queensland MegaBass ABT Major-Sommerset Dam 29-30 March

[bigtez]

This was my first attempt at catching a few bass from a boat as well as my first tournament so I wasn't expecting very much. However I learned a lot over the weekend which was worth more then the entry fee.

Prefish

After leaving late and getting to the dam just before lunch we setup camp had some food then hit the water for a look around. Firstly we fished the flats off of Pelican point for nothing then moved to a bank a bit further upstream where we had a couple of touches but no fish. All while getting soaked by the rain. That was all the prefishing we were able to do.

Saturday

Friday nights draw didn't exactly go my way as a non boater. I had drawn Troy Urqhart, a first timer to Sommerset with a small tinny armed with a 30hp Suzi. In the first session we fished a rocky patch of bank on the northern side of Pelican Point near the entrance to the Narrows for one Yellowbelly. We then tried the nearby flats without luck and headed back to the bank we fished earlier and still couldn't raise a scale. At the end of that session some confusion over the position of the key/tag board landed us with a 50g penalty for being 47sec late.

In the second session we hit up the entrance to the narrows on the opposite bank this time and fished up about 300m without a bite. We then headed to a rocky drop off opposite pelican point. Here we saw a good size bass cruising just be low the surface but couldn't get it to take anything we threw at it. As the session came to a close we moved to the rocky banks opposite the Spit and I had several hits but again couldn't convert them to fish.

Sunday

I was a bit luckier with the draw for sunday as I drew Dan Ryan who owns a Nitro with a 115opti on the back of it. We headed straight for the top of the dam and the timber as this is where the fish caught on Saturday had come from, however considering how scarce the fish were we were making sure to stay well clear of anyone who was in the running for a cheque as we both donuted on Saturday. Heavy fog on the dam had as disoriented for a while until we saw Matthew Mott who pointed us in the right direction.

We fished a few bays and banks in the timber where Dan scored one bass that weighed 1kg and I scored a boney brim that was about 2cm longer then the lure it was caught on. We then headed back towards Queen st and fished another bank without luck. As it was getting hot and a bit uncomfortable we decided to head back to the ramp early and avoid the traffic.

Although it was a fishless weekend for me it was good to have a guided tour of the dam, as my in laws are moving to kilcoy some time this year and I will prabably be spending quite a bit of time out that way in the next few years.

Cheers

Terry

[bigtez]

Full results can be found here...
/>http://www.australianbass.com.au/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=215

As you can see most anglers struggled to put fish in the live well.

[Angus]

Mate well done on going!

I think you hit the nail on teh head when you said it was leanring experience. Next time youll just be that little bit more prepped for what to expect.

Cheers

Angus

[nabs]

Well done mate,not the greatest results but now the first comps out of the way. My first comp was pretty similar to that, except everyone else was getting fish:blush: Judging from the results it would have been very tough. A mate of mine fished it as well and donuted all three days.

Good Report!

Cheers

[bigtez]

Thanks Nabs.

Bring on Borumba!!!