Hopkins Classic Results & Pics

[Ballnuts]

Hi Guys

We have just updated our website with all the results for the weekend Hopkins River Bream Classic. We have also included a number of great pics from the weekend. Jump into www.vicbreamclassics.com.au and have a look but be sure to come back to bream master and let us know what you think of the pics and the write up.

Cheers Bill

[BIG PETE]

Bill
the web looks wiked fella great write up and the pics are great

well done fella

[troy-the-boy]

Toip stuff Billy boy. The comp was awesome as is the report and the photo's. Except I am not in them, but then again peoples stomachs aren't as strong as they used to be :p . Well done Bill, Stewie and Nath. Bring on the Glenelg.
Troy

[Ballnuts]

Thanks Troy

You have to learn to smile mate when you get your photo taken you look like you've just been arrested for drug possession in most of the shots:D. I will get your photo up soon as I get a chance mate.:p

Cheers Bill

[Richo]

Looks like a success Bill, some nice pics as well. Really enjoy the ones of the guys fishing the cliffs.....

cheers

[bream miagi]

top stuff billy
cheers mate great comp looking forward to the next one

[breaming_season]

Thanks bill, awsome presentation once again. great comp. Hopefully we will be at the next comps, if not see your at the GF:D

greg

[yellow door 1]

Yeh well done Fellas - some top results there.

That anchoring up technique sounds interesting. Did any of you blokes give it a go.

[bream miagi]

no way man
isaw lots of peopl doing the sit and wait thing but thats not
what drewy and i had in mind
we covered a bit of ground and
went to the feeding fish instead of waiting for the schools to switch on, it paid off
caught lots of fish but couldnt get the quality
we were after ......well drewy couldnt...hahahaha sorry drewy had to say it ... but all in all it was a kick ass weekend did catch some decent fish one of wich went just shy of 45 cm wich was a very angry fish im sure he wanted to kill us both judging on what it did to my pore strike pro pygmy2

[yellow door 1]

Nice work Spiro - Westside keepin it real and getting the job done. You blokes did real well. Congratulations

[Rodman]

Even though "team double donut" didn't get any bream that went over the line, it was still a top weekend. Added another species to the list with the little fella below, which partially made up for it though. Anyone else got any pics?

[Ballnuts]

Thanks Again Guys

I had a great weekend even though I was flat out for most of it. I have to say though I have been involved in a number of sporting clubs and the like and never have I come accross a better bunch of guys it makes organising these comps fun.

The anchoring technique did work for some but I don't think I'm patient enough to just sit there but I guess if you can see the fish on the sounder no point moving around just wait them out.

Look forward to seeing you all at Mallacoota & Glenelg. Also get on the website www.vicbreamclassics.com.au and check the new merchandise support the series by getting yourself some

Cheers Bill

[troy-the-boy]

Bill it was one hell of a weekend I really enjoyed it. Maybe we can make the Queens birthday weekend the Bream Bash, Baito's vs the Classic boys. Be a chance for a bit of fun and braging rights between the 2 styles. I am sure it would take off and be a great weekend. Although my dad would join the baito's and kick most of our butts by his self :mad: .
Troy

[DAGGA]

Yeh Lawrence i wasnt very enthusiastic about fishing the open water like many other but Troy produced the first few fish and it was a real eye opener for me and on day 2 i had a whole new gameplan on how to fish the river.

Very interesting place, i understand there is a reef along alot of it but some of the places we fished in open water didnt seem to have anything on the bottom to get hooked up on snag like.

Thanks again Bill, Stewie and Nath

[Drewy]

Yeh, it was an awesome weekend Bill, and as you said the people involved are fantastic, you barely ever see an event held in any sport where all the people gell so well together.

Spiro the first three hours on Saturday had you thinking a bit different bud, you were a little frustrated to say the least.

[yellow door 1]

Thanks Dagga - how long did you spend at each spot and what sort of lures and retrieves did you mainly use.

