Barra Guide Jason Wilhelm kick started the 2008 Daiwa BARRA Tour in grand style, claiming his second career victory at the Classic Lures Teemburra Dam 2-Day Evening Event, 14/15, November.
Compiling a 9/10, 543cm bag for the two day event, Wilhelm showed that quantity rather than quality was the key to success at the event, racking up a string of conservatively sized fish to secure victory.
Fishing the points in the main basin and the adjacent shallow bays and edges Wilhelm utilized a super shallow and ultra light presentation to catch his fish.
“We cracked the pattern during the Thursday prefish and found the barra sitting tight up in the shallows (1-2 feet) with what seemed barely enough water to cover their backs”, explained Wilhelm.
Focusing on the discouloured and muddy edges Wilhelm presented a modified, weight reduced, Evil Minnow coloured 110 Squidgy Slick Rig Pro, casting the offering tight to the edge before beginning an ultra slow retrieve out from the bank.
“The two foot zone out front the edge was the hot zone, and this is where most of the fish came from”, explained Wilhelm.
“Most of the hits came with in the first two cranks of the handle. If we didn’t get a hit we’d quickly wind the lure back in and make another cast”, added the Teemburra champ.
While the bites were consistent through out the session it was after dark and during the moments when the moon popped its’ head out from behind the cloud that Wilhelm and team mate, 2007 Teemburra victor Alan McNamara saw a define spike in activity.
“They turned on late in the session when the moon came out and lit up the place”, explained Wilhelm.
“It was like flicking a switch at times the change was that noticeable”, added Jason.
The tackle used to present his tournament winning lures included a 7’6″ Millerods Beast Buster Toad rod, Shimano Fireblood 400 reel, spooled with 30lb Nitlon PE and 80lb Jinkai leader.
The lure itself was the ever-popular Squidgy Slick Rig, with the lighter Pro versions streamlined even more with a shaving of lead off the internal weight and a hot bath to make them swim a little looser.
“Boiling them in hot water is something that we’ve just started to do”, explained Wilhelm.
“It softens the plastic and allows the Slick Rig to swim, roll and shake its tail on the slowest of dead slow retrieves”, added Wilhelm.
Post victory Wilhelm was ecstatic with his start to the tour and the goals he set him self for the two week barra junket.
“After a busy and stressful six months with guiding and less that ideal tournament results I just wanted to kick back and have fun fishing the tour with my mates”, explained Wilhelm.
The change in mindset paid dividends with the Awoonga and Monduran barra guide leading the race for the 2/2, Northern BARRA Angler of the Year title as it hits the road and heads to Peter Faust for the second and final northern round of the tour.
Snapping at Wilhelm’s heal in second place was Mackay local and BCF Assistant Manager Jason Crofts, 8/10, 509cm.
Fishing the Teemburra Creek area of the dam, Crofts like Wilhelm keyed-in on the muddy, wind influenced banks as the areas to target, focusing on and getting best results from the points and their leading edges.
“The left bank of Teemburra Creek was exposed to the wind and it was here that we scored our fish using a weedless, shallow (1-3 feet) plastic presentation”, explained Crofts.
Using a Berkley Gulp Jerk Shad rigged on a 7/0 worm hook Croft casts his offering tight to the waters’ edge before retrieving it back to the boat with a combination of slow rolling and lift, drop n’ shake retrieves.
As his primary spots suffered under tournament pressure Crofts adjusted tact and refocused his attention on secondary locations that most anglers couldn’t access in their larger boats.
“We hit the ugly and hard to get to pockets and bays that get overlooking by many angles”, explained Crofts.
The approach paid off with Crofts and team mate Isaac Toivanen catching fish continually throughout the session.
His choice of tackle used to compile his bag included a 6-10kg St Croix rod, Daiwa 7:1 Zillion reel, spooled with 30lb Berkley Tracer Braid, and 60lb Black Magic Tuff Trace.
The Daiwa Big Barra for the event fell to BARRA Tour regular and AFC angler Cy Taylor, with the young gun catching the 92cm, prize winning fish just after sunset on the second day.
“We dropped ten fish before dark, then the big fish nailed the lure and thankfully made its’ way into the landing net”, explained Taylor.
The battle for bragging rights on the team front was a laissez faire with Jason Wilhelm and Alan McNamara from Team Shimano/ E-Tec outclassing the other teams by nearly 200cm.
Elaine Sanderson claimed the Classic Lures Bonus prizes picking up the lure tray of Classic Lures with her 61cm day one specimen, while Keegan Hayden secured the Daiwa Bonus Prize as the first angler back to the tag board on day one wearing his orange Daiwa Cap.
The next round of the Daiwa BARRA Tour sees the series travel north to Proserpine for the Shimano Peter Faust 2-day Morning Event. To enter or find out more information be at the 7.30pm Monday (17th November) night briefing at Proserpine Bait and Tackle or contacting Simon Goldsmith from ABT on 0416 068 386.
