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Eagle BASS MegaBucks Results & Story
#84 - 0--bassadmin--Eagle BASS MegaBucks Results & Story--2005-09-25 17:23:44
#Bassers,
Here's the results from the Megabucks event.
Story and pics to follow soon. - Picture perfect spring conditions greeted anglers for one of the premier events on the BASS calendar, the Eagle BASS Megabucks. 16 teams and 32 of the countries best bass angler battle hard against each other over three skins-formatted fishing sessions in pursuit of the $12,000 prize pool on offer.
Plying the waters of an ever-shrinking BP Dam, anglers targeted bass on an increasingly active spring influenced waterway. Locating and landing fish in a variety of locations, and with varying array of bassing techniques the gathered field compiled a combined tournament catch-card of 132 fish for the three angling sessions.
Mastering the conditions and the bite on offer the best was ABT regulars Trevor Stead and Bob Town of Team Daiwa. Claiming the largest combined limit over the two days, Stead and Town compiled a 12/12, 18.49kg limit to secure the overall prize and the boasting rights that accompany it.
Securing second place in the first session, first place in the second session and second place once again in the final session, Team Daiwa easily relegated Team Em Dee Engineering, comprised of Steve Almond and Brad Smith to second place and thoughts of what might have been.
Spending the duration of the tournament fishing a location adjacent to the dam wall, Stead and Town spent their time targeting fish holding on structure scattered throughout a small hole approximately 10-12 feet in depth.
With a jighead rigged soft plastics as their lure of choice, Stead and Town fished the area with a slow and methodical approach.
“We cast our lure as far from the boat as we could”, Stead explained.
“Then it was a simple matter of letting it sink to the bottom before beginning a steady retrieve”, he added.
For Stead and Town the retrieve involved five cranks of the reel handle, followed by a pronounced pause, then another five cranks and another pause.
“It was that easy”, Stead concluded.
Any enquiry touch they received was met with a continuing retrieve of the lure, that in most cases saw an eager bass take the lure sufficiently enough to secure a hook-up.
For Stead and Town the lure that did all the damage was a smoke/ yellow core Slider grub, rigged on a 5/8 Nitro jighead, and presented with an assortment of varying tackle.
Stead’s of which included a 6’6” Black Diamond Bream Reaper TE rod, matched with a Daiwa TDA 2000 spin reel, spooled with 4lb Platypus Superbraid, and a leader length of 8lb Evergreen flurocarbon.
Town by comparison opted for a 6’6”Daiwa “King Bolt” Battler rod, matched to a Daiwa TDA 2000 spin reel, loaded with 4lb Berkley Fireline, and finished off with 6lb Nitlon flurocarbon as leader.
Securing second place overall and showing that consistency can really be a key to success, event runners-up Em Dee Engineering compiled three, 3rd session placings to take home $2,250 in earnings and the second highest share of cash from the event.
Compiling a 12/12, 16.94kg tournament limit, Almond and Smith in contrast to Team Daiwa opted for an edge bite approach to fill their livewell each session. Targeting the fish in the upper reaches of the dam, Almond and Smith positioned their boat out from the shoreline, holding in approximately 16 feet of water.
Making the best of both words, Almond and Smith would cast their lures either side of the boat, presenting their offerings to bass holding both close to the shore and out wide.
With a slow repetitious retrieve they would then work the area over aiming to cover as much ground as possible, and as thoroughly as possible.
“The main goal we tried to achieve was to keep the lure in contact with the bottom at all times”, Almond explained.
“The fish where down there, and we knew that if we put our lure in front of enough fish, and enough times, they’d have to eat it”, he concluded.
Opting for a diversified and team approach to filling their well, Almond and Smith used of a combination of lures, namely a Jackall TN-60 and a jighead rigged, medium sized Ecogear Grass Minnow soft plastic.
The louder and more aggressive of the two were presented in a variety of colours, with fluro coloured versions proving a successful choice during the brighter and sunnier hours of the day. The Grass Minnows by comparison proved most successful in green, purple, and white based colours.
