🎣 Sydney Harbour Showdown! | NSW Tournament Series Round 6 Recap

In this episode of The Bream Fishing Project, we head to iconic Sydney Harbour to break down Round 6 of the 2025 New South Wales Tournament Series, held on September 14.

This was a fascinating event with tough conditions, changing water clarity, and a strong mix of experienced anglers returning to the scene. From early bag limits to last-minute upgrades, this round had it all.

We’re joined by the top three teams as they walk us through exactly how they approached the day, what worked, what didn’t, and the key decisions that shaped their results.

🏆 Top 3 Results & Interviews

🥉 3rd Place – Jason Graham & Craig Norbergen (Team fishing.com.au)

🥈 2nd Place – Joshua Richards (Team Fanatics)

🥇 1st Place – Adam Hughes & Matthew Green (Team Edgy Bites)

🎯 Key Takeaways from This Episode

• The importance of getting a quick early bag to unlock upgrade opportunities

🌊 Conditions Overview

• Location: Sydney Harbour

👏 Special Mentions

A big thank you to the New South Wales Tournament Series team for running a fantastic event, and to all competitors who continue to support and grow the sport.

🎧 Listen Now

If you’re looking to improve your tournament performance or better understand how top anglers approach Sydney Harbour, this episode is packed with practical insights you can apply on your next session.

👍 Enjoyed the episode?

Make sure to subscribe, leave a rating, and share it with a mate who loves chasing BREAM on lures.

#BreamFishing #SydneyHarbourFishing #TournamentFishing #FishingPodcast #NSWTournamentSeries #BreamOnLures #AustralianFishing

🎣 Hobie Fishing Series Australia – Marlo Round 2 (2026) | Full Breakdown + Angler Interviews

In this episode of The Bream Fishing Project Podcast, we head to Marlo, Victoria for Round 2 of the Hobie Fishing Series Australia, held on February 21–22, 2026.

Andrew was on the ground for this one, soaking up the atmosphere, catching up with mates, and diving deep into what turned out to be a fascinating and highly tactical tournament.

Marlo is one of those iconic systems that can reward anglers with big BREAM—but it can also humble even the best. This round showcased exactly that, with strong bags, shifting bite windows, and a mix of finesse and surface techniques proving critical.

🏆 Tournament Overview

We break down all the key results and standout performances from the event, including:

Anaconda Big BREAM: Patrick Byrne – 1.4kg

Top 10 Highlights:

🎙️ Featured Angler Interviews

This episode includes in-depth interviews with the Top 3 finishers, breaking down exactly how they approached the event:

🥉 Ben Hanscombe (3rd Place – 5.84kg)

🥈 Brendan Pieschel (2nd Place – 5.93kg)

🥇 Joseph Gardner (1st Place – 6.15kg)

🧠 Key Takeaways from Marlo

Surface lures can dominate—even in tough systems

🎣 The Marlo Factor

Marlo continues to prove why it’s one of the most exciting—and challenging—BREAM fisheries in the country.

Big fish are there… but not easy

🤝 Thanks & Acknowledgements

A big thank you to Hobie Fishing Australasia for running another outstanding event, and to all competitors who shared their insights throughout the episode.

🔗 Join The Bream Fishing Project Collective

If you want to improve your fishing faster and learn from Australia’s best anglers, check out:

https://breamfishingproject.supercast.com

Inside the Collective:

🎧 Listen Every Tuesday

Make sure you’re subscribed so you never miss an episode of The Bream Fishing Project Podcast—your home for tournament insights, techniques, and stories from Australia’s best BREAM anglers.

In this episode of The Bream Fishing Project, we head to Bemm River in Victoria for Round 1 of the 2026 Hobie Fishing Series, held on 17–18 February 2026.

This round was sponsored by St. Croix Rods and Strike Pro, and it produced one of the best stories you could ask for to start the new Hobie season.

At the end of two fascinating days of fishing, the event delivered a remarkable result with brothers Greg Crebert and David Crebert finishing first and second, while Leon Leong rounded out the podium in third place after a very methodical and thoughtful tournament performance.

This episode includes discussion about:

• tournament strategy at Bemm River

Hosted by Andrew Death, the 2019 Hobie Kayak Fishing World Champion, this episode is a great recap of a cracking tournament and a strong start to the 2026 Hobie season.

Event: Hobie Fishing Series 2026 – Round 1

Bemm River once again showed why it is such a respected tournament location, producing strong bags and interesting tactical fishing.

