Fishing Monthly Magazine | April 2023

Page 112

BREAM SERIES presented by

Vukic achieves Hollands Landing heroics At Gippsland Lakes in 2023, for the first app-based BREAM event of the year, ABT saw the largest field of boaters and non-boaters ever for the venue. It’s reputation for being the big bream Mecca of Australia continues to grow since the abolition of netting in 2019. ABT anglers each year since have been reaping the rewards as we continue to see significantly higher catch rates, bigger bag weights and fish being caught in a wider variety of locations than ever before. The Victorians once again proved hard to beat

for heaviest 5 fish bag with a staggering 6.442kg on day one, going on to place second in the boater’s division. Meanwhile in the non-boaters, Builder Mick Thompson chalked up his third ABT win from the back of the boat. Mick got one up for the Queensland cohort, leading the event on day one and going on to win under the guidance of Mario Vukic on day two. MARIO VUKIC – THE NAIL BOMBER Ask anyone that has made the epic 40km run down to Hollands Landing at the southernmost point of the Gippsland Lakes system and they’ll likely

2023 Gippsland Lakes Champion Boater Mario Vukic had a ball extracting quality fish like this from the snags. days together down there. One sure, but two is hard,” said Vukic. This year it was evident there were plenty of quality fish around the area, however quality bags don’t always mean quality fishing. Vukic explained; “Yes, we caught some

strait and he still managed to catch them. The way Vukic rigs his 2.5” motor oil grubs was born out of necessity, needing to keep the lure from getting hung up in thick timber. He uses

3/32oz Decoy Nail Bombs, a weedless worm hook jighead, with the hook point buried into the body of the bait to ensure it doesn’t get hung up. This set up, while extremely snag-resistant, comes at a cost however,

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DUO Designed by Ultimate Organizer

Here’s a familiar face – Victoria’s Cam Whittam lead the event after day one with a record setting bag. It’s hard to believe he finished second with a total weight of an astonishing 12.475kg. on their home turf at the Garmin sponsored round, with plenty of that usual sponsor karma going around as Mario Vukic and his fresh new Garmin 8416 and LiveScope got the job done at Hollands Landing. Fellow Victorian Cam Whittam broke the ABT record (previously 6.3kg)

tell you it can be rocks or diamonds when you get there. Not many know this better than Mario Vukic who has been fishing the area almost exclusively in tournaments for 10 years. “Hollands is the land of the giants, but it can be really hard to put two good

BOATER RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 112 APRIL 2023

Angler Mario Vukic Cam Whittam Daniel Kent Mitchell Blomquist Peter Breukel Liam Carruthers Alex Franchuk Brad Hodges Jarrod Healey Steven Pryke Jamie McKeown

Fish 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10 10/10

great fish, but the fishing wasn’t on fire, we would go hours without a bite each day, but you had to be ready at any moment.” Where most people choose to fish the flats and edges at the mouth of the McLennan Strait, Vukic pushes up the channel and targets the big, resident, snag dwelling bream. Asked what he looks for, Vukic said, “I look for current at Hollands and it all depends on what the wind is doing leading up to the event. A southwester and it drains the top lake making it run out of the strait, whereas an easterly fills it up causing it to run in.” While he prefers the runout tide, he actually found it to be running in all weekend while he fished the

Trifecta! Queensland’s Builder Mick Thompson racked up his third win from the back of the boat with a crankbait and soft plastic combo.

Full results at abt.org.au

Weight(kg) 12.582 12.475 12.149 11.080 10.962 10.543 10.255 10.172 9.999 9.713 9.505

Payout $3800 + $250 1st Merc bonus $1900 $1000 + $125 2nd Merc bonus $900 + $75 3rd Merc bonus $800 $700 + $500 X Braid Big Bream $700 $600 $600 $500 $500

with many missed bites and pulled hooks due to the unexposed hook point. “Whenever you think you get a bite, even if you aren’t sure, you have to strike as hard as you can. All day Mick and I were having jigheads flying out of the water at us when we thought we had a bite, but when it was a bite, you had to make sure that hook connected.” You can see the hook setting power


