Round two of the Wilderness Systems sponsored Yak Hunters Elite Series came faster than most expected, albeit after a nearly 3 month break from the competition side of business!
Unsurprisingly, a phenomenal turnout over the 4 states. Most impressive from Victoria who after 15 in round 1, managed to retain another 15 with a few fresh faces on the day. A massive contribution from Evan Koka running the daily events on the day, We don't mention it nearly enough, but as much as we have primary national admin that deal with the business aspect of things, our state admin get nowhere near the amount of thank they deserve.
However for the Victorian wrap up, it is time.
Victoria's venue for the day was Paynesville. Water temperature and conditions seemed to have won this war as many competitors on hand were nothing short of great anglers and fishing still proved to be hard. Bream being the target species and Flathead being secondary.
Mumma flatty told everyone to stay home, none were caught for the day. Papa tailor however asked everyone to go for a feed and low and behold, tailor aplenty and most anglers caught at least one throughout the course of the day.
Our daily winners and pacesetters are as follows;
Elite Series / 2 Anglers
1st - Stephen Majera
2nd - Evan Koka Burrito Taco
Pro Am Series / 13 Anglers
1st - Lex Forbes
2nd - Brendan Smith
3rd - Gary Slykerman
Now, down to the points situation, even with a fair whack of non competes in either round one or two. In the Pro-Am Class, Benjamin Hotchkin retains his state angler of the year lead after a hard round two and only minimal points banked. John Rao holds down second with a same same but different story to Ben. Brendan Smith, Lex Forbes & Tyler Hotchkin are hot on the heels of Ben in third place and are only 20 points adrift heading into most likely to be the hardest round of the year in Victoria, the finicky trout.
In the Elite Class, after a did not compete in round 1, Stephen Majera rockets into the lead for the state AOY in the Elite Class. Tony Meletis retains his high placing, previously leading but now slipping to second after a non compete in round 2. Evan Koka and his taco shop are pushing harder for result and currently languishing in third place a whopping 85 points behind our leader.
Everyone is keen to chase some Trout and we're hoping to see you all our for round 3!
South Australia is next, very much the same as Victoria, it's extremely promising to see the numbers increase after round one and see some fresh faces to one of the newer groups in the country.
After a decent showing of 8 in round 1, a stout showing of 13 showed in round 2. We're not sure what did it, maybe South Australians like cold weather ey? Maybe its the pursuit of Bream, or the dislike of the famed Coorong Mulloway.
Early, brisk morning action slowed eventually as the SA fish decided they're allergic to sunshine. Morning bags included the primary species being Bream, as well as many Flounder, Salmon and a lone Flathead came through. Upgrades were aplenty and made for a great day for all involved.
Our daily winners and pacesetters are as follows;
Elite Series / 10 Anglers
1st - Alex Whitehead
2nd - Luke Oleson
3rd - Andrew Helps
Pro Am Series / 3 Anglers
1st - Chris Miller
2nd - Mathew Bini
3rd - Matthew Gorne
Biggest Bream - Chris Miller - 33cms
Biggest Salmon - Joshua Davey - 29cms
Biggest Flounder - Neal Palmer / Luke Oleson - 55cms
For the points situation, Chris Miller in the Pro Am Class is near perfect and having a pretty good crack at checking out from the field. Currently 40 points clear of the duo of Mathew Bini & Matthew Gorne retaining a tie for 2nd with 170 points a piece. After two perfect rounds, you'd be asking if Chris could be knocked from his mantle this year.
Elite class having slightly more anglers has led to a more wild points spread. Neal Palmer retains his round one lead, backing up his perfect 100 with another 80 points in round two. Chad Soper, consistent and banking enough points will lock him into second, 45 points adrift of Neal. Bringing home the current bronze is Alex Whitehead sitting 35 points adrift of our second place runner.
