Month: November 2007

Here’s the results and the story form the event.
Strader Steals the Show

Visiting USA bass angler Phil Strader claims one of the most prized crowns on the Daiwa BARRA Tour by securing victory in the second event on the southern tour, the Squidgy Lake Awoonga Evening event.

For the 42 year old bass pro from Oregon, is was a dream start to tournament barra fishing, with only three days of barra fishing under his belt Strader compiled 7/10, 620cm limit to beat a field of talented and experienced barra tournament anglers.

Partnered with Mike Connolly for the tournament, Strader fished the middle reaches of the lake east of Dingo Island, working a channel of water that lead into an expansive weedbed.

“It was a run that was about 12-14 feet deep”, explained Strader.

“It was fairly featureless other than the occasional sunken tree, and produced fish along its’ whole length”, he added.

Winding drifting his way along the channel Strader used the ever-popular Squidgy Slick Rig to tempt his fish. Locating the fish with his sounder he would make long down wind casts before allowing the lure to sink to the bottom and beginning the retrieve.

“We swapped between presentation and retrieve styles depending on how many boats were in the area and how much angling pressure the fish were getting”, explained Strader.

On day one this saw him utilize more of a lift and drop approach, while on day two he opted for a slower more finesse styled slow roll. The mood of the takes varying markedly also, ranging from complete inhaling of the lure on the drop to soft touched inquiries more associated with bream than rampaging barra.

The number of lost, rubbed off and jumped off fish was classic barra fishing as Phil explains.

“The first night wasn’t too bad when it came to lost fish, but night two was just ridiculous. I landed two and dropped nine. Right from the outset it was one of those days, with fish jumping off, bricking me on sunken trees, rubbing through the leader of simply jumping and throwing the lure. It was downright frustrating”.

The final outcome however was all positive for the USA bass angler, with a combination of local knowledge from partner Mike Connolly and a sound understanding of fish behaviour from his years of largemouth bass fishing in the states delivering him victory.

The arsenal of tackle used for victory included an 6’6” Angler Rods Stealth DXC 784 rod, Daiwa Zillion reel (ratio 6.3:1), spooled with 50lb Sunline Jigger PE and 80lb Sunline nylon leader. While the go-to lure was a 110mm Squidgy Slick Rig in black and gold colour.

When quizzed post victory Phil was open with his reasons for success.

“Mike’s knowledge on the barra and the venue in particular was the key to us finding fish. We hit one of his hot spots from last year’s tournament and chose a presentation that was appropriate to the location and fish that we were targeting. In many ways it was like fishing at home”

Hot on Strader’s heals in second place was inagural BARRA round winner and Awoonga local Jason Wilhelm. Fishing a topwater bite for the duration of the tournament Wilhelm fished a shallow football sized weedbed near Dingo Island.

Located in 2-4 feet of water and with weed extending all the way to the surface Wilhelm used a weedless rigged soft plastic frog fished across the top of the weed to score his fish. Making long wind assisted casts he retrieved his lure with a medium paced burn, swimming it across the surface and through the scattered strings of weed laying on the surface.

“The key was to keep the rod tip high and keep the lure moving”, explained Wilhelm.

The takes were brutal with fish detonating on the lure, and either taking to air in a frantic aerial display or powering away through the weed like a submarine. In contrast to many topwater bites Wilhelm’s was just as productive during daylight hours as at night.

“There was little difference when it came to night and day and the number of hits that we got”, explained Wilhelm.

“There was however a difference in the size of the fish, with all the big ones coming during daylight hours”, he added.

The hard part was getting them to the boat. Leading after the first day Wilhelm was working the percentages and was hoping for easier to land smaller fish.

It didn’t quite play out as Jason would have like with only two of seven hook-up making their way into the landing net.

Wilhelm’s choice of tackle included a 7’ Shimano T-Curve Power Spin rod, Shimano Stella 4000 reel, spooled with 20lb Daiwa Sensor braid and 80lb Gallis mono leader. His lure of choice was a Zoom Horny Toad (colour- white or green) rigged on a 1/32 oz 6/0 TT worm hook.

Post victory Wilhelm was more than willing to explain how he cracked the topwater toad pattern. “I knew I needed to find unpressured fish and use a technique that was different to what most of the field was using”, explained Wilhelm.

“Once we found the location, Craig with the help of Phil (Strader) and Gary (Boyd) found the lure that was right for the job, a Zoom Horny Toad”.

From there on in it was a match made in heaven with the topwater toad producing fish in a location where most lures would simply foul up on weed.

The Go-So Big Barra prize was claimed by the 2007 Northern BARRA AOY Champ Matt Coleman, who secured the prize with his 112cm specimen caught on day one.

For more information on ABT events contact the office on 07 3268 7958.

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