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.

I’ve put together a short listener survey to help guide the direction of the podcast — I’d really appreciate your input:

https://forms.gle/QHoU9w6o4HZALKTAA

Action Fishing Tournaments – Tunks Park (31 Aug 2025) | James Tran wins + Big BREAM (46.5cm), Trent Rogers 2nd, Claudio Araujo 3rd

In this episode of The BREAM Fishing Project, Andrew breaks down the Action Fishing Tournaments round held Sunday 31st August 2025 at Tunks Park (Middle Harbour) — a tough day on the water where half the field didn’t land a fish, but a few anglers cracked the code.

We cover the bite periods + tide info, then jump into the angler interviews with Claudio Arjo (3rd), Trent Rogers (2nd), and James Tran (1st + Big BREAM) — including the stories behind their key fish, the lures they used, and the moments that nearly cost them the result.

Fish Activity Wheel: 11

Major bite: 4:01am – 6:31am

Minor bite: 9:25am – 10:55am

Low tide: 6:49am (0.56m)

High tide: 1:46pm (1.32m)

🥇 1st – James Tran: 113.5cm (46.5cm Big BREAM, plus 35cm & 32cm)

Takes home $650 for 1st + $100 Big BREAM

Lands a PB 46.5cm BREAM and wins by 20cm+

🥈 2nd – Trent Rogers: 92cm

Gets his bag fast (first fish around 7:33am), mostly on blades around boats

Takes home $400

🥉 3rd – Claudio Arjo: 91cm (29.5, 29, 32.5)

Finds a bite window early and puts fish together when most struggled

Takes home $250

Deep boat/mooring bite with blades (including Eco Gear VX-35 in 439)

Claudio’s run of fish around 10–12m on a small blade, plus testing a baby vibe (but too slow to sink in that depth)

James mixing muss/crab style lures, Cranka Crab, and Berkley Gulp Crabby, plus the full “comp day chaos” story (bungs, bust-offs, getting snagged on a rope, and climbing onto a boat to free his line)

Dane Tamagotchi / Zeus Tackle (Camden)

Adam – fishing.com.au

Steve – Tackle Addiction

Craig + team for running AFT, plus the wider tournament community

James’ YouTube channel: JG Kayak Fishing

Early access, extra content, and the community challenges:

Instagram: @thebreamfishingproject

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a rating/review on your favourite podcast platform — it helps more anglers find the show.

Welcome to the Monthly Report episode of The BREAM Fishing Project, hosted by Andrew Death, with regular contributor Brett Geddes, and special guest Steve Morgan.

In this episode, Andrew and Brett are joined by Steve Morgan to cover a wide range of topics around tournament fishing, fishing education, and how anglers develop their skills over time. Steve reflects on his long involvement in fishing media and tournaments, including his approach to teaching anglers and the importance of sharing knowledge within the sport.

The conversation explores how people learn to fish, the influence of magazines and media on modern lure fishing in Australia, and how those learning pathways have changed. Steve also shares insights from fishing and competing across different systems and conditions around the country.

A key part of the episode focuses on tournament fishing, including a detailed discussion of the ABT 2026 season, with commentary on venues, timing, and how different fisheries tend to fish throughout the year. The discussion also touches on decision-making during competition days, fishing pressure, and adapting when conditions or plans change.

Steve also outlines his upcoming Live Sonar course, explaining what it aims to teach, who it’s designed for, and how anglers can better interpret what they’re seeing on their screens when using modern sonar technology.

As always, the episode includes the regular Monthly Report segments:

Full Boof-Head, highlighting moments and behaviour that don’t help the fishing community

What Cheeses Me Off, with reflections on online negativity, community discussion, and broader issues affecting anglers

Other topics covered throughout the episode include:

Learning through experience and observation

Differences in fish behaviour across systems

Shallow versus deep water approaches

How sound, lure presentation, and pressure affect fish

Tournament mindset and adapting throughout a session

The episode wraps up with broader reflections on the fishing community and the importance of constructive conversation and shared learning.

In this episode of The BREAM Fishing Project, we recap Round 2 of the Vic BREAM Classics — the 2025 Atomic East Gippsland BREAM Classic, held at Mallacoota Inlet on 13–14 September 2025 (rescheduled earlier in the year due to weather).

