Over 100 anglers made the trip to the Hawkesbury on May 3-4. Fine weather brought out the spectators, however, fishing was tough with only 4 anglers achieving their limit.

Andrew Howard assisted by the quality rack dwelling bream he managed to put in the live well didn’t need a limit. His 9/10, 7.12kg bag narrowly beating an inform Russell Babekuhl.



 

Howard used his rack pulling Millerod Brawler matched to a Shimano Sustain 2500 and a lighter Millerod XF Finesse matched to a Shimano Stella reel. Both these outfits were spooled with 3lb Berkley Crystal Fireline and 3lb Stren Microfuse fluorocarbon.

With several kilo plus fish lured from the racks, Andrew explained what he looks for in this structure.

“Since the leases have been taken out, I look for the old posts and rails that are covered in growth,” he said.

Throwing the Shimano Stiffy in evil minnow colour between the poles and retrieved with a slow roll saw a few of these good bream wrestled to the boat. The remainder were lured by the 80mm Squidgy Wriggler in wasabi colour, smeared with S-Factor scent and rigged on a 1/12th TT jighead.

“I threw the plastics against the posts and deadsticked the bait until a bream would pick it up,” explained Howard.

With the Sunday ban on going upstream until 11am because of a boat race, fishing was stressful for Andrew with an empty well. As soon as he was able to venture up to his racks, it only took an hour to score his first two keepers. In the final hour he scored another two and knew it would be a tight finish.

He took home $2500 for his troubles and an added $250 for being the highest placed Mercury owner, thanks to the sponsor bonus program.

Leading the NSW Angler of the Year charge was Russell Babekuhl after his $10,000 Taree Super Series win and added another 99 points to his total after his Hawkesbury 2nd place.

Russell used a Berkley Pro Tactic 2-4kg rod and Abu Garcia Cardinal 802 reel spooled with 6lb Microfuse and 6lb Stren Fluorocarbon.

Travelling to Brisbane Waters each day he scored his limit fishing the shallow racks with Berkley Craws in camo and 2” Gulp Shrimps in natural rigged on a 1/40th Nitro jighead.

“When the wind came up in the afternoon, the bream weren’t so scared in the shallows,” said Babekuhl.

Noticing that the baitfish were schooling up in the backs of bays he would venture in as far as the electric would take him before hitting the bottom.

“Using a light jighead, I would fish the plastics slow, but just enough to keep them off the bottom,” he explained.

The champion non boater for the weekend was Peter Muddle, scoring 6/10, 3.32kg and taking home a variety of sponsor goodies including a Jarvis Walker Watersnake electric trolling motor, a Starlo Stix rod and Berkley Tacklebag. A fine effort in his first ABT qualifier as a non boater.

Muddle used a Daiwa IMZ rod matched to a Daiwa SOL 2000 reel spooled with 3lb Fireline and 6lb FC Rock leader.

Fishing the wash around rocks in Broken Bay with Norm Kemp on day one, Muddle caught his bream using a Gulp 4” Swimming Mullet in root beer rigged on a 1/16 TT jighead.

“I cut a ½” off the head and think this plastic has a great tail action,” he said.

Day two saw him paired with Jorg Van Husen and fishing the flats in Pittwater. Using shallow diving Jackall Chubbies in natural colours retrieved with a slow roll was enough to clinch a victory.

The tournament’s big bream weighed in at 1.32kg and was caught by South Australian angler Craig Ellis whilst fishing with Andrew Howard on day one.

Ellis used a Berkley Gulp 2” Shrimp rigged on a Lurestrike jighead to extract this beast from his oyster encrusted haven.

The Lowrance event staged at the Narrabeen Lakeside Park was a highly successful show especially with the drive thru weigh in where spectators could peruse the 50 plus tournament vessels and ask the anglers all about the day’s trials and tribulations.

The next major event on the calendar is now the Minn Kota Megabucks staged at Forster on May 17-18. For further info visit www.bream.com.au or call ABT on 07 3268 7958 during office hours.

