Episode 29: ABT Gladstone, 22-23 July, 2023.

In this episode we head north to Gladstone in QLD. For the first time this year we throw Pikey Bream back into the mix. This is also an arena where there is much more run in the tide than the rest of the circuit. This is another huge show, with 5 x angler interviews.  First up in second place in the non-boater division I spoke with Col Wilson. This was an interesting interview starting with a pairing of Stephen and Colin Wilson who did not know each other before this event. Colin gave a detailed account of how he caught his bream which would help any angler heading up to this area. Then we moved on to the rock-star of the Non-boater division Taka Kawasaki who flew in from Sydney and went straight from the airport to the waterway and jumped on Wally Fahey's boat. Taka was paired with Liam Robinson on day one and Allan Murray on day two.  Taka shares his first Pikey Bream capture which involved a bit of luck and some good observation skills!  In third place in the boater division I was Stephen Wilson. This was another interesting conversation that starts with Stephen explaining how fishing in July changed things for this competition. In the past the Gladstone round has typically been held in September and the change in dates this year definitely affected the fishing. Stephen also spoke about how the big tides affect how the bream behave. In second place was the defending champion Tom Deer who has been very successful in this arena. You will need to listen to this interview to hear Tom's strategy around chasing big fish verses chasing numbers of fish. Tom shared a small modification he sometimes makes to his Atomic Crank 38 lures which is worth hearing about. Then in first place, is the in-form angler Chri Lonne. Chris has just taken out the QLD open in his last event and then backed it up in Gladstone. On the Friday prefish Chris found a new location which helped him take out this competition.