Just a quick congrats to the boys for a great effort at the ABT AOY Round 1 for WA held in Walpole.

Fishing was brutally tough for the normally firing system with anglers returning in frustration with bags of small fish.  Callum Dowell (Dowelly) smashed his way into first on day one (non-boaters) with a belter bag of bream landed from the Deep River.  Long time JiggyJigs supporter Craig Leatt-Hayter pulled out one of his best starts to a tournament with a massive 3.2kg bag to take the lead in the boaters class.  Young gun James Graham had a solid day landing a huge number of fish but not finding the required kicker fish for his bag and sat in a very solid 8th postion, along with Dave Press in 12th (non-boaters) and Deacon Plant further down the order.

Day two fished a little easier with the fish seeming to be slightly more on the chew.  Day one leader Craig Leatt-Hayter landed a 4 fish bag but unfortunately it wasn't quite enough to hold out and slipped to a very strong 4th position, giving him every opportunity for a crack at his first AOY title to be decided in Albany on May 10-11.  Callum Dowelly held out with another bag of 5 fish to take out the non-boaters section by quite a margin.  His smile at the weigh in said it all and something tells me he is going to be someone to watch coming to his home town of Albany for round 2.  Dave Press managed a solid 4 fish bag to jump 5 spots to 7th on day two securing another top ten position with James Graham staying put in 8th with another consistent 5 fish bag.  Unfortunately Deacon's horror weekend continued with only the one fish weighed on day two leaving him down the placings.

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Thanks Yardi.

I must say, this tournament was probably the best socially and in terms of relaxation.  Both James and I commented on how badly we needed a good weekend away from Perth and the Swan and despite the conditions we both felt that it was just what was required.  Sat night was a cracker...wish we didnt have to fish the next day as the beer was flowing like water and it pained me to stop.

I also need to thank Stu and Chris.  I think I can say that I havent had the pleasure of such amazing boaters in an AOY round.  Both blokes went right out of their way and put in massive efforts to get me my 5 fish when they could have chased kicker fish for their own bags.

Dave

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