Top Gun Bream Classic – Results and story

The Gold Coast Sport Fishing Club’s inaugural Top Gun Bream Classic has been run and won. The concept saw 5 seasoned tournament bream anglers auctioned off and paired up for the tournament with their winning bidder.
Karen Campbell only moved to the Gold Coast this year and saw the event as an opportunity to accelerate her knowledge of the local waterways and to learn new techniques. She was paired with local young gun Alex Roy, who’s CV is way beyond his years including a National championship in the ABT Classic Grand Final. Whilst they didn’t win, the did catch a lot of bream and Karen was appreciative of the opportunity to learn from Alex. All additional money raised from the auction went into the prize pool.
Competition day saw a total of 21 teams head out to try and catch their 5 biggest bream and hopefully take home the cash. In the end it was team Damiki, Michael and Chris Maas that prevailed with an impressive Gold Coast bag of 3.22kg. The pairing fished the natural banks around the Jumpinpin area early to put together the foundation of their bag. Later in the session they moved to Wavebreak and a double hookup shortly after yielded 2 upgrades which anchored their bag and ultimately helped them clinch victory. The winning technique saw them use soft plastics fished deep to the schooling fish.
In 2nd place was Top Gun angler Scott Butler, who’s record on the Gold Coast is impressive to say the least. Backing up from a win the BET’s event at Lake Macquaire the previous week, Scott was paired up with GCSFC club member Joakim Olander and it was off to Scott’s favourite canal systems for the day. Joakim had never fished for bream before and admitted afterwards he didn’t realise how technical bream fishing was and he was going to spend some time in the backyard practicing his casting before taking on the canals again. He did however catch plenty of fish and even upgraded a couple of fish in the bag (only to have Scott upgrade his upgrades). Fishing under the banner of Team Zipbaits/Gobotech, the pair compiled a bag of 3.12kg. The weapon of choice was Zipbait Khasmin tiny’s, skinny pops and tiny pops. Scott also attributed his new Simrad NSS9 Evo2 as a key element to the tournament success.
Rounding out the podium was Team YoBro, Ben Richards and Dean Coleman with a 3.01kg bag limit. The guys also fished the pin area and landed plenty of fish for the day. The days Big Bream was caught by Team OSP/Edge Rods, Joe Urquhart and Prue Rodriguez and was the first legal fish of the morning caught on a soft plastic. It netted the pair $80 cash and an Austackle prize pack worth in excess of $100.
The club also gave away a Lowrance HDS7 Touch sounder as a random draw for all club members who fished the event. The prize was won by Nabeel Issa on behalf of the club as part of a Lowrance promtion. The lucky winner on the day was Jamie McKeown. Worth in excess of $1700, not a bad way to end the competition.
A huge thankyou to all the Top Gun anglers who came on board and supported the event, Tristan Taylor, Aaron Sharp, Alex Roy, John Wright, Scott Butler and Heath Blakie. Unfortunately Heath was a late withdrawal after mechanical issues sidelined his boat and could not fish the event. It was a new concept for Bream fishing and thankyou to all the club members who assisted in the planning and conduct of the event. Thankyou also to VMR for once again allowing us to run the event from the base.
Results
1     Damiki    Michael Maas/Chris Maas                                             5/5  3.22kg      0.775kg    $800
2     Zipbaits/Gobotech     Scott Butler/Joakim Olander                 5/5   3.12 kg     0.78kg       $400
3    YO Bro     Ben Richards/Dean Coleman                                       5/5  3.01kg       0.675kg     $200
4    Bean Flickin    Trent Jepson/Aaron Lawler                                 5/5   2.56kg                         $100
5    Continuum Financial     Peter Cashman/Josh Kirkness           5/5    2.55kg
6    TT Lures/Nordic Stage Rods   Luke Rogan/James Howarth   5/5   2.52kg       0.705kg
7    Sporty’s Fishing/ Toray Line    Alex Roy/Karen Campbell       5/5    2.49kg
8    Top Gunners    Aaron Sharp/Nathan Tuskes                              5/5    2.34kg
9    Team OSP/EDGE Rods    Joe Urquhart/Prue Rodriguez         5/5    2.33kg       0.795       $80 + prize Pack
10   Samurai/Switchbait    Tristan Taylor/Nathan Andersen         5/5    2.27kg
11    JEMFAB      Joel Madam/Craig Madam                                      5/5    2.16kg
12   BONZO         Gary Middleton/John Siggs                                    5/5    2.05kg
13    Fish n Bits /Millerods   Kris George/Nathan Palmer               5/5    2.02kg
14    Sporty’s       Jamie McKeown/Tony                                              5/5     2.01kg
15    Team Dominator    Steven Andrews/Dion Crack                     5/5     1.87kg
16    Fishn Bits         David McDonald/Matt Nowldess                    4/5     1.71kg
17    Addicted Fishing Co. 1   Ben Prendergast/Jake Duckworth    0/5    0.00kg
17    Liquid Gold Fishing    Craig Templar/Emily Templar             0/5     0.00kg
17    Team Austackle     John Wright/Michael Kelly                         0/5     0.00kg
17    Addicted Fishing Co. 2    Jay Prendergast                                   0/5     0.00kg
17    FOG     Brett Rayner/Michael McElrean                                     0/5     0.00kg