Fishing Monthly Magazine | April 2023

Page 114

BASS SERIES presented by

Johnson claims maiden BASS Pro win at Blue Rock Victoria’s Blue Rock Dam has been a happy hunting ground for Queenslanders since ABT started visiting this Victorian empowerment in 2021. After a COVID cancellation in the first year, Matthew Langford won the first full event there and this year fellow Queenslander Mick Johnson took his first ABT BASS Pro qualifier title.

“I had two patterns going – early fish on topwater around the edges and fish later on in the submerged trees. On day one I got distracted after catching the limit on the edge, but day two I got back on track and stuck to the game plan. That’s when the bigger fish bit,” Mick said. The day two limit catapulted him into first place. Scan the QR code to watch the NonBoater Winners Interview

Scan the QR code to watch the Boater Winners Interview

Blue Rock is undoubtedly a beautiful lake. It is stocked with plenty of bass by Victorian Fisheries and offers most competitors a fairly easy limit. The challenge in blue Rock has always been finding fish over 30cm. Run on the ABT tournament series app, the event offers live scoreboards

Mick Johnson, one of the newest additions to the Rapala Pro Angler team, rose to the challenge at Lake Blue Rock and worked out how to get the lake’s bigger bass to bite.

“There are a lot more big fish in this lake than most people realise,” Johnson said. He targeted these fish on deeper, submerged trees – usually ones that were in around 70ft of water with their crowns around 20-25ft under the surface. “Garmin LiveScope makes these areas much

Targeting suspending fish in the treetops, like this one, saw Mitchell Cone take the day one lead. and the ability to record any size bass, since they are measured and released at the point of capture. Indeed, the live scoreboards are a hit with spectators who can keep an eye on how their favourite

competitors are faring during the tournament day. Lengths are converted to estimated weights via ABT’s length weight curve, therefore five fish limits are possible.

BOATER RESULTS Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 114 APRIL 2023

Angler Mick Johnson Mitchell Cone Steve Muldoon Matthew Langford Collin Robinson Braden Schuch Corey Goldie Tom Deer Declan Betts Steve Duff

Fish 10/10 8/10 8/10 10/10 9/10 9/10 10/10 9/10 7/10 8/10

Johnson weighed an average, sub 2kg limit on day one but found bigger fish on the second day to rocket into the lead and win quite emphatically, over 1.5kg ahead of Mitchell Cone.

New South Wales’ Tim Jones secured his first win from the back of the boat topping up his Rapala Prize Pack with the $500 X-Braid Big Bass cash prize and the first place Rapala Non Boater Bonus.

Full results at abt.org.au

Weight(kg) 7.624 5.921 5.387 4.975 4.849 4.431 3.950 3.412 2.980 2.921

Payout $2,600 + $250 Merc bonus $1,250 $900 $600 + $125 Merc bonus + $75 Merc bonus

easier to fish than they used to be. You can see the trees and you can see that there are fish in them,” he continued. Johnson used a 7’, 1-2kg Rapala Maxwell rod and 4lb Sufix 131 braid paired with 4lb Sufix leader to present a 1/8oz jighead and cut down soft plastic single tail to the fish suspended in the treetops and sunk or rolled the bait back as slowly as possible. “There was a real strike zone where the lure left the


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Articles inside

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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