Pflueger BREAM Pro Andrew Homann claims one of the more coveted titles in BREAM fishing, securing victory at the Shimano Clarence River BREAM Challenge, 30 May/ 1st June. Sitting atop the talented 63 boat field at the end of three days of competition, Homann annihilated the opposition by nearly two kilos (15/15, 10.74kg).
Homann secured the win and the $10,000 cheque fishing upriver of the Maclean tournament base, working the cane grass and snag laden edges between the Lawrence and Ulmarra ferries.
"I'd never fished the Clarence before so I did a bit of research before heading to the event, and it was while I was pawing over some maps that I pinpointed a location that looked the goods", explained Homann.
His hunch was correct with the prefish delivering him a bag just under three kilo. Day one was a continuation of the hot bite for Homann, with the Clarence champ heading straight to his hot spot from the take off.
"The tide wasn't running hard enough when I first got there, so I'd bide my time fishing a near by flat", explained Homann.
The wait was only short with Homann quickly hitting the top of his run and beginning his productive drift down river.
"I'd work the boat parallel along the bank casting the lure ahead and drifting it in under the overhanging cane grass", explained the Super Series victor.
"I'd add the occasional pronounced hop to raise interest and work the lure out from the bank and through the 3-8 feet deep strike zone", added Homann.
At the end of the drift he'd rest the bank for 45 minutes before heading back up river and re-commencing the run.
This methodical process delivered Homann twenty legal bream on day one, fifteen on day two, and eight on day three. While the quantity of fish each day was standard tournament form the quality was exceptional, with his smallest bag weighing 3.04kg and the average weight of his bag 0.72kg.
The gear used to compile his tournament winning bag was comprised of a 7' Pflueger Supreme, 2-4kg rod, Pflueger Supreme 8030 reel, spooled with 3lb Stren Microfuse line, and 4lb Berkley Vanish fluorocarbon.
The money bait that delivered the win was the newly released banana prawn coloured 2" Berkley Gulp Shrimp, rigged on 1/16 & 1/12 oz, size 1/0 Nitro Bream Finesse jigheads.
"The new banana prawn Gulp Shrimp worked exceptionally well over the weekend", explained Homann,
"It's the most life like of all the colours and the bream responded accordingly, eating it with gusto", he added.
The victory for the 34year old Sydney sider was his first on the Ford Ranger BREAM Tour, with the Super Series win adding a healthy $10,000 boost to his career earnings. The rewards didn't end there with the Pflueger pro picking up an additional $500 for the Skeeter bonus.
"The tournament unfolded perfectly", explained Homann.
"Everything played out flawlessly, my pre-event research was spot-on, the spot fired, the fish stuck, and the bite lasted for three days and never died out", added the 2008 Clarence champ, "it all simply fell into place".
Leading the charge of the chasing pack and securing the runners-up position was former Super Series victor and current Grand Final Champion Ben Godfrey (15/15, 8.77kg) from the Gold Coast.
Fishing the middle and northern walls in the lower Clarence, Godfrey worked deep, plunging the depths with a combination of Ecogear VX 35s & 40s.
"The depth of water I fished varied from 15 to 50 feet", explained Godfrey. "I moved around throughout the session, adjusting position with the changing tide and water clarity", he added.
His presentation involved drifting along the bank and casting ahead of the boat at 45 degrees towards the wall. He then employed a long lifting retrieve interspersed with short hops, working the lure above the bottom as it drifted over the rocky substrate and into the path of the waiting fish.
"I used this approach with a VX40 for most of the session then down sized to a VX35 as the tide slowed and the water became more discoloured", explained the 2007 Grand Final champ.
To make the most of the discoloured water Godfrey positioned his boat closer the wall, and adopted a more vertical presentation.
"This helped a lot to maximise contact with the rocky bottom and stay in touch with the lure and enquiring fish", explained Godfrey.
His choice of tackle used to present his offering included a 6'10" Nories Finesse Sweeper, matched to a Daiwa Sol 2500, spooled with 3lb Berkley Crystal Fireline and 3 & 4lb Yamatoyo fluorocarbon leader. Godfrey also down sized his leader on day two to overcome the dropped fished issue that was plaguing him on day one.
"I was using a 15-20 feet long leader on day one and I was missing a heap of fish, so I shortened the length down to 6 feet and they started to stick", explained Godfrey.
The result for Godfrey was a perfect lead-in to the impending Queensland rounds of the Ford Ranger BREAM Series and his defence of the Gold Coast BREAM Challenge, the last Super Series event on the 2008 calendar.