The teams’ choice of tackle used to fill their tournament bag each session largely mirror each others, with Almonds’ quiver of gear based on two outfits. A Daiwa Battler “Night Hawk”, 6’6” rod matched to a Daiwa TDA baitcaster reel, and a Daiwa Battler “King Bolt”, 6’6” spin rod, matched to a Daiwa 1500 TDA spin reel.
The heavier of which was spooled with 14lb Fireline mainline and 20lb Berkley Vanish leader, while the spin reel was filled to the lip with 6lb Fireline, and a rod length of 8lb Vanish as leader.
The jigheads used by both anglers remained the same across the board, ½ oz Nitro Jigheads.
Victory though belonged to Team Daiwa who added $4,200 to their bank accounts for their efforts, along with a complimentary ½ page advertisement in QFM for their sponsors.
The event provided a great lead-in event to a fantastic week of bass fishing which includes the MotorGuide BASS Electric Convention, and the climax of the BASS Pro tournament calendar, the Yamaha BASS Pro Grand Final.
The Eagle BASS Megabucks will once again open the week long bassing festival in 2006 when the tour travels to NSW and the Hunter Valley. Stay tuned for more information in the 2006 ABT Tournament Angler Guide, due out in January 06.
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Overall Results
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| Megabucks: Eagle BASS MegaBucks Team Results | ||||||||||
| Place | Team | F1 | W2 | F2 | W2 | F3 | W3 | TF | TW | Payout $ |
| 1 | DAIWA: Trevor Stead & Bob Town | 4 | 7.17 | 4 | 4.51 | 4 | 6.81 | 12 | 18.49 | 4200 |
| 2 | EM DEE ENGINEERING: Stephen Almond & Brad Smith | 4 | 6.52 | 4 | 3.67 | 4 | 6.75 | 12 | 16.94 | 2250 |
| 3 | SKEETER/ SNAPBACK: Matthew Mott & John Schofield | 4 | 4.05 | 4 | 4.25 | 4 | 6.02 | 12 | 14.32 | 1100 |
| 4 | CBT: John Fooks & Michael Weger | 4 | 3.21 | 3 | 2.47 | 4 | 7.76 | 11 | 13.44 | 2000 |
| 5 | IDEAL FISHING: Ian Galloway & Andrew Galloway | 4 | 5.34 | 4 | 3.57 | 4 | 2.82 | 12 | 11.73 | 750 |
| 6 | WATERSKIERS WAREHOUSE/ EAST COAST ELECTRICAL: Bradley Clark & Kevin Jones | 4 | 3.62 | 3 | 3.17 | 4 | 4.79 | 11 | 11.58 | |
| 7 | LOWRANCE: Harry Watson & Peter Keidge | 4 | 7.27 | 4 | 4.05 | 8 | 11.32 | 2000 | ||
| 8 | FISHING CHICKS: Nicole Jovanovic & Casey Blundell | 4 | 6.4 | 3 | 3.73 | 7 | 10.13 | |||
| 9 | MAKOCRAFT/ PLATYPUS: David Hislop & Dale Mullins | 4 | 2.37 | 2 | 2.12 | 4 | 3.62 | 10 | 8.11 | |
| 10 | STESSCO: Craig Simmons & Stephen Kanowski | 4 | 2.47 | 2 | 1.82 | 3 | 2.83 | 9 | 7.12 | |
| 11 | BASS TO BARRA MARINE: Ian Black & Kerry Symes | 3 | 2.45 | 4 | 4.47 | 7 | 6.92 | |||
| 12 | ROADWAYS LOGISTICS: Ricky Simmons & Rex Mildren | 4 | 2.31 | 1 | 0.53 | 4 | 3.7 | 9 | 6.54 | |
| 13 | SKEETER: Andrew Homann & Wayne Blundell | 4 | 3.37 | 2 | 2.33 | 1 | 0.82 | 7 | 6.52 | |
| 14 | SAMIOS FOODS/ RIVER CITY MARINE: Tony Zantiotis & Peter Leggett | 4 | 3.14 | 2 | 1.09 | 2 | 1.08 | 8 | 5.31 | |
| 15 | EAGLE: Tony Payne & Todd Moore | 4 | 4.34 | 4 | 4.34 | |||||
| 16 | TNT: Stephen Town & Ted Barsby | 3 | 3.61 | 3 | 3.61 | |||||
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