With rising dam levels, ABT were once again able to hold a Bass Pro event at the popular Lake St Clair. Taking full advantage of the water soaked grassy banks, Gregg Flett was able to use a surface bite to claim the victory.
Flett chose a Millerod Breambuster 2-5kg rod matched to a Shimano Twin Power spooled with 8lb Finns braid and 14lb Sunline leader. Traveling to the flooded banks in the Falbrook arm, Flett threw a Lucky Craft Sammy 65 in aurora green perch in 5 feet of water.
“Casting right up into the grass was important,” Flett said.
The retrieve was a constant walk the dog, if a boil occurred he would pause the lure and give it a few twitches to entice another bite.
Scoring two good size bass in the morning session, Greg headed to the same area in the afternoon but the wind changed direction. With only one in the live well he moved and looked for schooled fish using a 1/8th TT jighead and a Berkley Gulp Jigging Grub in watermelon to get his limit.
The last and most important session proved to be stressful. Getting his second fish on surface again at 11.15am he had left it to the death to be the last person to get their tag on the board by the 11.30am cutoff.
Second place went to AFC champ Matthew Mott. Finding the schooled fish on the prefish day to be quite small he concentrated his efforts in the back of one of the Lake’s many arms.
He used a Black Diamond 2-5kg, 7ft crankbait and a Daiwa Steez reel spooled with 10lb Stealth braid and 17lb Vanish leader.
The lure of choice was the new 3/8 Mini Coops Smak spinnerbait in ks colour. Mott admitting that the smaller profile spinnerbait proved to be the difference for him.
Working a flooded grassy bank with both shallow and deep contours, Mott would work all areas.
“I would throw close to the bank and wind slow, then in the deep count to seven with a slow roll, pause presentation,” Mott explained.
Finding the bass working the edges earlier in the day then moving further out as the sun rose.
The Daiwa Big Bass was a hotly contested prize on the weekend finally going to Wayne Gordon in the final session to a fine 1.91kg specimen.
Throwing a Zippin Ziggy walk the dog surface lure in baby bass colour, he found the bass engulfing the lure as soon as it hit the water.
Champion non boater was Mathew Fowler proving that the winning recipe was the ability to adapt to different styles of fishing.
Using a Lamiglass XMG 50 rod he scored himself a paid Grand Final entry fee thanks to the sponsor bonus program. Matching this rod to a 2000 Daiwa Airity with 10lb Suffix Performance braid and 8lb Yamatoyo leader.
Session one saw him working a shallow bank hunting the surface bite with a Jackall SK Pop. The retrieve being a subtle pop followed by a pause.
Session two his boater followed the schooled fish and Mat used a Berkley Gulp Jigging Grub in watermelon on a ½ TT jighead. Dropping his lure to the bottom and slow rolling it through the fish for a reaction.
Session three Fowler used the new Ecogear metal blades including the VX35 in olive and VX40 in black. Fishing in 40ft of water to fish suspend at the 8-9ft mark the trick was to cast out and slow roll the vibes through the fish.
With over 100 anglers attending the Stessco St Clair Bass Pro it was encouraging to find that with the rising water levels, so too had the enthusiasm of the bass anglers in ABT’s tenth year of operation.
The next event is the Megabass Major at Lake Somerset on March 29-30, please visit www.australianbass.com.au for entry information of call ABT on 07 3268 7958.