Round 3 brings Callop (Yellowbelly) into the equation at a to be determined mighty Murray River location. We hope to see all you blokes out there!
New South Wales, the land of the ever majestic cockroach had a fruitful event. The birthplace of Yak Hunters always holds a special place to the more sentimental of our admin and staff. For the first time in a blue moon, we ventured down to Hen & Chicken Bay, on the banks of the Parramatta River. Like South Australia & our Victorian compatriots, Bream made a welcome entry to the NSW target species. Conditions on the day, whilst not perfect bore some cracking fish for those who managed to find them.
Our daily winners and pacesetters are as follows;
Elite Series / 18 Anglers
1st - Dan Rappolt
2nd - Ben Milliken
3rd - Josh Richards
Pro Am Series / 8 Anglers
1st - Mark Nissen
2nd - Jason Rumph
3rd - Bruce Tozer
Biggest Bream - Bruce Tozer - 42cms
Greg Rigby retains his round one Elite Series points series, bagging a sneaky 80 points en route to a two round total of 190 points. Ethan Hugo kept it together for round two and whilst not bagging maximum points does enough to keep him just shy of Greg on 150 points. Current 3rd place points angler Ben Milliken made a monstrous jump from 9th place after round 1, capping his round off with a solid 95 point haul & a daily class win! Could Ben go back to back?!
Bruce Tozer caps off two perfect 100 point hauls in the Pro Am class and retains his round 1 lead with a solid 200 point haul, Bagging the biggest Bream of the day as well as a 3rd place showing. Geoffrey Barry is playing the points game and without a win as yet, chases down Bruce with another 80 points, retaining second place in the Pro Am class. En route to a second place finish, Jason Rumph, caps off our NSW points spread moving one place higher from 4th to 3rd!
Next up on the NSW calendar is the spiritual local for Yak Hunters, with a good ol' Flathead tournament on the famed Lake Macquarie. Due to demand, this round with have an expanded field of 60 people and some massive prizes!
For our final tournament grounds, we travel to the dominant origin state of Queensland. Panamuna Outfitters Club on the banks of the Maroochy river played host to what was always going to be a tough slog. The dreaded dark horse fish of these Sunshine Coast Reaches, Trevally, of any species. After hearing of big bags being pulled the days prior, the weather was always going to be the factor.
Maroochydore didn't disapear and managed to blow its ass out all day which made for the toughest fishing seen in any event we've EVER held. Two fish all day were caught, luckily we had a couple of sneaky Bream as the secondary species sneak in to make up a points score for multiple anglers. Estuary Cod made up our bonus points fish for the day.
Elite Series / 25 Anglers / 4 No Shows
1st - Mark Pedersen
2nd - Scott Bryant
3rd - Shaun Wooderson
Pro Am Series / 31 Anglers / 4 No Shows
1st - Lee Major
2nd - Brendan Eustance
3rd - Sam Steele
Queensland points had such a stout change, we're going to keep you guessing for a while and will release the points a little closer to round 3! The 3rd round for the Queensland series will take us back into Brisbane chasing Bream at Raby Bay. Interest has been MASSIVE, so we're going to up our daily cap and invite 80 of you to participate in this round! Get in early as spots are filling fast.
For event entries, head to Elite Series Entries and fill out both forms.
Well over 100 anglers competed and completed round 2 of the Wilderness Systems sponsored Yak Hunters Elite Series. Thankyou to all that attended and made this first season of this series great. Without the help of our major sponsors and daily event sponsors we'd never be able to put on such a great show. When you get the chance don't forget to give back to some of these great companies.
MAJOR PARTNERS
Wilderness Systems Kayaks
Perception Kayaks
EVENT PARTNERS
Viking Kayaks Australia
Dragon Kayak
Crazy Kayaks
Rod Armour
FPV Power
Hurricane Lures
Ricks Fish On Plastics
Estuary Clothing
Sharp Point Jigheads
Yak Hunters Australia
