EP216 – Hobie Round 3: Wallaga Lake with Jack Gammie, Ben Hanscombe and Jon Chen

EP216 – Hobie Week Part Three: Wallaga Lake with Jack Gammie, Ben Hanscombe and Jon Chen Hobie Week continues with round three of the Hobie Fishing Series, held at Wallaga Lake on March 21 and 22. After last year’s event produced one enormous winning result but proved extremely tough for most of the field, the return to Wallaga in March was expected to produce different fishing. Instead, it became another difficult tournament where finding six legal bream across the two days was a major achievement. Only two anglers managed to weigh a full six-fish limit. In third place, Jon Chen caught three fish for 1.36 kilograms on Saturday and backed it up with three fish for 1.76 kilograms on Sunday, giving him six fish for 3.12 kilograms. John explains how he found bream feeding underneath schools of tailor on a flat in approximately 2.5 metres of water. He discusses using his Lowrance HDS Live to locate bait, schools of fish and feeding activity, before targeting them with Stealth blades made by Peter Cook. John also explains how watching Tony Pettie work his blade helped him adjust his retrieve, mixing single and double hops and increasing the speed of the presentation. After filling his bag early on Saturday, he returned to the same area on Sunday before eventually finding better fish slightly deeper when the wind increased. In second place, Ben Hanscombe weighed three fish for 2.03 kilograms on Saturday and two fish for 1.29 kilograms on Sunday, finishing with five fish for 3.32 kilograms. Ben talks through his preparation for Wallaga, including a pre-fish session where he found fish on crankbaits, surface lures and Pro Lure Hybrid Shrimps. During the tournament, Ben caught fish using a shallow Jackall Chubby and Hybrid Shrimps on 3-pound straight-through fluorocarbon. He explains how he worked the Hybrid Shrimp through very shallow water and around flats, small drop-offs, weed and isolated timber. Ben also recounts several important fish battles, including chasing bream from the kayak on light line and losing a better fish after it buried him in a snag on Sunday. Taking the win was Jack Gammie, who caught three fish for 1.45 kilograms on Saturday before producing a much stronger three-fish bag of 1.98 kilograms on Sunday. His six-fish total of 3.43 kilograms was enough to secure first place. Jack arrived without completing a pre-fish and approached the event without major expectations. He concentrated on fishing his strengths around shallow structure, using a dirty camo Berkley Gulp Shrimp rigged weedless on a worm hook. He explains why he changed from a weighted presentation to the lighter weedless rig, allowing him to skip the lure into timber with a more subtle entry. Jack also caught fish using a black Pro Lure crankbait, a Samaki prawn presentation and a River2Sea Baby Vibe. On Sunday, he noticed bream holding away from the bank and suspended around bait, using side scan to identify groups of fish before targeting them with the Baby Vibe. After catching two fish early, Jack went several hours without another bream. He continued casting and finally completed his limit at approximately 1:15 on Sunday afternoon. The episode also covers Jack’s long four-pound leaders, FG knots, loop knots, sight-casting around timber and the importance of looking for active bait rather than simply fishing visible structure. Andrew also briefly discusses his own fifth-place result, catching fish by grinding away with Baby Vibes around a small hump near the front of the main bay. The final results were: 1st – Jack Gammie: 6 fish for 3.43 kg 2nd – Ben Hanscombe: 5 fish for 3.32 kg 3rd – Jon Chen: 6 fish for 3.12 kg Three different approaches, three detailed interviews and plenty of practical information from another extremely tough Wallaga Lake tournament. Join The Lure Fishing Project Collective for extra episodes, the Big Bream Series and more: https://lurefishingproject.supercast.com