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GEN III

0
pages 126-127

Stessco Albacore CC560 with Yamaha F130 4-stroke

5min
pages 124-125

AUSTRALIA’S BIGGEST National Fishing Challenge

2min
pages 122-123

Langford pips Johnson for Glenmaggie title

3min
pages 116-120

Johnson claims maiden BASS Pro win at Blue Rock

3min
pages 114-115

DUO Vukic achieves Hollands Landing heroics

7min
pages 112-113

Tight bags and tarwhine on the Swan

7min
pages 110-111

Now is an exciting time to be on the water

8min
pages 108-109

All eyes on Karratha blue swimmer crab season

3min
page 106

The new Stacer package deals

2min
page 105

Exciting Easter action on tuna

2min
page 105

Impact of regulation changes

2min
page 104

Fishers eager to get back out

3min
page 103

Demersal options are back

2min
page 102

Salmon sightings tempt fishers

6min
page 101

Launching a land-based assult

4min
page 100

Savouring the calm autumn weather pattern

2min
page 100

Good fishing continues into the cooler months

4min
page 99

The good, the bad and the ugly: Tassie offshore

4min
page 98

The WIRF Leaders are making lots of waves

1min
page 97

Decisions, decisions: which bank shall we fish?

2min
page 96

Making the most of Gippy during the cold months

2min
page 96

Crackdown on fishing offenses

3min
page 95

Consistent results for fresh salmonid fishers

1min
page 95

Autumn fishing is firing up

4min
page 94

Trolling up some solid autumn Murray cod

3min
page 93

Prime time to go chasing cod

1min
page 92

A great month for trout in northeast Victoria

2min
page 92

Great angling opportunities in Bendigo region

2min
page 90

Tough going on the Murray

1min
page 90

Tracking down the bait schools

2min
page 89

Hot fishing in local estuaries

0
page 88

Bream and flathead from the Bemm channel

1min
page 88

Super snapper from the surf

4min
page 87

A constantly changing fishery

1min
page 86

Flat out dusky flathead fishing

3min
page 86

Your fishing licence fees at work

0
page 85

Local advice is the key to catching bluefin tuna

5min
page 84

Get ready for seasonal changes

4min
pages 82-83

Last chance for good PPB snapper sessions

4min
page 81

Impressive catches in estuaries

3min
page 80

Decent bream catches in the Hopkins River

1min
page 79

Anglers are still on the lookout for big tuna

2min
page 79

Get out there and catch a nice feed this autumn

2min
page 78

Autumn arrives with redfin catches everywhere

3min
page 77

The DPI needs your fish frames

2min
page 76

Perfect time to be walking banks

1min
page 76

Smooth flows ahead for April!

2min
page 75

The importance of water temps

1min
page 74

Anglers enjoying some excellent trout fishing

3min
page 74

School holiday fun for the kids

3min
pages 72-73

Anglers enjoying the long awaited seasonal change

1min
page 72

The autumn fishing is on fire

5min
page 70

A better class of fish on offer

5min
page 69

Anglers are enjoying more moderate weather

5min
page 68

Inshore anglers get into action

3min
page 67

Decent catches are increasing as autumn begins

2min
page 66

Getting the small things right

3min
page 65

Mackerel fever spreads

2min
page 64

The pelagic fishing is at its peak

3min
page 63

Coffs is right in the middle of the mackerel run

1min
page 62

Tagging Tales

1min
page 61

Keep moving to find the fish

4min
pages 60-61

Sydney flathead are still taking bait and lures

7min
pages 58-59

A transition period for all the Sydney waterways

6min
pages 56-57

Range of pelagics in harbour

4min
pages 54-55

Spectacular fishing on the surface schools

2min
page 54

Gary’s Marine Centre

5min
pages 50-51

We’re spoilt for choice

3min
page 50

National Recreational Fishing Survey 2019-21

10min
pages 46-47

Glorious rain is flowing throughout Cape York

2min
pages 44-45

Crabs are under the spotlight

1min
pages 42-43

Autumn adventures abound

2min
page 42

Promising prospects ahead for autumn bags

2min
pages 40-41

Clean tropical waters make for great catches

2min
page 40

Hungry autumn barra are not fooling around

2min
pages 38-39

Bright lures in dirty water

4min
pages 36-37

Transition through the month

3min
pages 34-35

Baits take centre stage

4min
pages 32-33

Why donating your fish frames to science provides valuable data

1min
page 31

What’s a holiday without a bit of fishing?

1min
page 30

Flathead just keep on coming!

4min
pages 28-29

Transitioning from the summer to winter species

2min
page 26

Unseasonable species settle

9min
pages 24-25

Cool conditions bring stability

2min
pages 22-23

Return of the Spaniards

4min
page 18

Big autumn wahoo offshore

3min
page 16

The Great De-Bait

2min
pages 14-15

Used Boat

3min
pages 9-10

Bolstering bait tactics

4min
pages 8-9
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