Addicted To Bass At Boondooma

Bass Australia Nation at Boondooma Dam — Winner Brad Clark, from Toowoomba, with his trophy and prize cheque

May 27, 2014

Kingaroy fisherman Trevor Stead was the pick of the South Burnett professionals competing at the weekend’s Atomic B.A.S.S. Australia Nation Tournament at Boondooma Dam.

Stead, competing in the Pro division, came in 6th, followed by Jaimen Tunstall (15th), Greg Mitchell (24th) and Matthew Mott (26th).

In the Amateur division, local knowledge obviously paid off for Corey Goldie who came second; Goldie is the manager of the Lake Boondooma Tourist Park.

Other South Burnett competitors in the amateur ranks were Dylan Mott (11th) and Mark Bleys (23rd).

Boondooma Dam played host to 70 of Australia’s best professional and amateur bass fishermen for the second round of the competition.

After a Friday set aside for practice, competitors took to the lake at 7:00am on Saturday and Sunday, bringing their best catches back at 2:00pm each afternoon for weigh-ins.

Organisers stress the competition is a live “catch and release” event.

“We’re a low ecological impact sport,” organiser Drew McGrath said.

“We’ve even produced a special brochure to show all competitors the best ways to keep their catches in tip-top condition before they’re released after the weigh-ins.”

Nearly all competitors agreed that Saturday’s fishing was “hard” but on Sunday, the tide turned for many and both catch numbers and weights went up.

At the weigh-ins, there were laughs at the smallness of some catches – all within legal minimums – and applause for the size of others.

In the end, Toowoomba fisherman Brad Clark was announced the Round 2 winner, presenting a 2.88kg bag at the final weigh-in for a total catch weight of 6.09kg over the weekend.

Organisers were also full of praise for Boondooma Dam.

“This is a really wonderful dam and we’d be very happy to come back here next year,” Drew said.

Based on a survey of competitors, they also estimated the weekend’s competition brought in close to $100,000 for the region in accommodation, food, fuel and supplies sales.

Another bass fishing event will be coming to Boondooma soon. Round 4 of the Basstasstic fishing competition will be held on June 21–22.