Berkley Classic series Engel Round 4 Results

[Ian Sewell]

If ZMan was in the Melbourne Cup, he would have to be favourite…..
With 37 Teams entered for Engel round 4 of the Berkley Bream Classic Series, the chase for the final five grand final spots as well as the wildcards on offer was well and truly on with teams champing at the bit to hit the water and chase their bounty of four solid keepers for the day.

Anglers were greeted with near perfect conditions at the WA Rowing Club start location on the Canning River, and this included a hot coffee and bacon and egg roll to help them get over the chilly conditions on hand.

With most teams heading across to the Swan River, it was the Canning River that provided some of the better catches throughout the day with Alex Griesdorf and Jack Dawson from Team Bluewater/Lowrance taking the honours weighing in the only full bag of four bream for 2.575kg. This capped off a great fortnight for Alex who also won Hobie Round 5 of the kayak series two weeks ago.

When asked how the day went, Alex replied “It was a really tough day, we fished a lot of spots and kept on the move for most of the day. All of our fish came reasonably early from up the Canning River where Jack hooked our first bream which also ended up being our biggest for the day. It nailed a Zman 2 ½ inch grub in the Bloodworm colour which was also rigged with a stinger hook, with the tentative bite that was happening the stinger hook certainly paid dividends”.

“We filled our bag of four by roughly 8.55am and that didn’t include any upgrades, so after that the hunt was then on for another solid fish to anchor the bag we had. Although we hopped spots for the rest of the day and worked pretty hard we didn’t even get another touch, so I think we were pretty lucky to have the four that we did”.

The first fish caught by Jack also claimed the WATERSNAKE BIG BREAM $1000 hitting the scales at 925gms, which was good enough to see off team Unlucky’s 915gm specimen already weighed in.

When asked what sort of technique they were applying to their retrieve, Alex replied “After seeing Jacks first fish hit the deck, I pretty much just followed what he was doing, and that was a real slow roll, keeping the plastic in contact with the bottom the whole time. The addition of the stinger hook was obviously important as most of our fish came pinned with the stinger”.
Alex also wanted to thank his sponsors Bluewater Tackle, Lowrance, Zman, TT lures and Duff Rods as well as all the series sponsors the WAFM crew for putting on the event.

Alex fished with Duff Rods, matched with Daiwa reels with each reel loaded with 3lb Berkley Fireline, with 4lb Yamatoyo Harris Fighter on the business end. Jack started the day fishing his Smith Dancing Bream Rod before snapping the tip. Jack also used Daiwa reels and 3lb Fireline and Yamatoyo leader.

Claiming second spot and a grand final berth but only finding a good bite in the last 2 hours was Team in the Savage’s Szarn Tink and Graeme Kovacevich weighing in three bream for 1.855kg. When asked how the day went Szarn replied “It was one of the toughest days on the water we have had, we stopped under the Canning Bridge as we thought it might rain, but the foul language from some grumpy old men made us move, so we made our way up the Canning. By the time 11am came around we still had nothing in the well, so it was another move, but instead of going downriver we took the less likely option and headed further up the Canning for 30 minutes. We were fishing in behind another boat’s dirty water so the expectations were not all that high, when all of a sudden I somehow hooked and landed a mid 30, after a few more dropped fish I put another that was just size in the well. It was then about 12.30pm when we hit a good mid to high 30’s which gave us three in the well. We then went on the hunt for a fourth fish but the efforts were futile. So we headed back hopeful we had done enough to secure a GF berth, so to take 2nd is pretty satisfying, especially in the little Savage”.

Team in the Savage used the ever popular Zman grubs in Motoroil, with the important inclusion of a stinger hook, and slow rolling the plastic along the bottom proved to be to enticing to the bream that came onboard.

Szarn used Berkley rods, matched with a Shimano Stella 2000 and 2500, the reels carried combinations of FC Shooter, Daiwa TD Sensor and 6lb leader. Graeme fished with his Nordic Stage rods matched to a couple of Shimano Rarenium 2500’s, these were matched to combinations of Toray FC and Daiwa TD Sensor and 6lb leader.

Szarn thanked all the series sponsors, WAFM, the other competitors for making the effort, and of course Kate for the wonderful breakfast she prepares rain hail or shine at every tournament in the series.

Taking out 3rd place and just missing the WATERSNAKE BIG BREAM $1000 by 10 grams was Ryan Garth and David Bailey from Team Unlucky who weighed in two bream for 1.325kg (they did nail Big Bream in Round 2 – so not all that unlucky).

When asked how the day went Ryan replied “It was hard going, we had a simple plan which was to hit the Mount Henry Bridge and cover that as thoroughly as we could. We only hooked two fish, the first was slow rolling ZMan 2 ½ inch grub in the Bloodworm colour, and I’m pretty sure the big one took it on the drop. So there was not much to the day except for not being able to add to the two good fish we already had in the well. Just being pipped on the WATERSNAKE BIG BREAM by 10 grams is a bummer, but we are in the GF so still plenty of fish to be had. A big thanks to everyone for making the effort and all the sponsors for the great gear we have picked up today.”