BASS Pro: Stessco St Clair Bass Pro Boater Results | |||||||||||||||
Place | Angler | State | F1 | W1 | F2 | W2 | F3 | W3 | TF | TW | Payout | ||||
1 | Gregg FLETT | NSW | 2 | 2.41 | 2 | 1.28 | 2 | 1.23 | 6 | 4.92 | 2800 | ||||
2 | Matthew MOTT | QLD | 2 | 2.08 | 1 | 0.49 | 2 | 1.77 | 5 | 4.34 | 2000 | ||||
3 | Greg PARKES | NSW | 2 | 1.75 | 2 | 1.38 | 2 | 1.15 | 6 | 4.28 | 1000 | ||||
4 | Mick ELSLEY | NSW | 2 | 1.33 | 2 | 1.29 | 2 | 1.61 | 6 | 4.23 | 800 | ||||
5 | Craig SIMMONS | QLD | 2 | 1.09 | 2 | 1.43 | 2 | 1.7 | 6 | 4.22 | 600 | ||||
6 | Tim MORGAN | QLD | 2 | 1.37 | 2 | 1.06 | 2 | 1.43 | 6 | 3.86 | 500 | ||||
7 | Wayne PARRY | NSW | 2 | 1.55 | 2 | 1.18 | 2 | 1.12 | 6 | 3.85 | 400 | ||||
8 | Steven MCDONALD | QLD | 1 | 0.54 | 1 | 0.53 | 2 | 2.61 | 4 | 3.68 | 300 | ||||
9 | Carl JOCUMSEN | QLD | 2 | 1.38 | 1 | 0.43 | 2 | 1.72 | 5 | 3.53 | 200 | ||||
10 | Dean SILVESTER | QLD | 2 | 1.74 | 1 | 0.69 | 2 | 1.02 | 5 | 3.45 | 100 | ||||
11 | Adrian MELCHIOR | NSW | 2 | 1.22 | 2 | 1.21 | 2 | 0.95 | 6 | 3.38 | |||||
12 | Michael PASCOE | NSW | 2 | 1.29 | 2 | 2.06 | 4 | 3.35 | |||||||
13 | Jody VERNON | NSW | 1 | 0.92 | 1 | 0.54 | 2 | 1.89 | 4 | 3.35 | |||||
14 | David GREEN | QLD | 2 | 1.06 | 1 | 0.61 | 2 | 1.58 | 5 | 3.25 | |||||
15 | Andrew PULBROOK | NSW | 2 | 1.5 | 1 | 0.59 | 2 | 1.08 | 5 | 3.17 | |||||
16 | Kerry SYMES | QLD | 2 | 1.67 | 2 | 1.27 | 4 | 2.94 | |||||||
17 | Les KING | NSW | 2 | 1.45 | 2 | 1.48 | 4 | 2.93 | |||||||
18 | Craig SHIELS | Qld | 2 | 1.39 | 2 | 1.45 | 4 | 2.84 | |||||||
19 | Kylie CORNISH | NSW | 1 | 0.79 | 2 | 1.48 | 1 | 0.55 | 4 | 2.82 | |||||
20 | Glenn HELMERS | NSW | 1 | 1.51 | 2 | 1.28 | 3 | 2.79 | |||||||
21 | Neil SCOTT | NSW | 1 | 0.9 | 1 | 0.75 | 2 | 1.14 | 4 | 2.79 | |||||
22 | Troy URQUHART | NSW | 2 | 1.02 | 2 | 1.73 | 4 | 2.75 | |||||||
23 | Steve LOWCOCK | Qld | 1 | 0.62 | 2 | 1.61 | 1 | 0.49 | 4 | 2.72 | |||||
24 | Peter JENKINS | NSW | 2 | 1.06 | 2 | 0.98 | 1 | 0.46 | 5 | 2.5 | |||||
25 | Spiro ZANTIOTIS | QLD | 1 | 0.44 | 1 | 0.53 | 2 | 1.42 | 4 | 2.39 | |||||
26 | Jami KANOWSKI | QLD | 2 | 1.27 | 2 | 1.11 | 4 | 2.38 | |||||||
27 | Jorg VANHUSEN | NSW | 2 | 0.94 | 1 | 0.48 | 2 | 0.95 | 5 | 2.37 | |||||
28 | Dan RYAN | QLD | 1 | 0.85 | 2 | 1.49 | 3 | 2.34 | |||||||
29 | Ron SCOTT | NSW | 2 | 1.08 | 2 | 1.24 | 4 | 2.32 | |||||||
30 | Stephen ALMOND | NSW | 2 | 1.1 | 2 | 1.18 | 4 | 2.28 | |||||||
31 | Bruce ANDERSON | NSW | 2 | 1.72 | 1 | 0.51 | 3 | 2.23 | |||||||
32 | Ron ASHMAN | NSW | 2 | 1.28 | 1 | 0.94 | 3 | 2.22 | |||||||
33 | Bruce MOSS | QLD | 2 | 1.42 | 1 | 0.69 | 3 | 2.11 | |||||||
34 | Alan MCNAMARA | NSW | 1 | 0.79 | 2 | 1.32 | 3 | 2.11 | |||||||
