The weekend of the 25th and 26th of November saw Victorias keen bream anglers turn their attention to million dollar Metung for the 2006 Humminbird Vic Bream Classic Invitational. The big crowd in attendance were witness to see Team Humminbirds Shaun Clancy and Wayne Friebe charge home on day 2 to overtake the field to be crowned the 2006 Humminbird Vic Bream Classic Champions and snare the $8000 in cash and prizes for first place.
The top 40 teams from this years Vic Bream Classic series had the red carpet rolled out for them in a town that’s more accustomed to millionaires than bream anglers, but the teams rivalled in the luxury of 4 & 5 star accommodation, private boat moorings and spectacular scenery. Big crowds had turned out on both days competition at the magnificent Metung Hotel weigh-in site fully equipped with the Reef Science Tank to see first hand if these accomplished bream anglers could produce the thumping black bream that the Gippsland Lakes was renowned for and they weren’t disappointed.
Saturday Day 1
Anglers awoke to a beautiful sunrise on day 1 however as the boats circled at the start line there was a nervous tension in the air which just confirmed that this was the big one and the stakes where high. When at 11am on Day 1 the weather turned nasty there was a real concern that some of the smaller boats in the field wouldn’t get back across the treacherous lake, but to their credit all the anglers returned safe and sound before the 2pm deadline. Fishing a long way up the Tambo River and using a combination of Squidgy soft plastics and the new Squidgy Stiffy hard body lures Kaj ‘Bushy’ Busch and Captain Kevin Gleed of Team Grumpy Old Men weighed in the heaviest bag of bream on day one and took out the Berkley Round 1 Prize with a 5 bream bag of 5.22kg which was a hit with the vocal crowd. Sitting in second position and poised ready to strike on day 2 where locals Matt Flukes and Matt Bowman of Team Waterview Homes who also weighed in a 5 bream bag weighing 4.36kg.
Sunday Day 2
Unlike Saturday mornings fine weather the wind had already started to blow before the 7am start which meant a wet and bumpy ride for those teams crossing the lake. From the number of teams that followed Bushy up the Tambo River it was evident that most anglers thought Bushy and Captain Kev had the honey hole sorted, but to no avail as they only managed to weigh in 2 bream for 1.74kg. When 7th place Chris ‘Slick’ Wright and Ian ‘Barra’ Miller of Team Millerods had to withdraw due to boat trouble it was now any ones tournament to win.
While the Tambo was proving tuff to crack on Sunday, over at the Mitchell River it was a different story. When the clock hit 7am Team Humminbird headed off in 6th place and rocketed their Pro-Strike to the mouth of the Mitchell River and when a last minute decision to fish the snags at the cut before entering the Mitchell produced 3 kilo plus bream by 7.18am Shaun and Wayne knew they were well in the hunt. Focusing on fishing snags in rougher water in the Mitchell River with a combination of 4inch Berkley sand eels in the camo colour rigged on TT 1/0 1/20oz jig-heads and Eco-Gear SX40’S in colour 343, Team Humminbird were off to a good start on Day 2 . “After a golden start the rest of the session was fairly quiet with some dedicated fishing required to get our limit and after a bit of local knowledge (Thanks Tiger) we got our bag with another ripper fish of 1.66kg” Wayne said. Along with fishing snags Shaun and Wayne also pulled quality fish from methodically working the drop offs and deeper banks of the river with finesse tactics including 3 to 4lb Yamatoyo fluorocarbon leaders, 1,2 & 3lb Crystal Fireline which they presented on GLoomis and T-Curve rods and Shimano Sustain, Stella and Symetre reels. When Team Humminbird made their way through the big crowd, up onto the Reef Science Tank and weighed in a 5 bream bag that pulled the scales down to 5.18kg of which one bream weighed a thumping 1.74kg almost snaring the Spotters Mercury Big Bream prize they knew that a 2day bag of 8.74kg would be hard to beat. Taking out the Berkley Round 2 prize for the heaviest bag on day two was Aaron Dyer and Dale Pattison from Team Mitchell Fishing & Outdoors with an awesome bag of 5 bream for 5.26kg which rocketed them from 17th to 4th place, just not enough to get them into the placing’s.
