With despair anglers travelled to the Unitika Lake Monduran BASS Pro event, in the hope of catching the elusive bass and take out a grand final qualification.
With 7 fish caught in the first session, 8 in the second and 11 in the final session, the title was up for grabs. Leading going into day two was River City Marine’s Peter Leggett with a fish each session for a total of 2.09kg. Obviously, in the right area could Leggett get a 3rd fish and make the winner’s cheque his own?
Sadly it was not to be. However, Christian Serne, a 34 year old builder from the Gold Coast had other ideas. Working the same Bird Bay area as Leggett, he was able to get 2 fish for 3.21kg and claim the win.
Serne used a Strudwick hardbait rod matched to an Abu Garcia Revo Premier reel spooled with 10lb Toughline and 10lb Berkley Vanish leader. Fishing in 10-13 feet of water, he chose to throw a Jackall TN60 in Ghost Wagasaki with a slow to medium retrieve pattern.
“This is my first bass win and came here wanting to qualify for the BASS Pro Grand Final,” he said.
Moving into second place was ABT stalwart Mike Connolly who scored two fish for 2.74kg. Connolly worked the opposite bank to Leggett after a prefish plan was established between the pair. He chose to use a G.Loomis Mag Bass 844 rod, Daiwa Steez baitcaster reel spooled with 25lb Jigger 8 PE and 14lb Siglon leader.
“I fished a 300m section of bank for the entire weekend,” Connolly explained.
“I fished the dropoff of the old river bed with a silent Jackall in brown dog colour, changing the retrieve speed from very slow to burning,” he continued.
Finding the bass in the second session liking the lure on the burn and the morning session bass preferring a slow presentation.
Champion non boater was Peter May, catching two fish for 3kg, in the 2nd session with Mike Connolly. May used a Millerod Spiral Wrap with a Shimano Chronarch Mag 50 spooled with 8lb Fireline and 14lb Waterking fluorocarbon.
When asked what lure did you catch your fish on, May replied. “Jackall brown dog, what else is there!”
May worked the weed edge parallel to the bank with a slow retrieve and also claimed the event’s Daiwa Big Bass of 1.85kg. Not quite enough to take away the money from Alan McNamara who also scored a 1.85kg fish.
McNamara, the Borumba Big Bass winner caught his fish on a mat black TN60 Jackall, adding to his ABT Big Barra titles.
Thanks to the event sponsor Unitka there were plenty of giveaways with anglers scoring prizes for the biggest bass of each session as well as random drawn tshirts, hats and line.
Simon Barkhuisen wearing his orange Daiwa hat claimed the $200 Daiwa giveaway in the first session and finished in 11th place with his 790 gram bass.
Going into the record books as one of the tougher bass competitions, the $500 stocking donation given to MASA will be put to good use, to populate the Lake’s fish population.
The final BASS Pro qualifier is to be held in August at Lake Glenbawn. The final chance to claim valuable AOY points the BASS Pro major event is sure to be popular.
Playing host to the Humminbird Megabucks later in the year followed by the Grand Final at St Clair, the season is quickly coming to the business end of the season.
For further information contact ABT on 07 3268 7958 or visit www.australianbass.com.au.