| Place | Angler | F1 | L1 | F2 | L2 | TF | TL | Payout |
| 1 | Jason Wilhelm | 4 | 219 | 5 | 324 | 9 | 543 | $1,250, Daiwa Advantage reel, G.Loomis rod, & Prize Pack |
| 2 | Jason Crofts | 3 | 169 | 5 | 340 | 8 | 509 | $700, Shimano Fireblood rod, Shimano Curado reel, & Prize Pack |
| 3 | Michael Schneider | 5 | 259 | 5 | 244 | 10 | 503 | $500, Shimano T Curve rod, Shimano Curado reel, & Prize Pack |
| 4 | Keegan Hayden | 3 | 165 | 5 | 337 | 8 | 502 | $400, Shimano T Curve Rod, ABU Garcia reel, & Prize Pack + (Daiwa Bonus Pack) |
| 5 | Alan McNamara | 5 | 342 | 2 | 124 | 7 | 466 | $300, Ugly Fish Eyewear, Prize Pack |
| 6 | Trent Short | 3 | 171 | 5 | 277 | 8 | 448 | $200, Ugly Fish Eyewear, Prize Pack |
| 7 | Trevor Burgess | 4 | 188 | 5 | 237 | 9 | 425 | $100, Ugly Fish Eyewear, Prize Pack |
| 8 | Elaine Sanderson | 5 | 279 | 2 | 118 | 7 | 397 | Ugly Fish Eyewear, Prize Pack + (Classic Lures Bonus Pack- 61cm) |
| 9 | Glyn Barkhuizen | 4 | 204 | 3 | 137 | 7 | 341 | Berkley Pack |
| 10 | Danny Anderson | 5 | 285 | 1 | 53 | 6 | 338 | Berkley Pack |
| 11 | Kerrin Taylor | 1 | 79 | 3 | 251 | 4 | 330 | Daiwa Pack |
| 12 | Trent Power | 3 | 160 | 3 | 169 | 6 | 329 | X Tools Pack |
| 13 | Craig Birkett | 5 | 319 | 5 | 319 | Prize Pack | ||
| 14 | Isaac Toivanen | 3 | 196 | 2 | 119 | 5 | 315 | Prize Pack |
| 15 | Scott McAuley | 3 | 148 | 3 | 144 | 6 | 292 | Prize Pack |
| 16 | Mike Connolly | 2 | 159 | 3 | 132 | 5 | 291 | |
| 17 | Simon Barkhuizen | 2 | 110 | 4 | 178 | 6 | 288 | |
| 18 | Wes Blanch | -10 | 5 | 272 | 5 | 262 | ||
| 19 | Roderick Walmsley | 4 | 253 | 4 | 253 | |||
| 20 | Brad Lovern | 3 | 147 | 2 | 100 | 5 | 247 | |
| 21 | Arthur Lovern | 2 | 148 | 1 | 65 | 3 | 213 | |
| 22 | Daniel Grech | 3 | 169 | 1 | 42 | 4 | 211 | |
| 23 | Dave Robinson | 2 | 143 | 1 | 55 | 3 | 198 | |
| 24 | Matt Coleman | 2 | 120 | 2 | 77 | 4 | 197 | |
| 25 | Jon Millard | 3 | 150 | 1 | 43 | 4 | 193 | |
| 26 | Len Schneider | -10 | 4 | 193 | 4 | 183 | ||
| 27 | Dean Coghill | 3 | 182 | 3 | 182 | |||
| 28 | Enzo Minuzzo | 1 | 43 | 2 | 139 | 3 | 182 | |
| 29 | Matt McArthur | 1 | 52 | 2 | 130 | 3 | 182 | |
| 30 | Dale Mullins | 2 | 98 | 1 | 83 | 3 | 181 | |
| 31 | Cy Taylor | 1 | 80 | 1 | 92 | 2 | 172 | Daiwa TD Advantage rod & reel + Daiwa Prize Pack (92cm) |
| 32 | Mark Thompson | 1 | 63 | 2 | 107 | 3 | 170 | |
| 33 | Matthew Pratt | 3 | 166 | 3 | 166 | |||
| 34 | Greg Birkett | 2 | 163 | 2 | 163 | |||
| 35 | Peter Price | 3 | 160 | 3 | 160 | |||
| 36 | Steven Bechly | 3 | 156 | 3 | 156 | |||
| 37 | Phil Lyons | 3 | 143 | 3 | 143 | |||
| 38 | Peter May | 2 | 137 | 2 | 137 | |||
| 39 | Mick Lumby | 1 | 50 | 1 | 77 | 2 | 127 | |
| 40 | Peter Morgan | 2 | 119 | 2 | 119 | |||
| 41 | Chris Gipps | 1 | 70 | 1 | 46 | 2 | 116 | |
| 42 | Chris Nagiello | 1 | 54 | 1 | 54 | 2 | 108 | |
| 43 | Aaron Gilmore | 1 | 42 | 1 | 56 | 2 | 98 | |
| 44 | Matthew Wallace | 1 | 79 | 1 | 79 | |||
| 45 | Jason Cameron | 1 | 78 | 1 | 78 | |||
| 46 | Colin Slade | 1 | 58 | 1 | 58 | |||
| 47 | Katie Sanderson | 1 | 51 | 1 | 51 | |||
| 48 | Rob Mason | 1 | 44 | 1 | 44 | |||
| 49 | Mike North (USA) | 1 | 43 | 1 | 43 | |||
| 50 | Craig Stone | -150 | 0 | -150 | ||||
| 50 | Michael Webster | -150 | 0 | -150 | ||||
| 50 | Ben Cole | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 50 | Kyle Hammer | -150 | 0 | -150 | ||||
| 50 | Luke Hammer | -150 | 0 | -150 | ||||
| 50 | Spencer Troxell | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 50 | Aaron Mogg | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 50 | Les Reibelt | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 50 | Cassandra Cameron | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 50 | Dean Silvester | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 50 | Mick Campbell | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 50 | Trevor Cassidy | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 50 | Jock Craig | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 50 | Matt Martin | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 50 | Gary Boyd (USA) | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 100 | 5090 | 101 | 5818 | 201 | 10908 | |||
| 50.9 | 57.6 | 54.27 |