The winning total weight was 6.14 kg, which works out to just over 1 kg per fish across the six fish weighed over the two competition days.

Big BREAM

Monster Mover

Youth Division

Women’s Division

Masters Division

First-Time Competitor

🥇 1st Place – Greg Crebert

🥈 2nd Place – David Crebert

🥉 3rd Place – Leon Leong

Leon Leong’s interview is one of the highlights of this episode.

Andrew notes during the conversation that listeners should pay attention to the way Leon broke down the system and worked through the conditions, because his approach was very disciplined and thoughtful.

Leon explains how his preparation included:

• listening to previous Bemm River podcast episodes

Using side scan, Leon located fish holding around weed patches and worked through the area very methodically.

His key lures and tackle included:

• Cleaver Sprat plastics

Leon describes how:

• the fish wanted long pauses and subtle bites on Day 1

For third place Leon took home:

• $895 cash

One of the best stories from the event was the Crebert brothers finishing first and second.

Andrew interviews Greg Crebert and David Crebert together, which makes for a fun conversation as they talk about fishing together and competing against each other.

They explain that:

• every fishing trip between them becomes competitive

The Creberts kept things simple during pre-fish.

They headed toward Mahogany, where they quickly found fish holding close to the reeds.

Key lures included:

• Sprat 75 soft plastics

During pre-fish the fish were sitting extremely shallow, right near the reeds.

Conditions changed slightly and the bigger fish were no longer right in the shallows.

Both anglers moved slightly deeper to target fish around weed edges.

David Crebert

• early fish – 900 g

Day 1 total – 2.29 kg

Greg Crebert

• early fish – 900 g

Day 1 total – 2.97 kg

Greg finished Day 1 in first place.

Stronger winds on Day 2 forced both anglers to adjust by moving to heavier jigheads while continuing to fish the same productive area.

David Crebert

Late upgrades pushed his bag to:

2.97 kg on Day 2

Greg Crebert

Greg found a late bite window and upgraded strongly with several quality fish.

Final winning weight – 6.14 kg

This episode includes lots of useful insight into lure selection and tournament tactics.

Lures mentioned

• Sprat 75 plastics

Key tactical themes

• targeting broken weed patches

Hosted by Andrew Death

The Bream Fishing Project brings you:

• tournament recaps

New episodes every Tuesday.

Want deeper insight into tournament tactics and discussions around episodes like this?

Join The Bream Fishing Project Collective for:

• early access to episodes

Join here:

breamfishingproject.supercast.com

If you enjoyed this episode please consider:

• following the podcast

In this episode of The Bream Fishing Project, we head to St Georges Basin on the South Coast of New South Wales to recap Round 9 of the 2025 Hobie Fishing Series, brought to you by BerleyPro and Fish Tech Solutions.

This was a tough two-day tournament, with only three full bags recorded across the entire field, but despite the difficult conditions there were still some standout performances, including a dominant win from Grant Oliver, who put together two full bags for a total of 4.57 kg and secured his first Hobie Fishing Series victory.

Host Andrew Death, the 2019 Hobie Kayak Fishing World Champion, was also on the water for this event and sets the scene for a challenging but memorable weekend that included changing conditions, strong bite windows, a daylight savings time change, and a few big storylines — including the season-long Batman and Robin battle between Simon Morley and Tony Petty.

If you enjoy tournament recaps, kayak fishing strategy, and hearing how top anglers break down difficult BREAM events, this is an episode worth listening to.

Event: Hobie Fishing Series Round 9

St Georges Basin produced a very tough round, with anglers having to adapt to changing weather and low bag numbers across the field.

Fish Activity Wheel: 60

High Tide: 6:12 AM – 1.18 m

Fish Activity Wheel: 74

High Tide: 7:49 AM – 1.29 m

A couple of factors made the event even tougher:

• A north-westerly wind came through on Sunday

The result was a challenging competition where every fish counted.

Ben Harrison – 0.99 kg

Luke Rogan – 1.95 kg

After recording zero on Day 1, Luke came back strongly on Sunday to claim the Monster Mover prize.

Leanne Cowen

Leanne landed three fish for 1.97 kg on Saturday, which was enough to secure the women’s division and finish 12th overall.

Peter Nord – 2.62 kg

Peter recorded 1.99 kg on Saturday and one fish for 630 g on Sunday.