| Unitika Monduran BASS PRO Boater Results | |||||||||||||||||
| Place | Angler | State | F1 | W1 | F2 | W2 | F3 | W3 | TF | TW | Payout | ||||||
| 1 | Christian SERNE | QLD | 2 | 3.21 | 2 | 3.21 | $1500,Unitika winner | ||||||||||
| 2 | Mike CONNOLLY | QLD | 1 | 1.51 | 1 | 1.23 | 2 | 2.74 | $1200 | ||||||||
| 3 | Peter LEGGETT | Qld | 1 | 0.95 | 1 | 1.14 | 2 | 2.09 | $800 | ||||||||
| 4 | Alan MCNAMARA | NSW | 1 | 1.85 | 1 | 1.85 | $700, Unitika winner | ||||||||||
| 5 | Garry HARDMAN | NSW | 1 | 1.77 | 1 | 1.77 | $500 | ||||||||||
| 6 | Carl JOCUMSEN | QLD | 1 | 1.26 | 1 | 1.26 | $400 | ||||||||||
| 7 | Jesper NOIESEN | QLD | 1 | 1.1 | 1 | 1.1 | $300 | ||||||||||
| 8 | Aaron MOGG | Qld | 1 | 0.99 | 1 | 0.99 | $200 | ||||||||||
| 9 | Adrian MELCHIOR | NSW | 1 | 0.92 | 1 | 0.92 | $150 | ||||||||||
| 10 | John BRIDER | Qld | 1 | 0.9 | 1 | 0.9 | $150 | ||||||||||
| 11 | Simon BARKHUIZEN | QLD | 1 | 0.79 | 1 | 0.79 | Daiwa prize winner | ||||||||||
| 12 | Mike CREIGHTON | QLD | 1 | 0.74 | 1 | 0.74 | |||||||||||
| 13 | Harry WATSON | QLD | 1 | 0.59 | 1 | 0.59 | |||||||||||
| 14 | Stephen KANOWSKI | QLD | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Steve ELDRED | QLD | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Justin SCOTT | NSW | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Michael STARKEY | NSW | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Tim MORGAN | QLD | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | David YOUNG | QLD | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Chris GALLIGAN | Qld | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Les KING | NSW | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Paul MCKAY | Qld | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Gregg FLETT | NSW | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Jody VERNON | NSW | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Tony MOTT | QLD | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Stephen ALMOND | NSW | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Spiro ZANTIOTIS | QLD | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Bruce ANDERSON | NSW | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Matthew MOTT | QLD | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Ian BLACK | QLD | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Mick CLARKE | NSW | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Ross MURRAY | Qld | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Peter JENKINS | NSW | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Steven OTTO | QLD | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Paul COOPER | QLD | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Bill SCHLOSS | Qld | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Baden SPARROW | QLD | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Jami KANOWSKI | QLD | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Mick ELSLEY | NSW | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Andrew PULBROOK | NSW | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Greg PARKES | NSW | |||||||||||||||
| 14 | Tim MOSS | Qld | |||||||||||||||
| Unitika Monduran BASS PRO Non-Boater Results |
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| Place | Angler | State | F1 | W1 | F2 | W2 | F3 | W3 | TF | TW | Payout | ||||||
| 1 | Peter MAY | Qld | 2 | 3.00 | 2 | 3.00 | G.Loomis rod, Shimano Symetre reel, Berkley Digital Scales, prizepack, $250 Big Bass, Untika winner |
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| 2 | Kevin HULSE | Qld | 2 | 1.9 | 2 | 1.90 | G.Loomis rod, Shimano Sedona reel, Berkley Tacklebag, prizepack |
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| 3 | John PICTON | NSW | 1 | 1.65 | 1 | 1.65 | Blue Acres Lamiglas rod, Tica Thalos reel, Berkley Tacklebag, prizepack |
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| 4 | Jay TORRANCE | NSW | 1 | 1.44 | 1 | 1.44 | Blue Acres Lamiglas rod, Berkley Tacklebag, prizepack |
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| 5 | Shane ANDERSON | QLD | 1 | 1.19 | 1 | 1.19 | Berkley Dropshot rod, prizepack | ||||||||||
| 6 | Peterjames SPITTAL | Qld | 1 | 1.18 | 1 | 1.18 | Spotters Prize Pack | ||||||||||
| 7 | David MELROSE | Qld | 1 | 1.03 | 1 | 1.03 | Ugly Fish Sunglasses, prizepack | ||||||||||
| 8 | Malcolm STEWART | NSW | 1 | 0.93 | 1 | 0.93 | prizepack | ||||||||||
| 9 | Peter MORGAN | QLD | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Gary LEATHER | Qld | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Peter DERKSEN | Qld | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Chris HORNE | Qld | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Rodney STOLBERG | Qld | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Matt ANDERSON | NSW | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Stuart FRANCE | Qld | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Daniel QUARMBY | NSW | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Heath CRAVEN | QLD | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Damien MORGAN | NSW | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Les BARBER | QLD | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Lachlan MCLENNAN | Qld | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Justin HAMILTON | Qld | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Rob HINTON | Qld | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Robert TOMBS | NSW | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Gavin STICKLEN | QLD | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Toby WILSON | NSW | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Paul BERRY | NSW | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | David Jeremiah SPEICHER | Qld | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Daniel CLANCY | NSW | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Corey KERR | Qld | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | William SCHLOSS | QLD | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Frank DISTEFARO | Qld | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Tim STEENHUIS | QLD | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Gary STURDY | QLD | |||||||||||||||
| 9 | Peter KELLEHER | QLD | |||||||||||||||