EP229 | NSW Tournament Series Round 5 – Mallacoota: Surface Bream, Sprats & 2lb Line

The Atomic New South Wales Tournament Series headed south to Mallacoota for Round 5 — and as usual, Mallacoota produced plenty of fish and some seriously interesting bream fishing.

Across the weekend, the top teams found bream everywhere from shallow flats and snags to deeper edges, with some fish sitting so high in the water column they were almost on the surface.

First up, Luke West and Dean Henry-Smith from Flick Wits break down a huge weekend that saw them catch more than 150 bream across pre-fish and the two competition days.

Using LiveScope, Hurricane Sprats, Hybrid Shrimp and lightly weighted plastics, they found schools of black bream suspended incredibly high in the water column and finished third with 10 fish for 7.91kg.

Then Josh Jeffrey and Connor Jackson from Team Zero Technique talk through a very different tournament.

After a slow Saturday morning, they adapted with lightly weighted plastics and deeper presentations to put together 4.11kg, before a change in conditions on Sunday saw the bite improve dramatically. They backed it up with 4.41kg to finish second with 8.52kg.

Finally, Jason Mayberry joins the show after another victory for Team Shimano.

Jason explains why the Hurricane Sprat in Cleaver became the standout lure of the weekend, how he used LiveScope to locate moving and mudding fish, and why he was confident fishing just 2lb line at Mallacoota.

He also breaks down his unusual Sprat retrieve — skipping the lure across the surface like a fleeing prawn before allowing it to settle — along with an incredible session where yellowfin bream were feeding from just under the surface right through to the bottom.

Team Shimano finished with 4.42kg on Saturday and 4.34kg on Sunday for 8.76kg and the win.

IN THIS EPISODE:

• Mallacoota black and yellowfin bream• More than 150 fish across three days for Flick Wits• Bream feeding just below the surface• Forward-facing sonar and LiveScope• Hurricane Sprat in Cleaver• Hybrid Shrimp• Lightly weighted plastics• 1/40oz, 1/28oz and other ultra-light jighead presentations• Fishing 2lb, 5lb and 6lb line and leader• Sight casting to big black bream• Adjusting presentations as fish become pressured• Skipping plastics across the surface like prawns• Tournament bite periods and decision-making• Jason Mayberry's Team Shimano victory