Spirit of Tasmania Bream Classic opens up

Andy McCarthy of Team Spirit of Tasmania with two of his five fish on day two

A very tough tournament on the Derwent for Round Three in the Spirit of Tasmania Bream Classic really opened the championship up.

With a very subdued Calcutta on the Howler Custom Rods pre fish briefing, most teams were talking about where they hadn’t caught fish, rather than where they had.

Young gun Isaac Harris scored the Howler Custom Rods $350 voucher, making his weekend a winner before the comp had even started.

A large crowd turned up to see the very tight weigh in

Day One

Day one started with a crisp but calm morning, which gave way to a cool, clear and light wind day.

A heap of fresh water in the system restricted visibility and lowed fish activity, so hopes were not high for a big day on the bream.

It soon became apparent that the hoped for action was nowhere to be found, with only a few teams finding early success.

Fancied teams such as Sportsfishtasmania.com and Ecogear/Nitro failed to live up to expectations, while the consistent St Helens Bait and Tackle found the fish and the top of the leader board with a very nice 5/5.88kg bag. This was just rewards after a thief stole two of their rods while filling up with fuel on their drive down to Hobart.

Quiet performers Team Lyndcraft Boats chipped away and by the time weigh in came around they had a solid bag, with a few go-to spots up there sleeve for day two.

Team Pellows Saws and Mowers used the unique spot choosing technique of flipping a coin! Heads upstream, tails downstream. It paid off in spades, with a five fish, 5kg bag for day one, keeping them in touch with third place.

The bulk of the field managed to at least bag one fish, with only three boats cooking the dreaded donuts.

Team Strikepro totally ignored their pre fish work and managed to get a very respectable 5/5.51kg bag, and everyone was hoping that finally the boys would put together two days and take out the big prize.

With only four teams managing five fish, the next best bag was three, with most boats finding a couple of kilo plus fish to keep in touch with the field.

Day Two

With it down to the wire on the last day of the series to decide who would be the overall champion team, all teams set on a crisp and calm morning full of nerves.

Teams such as sportsfishtasmania.com, Ecogear/Nitro and Cranka Pro needed to get their bag of five fish to become 2010 Spirit of Tasmania Bream Classic Champions, and teams such as Strikepro just needed to hold their form from day one to take out the round and the series.

Early indications showed that is was going to be another very hit and miss day, with some of the fancied teams failing to land a single fish, while others managed a few to keep their overall chances alive.

With the stage set from 1pm when Team Lyndcraft Boats weighed in with a 5/5.73kg bag to leapfrog them into top spot, it was then a litany of bad days, missed opportunities and plain bad luck.

Fancied teams such as Ecogear/Nitro, Team Strikepro or the fancied www.tasfish.com/Bigfin didn’t land a bream.

Day one leader St Helens Bait & Tackle only managed three fish.

Team Lyndcraft Boats don’t often fish the Derwent, and used Google Earth to find a few likely spots prior to pre-fish, and then worked the spots lightly to leave plenty of fish for the ensuing days. Using mainly hardbodied lures, the boys fished generally shallow shores to compile their 10/11.22kg bag. In stark contrast to other teams, Lyndcraft Boats upgraded their bag a few times.

This was Matt and Travis’s maiden Classic win, and comes on top of a very consistent series in 2009. The boys also claimed third place in the series, which is testament to their consistency throughout the three rounds.

Big Bream the difference in Series win

Two of the teams fighting it out for the series win, Team Cranka Pro and Team www.sportsfishtasmania.com were only separated by a few places, and in the end it was the biggest bream of the weekend caught by Andrew Cox that gave them the breathing space to claim the series win on count back.

Both teams were tied on equal point at the end of the series, with the series decided by the team placing highest in the last round. That big bream was just enough to deliver team Cranka Pro two higher places up the table and the overall series win.

Spirit of Tasmania Bream Classic Series Champions Steve Steer and Andrew Cox display the victor’s trophy

Team members Steve Steer and Andrew Cox finished the series with two fourth places and a sixth to just pip out Leigh McKenzie and Patrick Sullivan.

Steer and Cox win a trip for two anglers, their car and boat on the Spirit of Tasmania to compete in the National Bream Classic Grand Final in Victoria later this year.

This series would not have been possible without the fantastic support of our major sponsor Spirit of Tasmania, Daiwa, Berkley, Ecogear, Shimano, Strikpro, Howler Custom Rods, The Tasman Door Centre, Warwick and Sally Medwin for their very generous fuel vouchers.

The tournament scene takes a break now in Tasmania until October, when the Spirit of Tasmania Trout Classic Series will be held in the Central Highlands.

Third placed Team Pellows Saws and Mowers Ben Johnson and Tom Viney