In contrast to the boater division the battle for the title of champion non-boater came down to the wire, with only ten grams separating first and second. Gold Coast local Grant Lazzaro (10/10, 5.39kg) secured the win narrowly piping Clarence local and ABT debutant Darren Painter.
Fishing with Kris Hickson on day one, Lazzaro covered a lot of ground, hitting Browns Rocks, The Caves, the reef at Maclean and the canals near Yamba to fill his bag. The approach in all locations remained the same, slow hopping and dead sticking molting coloured 2" Berkley Gulp Shrimps across the bottom. In the deeper faster flowing locations he rigged the Gulp on a 1/8oz TT jighead, while in the canals Lazzaro opted for a lighter 1/32oz TT jighead.
Day two saw Lazzaro head upstream, fishing a 20-30 feet deep, gravel bottomed location near Lawrence.
"Paul Gillespie took us to this spot first thing in the morning and we started getting fish straight away", explained Lazzaro.
His approach in the location involved fishing a combination of Paul Kneller's new Shake-n-Bake blades and TT Switchblades.
"I'd cast the lure up-current before working the lure back across the bottom with a life and drop retrieve", explained Lazzaro.
The gear used to present these offerings included a 7' Strudwick Sic Stik, 1-2kg rod and Shimano Stradic reel, spooled with 4lb Berkley Vanish. His choice of leader changed over the two days with Lazzaro opting for 6lb Berkley Vanish on day one and down sizing to an eight feet long 2lb Vanish leader on day two.
The Clarence once again produced a string of kilo plus fish with the largest of them all, the Go-So Big Bream, going to Steve Morgan's day one 1.18kg kicker fish. Caught near Brushgrove the $500 winning specimen came on an Ecogear SX-40 (colour-339) paralleled along a weed lined bank.
The ABT Sponsor Bonus Program continued in its' popularity with Brenton Smith claiming the $200 Daiwa Merchandise Pack, Shaun Chapman the $480 Bassday Big Bream Bonus, and Ben Godfrey the $250 Mercury Bonus as the highest placed Mercury outboard user.
ABT would like to thank Paul and Sherryl Kneller from Big River Bait and Tackle for their assistance in running the event, as well as the support and sponsorship from Maclean Services Club, Bimbimbi Caravan Park, Duraplas Water Tanks, and Corbett Earthmoving.
The next round on the Ford Ranger BREAM Series sees the tour return to the home of last year's grand final, Lake Macquarie, for the Mercury Lake Macquarie BREAM Challenge, 28/29th June. For more information or entry forms visit www.bream.com.au or phone ABT (07) 3268 7958.
| Place | Boater | State | F1 | W1 | F2 | W2 | F3 | W3 | TF | TW | Payout |
| 1 | Andrew HOMANN | NSW | 5 | 3.04 | 5 | 4.01 | 5 | 3.69 | 15 | 10.74 | $10,000 |
| 2 | Ben GODFREY | Qld | 5 | 2.69 | 5 | 2.83 | 5 | 3.25 | 15 | 8.77 | 5000+$250 |