This one delivers three different stories, three different approaches, and three strong results, with a full breakdown of key prizes, bite windows, tides, and detailed angler interviews from the teams that finished on the podium.

Sunline Best Bag: Team Bream Burglars (Liam Allen & Marlon Thompson) — 5 fish / 4.885kg

Eco Gear Big BREAM: Team Fanatics (Phil Hulsman & Ben Thompson) — 1.165kg

Zip Baits Monster Movers: Team EGM Revisited (Paul & Justin Conn) — 4.025kg and moved up 24 places to finish 19th

Junior Angler Prize: Team On The Drop (Beau May) — finished 38th

Miller Rogue: Team MAD (Mark Cribbes & Dean Gamble) — flathead 81.5cm

Saturday

Fish activity wheel: 28

Minor bite: 8:10–9:10

Low: 5:56am / 0.4

High: 12:05pm / 1.19

Sunday

Fish activity wheel: 13

Minor bite: 9:00–10:30

Low: 6:50am / 0.44

High: 1:19pm / 1.4

Braddley Young & Harry Young — 8.100kg total

Day 1: 4.010kg

Day 2: 4.090kg

Key takeaways:

Built an early bag fast fishing up-river and working through schools

Used Eagle Eye sonar to identify fish and help target better quality fish

Key lures included Double Clutch hardbodies, plus Bent Minnow when things slowed

Notable observation: increased activity under wattle flowers on the surface

Line: 4lb FC Rock

Late-day adjustments + strategic moves to lock in upgrades

Steven Emerson & Damien Dwyer — 8.215kg total

Day 1: 4.150kg (included 1.015kg kicker)

Day 2: 4.065kg

Key takeaways:

Started on fish located on the sounder during prefish (marked but not pressured)

Strong early bag using a Z-Man grub (slow worked along the bottom in ~12ft)

Heavy by-catch (tailor/salmon) and managing efficiency through the day

Used Active Target in scout mode to find fish and guide casts

Key adjustment on Sunday: dropped to 2lb when it glassed off, improving bite rate

Core pattern: motor oil grubs + subtle bites, steady upgrades, and relocating away from the pack

Liam Allen & Marlon Thompson — 9.215kg total

Day 1: 4.885kg (included 1.155kg big BREAM)

Day 2: 4.330kg

Key takeaways:

Locked into Top Lake due to conditions and fish numbers

Core lure: Hurricane Sprat on 1/20, fished slow, allowing long sink time into the zone

Major pattern: fish were often deeper than expected (2–3m off the edge), with many bites coming after the lure sat on the bottom

Bite style: many fish were “already on” when lifting the lure rather than clear taps

Leaders: 4lb fluorocarbon

Huge weekend haul including trophies, prize packs, and additional awards (Sunline biggest bag, rods, and more)

A fascinating event recap — especially when you compare it to the Hobie competition fished the same weekend just a couple of hours up the coast, where results were completely different.

Thanks for listening, and I’ll talk to you next week on The BREAM Fishing Project.

🎣 Warrnambool • Hopkins River • 2025 Shimano & Hobie Vic BREAM Classics (Final Round)

We’re heading to Warrnambool on the Hopkins River to break down the 2025 Shimano & Hobie Vic BREAM Classics – CMA BREAM Classic, held Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th October 2025. It’s the final round of the Vic BREAM Classics season before the Grand Final, and compared to last year’s tough event, this one produced far better fishing, bigger bags, and more full limits.

To set the scene, I run through the fish activity wheel, major bite periods, and the tide timings for both days — then we dive into the results, the key awards, and what stood out compared to the same event last year.

Heaviest Bag Day 2 / Best Bag: Team JL Angling (Lewis & Jessica) – 5.505 kg

Big BREAM (Ecogear Big BREAM): Team Rooworks (Greg Rooke & Gary Carruthers) – 1.51 kg

Big Perch (Miller Rogue Big Perch): Team Hamilton Marine – 1.255 kg

Monster Movers: Team JL Angling (moved up 14 spots into 3rd)

✅ 3rd Place – Team JL Angling (Lewis & Jessica)

✅ 2nd Place – Boden Zisu (Wild Wings TXD)

✅ 1st Place – Michael Malone (Team Midfield)

If you want more than just the weekly episodes, come and join The Bream Fishing Project Collective. We’ve recently moved our group chats across to Discord, and it’s been a great way to keep the community connected.

