | |||
| 28 | Peter CASHMAN | Qld | 1 | 0.42 | 3 | 1.91 | 4 | 2.33 | |||
| 29 | Beau STARTIN | NSW | 5 | 2.31 | 5 | 2.31 | |||||
| 30 | Matt FRASER | QLD | 5 | 2.26 | 5 | 2.26 | |||||
| 31 | Martin RICHARDSON | NSW | 4 | 1.98 | 4 | 1.98 | |||||
| 32 | James ISON | NSW | 4 | 1.6 | 1 | 0.34 | 5 | 1.94 | |||
| 33 | Chris SEETO | NSW | 3 | 1.36 | 1 | 0.41 | 4 | 1.77 | |||
| 34 | Anthony THORPE | NSW | 1 | 0.39 | 2 | 1.33 | 3 | 1.72 | |||
| 35 | Ian BAKER | QLD | 4 | 1.71 | 4 | 1.71 | |||||
| 36 | Tom DEER | SA | 2 | 0.85 | 1 | 0.54 | 3 | 1.39 | |||
| 37 | Mark LENNOX | NSW | 1 | 0.85 | 1 | 0.43 | 2 | 1.28 | D1 Shake n Bake | ||
| 38 | Paul GILLESPIE | NSW | 2 | 0.94 | 1 | 0.31 | 3 | 1.25 | |||
| 39 | Darryn LOVE | Qld | 2 | 0.86 | 1 | 0.32 | 3 | 1.18 | |||
| 40 | Jay PERHAM | QLD | 3 | 1.16 | 3 | 1.16 | |||||
| 41 | Dale JOHNSON | NSW | 3 | 1.09 | 3 | 1.09 | |||||
| 42 | Ben LOCKWOOD | NSW | 2 | 0.93 | 2 | 0.93 | |||||
| 43 | Anthony WISHEY | QLD | 2 | 0.78 | 2 | 0.78 | |||||
| 43 | Mark HOLMAN | NSW | 2 | 0.78 | 2 | 0.78 | |||||
| 45 | Richard POTTER | NSW | 2 | 0.71 | 2 | 0.71 | |||||
| 46 | Russell BABEKUHL | NSW | 3 | 1.33 | -0.75 | 3 | 0.58 | ||||
| 47 | Graham FRANKLIN | NSW | 1 | 0.42 | 1 | 0.42 | |||||
| 48 | Tristan TAYLOR | Qld | |||||||||
| 48 | Peter MORGAN | QLD | |||||||||
| 48 | Tom WEIERS | NSW | |||||||||
| Daiwa BREAM Series: Bassday Clarence River BREAM Challenge Non-Boater Results | |||||||||||
| Place | Angler | State | F1 | W1 | F2 | W2 | F3 | W3 | TF | TW | Payout |
| 1 | Chris HORNE | Qld | 3 | 1.35 | 4 | 2.25 | 7 | 3.6 | Heartland XA 2000 reel, Heartland XA 2500 reel, Heartland XA
701lfs rod, Heartland XA 701mlfs rod Team Daiwa Columbia Clothing, Yamba
Prawn Blades, Daiwa Prize Pack |
||
| 2 | Tracey MAMMEN | QLD | 1 | 0.61 | 5 | 2.55 | 6 | 3.16 | G.Loomis DSR820 rod, Yamba Prawn Blades, Prize Pack | ||
| 3 | Lee YOUNAN-WISE | NSW | 5 | 2.45 | 1 | 0.48 | 6 | 2.93 | Samurai 203 rod, Yamba Prawn Blades, Prize Pack | ||
| 4 | Bernard KONG | NSW | 2 | 1.04 | 4 | 1.65 | 6 | 2.69 | Shimano Raider 721 rod, Prize Pack | ||
| 5 | Luke CUNNINGHAM | QLD | 5 | 2.58 | 5 | 2.58 | TT Lure Pack, Prize Pack | ||||