| 3 | Daniel BROWN | NSW | 5 | 2.32 | 5 | 3.18 | 5 | 2.93 | 15 | 8.43 | $4,000 |
| 4 | Nigel WEBSTER | QLD | 5 | 3.02 | 5 | 2.55 | 5 | 2.86 | 15 | 8.43 | $3,000 |
| 5 | Tim MORGAN | QLD | 5 | 2.41 | 5 | 2.98 | 5 | 3 | 15 | 8.39 | $2,000 |
| 6 | Gavin DUNNE | QLD | 5 | 2.96 | 5 | 2.7 | 5 | 2.71 | 15 | 8.37 | $1,000 |
| 7 | Craig SIMMONS | QLD | 5 | 2.94 | 5 | 2.6 | 5 | 2.63 | 15 | 8.17 | $900 |
| 8 | Andrew HOWARD | NSW | 5 | 2.21 | 5 | 3.26 | 5 | 2.49 | 15 | 7.96 | $800 |
| 9 | Steve MORGAN | QLD | 5 | 4.15 | 3 | 1.57 | 5 | 2.05 | 13 | 7.77 | $700+$500 |
| 10 | John TIMBRELL | NSW | 5 | 3.94 | 5 | 2.53 | 1 | 0.45 | 11 | 6.92 | $600 |
| 11 | Paul GILLESPIE | NSW | 5 | 2.83 | 5 | 2.56 | 10 | 5.39 | $600 | ||
| 12 | Norm KEMP | NSW | 5 | 2.8 | 5 | 2.26 | 10 | 5.06 | $600 | ||
| 13 | Travis DAVIES | QLD | 5 | 2.3 | 5 | 2.61 | 10 | 4.91 | |||
| 14 | David WELFARE | NSW | 5 | 2.35 | 5 | 2.53 | 10 | 4.88 | |||
| 15 | Michael TORLEY | QLD | 5 | 2.19 | 5 | 2.68 | 10 | 4.87 | |||
| 16 | Darren BORG | NSW | 5 | 2.89 | 4 | 1.96 | 9 | 4.85 | |||
| 17 | Mark MANGOLD | NSW | 5 | 2.08 | 5 | 2.6 | 10 | 4.68 | |||
| 18 | Matt FRASER | QLD | 5 | 2.42 | 5 | 2.24 | 10 | 4.66 | |||
| 19 | Adam WARD | NSW | 5 | 2.09 | 5 | 2.51 | 10 | 4.6 | |||
| 20 | Russell BABEKUHL | NSW | 5 | 2.3 | 5 | 2.28 | 10 | 4.58 | |||
| 21 | Andrew ORLEY | Qld | 5 | 2.43 | 5 | 2.14 | 10 | 4.57 | |||
| 22 | Dean HAMMOND | NSW | 5 | 2.42 | 4 | 2.08 | 9 | 4.5 | |||
| 23 | Kristoffer HICKSON | NSW | 5 | 1.99 | 5 | 2.49 | 10 | 4.48 | |||
| 24 | Scott BUTLER | QLD | 5 | 2.1 | 5 | 2.16 | 10 | 4.26 | |||
| 25 | Shaun CHAPMAN | NSW | 5 | 2.03 | 4 | 2.22 | 9 | 4.25 | |||
| 26 | Robert KWIATKOWSKI | Qld | 4 | 1.52 | 5 | 2.69 | 9 | 4.21 | |||
| 27 | Adrian MELCHIOR | NSW | 5 | 1.76 | 5 | 2.4 | 10 | 4.16 | |||
| 28 | Matthew KELLY | NSW | 5 | 1.98 | 5 | 2.11 | 10 | 4.09 | |||
| 29 | David MCKENZIE | Qld | 5 | 2.4 | 4 | 1.59 | 9 | 3.99 | |||
| 30 | Anthony WISHEY | QLD | 5 | 2.49 | 3 | 1.34 | 8 | 3.83 | |||
| 31 | Dean SILVESTER | QLD | 4 | 1.55 | 5 | 2.22 | 9 | 3.77 | |||
| 32 | Peter MCKINNON | NSW | 1 | 0.58 | 5 | 3.18 | 6 | 3.76 | |||
| 33 | Tom WEIERS | NSW | 1 | 0.55 | 5 | 3.2 | 6 | 3.75 | |||
| 34 | Martin RICHARDSON | NSW | 5 | 2.12 | 3 | 1.63 | 8 | 3.75 | |||
| 35 | Warren CARTER | Vic | 5 | 2.14 | 2 | 1.52 | 7 | 3.66 | |||
| 36 | Steve ELDRED | QLD | 5 | 2.6 | 2 | 1.03 | 7 | 3.63 | |||
| 37 | Richard POTTER | NSW | 5 | 2.48 | 3 | 1.15 | 8 | 3.63 | |||
| 38 | Gary NEWELL | NSW | 5 | 2.12 | 2 | 1.13 | 7 | 3.25 | |||
| 39 | Stephen WILSON | QLD | 3 | 1.02 | 5 | 2.15 | 8 | 3.17 | |||
| 40 | Aaron HORNE | NSW | 3 | 1.35 | 4 | 1.79 | 7 | 3.14 | |||
| 41 | Mark DUNPHY | NSW | 5 | 1.99 | 2 | 0.97 | 7 | 2.96 | |||
| 42 | Craig GREENAWAY | NSW | 4 | 1.61 | 2 | 1.25 | 6 | 2.86 | |||
| 43 | Chris BRITTON | QLD | 5 | 1.99 | 2 | 0.86 | 7 | 2.85 | |||