Join here: breamfishingproject.supercast.com

🎧 New episodes every Tuesday — tips, tactics, and conversations with Australia’s best BREAM tournament anglers.

We’re off to a brand-new Hobie Fishing Series location for Round 7 at Wallaga Lake, on the NSW South Coast, held 13–14 September — and like most new venues, the hype was real.

The setting? Almost perfect. Warm September weather, light winds, and what might be the best Hobie event launch I’ve ever seen: a sandy beach with a clean drop-off, a brilliant Big4 setup, and even a food truck doing coffees and bacon & egg rolls from early. The fishing though… totally different story.

This round was tough — 55 donuts on Saturday — yet we still saw cracking fish come across the scales, including a phenomenal 6-fish bag over 6kg, which is massive for a NSW Hobie event.

In this episode you’ll hear three different approaches that produced Top 3 results, with interviews from:

Chris Byrne (3rd) — creek mission, slow snag fishing, weedless plastics and a Nomad shrimp bite

Jamie Cole (2nd) — Cookie stealth blades early, then a late adjustment that delivered big upgrades

Jason Marshall (1st) — no prefish, a dominant win, and the key adjustments that separated him from the field

Fish Activity Wheel: 28 (Sat) → 13 (Sun)

Tides: Low 5:54am (0.4m) / High 12:27pm (1.47m) Saturday; Low 6:49am / High 1:30pm (1.43m) Sunday

Saturday donuts: 55

Big Bream: Jason Marshall — 1.33kg

Monster Mover: Carl Dubois — 1.57kg

Young Angler: Ethan Howard — 0.87kg

Masters: Peter Nord — 4 fish for 2.16kg

Plus, I share how my weekend played out — including finally jagging two fish late on Sunday after being part of the Saturday donut club — and what’s coming next in the Hobie season.

Two of the Top 3 in this round are active members of The Bream Fishing Project Collective — if you want to learn faster and fish smarter with the crew, jump in here:

Support the show:

Thanks for listening — and I’ll catch you next week on The Bream Fishing Project.

Welcome to Episode 172 of The BREAM Fishing Project, our first Monthly Fishing Report of the year, with Andrew and Brett Geddes covering a huge range of fishing, gear, community updates, and milestones from around the country.

This episode blends real-world fishing sessions, lure tinkering, tournament updates, and the lighter side of the sport with plenty of Boofhead Moments — plus an important conversation around mental health and the Fly Program.

January tournament updates with Action Fishing Tournaments

A major milestone as The BREAM Fishing Project turns 3 years old

Growing the YouTube channel and why listener comments and engagement matter

Andrew’s recent sessions on the Cooks River, focusing on bridge fishing with forward-facing sonar

Lure talk and experimentation, including Cranka Crabs, mussels, Baby Vibes, Squidgies grubs and bugs

Tinkering with rigging ideas for surface and shallow applications

Brett’s bass fishing update, including stocked fisheries, surface bites, and local sessions

Flathead and BREAM sessions under pressure from holiday boat traffic

What Cheeses Me Off and a stack of classic Bullhead Moments

A wrap of sponsors and supporters who helped make the Collective challenges possible

Andrew also shares his recent experience with The Fly Program, a men’s mental health retreat wrapped in fly fishing, connection, and time in nature.

A fundraiser has been launched with a goal of $2,800 to help support two participants who may not otherwise be able to attend.

👉 Fly Program Fundraiser:

Every contribution helps — big or small.

The Collective gives you access to:

Early and bonus podcast content

Past and current challenge replays

Member-only discussions and updates

Join here: breamfishingproject.supercast.com

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If you enjoy the Monthly Reports, please consider subscribing, rating the show, and sharing it with a mate — it genuinely helps keep the project moving forward.

Tight lines,

We’re heading to Western Australia for Western Australian Tournament Anglers (WATA) – Kayak Round 3 of 2025, held 7 September 2025 on the Moore River (Guilderton, WA).