| 6 | Tony THORLEY | NSW | 2 | 0.82 | 4 | 1.71 | 6 | 2.53 | Ugly Fish sunglasses, Prize Pack | ||
| 7 | Mark MULLIGAN | NSW | 4 | 2.49 | 4 | 2.49 | Spotters sunglasses, Prize Pack | ||||
| 8 | Jay GILLESPIE | NSW | 4 | 1.91 | 1 | 0.58 | 5 | 2.49 | Squidgey Tackle Bag, Prize Pack | ||
| 9 | Simon MCALPIN | NSW | 1 | 0.49 | 5 | 1.95 | 6 | 2.44 | Gulp Alive Tub, Prize Pack | ||
| 10 | Philip NIX | NSW | 1 | 0.79 | 2 | 1.25 | 3 | 2.04 | Shimano rod wraps, Prize Pack | ||
| 11 | Rodney THORPE | NSW | 2 | 0.99 | 2 | 0.81 | 4 | 1.8 | |||
| 12 | Samuel BURLEY | QLD | 4 | 1.72 | 4 | 1.72 | |||||
| 13 | Warwick LYNDON | QLD | 4 | 1.7 | 4 | 1.7 | |||||
| 14 | Grant CLEMENTS | NSW | 1 | 0.33 | 3 | 1.35 | 4 | 1.68 | |||
| 15 | Tony MOORE | QLD | 2 | 1.16 | 1 | 0.44 | 3 | 1.6 | |||
| 16 | Greg BYRNE | NSW | 2 | 0.81 | 2 | 0.78 | 4 | 1.59 | |||
| 17 | Nathan TUSKES | Qld | 3 | 1.13 | 1 | 0.43 | 4 | 1.56 | |||
| 18 | Tony NEAL | NSW | 3 | 1.53 | 3 | 1.53 | |||||
| 19 | Jacob LOWE | NSW | 1 | 0.5 | 2 | 1.01 | 3 | 1.51 | |||
| 20 | Arthur HATZIPETROU | Qld | 4 | 1.41 | 4 | 1.41 | |||||
| 21 | David WALMSLEY | NSW | 1 | 0.47 | 2 | 0.79 | 3 | 1.26 | |||
| 22 | Geoffrey BORG | NSW | 1 | 0.47 | 1 | 0.75 | 2 | 1.22 | |||
| 23 | Paul VANDENBOOM | NSW | 2 | 1.17 | 2 | 1.17 | D1 .73 Bassday | ||||
| 24 | Vincent BLEAKLEY | NSW | 2 | 1.15 | 2 | 1.15 | |||||
| 25 | John STARTIN | NSW | 2 | 0.74 | 1 | 0.39 | 3 | 1.13 | |||
| 26 | Scott ANGEL | NSW | 1 | 0.39 | 2 | 0.71 | 3 | 1.1 | |||
| 27 | Stephen TRACEY | Qld | 1 | 0.35 | 1 | 0.54 | 2 | 0.89 | |||
| 28 | Nabeel ISSA | Qld | 1 | 0.37 | 1 | 0.47 | 2 | 0.84 | |||
| 29 | Josh CARPENTER | NSW | 1 | 0.38 | 1 | 0.45 | 2 | 0.83 | |||
| 30 | Daniel TAMSETT | NSW | 2 | 0.72 | 2 | 0.72 | |||||
| 31 | Tom SLATER | QLD | 1 | 0.51 | 1 | 0.51 | |||||
| 32 | Andrew WILLIAMS | NSW | 1 | 0.45 | 1 | 0.45 | |||||
| 32 | Benjamin DONNELLY | NSW | 1 | 0.45 | 1 | 0.45 | |||||
| 34 | Joshua ANDERSON | NSW | 1 | 0.42 | 1 | 0.42 | |||||
| 34 | Malcolm STEWART | NSW | 1 | 0.42 | 1 | 0.42 | |||||
| 36 | Anthony DUFF | NSW | 2 | 0.79 | -0.75 | 2 | 0.04 | ||||
| 37 | Michael MAAS | QLD | |||||||||
| 37 | Rhys WITHERS | NSW | |||||||||
| 37 | David TRINDER | NSW | |||||||||