| 44 | Darren GEORGESTON | NSW | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0.81 | 5 | 2.81 | |||
| 45 | Peter MACOR | NSW | 3 | 1.67 | 2 | 0.96 | 5 | 2.63 | |||
| 46 | Michael STARKEY | NSW | 2 | 1.05 | 3 | 1.54 | 5 | 2.59 | |||
| 47 | Scott BRYANT | Qld | 3 | 1.63 | 2 | 0.82 | 5 | 2.45 | |||
| 48 | Daniel CUPITT | NSW | 5 | 2.38 | 5 | 2.38 | |||||
| 49 | Peter MORGAN | QLD | 4 | 1.79 | 1 | 0.55 | 5 | 2.34 | |||
| 50 | Trent SHORT | NSW | 5 | 2.27 | 5 | 2.27 | |||||
| 51 | Jay PERHAM | QLD | 1 | 0.38 | 4 | 1.83 | 5 | 2.21 | |||
| 52 | Tristan TAYLOR | Qld | 1 | 0.54 | 4 | 1.62 | 5 | 2.16 | |||
| 53 | Mark LAWSON | QLD | 2 | 1.01 | 2 | 1.02 | 4 | 2.03 | |||
| 54 | John MILLS | NSW | 2 | 0.88 | 2 | 1.12 | 4 | 2 | |||
| 55 | Robert MARCH | Qld | 1 | 1.02 | 2 | 0.95 | 3 | 1.97 | |||
| 56 | Shane JARRETT | NSW | 3 | 1.34 | 1 | 0.6 | 4 | 1.94 | |||
| 57 | Graham FRANKLIN | NSW | 3 | 1.81 | 3 | 1.81 | |||||
| 58 | Ben LOCKWOOD | NSW | 3 | 1.48 | 3 | 1.48 | |||||
| 59 | Robert IRONS | NSW | 3 | 1.29 | 3 | 1.29 | |||||
| 60 | Darryn LOVE | Qld | 1 | 0.57 | 1 | 0.68 | 2 | 1.25 | |||
| 61 | Aaron SHARP | Qld | 3 | 1.06 | 3 | 1.06 | |||||
| 62 | Vincent BLEAKLEY | NSW | 1 | 0.6 | 1 | 0.6 | |||||
| 63 | Warwick CREGAN | NSW | |||||||||
| Place | Non Boater | State | F1 | W1 | F2 | W2 | F3 | W3 | TF | TW | Payout |
| 1 | Grant LAZZARO | Qld | 5 | 2.43 | 5 | 2.96 | 10 | 5.39 | Engel Fridge, Millerod Bream Buster, Shimano Sienna reel, prize pack | ||
| 2 | Darren James PAINTER | NSW | 5 | 2.82 | 5 | 2.56 | 10 | 5.38 | Jarvis Walker Watersnake BM, Shimano Seido reel, prize pack | ||
| 3 | Arthur HATZIPETROW | Qld | 5 | 2.52 | 5 | 2.32 | 10 | 4.84 | G.Loomis rod, Pflueger Reel, prize pack | ||
| 4 | Brenton SMITH | NSW | 4 | 2.02 | 5 | 2.66 | 9 | 4.68 | Blue Acres rod, Tica Gainder reel, prize pack | ||
| 5 | Peter KELLEHER | QLD | 5 | 2.04 | 5 | 2.56 | 10 | 4.6 | Berkley Dropshot rod, Cardinal reel, prize pack | ||
| 6 | Vicki WINTER | NSW | 5 | 2.47 | 4 | 2.06 | 9 | 4.53 | Spotters sunglasses, prize pack | ||
| 7 | Michael MAAS | QLD | 3 | 1.58 | 5 | 2.81 | 8 | 4.39 | Spotters sunglasses, prize pack | ||
| 8 | Warwick LYNDON | QLD | 4 | 1.69 | 5 | 2.5 | 9 | 4.19 | Daiwa Tierra rod, Berkley scales, prize pack | ||
| 9 | Chris GATES | NSW | 3 | 1.32 | 5 | 2.8 | 8 | 4.12 | Uglyfish Sunglasses, prize pack | ||
| 10 | Philip NIX | NSW | 5 | 2.67 | 3 | 1.44 | 8 | 4.11 | Shimano Starlo Stix, prize pack | ||
| 11 | Andrew DRENNAN | NSW | 2 | 1.36 | 4 | 2.56 | 6 | 3.92 | |||
| 12 | Daniel BRAY | NSW | 4 | 1.71 | 5 | 2.1 | 9 | 3.81 | |||
| 13 | Andrew FAWCETT | NSW | 2 | 0.79 | 5 | 2.94 | 7 | 3.73 | |||
| 14 | Andrew OWCZAREK | NSW | 3 | 1.67 | 5 | 1.97 | 8 | 3.64 | |||
| 15 | Craig ELLIS | SA | 4 | 1.98 | 3 | 1.47 | 7 | 3.45 | |||
| 16 | Glen STURROCK | NSW | 2 | 0.97 | 5 | 2.42 | 7 | 3.39 | |||