The only team that could steal victory from Team Humminbirds grasp was Matt Flukes and Matt Bowman from Team Waterview Homes who were sitting in second place going into the second day. “After getting a good bag on Saturday from the Mitchell river up above the bridge we decided to head there again on Sunday which paid off as we landed a few good sized fish working the Eco-Gear SX40 hard body lures in colour 338 & 303 on 3lb Yamatoyo and Basic FC Flurocarbon leaders. The only problem we faced in getting our bag was trying to fish around the rowing carnival that had set up their race lanes right over our spot proving very difficult to not spook the bigger fish” Matt said. Using Shimano T-Curve rods and Shimano Twin-Power 1000 sized reels spooled with 4lb Berkley Fireline they were able to put together another 5 bream bag to be the only team to weigh in a perfect 10/10 two day bag. Unfortunately for Team Waterview Home’s their day 2 bag was only 3.70kg giving them a 2 day bag weighing 8.16kg which just wasn’t enough to catch Team Humminbird who put in two consistent days and they had to be content with 2nd Place and $4000 in cash and prizes.
While You Were Sleeping
The 1.76kg Spotters Mercury Big Bream was landed by Bryon Blain from Team Game Plan in rather interesting circumstances. “As we cruised down the Tambo River I decided to stop quickly at this likely looking snag and without even putting the electric down I flicked a Juro Firebait soft plastic lure rigged on a Squidgy resin head jig-head at the snag and as soon as it hit the water I was on” Byron said. Always being able to rely on his team mate Jordan Trusty to come to his aid with the net Byron was a little concerned when he turned to Jordan and found him fast asleep on the floor of the boat. With a little forceful encouragement to wake up Jordan sprung to action, netted the fish and the Spotters Mercury Big Bream Prize was in the bag.
In total 149 bream were weighed in for the tournament for a total weight of 131.70kg just illustrating how awesome a fishery the Gippsland Lakes can be. The 2006 Humminbird Vic Bream Classic Series was a huge success in its first year with some of the best bream fisheries in Victoria producing the goods with great numbers of bream.
Big Crowds Witness Humminbirds Victory
Metung Grand Final 2006 Report
Posted: July 23 2007 10:00pm
©2008 Vic Bream Classics
Comp
Pos
|
Team
Name
|
Angler's
Name
|
Rnd1
Fish
|
Rnd 1
Weight
|
Rnd2
Fish
|
Rnd 2
Weight
|
Total
Fish
|
Total
Weight
|
1
|
Team Humminbird
|
Shaun Clancy
Wayne Friebe
|
4
|
3.56
|
5
|
5.18
|
9
|
8.74
|
2
|
Waterview Homes
|
Mathew Flukes
Matthew Bowman
|
5
|
4.36
|
5
|
3.7
|
10
|
8.06
|
3
|
Breamlardens
|
Mat Hedger
Matt Wright
|
4
|
3.92
|
4
|
4.04
|
8
|
7.96
|
4
|
Mitchell Fishing & Outdoor
|
Aaron Dyer
Dale Pattison
|
2
|
1.88
|
5
|
4.26
|
7
|
7.14
|
5
|
Grumpy Old Men
|
Kaj Busch
Kevin Gleed
|
5
|
5.22
|
2
|
1.74
|
7
|
6.96
|
6
|
Game Plan
|
Byron Blain
Jordan Trusty
|
2
|
2.68
|
5
|
4.08
|
7
|
6.76
|
7
|
Team Cormorents
|
Greg Conquest
Al Moore
|
2
|
1.56
|
5
|
4.8
|
7
|
6.36
|
8
|
Nelson Boat Hire
|
Chris Carson
Sean Kennedy
|
5
|
3.66
|
4
|
2.48
|
9
|
6.14
|
9
|
Team Tica
|
Stephen Duff
Rick Massie
|
4
|
2.64
|
4
|
3.34
|
8
|
5.98
|
10
|
Team Kakadu
|
Chris Kelly
Dion Vale
|
5
|
4.00
|
2
|
1.8
|
7
|
5.80
|
11
|
Team Westside
|
Drew McGrath
Spiro Spyrogolous
|
2
|
1.68
|
5
|
3.94
|
7
|
5.62
|
12
|
S.E.M.A.S.