35 | Justin SCOTT | NSW | 2 | 1.12 | 2 | 0.98 | 4 | 2.1 | |||||||
36 | Stephen KANOWSKI | QLD | 1 | 0.74 | 2 | 1.24 | 3 | 1.98 | |||||||
37 | Baden SPARROW | QLD | 1 | 0.53 | 2 | 1.33 | 3 | 1.86 | |||||||
38 | Dean WINBANK | NSW | 1 | 0.81 | 1 | 0.46 | 1 | 0.56 | 3 | 1.83 | |||||
39 | Dean WAGNER | NSW | 1 | 0.72 | 1 | 0.63 | 1 | 0.48 | 3 | 1.83 | |||||
40 | Paul COOPER | QLD | 1 | 0.71 | 1 | 0.84 | 2 | 1.55 | |||||||
41 | Wayne REED | NSW | 1 | 0.72 | 1 | 0.73 | 2 | 1.45 | |||||||
42 | Steve DAVIES | Qld | 1 | 1.42 | 1 | 1.42 | |||||||||
43 | Grant BOYLE | NSW | 1 | 0.52 | 1 | 0.88 | 2 | 1.4 | |||||||
44 | Ross MURRAY | Qld | 1 | 0.77 | 1 | 0.52 | 2 | 1.29 | |||||||
45 | Garry HARDMAN | NSW | 1 | 1.26 | 1 | 1.26 | |||||||||
46 | Michael COLLINS | NSW | 2 | 1.14 | 2 | 1.14 | |||||||||
47 | Mick CLARKE | NSW | 2 | 0.98 | 2 | 0.98 | |||||||||
48 | Christian CROFT | NSW | 1 | 0.76 | 1 | 0.76 | |||||||||
49 | Andrew REDDING | NSW | 1 | 0.56 | 1 | 0.56 | |||||||||
50 | Peter ROBINSON | NSW | 1 | 0.54 | 1 | 0.54 | |||||||||
51 | Mark CUTLER | NSW | 1 | 0.52 | 1 | 0.52 | |||||||||
52 | Ken MURRAY | Qld | 1 | 0.48 | 1 | 0.48 | |||||||||
53 | Rod SHORTEN | NSW | |||||||||||||
53 | Brian BOND | NSW | |||||||||||||
53 | Tom WEIERS | NSW | |||||||||||||
53 | Bill DELANEY | NSW | |||||||||||||
60 | 43.1 | 50 | 31.9 | 76 | 52.7 | 186 | 128 | ||||||||
BASS Pro: Stessco St Clair Bass Pro Non-Boater Results | |||||||||||||||
Place | Angler | State | F1 | W1 | F2 | W2 | F3 | W3 | TF | TW | Payout | ||||
1 | Mathew FOWLER | NSW | 2 | 2.08 | 2 | 1.32 | 2 | 0.99 | 6 | 4.39 | Gloomis CR722 6ft rod, Spotters pack, Prize Pack | ||||
2 | Ben PEPPERALL | NSW | 2 | 1.39 | 2 | 1.49 | 2 | 1.4 | 6 | 4.28 | Pflueger Supreme B/C 6"4′ 2-4kg rod, Ugly fish pack, Prize Pack | ||||
3 | Peter MESSENGER | NSW | 2 | 2.5 | 2 | 1.4 | 4 | 3.9 | Berkley Dropshot IM6 2-4kg spin rod, Shimano Symetre 1500, Prize Pack | ||||||
4 | Daniel BONACORRSO | NSW | 1 | 0.4 | 2 | 1.23 | 2 | 1.54 | 5 | 3.17 | Shimano Sedona 1500, Prize Pack | ||||
5 | John LOUDON | NSW | 2 | 1.57 | 1 | 0.88 | 1 | 0.67 | 4 | 3.12 | Tica Caiman, Prize Pack | ||||
6 | Wayne GORDON | QLD | 2 | 1.07 | 1 | 1.91 | 3 | 2.98 | BB$500 Daiwa Fuego, Berkley Digital Scales, Prize Pack | ||||||
7 | Daniel CLANCY | NSW | 2 | 1.32 | 1 | 0.46 | 2 | 1.19 | 5 | 2.97 | Berkley Tackle Bag, Prize Pack | ||||
8 | David MELROSE | Qld | 2 | 1.65 | 2 | 1.23 | 4 | 2.88 | Berkley Tackle Bag, Prize Pack | ||||||
9 | David MUDD | NSW | 2 | 1.17 | 2 | 1.39 | 4 | 2.56 | Berkley Tackle Bag, Prize Pack | ||||||
10 | Matt ANDERSON | NSW | 2 | 1.35 | 2 | 1.19 | 4 | 2.54 | Prize Pack | ||||||