🥇 1st – Grant Oliver

🥈 2nd – Adam Lalor

🥉 3rd – Rick King

Only three anglers recorded full bags for the entire tournament, highlighting just how tough the fishing was.

Rick King continued what he described as a “purple patch” season, finishing third overall with 3.15 kg.

Rick committed to fishing the islands, using shallow crankbaits and blades to grind out bites in difficult conditions.

Key lures and techniques discussed in this episode:

• Pro Lure Combat crankbaits

Rick finished the season 7th in Angler of the Year and walked away with:

• $550 cash

Adam Lalor had one of the most dramatic performances of the event.

After struggling most of the morning on Day 1, Adam suddenly caught three fish in three casts to secure a bag over 2 kg.

Key techniques Adam discusses in the episode:

• Daiwa Rolling Cranks in brown suji

Adam also talks about rod choices, including Millerods Flats Freak rods, and how long casts helped him cover water effectively.

For second place Adam received:

• $915 cash

Grant Oliver delivered the standout performance of the tournament, catching two full bags for a winning total of 4.57 kg.

Grant relied on years of accumulated marks around St Georges Basin and focused on a consistent pattern fishing 2–2.5 metres around the islands.

Key lures and techniques:

• Jackall Chubby Deep – brown suji

After filling his bag early both days, Grant upgraded multiple times to secure a winning margin of just over one kilogram.

First place winnings included:

• $1,500 cash

For years, Simon Morley and Tony Petty have jokingly been called Batman and Robin, a nickname given by Peter Nord.

The rule is simple:

Whoever finishes highest becomes Batman.

Simon Morley – 7th place (2.58 kg)

Just 10 grams separated them, meaning Simon Morley was Batman for the round.

Joseph Gardner

Simon Morley

Tony Petty

Jack Gamy

Ryan Honeybrook

Adam Lalor

Rick King

Brendan Pieschel

Greg Cooper

Peter Nord

This means Simon Morley was Batman for the 2025 season as well.

This episode is packed with insights for anglers interested in:

• BREAM tournament fishing

When only three anglers manage full bags, every decision becomes important — and that’s where the best lessons come from.

Hosted by Andrew Death,

Each week the show features:

• tournament recaps

Get more from The Bream Fishing Project:

• bonus content

Join here:

If you enjoyed this episode:

• Follow the show

In this episode of The Bream Fishing Project, we head to the south coast of New South Wales for the Power-Pole Round 8 of the 2025 Hobie Kayak Fishing Series, held at Burrill Lake.

What started as a calm, mill-pond morning quickly turned into an absolute washing machine of wind and waves, making for a very challenging day of tournament fishing.

Despite the tough conditions, the anglers still managed to find some quality fish, with Luke Rogan rising to the top with a winning bag of 2.58 kg, ahead of Corey Lean in second place and Daniel Quarmby in third.

Host Andrew Death (2019 Hobie Kayak Fishing World Champion) sits down with the podium anglers to break down exactly how they approached Burrill Lake, the key decisions they made throughout the day, and the lures and techniques that ultimately produced their fish.

Location: Burrill Lake, NSW

With strong winds forecast later in the day, the event launched early at 6:00 AM to give anglers the best possible window to fish before conditions deteriorated.

Major Bite Window: 6:22 AM – 8:52 AM

Tides for the session:

High Tide – 4:26 AM (1.05 m)

Low Tide – 9:38 AM (0.68 m)

Even with a good bite window early in the morning, Burrill Lake fished very tough, with only a small number of anglers managing to secure full bags.

🥇 1st Place – Luke Rogan

🥈 2nd Place – Corey Lean

🥉 3rd Place – Daniel Quarmby

Big BREAM:

Daniel travelled five hours from Orange in Central West NSW to compete in the event and went into the tournament without a pre-fish.

Starting on the edges with crankbaits, Daniel initially struggled to find BREAM and instead caught several pinkie snapper and flathead while searching the lake.

Eventually he located fish holding deeper off a point and switched to soft plastics, using:

Keitech Easy Shiner

Z-Man Grub (motor oil)

Light jigheads with a long fluorocarbon leader

By anchoring in shallow water with his Power-Pole and casting into deeper water around six metres, Daniel slowly worked his plastics along the bottom and secured three scoring fish.

His biggest fish measured 37 cm, helping him claim his first Hobie podium and his first tournament trophy.