Lowrance Hawkesbury River Qualifier Boater Results
Place	Angler	State	F1	W1	F2	W2	TF	TW	Payout
1	Andrew HOWARD	NSW	5	4.34	4	2.78	9	7.12	$2500+$250MB
2	Russell BABEKUHL	NSW	5	3.09	5	3.94	10	7.03	$1,500
3	Ross CANNIZZARO	NSW	5	4.11	4	2.24	9	6.35	$1,000
4	Darren BORG	NSW	5	2.64	5	3.2	10	5.84	$800
5	Scott LEAR	NSW	4	1.88	5	3.63	9	5.51	$600
6	Aaron HORNE	NSW	5	2.67	5	2.54	10	5.21	$500
7	Kristoffer HICKSON	NSW	5	2.93	5	2.03	10	4.96	$400
8	Norm KEMP	NSW	5	2.48	4	2.38	9	4.86	$300
9	Craig GREENAWAY	NSW	5	2.89	3	1.75	8	4.64	$200
10	Craig SIMMONS	QLD	4	2.24	4	2.25	8	4.49	$200
11	Warren CARTER	Vic	5	3.33	1	0.83	6	4.16
12	Jack OLMOS	NSW	5	2.85	2	0.71	7	3.56
13	Glenn HELMERS	NSW	4	2.25	2	1.3	6	3.55
14	Mark HEALEY	NSW	5	3.06	1	0.4	6	3.46
15	Clayton GUSMERINI	NSW	2	1.25	5	2.2	7	3.45
16	Scott BUTLER	QLD	3	1.61	4	1.82	7	3.43
17	Darren GEORGESTON	NSW	5	2.53	2	0.86	7	3.39
18	Daniel BROWN	NSW	4	2.7	2	0.66	6	3.36
19	Andrew HOMANN	NSW	1	0.85	4	2.39	5	3.24
20	Peter MACOR	NSW	3	1.94	3	1.28	6	3.22
21	Graham FRANKLIN	NSW	3	1.25	3	1.94	6	3.19
22	Ben LOCKWOOD	NSW	5	2.58	1	0.53	6	3.11
23	Mark DUNPHY	NSW	3	1.5	3	1.59	6	3.09
24	Michael COLLINS	NSW	4	2.38	2	0.64	6	3.02
25	Wayne REED	NSW	4	1.98	2	0.91	6	2.89
26	Richard POTTER	NSW	3	1.95	2	0.81	5	2.76
27	David GIBSON	NSW	2	1.24	3	1.35	5	2.59
28	Brendon HUGHES	NSW	2	1.38	3	1.16	5	2.54
29	Dean HAMMOND	NSW	2	0.83	2	1.45	4	2.28
30	Grant KIME	NSW	3	1.55	1	0.7	4	2.25
31	Martin RICHARDSON	NSW	2	0.95	1	1.25	3	2.2
32	Alan LOFTUS	NSW	1	0.65	3	1.52	4	2.17
33	Jorg VANHUSEN	NSW	1	0.52	3	1.43	4	1.95
34	David WELFARE	NSW	1	0.76	2	1.18	3	1.94
35	Mick PRESSNELL	VIC	3	1.79			3	1.79
36	Scott TOWNER	NSW	1	0.72	2	1.07	3	1.79
37	John BALCOMB	NSW	2	0.84	1	0.83	3	1.67
38	Adam SCZEPANIAK	NSW	3	1.62			3	1.62
39	Ben TURBOTT	NSW			2	1.57	2	1.57
40	Daniel BRAY	NSW	2	0.88	1	0.54	3	1.42
41	Karen BERRY	NSW	2	1.41			2	1.41
42	Bill KARAYANNIS	NSW	1	0.54	2	0.79	3	1.33
43	Mark MANGOLD	NSW			2	1.27	2	1.27
44	David TOSLAND	NSW	2	1.25			2	1.25
45	Kevin ATTARD	NSW	2	1.08			2	1.08
46	Sam REID	NSW	1	0.7	1	0.34	2	1.04
47	John TIMBRELL	NSW			2	0.9	2	0.9
48	Neil KELLY	NSW	2	0.78			2	0.78
49	Stephen DUFF	Vic	1	-0.22	2	0.99	3	0.77
50	Gary BROWN	NSW			2	0.76	2	0.76
51	Yilmaz NEZIZ	NSW	2	0.72			2	0.72
52	Jason DUNNE	NSW	1	0.58			1	0.58
53	Ben GODFREY	Qld
53	Don PROVEST	NSW
53	Brett CASTELLI	NSW
53	Michael REID	NSW
54	Steve THURSTON	NSW				-0.75		-0.75
Lowrance Hawkesbury River Qualifier Non-Boater Results