I heard about a technique where you tie on an unweighted gulp and set it under a quill float to the depth the fish are holding. With a slow retrieve with long pauses you can leave it in the strike zone forever.

The bloke who was telling me reckons you have to get your boat positioned correctly so when the wind or current drags the float out of the zone you can jig it back into the middle of where you think the fish are.

And the bonus is that - on the pause - if theres a little bit of chop. The float makes gulp spasm enticingly. I reckon it would be a killer technique over any reefy structure. Keeps your line off the bottom too. You should give it ago next time you're at anchor.

I havent tried it yet so I cant say it works but the theory sounds good to me.

[CHUNQX]

AW! This is getting ridiculous... first we paternoster gulps, now we coarse fish it? What's next? I know, how about we attach a berley cage type sinker, fill it up with the leftover gulp bits, and do a running sinker type rig attached to a hook with a gulp on it, say, lets call it Carolina rigging.. And does Loomis make a nibble tip type rod?;) :p

[DAGGA]

You gotta be taking the piss lawrence?!?!

It certainly sounds like a effective idea but thats a bit to far for my liking...:p

Second day we used gulps and not being a huge gulp fan i wanted to keep the "SP" moving a fare bit so i left the pauses to a minimum and i gave it a farely severe couple of twitches and then just as id stop they were slamming it.

Als got some on baby vibes on the first day but dropped a few legals, landed one legal and a few undersize.

was funny to see one boat just casting the gulps out and sitting down while slowly slowly drifting, not really lure fishing in my oppinion.

The first day we moved around alot and found the fish everyonce and a while but i think most of the spots got flogged before we could reach them as we were 3rd last to leave and then the second day we were lucky enough to find a patch with sight of the starting point and pretty much flogged that all day with results pretty much all day.

[yellow door 1]

Thanks for the run down Dagga - Much appreciated. Sounds tough - Interesting to hear about being able pull multiple fish from the one spot. I havent given it a shot recently. We tend to go searching for dumb fish as opposed to working a particular area really thoroughly. (Probably an approach that would be difficult during a comp). I'm starting to think this works against us sometimes, so it might be a behaviour I have to unlearn

If the waters deep enough we tend to spend a bit more time working the various depths but if the water is under 2.5m we dont put alot of casts to the one spot.

p.s. I'm not saying you HAVE to try the quill float technique. Just passing on what I heard. :D

p.p.s You're right Chunqx the bloke I was speaking to was a coarse angler but watching him pull fish after fish meant I couldnt ignore anything he had to say. (he wasnt fishing for bream at the time but the roach were suiciding faster than any fresh water fish I've ever seen)

[DAGGA]

Was he using gulps on the roach or typical course fishing baits?
Those lil guys would never fit a gulp in there gob although i have seen them get fare chunks of worm in there.

Deffenetly a good way to keep the gulp in the zone and no doubt it would work well but theres a fine line between a gulp and bait and putting one under a float crosses that line well and truelly i reckon. I have actually caught small redfin on a piece of gulp under a float just for a bit of a laugh when i was really dead against it.

[yellow door 1]

Well, in the purest sense, you couldnt call it gulps. But he had a special mix that involved flour, water and a mix he got from the U.S.. He reckons its like liquid gulp. I think its the essence of gulp they add to the other ingrediants to make gulps. (at least that what I remember from the convo)

As an avid user of gulps, I've searched tackle shops near and far for this puree. I know it exists coz I saw the bottle he had. He makes these tiny things called boilies as burley. He was saying bream are suckers for the "boilies" aswell. But when you add the wriggle of worm under float they work a treat. No berley required.

The roach he was catching were no bigger than my hand but there was a queue a mile long waiting to take the hook. He was using these maggot sized "Boilies" as burley and putting one of the boilies on a tiny hook to catch them. Unweighted on a quill float. By the time the float moved the fish was well hooked.