Corey focused on deeper structure and drop-offs early, finding fish holding slightly off the edges rather than up shallow on the flats.

Fishing lightly weighted soft plastics and prawn-style lures along a drop-off, he secured two fish early before landing his key fish for the day.

One of his best BREAM came from beneath a pontoon boat sitting over deeper water, where he skipped a soft plastic under the structure and hooked a 41 cm fish on light line.

As the wind intensified, Corey made the decision to head back early for safety, finishing the day with three fish weighing 1.88 kg and securing second place.

Luke’s winning strategy involved committing to fishing upstream in the creeks, despite hearing reports from other anglers that the area hadn’t been producing fish.

Fishing crab-style crankbaits around deeper snags, Luke found BREAM holding slightly off the bank in deeper water rather than tight to structure.

Once he located the fish, he quickly secured his bag, landing multiple quality fish to finish with 2.58 kg, giving him a clear win in the tough conditions.

During the episode the anglers discuss a range of gear and techniques used during the event, including:

Samurai Infinite rods

Samurai Reaction rods

Shimano Stella reels

Atomic X8 braid

Soft plastics and prawn-style lures

Crab-style crankbaits

Long fluorocarbon leaders

Power-Pole anchoring systems

🎧 New episodes every Tuesday

Hosted by Andrew Death – 2019 Hobie Kayak Fishing World Champion

The Bream Fishing Project brings you:

• Tournament recaps from around Australia

Become part of the community through The Bream Fishing Project Collective, where members get:

• Early access to episodes

Join here:

If you enjoyed this episode, please consider:

⭐ Subscribing

In this episode of The BREAM Fishing Project Podcast, we head to Action Fishing Tournaments Round 8, held at Berowra Waters on September 21, 2025, for a fascinating look at how this event unfolded and how a standout bag of fish separated one angler from the rest of the field.

This was a cracking little tournament, with plenty of storylines right through the top placings. Ben Gillespie put together an incredible winning bag of 123.5cm, built around fish measuring 44cm, 42cm and 37.5cm, to take a commanding win by a huge margin. Warren Allen returned to the show after finishing second with 107.5cm, while James Tran continued his strong run of form with another podium finish, taking third with 106.5cm. The episode also rounds out the top five, with Jose Lopez on 105.5cm, including a 48cm Big BREAM, and Josh Richards on 101.5cm.

As always, the episode opens with the key conditions for the day, including the bite periods, fish activity and tides. On Sunday, September 21, 2025, the fish activity wheel sat at 97, with a major bite period from 10:11am to 12:41pm. The tide information for the event saw a high at 7:53am (1.55m) and a low at 1:53pm (0.25m), helping paint the picture of how the day set up and why certain patterns came into play.

The first interview is with James Tran, who backed up another strong result with a smart and disciplined performance to finish third. James talks through a valuable pre-fish session where he spent time sounding out fish and experimenting with deeper presentations, including blades and soft plastics, before ultimately trusting his instincts on tournament day. He explains how he found fish holding away from the edges during pre-fish, but then abandoned that plan once competition day began and instead committed to his confidence technique around hard structure.

James goes deep into his use of the Cranka Crab, explaining how he cast tight to rocky edges, pontoons and gnarly structure, often placing the lure right into tight gaps and holes. He describes a day built on accurate casting, slow lure movement and confidence in fishing close to the bank. He also shares details of his gear, including his move to 4lb straight-through fluorocarbon, fishing with near locked drag, and using a Shimano Raider rod paired with a Vanford 2500. It’s a detailed discussion about commitment, accuracy, confidence in light line, and how a simple edge-fishing pattern can still produce under pressure.

James also shares some entertaining stories from the day, including the chaos of the launch, some on-water banter with fellow competitors, and a frantic late rush back to the ramp to avoid another costly late check-in. It adds a lot of personality to the episode and shows just how much happens in a comp day beyond simply catching fish.

Next up is Warren Allen, who finished second by fishing to his strengths. Warren explains how he skipped pre-fish and instead relied on past experience from fishing Berowra Waters in previous events. After trying a few different approaches early, including fishing boats, blades and other lure options, he eventually settled on one of his confidence techniques: a Hurricane Sprat on a hidden-weight 1/28 jighead.

