Hey legends Sean here from Outcast Angler, in July I will be competing in my first Hobie fishing event Gold Coast and apart from the odd informal competition I’ve never entered a fishing competition where I need to catch and weigh my fish in.  So, it’s fair to say when fishing, competing and keeping your fish alive there is a far bit going on and to consider, so in this article I go through my thoughts, prep and gear as I move towards competing for the first time.

I guess the best place to start is the events, the Hobie series consists of fishing events held throughout various states of Australia targeting bream, anglers build up Angler of the Year (AOY) points with the goal of competing in the Australian championship, as the name suggest you also need to compete from a Hobie kayak to compete.   For me I have chosen the Gold Coast round as it is the only round in QLD this year and I am using it as a test run to see if I’m keen to compete in more events next year.  Fishing wise I would describe myself as a “hack of all fishing and master of none” of which bream fall into.  I don’t in anyway consider myself a bream expert but actually enjoy catching the odd bream on finesse gear and soft plastics.

Hobie fishing event gold coast oca

So, what have I been considering in the lead up to the event?  My kayak setup and fishing gear are the obvious ones and how the hell am I going to catch my bag of 3 bream each day so I don’t have to do the walk shame come weigh in time.

First up my kayak, I have a Hobie PA 12 360 with a reasonable sounder set up installed, so from that perspective I’m sorted but for the event, I also needed a live well which takes the place of my Hobie crate leaving me with some rearrange of tackle and rod storage for the comp, I also need a way of identifying and weighing the fish because I am hoping to catch more than 3. I did manage to get a Live well early on, which gave me time to dial in the positioning, how to operate it and most importantly how the kayak rides with 30 litres of water sloshing around. When it comes to weighing the fish, I think a small set of scales is going to be the simplest option but is angler has their own way and there is some great option to suit everyone.   Like any competition though dialling in your gear well ahead of an event is key to being successfully and hopefully it pays off for me.

Hobie fishing event gold coast kayak

When it comes to researching how to catch bream there is plenty of information and tackle out there to get the job done but where to start?  Hobie Fishing Asia Pacific has been great at releasing a series of angler videos which have been super informative on how each of the anglers go about targeting their fish but the one comment that really stood out for me was “fish what you know” and in my case that’s soft plastics.  So, in the lead up to the event and on the day, I am going to stick predominately to my Zman soft plastics with the idea to target bream in both the deep and shallower areas, my presentations will be a selection of 2.5” Grubz, Slim Swimz, and Prawnz, as I’ve caught a lot of bream using these.

If you’re wondering if the Hobie rounds might be for you, get into Sunstate Watersports and talk to the team, they have plenty of knowledge on what you’ll need to get involve and head over and check out the Hobie Fishing Asia Pacific Facebook Page as there is heaps of videos and post that are worth checking out.

Cheers for reading

OCA