This round dished up some of the nastiest conditions you’d choose to fish in — heavy wind, driving rain, and a river mouth that’d been open for weeks, pushing current and foam through the system. Despite the grind, we still saw a standout winning bag and some really interesting insights into how the top anglers adjusted their approach to get bites when it counted.

✅ Travis Newland (3rd) – talks through tough winter fishing on the Moore, working contours and drop-offs, and how the open mouth + dirty water changed everything.

You’ll also get the quick rundown of the Fish Activity Wheel and the key bite window for the session.

A big thanks to Getaway Outdoors  for supporting the WATA kayak series — and for anglers travelling over, there are kayaks available for hire so you can jump into a WA round without dragging your whole setup across the country.

Join The Bream Fishing Project Collective for extra content, challenges, replays, and more:

If you enjoy the episode, a follow/subscribe and a quick rating helps more than you’d think. 🤝

In this episode of The Bream Fishing Project, we head to East Gippsland to review the 2025 Mega Bass East Gippsland Bream Classic, brought to you by Vic Bream Classics.

This is one of Andrew’s favourite venues at Marlo, a system that can completely separate the field. Some teams grind for bites, while others put together standout bags, and this weekend delivered plenty of big fish stories.

Andrew opens with a run-through of the bite periods and tides across both days, then breaks down the key divisional awards and major highlights from the weekend, including:

Sunline Best Bag: Team Zero Technique

Winners: Josh Jeffrey & Connor Jackson – 5.905kg Day 2 and 11.065kg total

Big Bream: Brad & Harry Young – 1.755kg

Monster Movers (ZipBaits): Team Hummingbird – a huge Day 2 climb

Junior Angler Prize: Team Berkley (Scuba Hodges)

Mulloway Road: Team Two Odd Legends – a 1.2kg perch

From there, it’s straight into full interviews with the podium teams:

A great breakdown of their weekend, including:

How their prefish shaped (and didn’t shape) their comp decisions

Finding quality fish in the slips and why the area stayed more consistent

Fishing light leader (around 3lb) and grinding out bites through the day

Their go-to plastics approach (including SPRs) and jighead weights

A key upgrade fish around 1.29kg, and how it ate

Their LiveScope/sonar setup and how they used it in shallow water

Dan and Declan return with plenty of banter and detail, covering:

How they approached Marlo without a big lead-up prefish

Working key areas with plastics, and how fish positioning changed from Day 1 to Day 2

Jighead choices and adjusting presentation for flow and boat traffic

Managing crowded water and making the most of sporadic bites

A few classic moments (including a very memorable fish that ended up hooked in a “creative” spot)

Shoutouts to sponsors, boat setup, and the gear that helped them stay effective all weekend

The winners break down exactly how they did it, including:

Their prefish approach: moving efficiently, confirming fish, and not overcomplicating it

Why they leaned into plastics/creature baits over vibes

Running 1/12oz jigheads even in shallow water to manage current and keep the bait in the zone

Targeting edges early, then shifting to deeper schools using side scan / down scan

Fishing 4–5lb leader, staying confident in their strengths, and landing nearly everything they hooked

How they built a massive Day 2 bag (5.905kg) to secure the win

This episode is stacked with tournament lessons: decision-making in a tough system, how to adjust with current and pressure, and what it looks like when teams execute cleanly across two days.

We’re off to South Australia for the BREAM Masters SA Onkaparinga Round, held 31 October 2025 — and it produced an absolute standout winning bag.

In this episode, I’m joined by the Top 3:

Ben Gibbs (3rd) breaks down a “slow roll” bite that surprised him — starting with motor oil Slim Swims, then upgrading with blades… and losing both of his best colours to snags on the way back.

Josh Bland (2nd) shares a fascinating read on how rain and freshwater layering can change fish behaviour in the Onkaparinga, plus how he found consistent bites up river on motor oil 2.5” Bait Junkie minnows with a 1/20oz jighead and a slow roll approach.

Paul Cook (1st + Big BREAM) talks through a day that started with gear failures (power pole + livewell issues) and long dry spells… before landing the goods on small profile hardbodies, including a critical bite on the Daiwa Rolling Crank (Blue Suji) and a 1.28kg Big BREAM, finishing with a massive 3.05kg winning total.

If you want more structured learning and extra content, check out The Bream Fishing Project Collective: