Gamakatsu Summer Series
9/3/08
Round 3 Clarence Produced Results.

Big numbers turned out for the final round of the Gamakatsu Summer Series held on the Clarence River, Iluka. With the Team of the Year being crowned after the event, anglers in the running were keen to get their teeth stuck into big Bream the Clarence River is renowned for.

62 teams lined the shores of Sedgers Reef Hotel awaiting the delayed start of Rd 3, with a cooked breakfast being available no one seemed to mind the late start due to the light. Light winds and a few hovering clouds were soon put in the back of anglers minds of the green flag fell.

“Where are the good fish” played on anglers all day, but it was series sponsored team, Team Gamakatsu’s Brett Hyde and Adrian Melchior that answered the question with 5 Yellowfin Bream for 3.16kg. Taking a number on the ever popular Browns Rocks, Team Gamakatsu threw a mix of VX35’s and Bassday Kangoku Vibs in colour C-67 on Brett Hyde Custom Rods, to start their bag. Mid morning saw them move to a small creek past Browns Rocks to fill their bag, with 3 more good bream. Heading Back to Browns Rocks looking for that kicker, the boys made sure they applied Megastike attractant to the vibes every 5-10 casts. But the key was the use of Unitika and TD Senor braid to keep in constant contact with the lure.

2nd place of the round team Just Breamin’ Around, Mick Corbett and Jake Stewart started in the opposite end of the river, fishing the banks past Yamba Shores Tavern. The lure and rods of choice, like Team Gamakatsu’s, was the Bassday Kangoku Vib (C-67) and VX 35-40’s on Brett Hyde custom Samurai’s. Bagging out at 7.20am they knew they had found their pay day. With 3 good upgrades by 8.00am they exhausted their spot in Yamba and took position on Browns Rocks. The coffee rock reef produced a good upgrade of 32cm, but shut down shortly after. The 25hp Tohatsu was fired up, and Corbett and Stewart headed back to Yamba and picked up 2 more upgrades. A leaking live well forced the boys in 1hr early, making the wait teeth grinding.

3rd place and big bream winner Team Megabass / CD Rods, the big bream at 1.26kg was caught at Browns rocks by David McKenzie, early in the day while the tide was still fairly still. The Fish came from 20 foot of water, on a Bassday Kangoku Vib, in colour C67, while vertically jigging the lure just off the bottom. The fish took the lure on the pause, as the lure was sinking back to the bottom. 6lb Unitika PE braid line was used which allowed perfect sensitivity to feel the small hits, whilst a 7 foot 6 medium-fast Dmitry Blue Rapid Series Composite Developments Rod was used to control the fish and bring it to the boat.

The coveted Team of the Year title was awarded to first time tournament anglers, Team Just Breamin’ Around, Mick Corbett and Jake Stewart, finishing 4th at Tweed Heads, 8th in Round 2 at Iluka and 2nd at the final round on the Clarence. All series the team used their custom built Brett Hyde Samurai rods to good effect, never finishing without a pay check. For their consistent angling effort Mick and Jake picked up a trophy each, their name permanently etched on the perpetual plaque and a Megabass Destroyer rod each valued at $800. “This was our first year tournament fishing and we’ve had heaps of fun, the series was well organized and well run, a big thanks to all the sponsors and Megabass for the rods” says Mick. Second were Team Megabass / CD Rods winning a trophy, Min-koda PFD and a Hummingbird PFD. Third was local favourite Team Disco Marine taking out a sponsors prize bag and a trophy for their consistent effort.

2009 will see the Gamakatsu Summer Series return with bigger and better prizes. A big thank you must go to Gamakatsu, Megabass, Bassday, Atomic, Unitika, Tweed and Clarence councils, Sedgers Reef Hotel, Steve Mclean, Amanda Starkey, Susie Melchior, Amber Hyde, Candice Silvester, Teagan Petherbridge and Terry Bleakley from Bleak Films for all the support for the season.

A DVD will be out shortly and keep your eye out on www.gamakatsu.com.au for updates and even more events this year that is being discussed at the moment.