Ryan fished with his range of Duff rods, which were all matched with Daiwa Certate Reels. Each reel was loaded with Sunline Super PE in 8lb, whilst the leader of choice was the ever popular Yamatoyo Harris Fighter in 4lb. David fished with a 7ft Berkley Dropshot rod in 2-4kg, matched to a Daiwa Freams 2500 reel. The reel was also loaded with Sunline Super PE in 8lb, whilst David’s choice of leader was also the Yamatoyo Harris Fighter in 4lb.
This round will see the following teams claim the last five spots in the Grand Final to be held in Mandurah on November 1st.

Two In The Savage, Bream and Tonic, JML, Smackem and Spun in a Webb.
We would like to thank series sponsor Berkley and Round 4 sponsor Engel for the fantastic product they have put up for the entire series, including the Engel Round 4 prizes. We would also like to thank Tackle Tactics, JML Trading, Shimano, Compleat Angler Nedlands, Watersnake/Jarvis Walker (BIG BREAM), Bluewater Tackle, Halco Tackle, Shikari Charters, Mako Eyewear and Damiki/Pontoon 21 for all the quality product they have provided for the series.

1-Bluewater/Lowrance-Alex Greisdorf -Jack Dawson-4-2.575
2-Two in a Savage-Szarn Tink-Graeme Kovacevich-3-1.885
3-Unlucky-Ryan Garth-David Bailey-2-1.325
4-Bream and Tonic-Ryan Wainwright-Dean Wainwright-2-1.130
5-Breammaster-Geoff Spadaccini-Nathan Jones-1-0.715
6-JML-Tom Harders-Joseph Gardner-2-0.655
7-Smackem-Kim McIntyre-Ben Scott-1-0.640
8-Spun in a Webb-Jayden Webb-Graham Webb-1-0.545
9-Keen As-Paul Furlong -Shaun Moran-1-0.510
10-Jiggy Jigs-James Graham-Dave Press-1-0.500
11-JML Anglers Alliance-Brett Dowsett-Sean Higgins-1-0.440
12-Warthogs Offroad-Darren Ogley-Brent Maas-1-0.425
13-Gladiator/Tackle HQ-Shane Owens-Steve Owens-1-0.385
14-Gizmo/Atomic-Steve Galt-Oli Stevenson-1-0.355
15-Tackleworld/Majorcraft-Thys McCarthy-Joe Franco-1-0.330
16-Thelurepro.com.au-Daniel Coughlan-Matthew Burt-1-0.305
17-Grab a Granny-Steve Yarwood-Andrew Manson-0-0.000
17-Fishtec Solutions-Murray Jeffrey-Anthony Sexton-0-0.000
17-Dunkin for Donuts-Rob Davies-Shane Klompmaker-0-0.000
17-Getaway Outdoors Bentley-Phil Cockshutt-Blair PaisleyKerr-0-0.000
17-Grumpy Old Men-Gary Cope -Tony Ireland-0-0.000
17-Lucky Cast-Jake Gill-Jesse Choy-0-0.000
17-Nomand Tackle-Brendan Chua-Brett Ozanne-0-0.000
17-Bream Machines-Chris Hill-Matthew Jeffery-0-0.000
17-Bream Brothers-Tom Scheiling-Kim Meldrum-0-0.000
17-Whitey’s-Dan Smith-Ash Porter-0-0.000
17-Djilba-Nigel Kelly-Stephen Dimmer-0-0.000
17-Engel Pro-Richard Hinds-Jason Loughhead-0-0.000
17-Austackle/Engel-Don Johnston-Eoin Henderson-0-0.000
17-Purple Ducks-Leigh Barrett-Brendon Harkness-0-0.000
17-Nitro Nation-Ryan Cummins-Brad MacDonald-0-0.000
17-Show off your catch-Adam Wright-Aarin May-0-0.000
17-13 Fishing-Chris Pfunder-Callum Dowell-0-0.000
17-Dark Horses-Colin Peasey-Suzanne Siranovic-0-0.000
17-Team Hurricane-Tim Stylanou-0-0.000

Images on the facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/TheWesternA...gazine?fref=nf

[olistevo]

Big shoutout to all the boys from WAFM for running an awesome year of bream classics events. It was my first year fishing them and I managed to do 3/4 and each time I came home smiling. Cheers boys, great events.
It was extremely hard going for me. Steven and I tried so many techniques but only managed the one scrawny bream (my theory was he was loosing weight yo impress the lady bream)


I'm pumped for next year!

[Burtus85]

Thanks to the WAFM boys again, been a great year so far, looking forward to the big GF!!

[Ian Sewell]

Sorry forgot to put the results in, now edited...