11 | Russell GLASSON | QLD | 2 | 1.08 | 2 | 1.41 | 4 | 2.49 | |||||||
12 | Michael BRITTEN | NSW | 1 | 0.93 | 1 | 0.45 | 2 | 1.09 | 4 | 2.47 | |||||
13 | Vicki WINTER | NSW | 1 | 0.68 | 1 | 0.54 | 1 | 1.24 | 3 | 2.46 | |||||
14 | Scott MCKENZIE | QLD | 2 | 1.12 | 2 | 1.33 | 4 | 2.45 | |||||||
15 | Travis CAMPBELL | NSW | 1 | 0.79 | 2 | 1.12 | 1 | 0.52 | 4 | 2.43 | |||||
16 | Michael WALMSLEY | NSW | 2 | 1.14 | 2 | 1.22 | 4 | 2.36 | |||||||
17 | Ross CORNER | NSW | 2 | 1.1 | 1 | 0.48 | 1 | 0.53 | 4 | 2.11 | |||||
18 | Matt CRISP | NSW | 2 | 1.59 | 1 | 0.45 | 3 | 2.04 | |||||||
19 | Wayne BEAZLEY | NSW | 1 | 1.4 | 1 | 0.62 | 2 | 2.02 | |||||||
20 | Gary LEE | NSW | 1 | 0.74 | 2 | 1.2 | 3 | 1.94 | |||||||
21 | Grant THOMPSON | NSW | 1 | 0.52 | 2 | 1.4 | 3 | 1.92 | |||||||
22 | Paul BERRY | NSW | 1 | 0.45 | 2 | 1.33 | 3 | 1.78 | |||||||
23 | Jay TORRANCE | NSW | 2 | 1.3 | 2 | 1.3 | |||||||||
24 | Denise GRAHAM | NSW | 1 | 0.47 | 1 | 0.76 | 2 | 1.23 | |||||||
25 | Tony THORLEY | NSW | 2 | 1.18 | 2 | 1.18 | |||||||||
26 | David WILLIAMSON | NSW | 1 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.52 | 2 | 1.02 | |||||||
27 | Malcolm STEWART | NSW | 1 | 0.53 | 1 | 0.47 | 2 | 1 | |||||||
28 | Michael CLARKE | NSW | 1 | 0.95 | 1 | 0.95 | |||||||||
29 | Warwick CREGAN | NSW | 1 | 0.93 | 1 | 0.93 | |||||||||
30 | Wil WAGNER | NSW | 1 | 0.79 | 1 | 0.79 | |||||||||
31 | Roderick LAMB | NSW | 1 | 0.78 | 1 | 0.78 | |||||||||
32 | Matthew ROUSSELL | NSW | 1 | 0.77 | 1 | 0.77 | |||||||||
33 | Chris ELDRED | QLD | 1 | 0.77 | 1 | 0.77 | |||||||||
34 | Peter HOLT | NSW | 1 | 0.7 | 1 | 0.7 | |||||||||
35 | Mark MCGREGOR | NSW | 1 | 0.66 | 1 | 0.66 | |||||||||
36 | Dave TRINDER | NSW | 1 | 0.47 | 1 | 0.47 | |||||||||
37 | Corey KERR | Qld | 1 | 0.46 | 1 | 0.46 | |||||||||
38 | Shane TURNER | NSW | 1 | 0.42 | 1 | 0.42 | |||||||||
39 | Brooke KENNETT | NSW | |||||||||||||
39 | Jason HEARD | NSW | |||||||||||||
39 | Gordon YEATMAN | ACT | |||||||||||||
39 | Karen FONTAINE | NSW | |||||||||||||
39 | Jacob FORSTER | NSW | |||||||||||||
39 | Allan PRICE | NSW | |||||||||||||
39 | Dave GEORGE | NSW | |||||||||||||
39 | Davidjeremiah SPEICHER | Qld | |||||||||||||
39 | Neil HOCKEY | Qld | |||||||||||||
39 | Daniel QUANMBY | NSW | |||||||||||||
39 | Peter HANCOCK | NSW | |||||||||||||
39 | Andrew OWCZAREK | NSW | |||||||||||||
39 | Denis ROUGHAN | NSW | |||||||||||||
39 | John BRIDER | Qld | |||||||||||||
47 | 33.2 | 25 | 15.4 | 35 | 24.1 | 107 | 72.7 | ||||||||
60 | 43.1 | 50 | 31.9 | 76 | 52.7 | 186 | 128 | ||||||||
107 | 76.3 | 75 | 47.3 | 111 | 76.8 | 293 | 200 | ||||||||
0.68 |