GSS Committee

Position	Weight	Team Name	Angler 1	Angler 2	Big Bream	No Of Fish	Prizes
1	3.16	Gamakatsu	Adrian Melchior	Brett Hyde	1.09	5	$1,500
2	2.94	Just Breamn' Around	Michael Corbett	Jake Stewart	0.72	5	$750
3	2.91	Megabass/CD- Rods	David Mckenzie	Tristan Taylor	1.26	5	$450 & BB $500 ($250 + $250 Prize Pack)
4	2.75	Latte	Scott Lenton	Steve Ebling	0	5	$400
5	2.73	Logan River Marine	Corey Tarr	Trent Short	0	5	$350
6	2.7	Bassday 1	Steve Eldred	Peter Kelleher	0	5	$100 + $120 Prize Pack
7	2.65	Green Machine	Paul gillespie	Jay Gillespie	0	5	$100 + $120 Prize Pack
8	2.55	Eco Gear	Gav Dunne	Ben Mitchell	0	5	$100 + $120 Prize Pack
9	2.52	Disco Marine	Darren Borg	Jason Disson	0	5	$100 + $120 Prize Pack
10	2.5	Coffs Marine Market	Paul Van Den Boom	Chad Miller	0	5	$100 + $120 Prize Pack
11	2.49	Port Marina Bait and Tackle	Anthony Nyberg	Dean Seaborn	0	5
12	2.38	Big River & Bait Tackle	Brenton Smith	Darren Painter	0	5
13	2.22	AA	Aaron Swanson	Allan Rooks	0	5
14	2.21	No Fun-Kin Idea	Gary Palmer	Les Tselepy	0	5
15	2.17	Mongs	Kris Hickson	Craig Simmons	0	5
16	2.15	Berkley/Lowarance	Steve Wilson	Alex Baronoff	0.89	4
17	2.11	Port Tackle 2	Ian Ison	James Ison	0	5
18	2.09	Blue Acres	Steve McDonald	Brad Smith	0	5
19	2.08	LRM Pro Tackle	Gene Ward	Thomas Alexander	0	5
20	1.98	Bush N Beach/4BC	Anthony Wishey	Rob Kwiatkowski	0	5
21	1.87	Bush N Beach / Berkley / Suncorp	Chris Britton	Mal Barkey	0	5
22	1.85	Port Tackle- Team Poly	Neil Chegwidden	Ross Lamotte	0	5
22	1.85	Ugly Fish Eyewear	Peter Jenkins	Dan Mallory	0	5
24	1.79	Fire and BreamStone	Warwick Cregan	Mark Holman	0	5
24	1.79	Nitro Bass Boats / Eletia Energy Drks	Scott Butler	Ben Godfrey	0	5
26	1.78	Get The Net	Aaron Sarna	Scott Bryant	0	5
27	1.74	Nitro Marine	Stuart Bible	Darrin Crowley	0	5
28	1.73	Pot Luck	Norm Kemp	Sharen Griffin	0.87	3
29	1.72	Disharmony	Darrell Schultz	Tony Zann	0	5
30	1.71	Bream Police	Eric Cregan	Arthur Cregan	0	5
31	1.7	Manning River Marine	Jim Hickson	David Trinder	0	5
32	1.69	Team Richmond	Joseph Urquhart	Craig Urquhart	0	5
33	1.68	Team Hughes	Warren Hughes	Luke Hughes	0	5
34	1.65	Dilligaff	Rod Shorten	Ken Fitzgibbon	0	4
34	1.65	White Stripes	Ben Lockwood	Mick Leavey	0	5
36	1.64	Team Fish	Shane Taylor	Ryan Ward	0	5
37	1.63	R and S Fishing	Scott Sutherland	Ron Milligan	0	5
38	1.61	Justice	Andrew Taylor	Glen Sturrock	0	5
39	1.59	Team Tender	Shane Jarrett	Tyson Coote	0	3
40	1.51	Port Macquarie Tackle / Stratos	Wayne Bale	Dave Poulton	0	5
41	1.37	Sportys	Ben Bigs	Tony Moore	0	5
42	1.29	Max Breambo	Dan Cupitt	Greg Spies	0	4
43	1.15	Fillet and Release Angling Team	Tony Thorley	John Thorley	0	4
44	1.14	Bream Bandits	Greg Duffield	Breden Whyte	0	3
45	1.07	Side Winder	Darryn Love	Nabeel Issa	0	3
46	1.05	Sporting Wrecks	John Mills	Luke Melverton	0	3
47	1.04	Team Spinner	Greg Burke	Tania Taylor	0	3
48	1.02	Esky Lid	Danial Pignat	Nicholas Waltisbuhl	0	3
48	1.02	On A Budget	Scott Lane	Anthony Zappa	0	3
50	1.01	Black Porpoise	Paul Starkey	Jock McPherson	0	4
51	0.97	Brickwood	Pat Mcneilly	Matthew Finney	0	3
52	0.93	Casino Building Services / Antilces Coffee	Jamie Bradshaw	Robert Manuell	0	3
53	0.66	Team Native	Cameron Watts	Anthony Duff	0	2
54	0.58	Hanburgs	Geoff Hancock	Sefton Bergman	0	1
55	0.56	Hot & Cold	Scott Chard	Brett Dunston	0	2
56	0.46	Gone Fish'n Grafton	Bob Hadley	John Williams	0	1
57	0.35	BJS Mossops	Arthur Hatzipetrov	Mick Touley	0	1
58	0	Bifino	Gill Neziz	Karen Berry	0	0
58	0	Men From Mars	David Ham	Tom Weirs	0	0
58	0	Poor Bassticks	Craig Makings	Scott Barnier	0	0
58	0	Team Explorer	Clarke Simpson	Mark Parriott	0	0
58	0	Whippet	Steve Clarke	Jack Clarke	0	0
Totals	99.14					242
Average	0.41	Per Fish Caught				3.9	Fish per boat