Warren breaks down a really interesting pattern, where he found fish set up not behind the rocks, but actually on the front of the rocks in the current pressure wave. He talks about visually spotting the structure, reading clearer water in the shallows, and making repeated casts to likely ambush points. He also explains how small details like current flow, rock positioning and bait movement influenced where the BREAM were sitting. For anglers who love finesse fishing, this section is full of practical insights, especially around lure weight, hook selection, leader choice and the importance of understanding where fish position themselves in current.

To finish the interviews, Ben Gillespie joins the show after a dominant win. Ben did not pre-fish, but used a mix of past experience, map work and sounder research to develop a plan around likely productive edges and drop-offs. Once on the water, he stuck to that plan, eventually finding a section of rocky edge and broken structure that held multiple quality fish. Ben talks through how he cast his Cranka Crab hard against the bank, let it settle, and then worked it back slowly with tiny movements and occasional shakes. The fish were often hitting within the first few winds, and he was able to repeat the pattern again and again across the right type of structure.

Ben’s interview is packed with detail on how that winning bag came together, including the type of banks he preferred, why steeper drop-offs were less effective than rocky edges with rubble and back eddies, and how critical confidence in the lure was on the day. He also explains his tackle setup, including 8lb braid and 8lb leader, and talks about the rod he trusts most for crab fishing. His winning fish did serious damage to his lures, flattening trebles and destroying the crab bodies, which gives you a fair idea of how hard the better fish were eating.

This episode is a great listen for anyone interested in kayak tournament fishing, Australian BREAM fishing, Cranka Crab techniques, edge-fishing patterns, light-line structure fishing, and the fine details that often separate a good bag from a winning one. It also captures the community side of kayak comps, with plenty of laughs, on-water stories and appreciation for the people who make these events happen.

If you’ve been sitting on the fence about fishing a tournament, this episode also highlights why the Action Fishing Tournaments format is such a good entry point. It’s a friendly and welcoming scene, and this round is a perfect example of how simple patterns, smart decisions and a bit of commitment can put you right in the mix.

In this episode:

Action Fishing Tournaments Round 8 at Berowra Waters

Event date: September 21, 2025

Top five results and standout bags

Bite period and tide breakdown

James Tran on another podium finish

Warren Allen’s finesse soft plastic pattern

Ben Gillespie’s dominant crab-fishing win

Cranka Crab retrieves, structure choices and gear setups

Light line versus heavier leader discussions

Tournament strategy, pre-fish preparation and on-water adjustments

Top 5 Results:

Ben Gillespie – 123.5cm

Warren Allen – 107.5cm

James Tran – 106.5cm

Jose Lopez – 105.5cm

Josh Richards – 101.5cm

If you enjoyed this episode of The BREAM Fishing Project, make sure you’re subscribed so you don’t miss the next show. There’s a flurry of episodes coming, and plenty more tournament breakdowns, fishing stories and tactical insights on the way.

March is here and the tournament scene is starting to fire back up around the country. In this Monthly Report episode of The BREAM Fishing Project, Andrew is joined by Brett Geddes to look ahead at what’s coming up in the next few weeks, reflect on the Marlo round, and dive deep into some technical discussions that will help you catch more and better BREAM.

We kick things off by running through the March tournament calendar, including the BREAM Masters SA event on the Glenelg River, the Hobie round at Wallaga Lake (including the Saturday night talk session), WA boat rounds, the NSW Tournament Series event at Lake Macquarie, and Vic BREAM at Gippsland Lakes. There’s also a bit of exciting news around the first official BREAM Fishing Project Team heading to Vic BREAM — something we’ll be watching closely.

From there we unpack the listener survey results, with over 140 responses from the community. We talk through what listeners are enjoying, what they want more of, and some of the feedback around species coverage and content direction moving forward.

A big portion of this episode is dedicated to a full Marlo recap, including Brett’s last-minute trip down, pre-fish observations, the challenges of a boom-and-bust fishery, and some honest reflections on how quickly a session can unravel when you miss key details like hydration and preparation. There are some great takeaways here for anyone fishing systems that can turn on and off quickly.

The second half of the episode shifts into a detailed soft plastics and rigging session. We explore:

Using heavier jighead weights and a more aggressive retrieve to trigger bites

How different jighead weights can completely change lure action and presentation

Rigging a prawn-style soft plastic multiple ways (forward, backward, and mid-body hook placements)

Weedless rigging options and when they’re most effective

How subtle rigging adjustments can change your hook-up rate and presentation in pressured systems

Brett also shares his flies eyes / dumbbell eyes concept, originally adapted from fly fishing, and how it can be used to control sink rate and lure orientation when targeting fish in shallow water. This leads into some really interesting discussion around sight fishing opportunities and how to present plastics in front of actively feeding BREAM.

