The final round of the 2011 Daiwa BARRA tour at Monduran saw anglers tangle with tough conditions for a final chance at glory. With event victory, southern angler of the year (AOY) and overall AOY still on the line, the anglers had everything to compete for. Click through for full results.
Securing his maiden win was Peter Price with 7/10 for 462 cm. With two fish late in the first session, Price headed off on the second day with the formula to take the win. Price’s tackle consisted of an 8kg Wilson live fibre match with a Shimano Chronarch reel spooled with Fins 20 lb Braid and 45 lb Snyder leader. Showing his understanding of his tackle and what the fish wanted, Price altered his Reidy’s junior B52 in kryptonite, changing the standard trembles to wide gape Decoy trebles and placing sticky weight under the nose of the lure to slow the rise of the lure and ensure a better hook up on tentative bites. Peter fished wind swept banks in the southern arm of Bay B, anchoring the boat just off the weed banks. Price would cast parallel to the weed bed before starting a medium speed roll and twitch retrieve.
“I have been fishing these events for seven years, it’s such a great feeling to finish on top of such a quality field”,explained Price. Such was the dominance of the technique that Team Reidy’s lures/ Lowrance 2 managed to catch 19 of the 26 fish for the event.
Also catching his share of the fish was Scott McAuley (5/10, 271cm) who compiled a quality second day bag to secure second place for both the tournament and southern AOY. “It was great to have super guide on the boat and to be there for his maiden tournament win. To see Peter take out the southern AOY was special”, explained McAuley.
With the win and other angler’s results going in his favour Peter Price was able to take out the 2011 Daiwa Barra tour Southern Angler of the Year (AOY). After starting the season with a new ABT big barra record at Peter Faust(130cm), Price was fishing with confidence. “I really thought I had a good shot at the northern AOY but was unable to stick the bites”. Price changed partners from the northern rounds to the southern rounds. New partner Scott McAuley showed he was on the fish at the Awoonga Pro/Am, sharing the win with Kerrin Taylor. McAuley’s result gave Peter the confidence that he would be on fish for the Awoonga 3 x 3. This proved to be true with Price taking out a respectable 6th place.
Heading into Monduran Price had some local hot tips and knew it would a process of working out what the barra wanted. Showing his knowledge of lures, he tuned in to what the fish wanted. With the lure tuned in Price and partner McAuley went fish for fish during the second session, taking out first and second respectively. “It has been a great barra tour for me. The biggest changes for me as an angler this year have been fishing with self confidence and my Lowrance side scan. Being able to see the fish come through on the side imaging keeps my head in the zone, giving confidence that the next big fish is only one cast away” said a very humble Peter Price, “I would also like to thank my two partners for the tour, my wife and family and the team at Reidy’s Lures who have supported me for a long time now.”
Another angler who had a fantastic barra tour was overall Angler of the Year winner Jon Millard. Jon showed supreme consistency, never finishing out side the top three in each event he competed in. Millard entered each event with the mindset of you can’t beat a fellow angler without catching the fish, keeping his focus on getting bites and letting the competition take care of itself. “This year I have fished harder than I ever think I have before. I have enjoyed fishing with the rest of the Rapala team throughout the year and we just keep learning and growing as anglers. This has been a perfect way to cap off a long tournament season.” Millard adds, “Big thanks go to Rapala, TT Jig heads, ACM Rods, JT reel repairs, Nashies Complete Angler and to my partner throughout the tour Daniel Grech. He goes alright.
” With the 2011 Daiwa Barra tour done and dusted for another year ABT would like to thank all competitors and sponsors for their help, support and assistance. It has been another season to remember and from all the team at ABT we look forward to seeing you on the tournament circuit in 2012.
| Place | Angler | Status | F1 | L1 | F2 | L2 | TF | TL | Cash | Prizes |
| 1 | Peter Price | 2 | 120 | 5 | 303 | 7 | 423 | $800 | Daiwa Prize Pack + Big Barra Prize Pack (70cm) | |
| 2 | Scott McAuley | 5 | 271 | 5 | 271 | $300 | Prize Pack | |||
| 3 | Jon Millard | 2 | 114 | 2 | 114 | Prize Pack | ||||
| 4 | Craig Griffiths | 1 | 50 | 1 | 50 | Prize Pack | ||||
| 5 | Michael Weick | 1 | 50 | 1 | 50 | Prize Pack | ||||
| 6 | Matt McAthur | 1 | 49 | 1 | 49 | Prize Pack | ||||
| 7 | Glen Smith | 1 | 48 | 1 | 48 | Prize Pack | ||||
| 8 | Keith Stanford | 1 | 47 | 1 | 47 | Prize Pack | ||||
| 9 | Rob Wood | |||||||||
| 9 | Greg Mitchell | |||||||||
| 9 | Daniel Grech | |||||||||
| 9 | Cy Taylor | PRO | ||||||||
| 9 | Gary Leather | |||||||||
| 9 | Brendan Barnett | |||||||||
| 9 | Brad Purdy | |||||||||
| 9 | Bill Schloss | |||||||||
| 9 | Kerrin Taylor | PRO | ||||||||
| 9 | Shane Anderson | |||||||||
| 9 | Shane Sanderson | |||||||||
| 9 | Elaine Sanderson | |||||||||
| 19 | 1052 | |||||||||
| Ave: 55.36 |