| 17 | Greg SEETO | NSW | 4 | 2.13 | 2 | 0.96 | 6 | 3.09 | |||
| 18 | Matthew FINNEY | NSW | 5 | 2.12 | 2 | 0.94 | 7 | 3.06 | |||
| 19 | Jason SEATON | Qld | 3 | 1.21 | 4 | 1.82 | 7 | 3.03 | |||
| 20 | Wayne BEAZLEY | NSW | 1 | 0.44 | 5 | 2.53 | 6 | 2.97 | |||
| 21 | Mark HOLMAN | NSW | 3 | 1.32 | 3 | 1.65 | 6 | 2.97 | |||
| 22 | Aaron SARNA | Qld | 4 | 1.48 | 3 | 1.39 | 7 | 2.87 | |||
| 23 | Geoffrey BORG | NSW | 1 | 0.39 | 5 | 2.41 | 6 | 2.8 | |||
| 24 | Brett HYDE | NSW | 2 | 0.79 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 2.79 | |||
| 25 | Antony MOORE | QLD | 2 | 0.81 | 3 | 1.96 | 5 | 2.77 | |||
| 26 | Ian SEETO | NSW | 5 | 2.76 | 5 | 2.76 | |||||
| 27 | Michael CORBETT | NSW | 3 | 1.75 | 2 | 0.92 | 5 | 2.67 | |||
| 28 | Mick LEAVEY | NSW | 2 | 0.75 | 4 | 1.77 | 6 | 2.52 | |||
| 29 | Robert TOMBS | NSW | 4 | 1.87 | 1 | 0.46 | 5 | 2.33 | |||
| 30 | Stephen TRACEY | Qld | 1 | 0.37 | 3 | 1.95 | 4 | 2.32 | |||
| 31 | Roy HILLS | NSW | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1.19 | 4 | 2.19 | |||
| 32 | Michael MILBURN | NSW | 1 | 0.55 | 3 | 1.59 | 4 | 2.14 | |||
| 33 | Byron HARRISON | Qld | 4 | 2.07 | 4 | 2.07 | |||||
| 34 | Darrin CROWLEY | Qld | 4 | 2.04 | 4 | 2.04 | |||||
| 35 | Leon BETTSON | WA | 1 | 0.4 | 3 | 1.62 | 4 | 2.02 | |||
| 36 | Ricky COOPER | NSW | 1 | 0.38 | 4 | 1.63 | 5 | 2.01 | |||
| 37 | Daniel FOLLEY | QLD | 1 | 0.36 | 4 | 1.63 | 5 | 1.99 | |||
| 38 | David WALMSLEY | NSW | 2 | 0.9 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1.9 | |||
| 39 | Peter HOLT | NSW | 2 | 0.76 | 2 | 1.01 | 4 | 1.77 | |||
| 40 | Dave HEDGE | NSW | 3 | 1.7 | 3 | 1.7 | |||||
| 41 | Scott LENTON | NSW | 3 | 1.69 | 3 | 1.69 | |||||
| 42 | Trent FAHEY | NSW | 1 | 0.31 | 3 | 1.36 | 4 | 1.67 | |||
| 43 | Warren HUGHES | NSW | 2 | 0.92 | 1 | 0.66 | 3 | 1.58 | |||
| 44 | Nabeel ISSA | Qld | 2 | 0.85 | 1 | 0.71 | 3 | 1.56 | |||
| 45 | Kyle BRANCH | NSW | 2 | 0.81 | 1 | 0.73 | 3 | 1.54 | |||
| 46 | David O'REILLY | WA | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.49 | 3 | 1.49 | |||
| 47 | Jim XYGA | VIC | 3 | 1.38 | 3 | 1.38 | |||||
| 48 | Dave TRINDER | NSW | 2 | 1.37 | 2 | 1.37 | |||||
| 49 | Chris LEMMON | VIC | 3 | 1.24 | 3 | 1.24 | |||||
| 50 | Anthony DUFF | NSW | 1 | 0.48 | 1 | 0.46 | 2 | 0.94 | |||
| 51 | Nick LOTOTZKY | NSW | 2 | 0.92 | 2 | 0.92 | |||||
| 52 | Steve REILLY | NSW | 1 | 0.42 | 1 | 0.48 | 2 | 0.9 | |||
| 53 | David SOLANO | NSW | 1 | 0.55 | 1 | 0.55 | |||||
| 54 | Rod RILEY | NSW | 1 | 0.54 | 1 | 0.54 | |||||
| 55 | Simon MCALPIN | NSW | 1 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.4 | |||||
| 55 | Peter GIBSON | Qld | 1 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.4 | |||||
| 56 | Tyson COOTE | Qld | |||||||||
| 56 | Chris FINDLAY | NSW | |||||||||
| 56 | Ian MICHELSON | NSW | |||||||||
| 56 | Troy STOCKWELL | Qld |