We also touch on Andrew's recent session at Towra Flats, a quick chat about Arc Genesis hooks (use code BFP to support the show and grab a discount), and finish up with a wrap on a sight fishing session at Lake Tyers and some gear insights including Hobie sunglasses.

This episode is packed with practical takeaways, honest reflections from recent tournament experiences, and plenty of ideas you can apply on your next session.

If you want to take your fishing further, join The BREAM Fishing Project Collective — a growing community of anglers sharing ideas, techniques and experiences, with bonus content and regular live streams.

👉 Join here: breamfishingproject.supercast.com

If you enjoy the show, the best way to support it is to:

Share the episode with a mate

Leave a rating or review

Check out our partners and sponsors

Thanks for listening to The BREAM Fishing Project — we’ll see you on the water.

In this episode of The BREAM Fishing Project, we head to one of Australia’s most iconic tournament arenas — Mallacoota, Victoria — to wrap up the Victorian leg of the ABT Road Show for 2026.

Held across February 7–8, this round delivered classic Mallacoota conditions — glassed-out mornings, spooky fish, heavy prawn activity, and a brutal 40+ knot northeaster that turned the final session into survival mode.

And at the top of it all… Mark Healey makes history with a three-peat at Mallacoota.

This is a deep-dive tournament breakdown packed with real-world tactics, lure selection, decision-making under pressure, and the subtle details that separate top-10 finishes from the rest of the field.

🥇 1st – Robert Bluemink – 4.997kg

🥇 1st – Mark Healey – 10.131kg (Three-peat winner)

Glass-out mornings with highly visible fish on edges and flats

Spooky fish behaviour – requiring finesse presentations

Heavy prawn influence across both days

Mid-water fish holding identified via live sonar

Strong northeaster (up to 40 knots) impacting final-day strategy

Tidal timing critical for access to larger yellowfin down the front

This episode is loaded with practical, tournament-level insights you can apply straight away:

Fishing deeper water behind boaters to find untouched fish

Adjusting lure profiles when fish are present but not feeding

Using LiveScope/sonar feedback to refine presentations

Managing pressure and upgrades across two days

Mark Healey’s two-zone strategy (lake system + front system)

Timing tide windows for big yellowfin BREAM bites

Using topwater, twitch baits, and prawn imitations to match conditions

Adapting to wind, current, and boat pressure

SPRAT plastics on light jigheads (1/16–1/12)

Hybrid prawn imitations for mid-water fish

Bent minnows for early topwater fish

Chubbies & twitch baits for structured edges

Crabs and shallow minnows as upgrade tools

Light leaders: 3–6lb fluorocarbon for natural presentation

Ultra-light rod setups for finesse lure control

Adjusting jighead weight to match wind, depth, and current

Watching fish behaviour on sonar to guide retrieve style

The importance of slow presentations and patience in pressured systems

You didn’t need numbers — you needed quality bites

Prawn imitations were the dominant pattern across both divisions

Sight-casting and subtle presentations were critical in clear water

Mid-water fish played a bigger role than bottom-holding fish

Timing the front system correctly was the difference maker

👉 Join The BREAM Fishing Project Collective

📸 Follow along on Instagram

🌐 Website & community updates

Massive thanks to all the anglers who took the time to jump on the mic after long tournament days — your willingness to share knowledge is what makes this project possible.

And to everyone who filled out the recent listener survey — your feedback is helping shape the future of the show.

🎧 Subscribe, share and leave a review if you enjoyed this episode — it helps grow the BREAM community and keeps these stories coming.

The BREAM Fishing Project

ABT 2026 Season Opener – Gippsland Lakes | Winning Techniques, Gear, and Tournament Breakdown

The 2026 ABT season is officially underway — and it starts with a cracker event at Gippsland Lakes.

In this episode of The Bream Fishing Project Podcast, we break down the ABT Gippsland Lakes Round (February 3–4, 2026) with full tournament results, in-depth angler interviews, bite period analysis, and the exact techniques that produced winning bags.

If you want to catch bigger BREAM in tournaments or recreationally, this episode is loaded with practical insights from anglers who were right at the top of the leaderboard.