|
Doug Phayer
Brad Hodge
|
4
|
2.74
|
2
|
2.54
|
6
|
5.28
|
13
|
Southern Star
|
Matt Campbell
Cameron Whittam
|
2
|
1.66
|
4
|
2.68
|
6
|
4.34
|
14
|
A.C.F
|
"Roger Thornton
Anthony Scullino
|
1
|
0.76
|
4
|
3.50
|
5
|
4.26
|
15
|
Portland Bait and Tackle
|
Nathan McKernan
Stuart McKinnon
|
1
|
1.32
|
2
|
2.50
|
3
|
3.82
|
16
|
Millerods
|
Chris Wright
Ian Miller
|
5
|
3.50
|
0
|
0.00
|
5
|
3.50
|
17
|
JV Marine
|
Thuan Huynh
Tan Trieu
|
0
|
0.00
|
4
|
3.48
|
4
|
3.48
|
18
|
That’s Fishing-The Grubs
|
Ken McCoombe
Stephen Theodore
|
3
|
3.46
|
0
|
0.00
|
3
|
3.46
|
19
|
Team Gulp!
|
Jarrod Healey
Troy Hamilton
|
1
|
0.76
|
3
|
2.38
|
4
|
3.14
|
20
|
Hank Hunters
|
Lucas Smith
Dwayne Nielsen
|
4
|
3.08
|
0
|
0.00
|
4
|
3.08
|
21
|
Team Daiwa
|
Mark Gercovich
Scott Gray
|
3
|
2.68
|
0
|
0.00
|
3
|
2.68
|
22
|
W.H. Parker & Co
|
Steve Parker
Warwick Hamer
|
2
|
2.48
|
0
|
0.00
|
2
|
2.48
|
23
|
The Pier Huggers
|
Ben Scullin
Karina Pierotti
|
1
|
1.14
|
1
|
1.22
|
2
|
2.36
|
24
|
Fugu Gurus
|
Peter Howell
Mick Kaksa
|
2
|
2.28
|
0
|
0.00
|
2
|
2.28
|
25
|
Team Berkley
|
Shane Dyson
Nick Hannon
|
1
|
1.32
|
1
|
.84
|
2
|
2.16
|
26
|
Team Bream Rustlers
|
David Kellalea
Alan Grey
|
1
|
1.22
|
2
|
.92
|
3
|
2.14
|
27
|
Team Fish Care
|
Darren Evans
Leighton Bennett
|
2
|
2.06
|
0
|
0.00
|
2
|
2.06
|
28
|
River 2 Sea
|
John - Paul Cronin
Miriam Melis
|
1
|
1.12
|
1
|
0.44
|
1
|
1.56
|
29
|
Morn Peninsula Marine
|
Stuart Buckingham
Steve Joy
|
0
|
0.00
|
1
|
1.18
|
1
|
1.18
|
30
|
Whatever
|
Philip Knight
Gillian Knight
|
1
|
1.16
|
0
|
0.00
|
1
|
1.16
|
31
|
Smells Like Fish
|
Hayden Sneath
Dean Truman
|
0
|
0.00
|
2
|
1.02
|
2
|
1.02
|
32
|
Team Bite Me
|
Tony Schroeder
Steven Terbos
|
1
|
0.90
|
0
|
0.00
|
1
|
.90
|
33
|
Dead Ducks
|
Daryl Baird
Bradley Lestrange
|
0
|
0.00
|
1
|
.68
|
1
|
.68
|
34
|
No Idea
|
Jason Way
Mick Cleaver
|
0
|
0.00
|
0
|
0.00
|
0
|
0.00
|
35
|
Rod - Tip
|
Rodney Stephens
Paul Tippett
|
0
|
0.00
|
0
|
0.00
|
0
|
0.00
|
36
|
Pigs-Jigs
|
Stephen Bacon
Steve Vail
|
0
|
0.00
|
0
|
0.00
|
0
|
0.00
|
37
|
Team Mack Attack
|
Graeme Taylor
Barry Thomas
|
0
|
0.00
|
0
|
0.00
|
0
|
0.00
|
38
|
Fishaholics
|
Max Saunders
Kevin Plozza
|
0
|
0.00
|
0
|
0.00
|
0
|
0.00
|
39
|
Hooked On Jig-Smith
|
Mick Rantall
Andrew Smith
|
0
|
0.00
|
0
|
0.00
|
0
|
0.00
|
40
|
On Strike
|
"Brad Gaffney
Nick Mace
|
0
|
0.00
|
0
|
0.00
|
0
|
0.00
|