Place	Angler	State	F1	W1	F2	W2	TF	TW	Payout
1	Peter MUDDLE	NSW	4	2.61	2	0.71	7	3.32	JW Watersnake, Starlo Stic rod, Berkley Tackle Bag, Prize Pack
2	Vicki WINTER	NSW	3	1.67	3	1.05	6	2.72	Lamiglass rod, Shimano Seido reel, Berkley Tacklebag, Prize Pack
3	Mario GANGI	NSW	5	2.42			5	2.42	Berkley Dropshot rod, Shimano Sienna reel, Prize Pack
4	Trent FAHEY	NSW	2	1.12	3	1.27	5	2.39	Daiwa Tierra rod, Pflueger Supreme reel, Prize Pack
5	Michael MILBURN	NSW	1	0.56	3	1.73	4	2.29	Spotters sunglasses, Berkley Scales, Prize Pack
6	Dave TRINDER	NSW	1	0.93	3	1.32	4	2.25	Ugly Fish sunglasses, Berkley Tackle bag, Prize Pack
7	Bernard KONG	NSW	3	1.54	1	0.69	4	2.23	Starlo Stix rod, Prize Pack
8	Wayne BEAZLEY	NSW	2	1.18	2	0.98	4	2.16	Raider rod, Prize Pack
9	Andrew DRENNAN	NSW	3	2.13			3	2.13	Prize Pack
10	Craig TEMPLAR	NSW	2	1.22	1	0.8	3	2.02	Prize Pack
11	Gordon YEATMAN	ACT	2	1.57	1	0.34	3	1.91
12	Geoffrey BORG	NSW	2	1.25	1	0.59	3	1.84
13	Tony NEAL	NSW			3	1.83	3	1.83
14	Philip NIX	NSW			3	1.79	3	1.79
15	Simon MCALPIN	NSW	3	1.78			3	1.78
16	Tony STEINER	NSW	3	1.28	1	0.43	4	1.71
17	Ron ABDILLA	NSW			3	1.67	3	1.67
18	Scott DWYER	NSW	1	0.73	1	0.68	2	1.41
19	Karen FONTAINE	NSW	1	0.44	2	0.95	3	1.39
20	Rod RILEY	NSW	2	1.33			2	1.33
21	Craig ELLIS	SA	1	1.32			1	1.32	$500 BB
22	Andrew HANSLER	NSW	2	0.88	1	0.43	3	1.31
23	Simon SCZEPANIAK	NSW	1	0.76	1	0.55	2	1.31
24	Warwick CREGAN	NSW			3	1.26	3	1.26
25	Daniel FOLLEY	QLD		-0.1	2	1.28	2	1.18
26	Craig HAILES	NSW	1	0.49	1	0.65	2	1.14
27	Peter HOLT	NSW			2	1.1	2	1.1
28	Karen SCULLY	NSW	2	1.06			2	1.06
29	Chris GATES	NSW	1	1.04			1	1.04
30	Chris SEETO	NSW	2	1.02			2	1.02
31	Greg SEETO	NSW	2	1.01			2	1.01
32	Mark CROMPTON	NSW	1	0.59	1	0.34	2	0.93
33	Ryan ROBINSON	NSW	1	0.78			1	0.78
33	Clint WRIGHT	NSW	1	0.78			1	0.78
35	Nick LOTOTZKY	NSW			1	0.7	1	0.7
36	Jim XYGA	VIC	2	0.26	1	0.44	3	0.7
37	Nick GEORGIADIS	NSW			1	0.69	1	0.69
38	Jordan FUSSELL	NSW	1	0.62			1	0.62
39	David WILLIAMSON	NSW	1	0.53			1	0.53
39	Paul HOOK	NSW	1	0.53			1	0.53
41	Ian SEETO	NSW			1	0.52	1	0.52
42	Gavin JOYCE	NSW	1	0.48			1	0.48
42	Ricky COOPER	NSW	1	0.48			1	0.48
44	Luke ROYSTON	NSW	1	0.47			1	0.47
44	Steve REILLY	NSW	1	0.47			1	0.47
44	Michael CULIBRK	NSW	1	0.47			1	0.47
47	Andrew OWCZAREK	NSW
47	Jonathan THOMPSON	NSW
47	William LONGANI	ACT
47	Chris FINDLAY	NSW
47	Brad GOYEN	NSW
47	David WALMSLEY	NSW
47	Richardlincoln BOOTH	NSW
47	Rodney THORPE	NSW
47	Shane CONNELL	NSW
48	Craig THOMPSON	NSW				-0.75		-0.75