Dates: February 3–4, 2026

Location: Gippsland Lakes, Victoria

Conditions: Tough bite periods, shifting wind, and subtle presentations required

Winning weight (boaters): 12.81 kg

Winning weight (non-boaters): 5.413 kg

We break down the fish activity wheel, tides, and major/minor bite periods, including:

Major bite windows late in both sessions

Low tide early morning, rising into strong late-session periods

Subtle bites and structure-oriented fish behaviour

Understanding this pattern was critical to unlocking the better fish during both competition days.

Slim Swims rigged weedless on light jigheads

River fish holding 1.5–1.8m off banks

Slow bottom hops and subtle rod shakes

Last-minute upgrade on a Jackall Chubby sealed the win

Hardbody spike bite on shallow flats

Hurricane Sprat upgrade fish

Ultra-fine copolymer leader for extra bites

Heavy mussel patterns on jetties

Slow bottom presentation with long pauses

Over-1kg average fish across his bag

Bloodworm grubs and dock fishing

High water-column fish holding around pontoons

Final-hour upgrade fish each day secured the win

Strong hook-sets on heavier gear to control big fish

Cranka Crabs all tournament

Fishing deep structure and jetty bases

Slow presentations — bites coming off the bottom

Precision casting within inches of structure

Soft plastics (Wave Minnow, Bloodworm)

Livescope + structure fishing in Mitchell River

Tide-driven fish movement and schooling behaviour

✔️ Fishing slim plastics weedless from the back of the boat

Jackall Chubby Crankbaits

Daiwa Spikes & Wise Minnow

Hurricane Sprat

Zman Slim Swim soft plastics

Bloodworm grubs

Cranka Crabs

Atomic jigheads (weedless setups)

Shimano Vanford 

Daiwa reels and Infeet rods

Structure was key — jetties, docks, river edges

Light lines = more bites, but heavier gear = better control in structure

Fish often required slow, patient presentations

The last hour of each day was critical for upgrades

Anglers who adapted quickly to conditions finished at the top

If you want to improve your BREAM fishing and learn directly from Australia’s top tournament anglers…

👉 Join The Bream Fishing Project Collective

🎣 Early access to podcast episodes

Join here:

The Bream Fishing Project Podcast is your weekly deep dive into Australian BREAM tournament fishing, featuring:

Elite anglers

Winning techniques

Tackle breakdowns

Tournament reports

And everything you need to catch more and bigger BREAM

Hosted by Andrew Death, 2019 Hobie Kayak Fishing World Champion.

If you enjoyed this episode:

✔️ Follow the podcast

It helps the show grow and allows us to keep bringing you more content like this.

🎧 Next Episode:

In this episode of The Bream Fishing Project, we head to South Australia to review the BREAM Masters South Australia (BMSA) Tackle Tactics Championship Round 2025, held on the Port River on November 2nd, 2025.

This was a strong finish to the season with good numbers of legal BREAM weighed in, and it also rounded out a standout year for Paul Cook, who capped things off with a huge result across the season.

1st: Paul Cook – 2.17kg

2nd: Josh Bland – 2.09kg

3rd: Ben Harrison – 2.01kg

=4th: Craig Richards – 1.81kg

=4th: Ryan Ottens – 1.81kg

Ben Harrison (3rd – 2.01kg) breaks down a strong pre-fish session, how the day changed with tide movement, and how he mixed Crabbies, Hurricane Skimps and a late hardbody upgrade run — with lightning, rain, and a couple of painful late mistakes.

Josh Bland (2nd – 2.09kg) talks through a no pre-fish approach, fishing a central Port River structure zone, and his lure rotation including the Spike 53 medium running, Bait Junkie Prawn 2.35” (Clear Gold) on a 1/30 jighead, and a bite window on mussel-style lures around pylons — plus his thoughts on the wider impacts of the toxic algal bloom in SA.

Paul Cook (1st – 2.17kg) rounds out the show, reflecting on a rough pre-fish a month out, how conditions improved in the weeks leading in, and the “less is more” mindset that helped him lock in a tight gameplan — focusing on edges, small profiles, and maximising time fishing rather than travelling. He also covers the season wrap-up, prize packs, and what it means to take the championship and season achievements.

If you’re looking to connect with more anglers and get involved in challenges, Zoom sessions, and community chat, check out The Bream Fishing Project Collective (now running on Discord):

Big thanks to the volunteers behind BREAM Masters South Australia for putting in the work to run the series, and to the sponsors supporting the season.