Press Release
Callum Munro takes out the 2010 Boondooma Bass Pro
16 year old Berkley Junior Angler, Callum Munro has announced his presence on the ABT Bass Pro circuit with an outstanding win at Boondooma Dam.
Hailing from Cootharaba QLD, this unassuming year 12 student from Noosa District High School made all the right moves to win one of the toughest bass pro events in ABT’s twelve year history.
To set the scene, Boondooma Dam had experienced a massive rise from around 40% to 98% just a few months earlier. With the rise came a lot of red dirt sediment from the rich farmlands of the Boyne River catchment, this sediment had still not cleared, and visibility was limited to only a few inches. Although this rise is fantastic news for Boondooma’s long term fishing, there is short term pain. The dirty water doesn’t allow sunlight to penetrate, therefore preventing the growth of micro-organisms that are the basis of the lake’s food chain. Consequently there were no thermo clines or bass feeding on the flats, turning this comp into an edge-bite affair.
Callum’s tournament lead-up started with the Bass Bounty comp held on Boondooma two weeks prior to the ABT Bass Pro. Callum found fish and had good results on spinnerbaits on the edges. However on the prefish day, his success came fishing bream sized blades on points. So that became his plan for the weekend.
Session one.
Callum headed straight to a rocky point in the Boyne Arm. He began working small Blades down the sides of his point. He started by picking up a few undersize bass, and got his first legal at around 7.30am. Plugging away, he scored several more just undersized bass throughout the session, before hooking and landing his second legal at 10am. The fishing was getting harder as the session progressed, and he was stoked to get his limit, which weighed in at 1.02kg.
Session two.
Starting in second position behind Carl Jocumsen, Callum headed straight back to his point, but the fish had moved off. He stuck to his guns, but didn’t get a single bite all session.
Session three.
Callum slipped to fifth overnight, but with such a tough bite, he was still only 120grams astray of the leader. This was still a comp for almost anyone to win in the last session.
Straight back to his point, the fish were back again, showing up on his Humminbird sounder. Callum’s confidence was boosted further by landing several undersized bass early, and then his first legal at 8am. His non-boater, Paul Taylor also picked up a legal fish. They were both getting a fair few tentative bites, and a few undersized. The fish were definitely active on the point.
With just 45minutes to go in the session, Callum got the bite he was chasing, and knew he was onto a good fish. He played it out very carefully, and when Paul slipped the net under the fish, Callum was pumped. It was another good fish, and pure gold in a tough bite. Callum knew he had a competitive bag.
Back at the weigh-in tent, word had spread that Matt Andersen and Callum were the only two anglers to score full limits that session, therefore the only two who could take the crown. The suspense was building for both anglers. Callum weighed in first, and his bag went 1.68kg, the biggest bag of the weekend. Matt needed 1.56kg to take the lead off Callum. As Matt’s bag hit the scales, they levelled out at 1.21kg and Callums victory was secured! A momentous occasion in a young angler’s bass career.
This hard fought win makes Callum the youngest ever Bass Pro winner, taking the title from irrepressible Carl Jocumsen.
Tackle and Technique
Callum fished a variety of small blades, but his legal fish came on Berkley 34mm Big Eye Blade in Bunyip and Nugget, see http://www.###########.com.au/baits/blades/bigeye-blades/
He fished a few different outfits, including a Berkley Dropshot tournament pro IM7 2-5kg matched with a Pflueger Supreme 200STX. His outfits were all loaded with 3lb Crystal fireline and 10lb vanish leader.
Callum stuck to one point all comp. Although he worked his way around the point, all the legal fish came off one side, in virtually the same spot. He would cast the blade in towards the bank in about 4-5 feet of water. Allowing it to sink, he then worked it down the slope of the bank with small hops, into around 15 -20 foot. Most of the good bites came halfway down the bank.
Background and Future
Although this is his first season as a boater on the ABT Bass tour, Callum has had many years of bass fishing with his father, James and uncle, Greg on their home lakes of McDonald and Borumba. Coming through the feeder comps such as the Bass Electrics, Basstasstic Series, Minibucks and Bass Bounties, Callum has seen a lot of success fishing with his father and also with Berkley Barra Angler, Trevor Burgess. In the past two years, he has had a heap of wins and top places in the past two seasons, including a win at the Australian Bass Championships Grand Final on Borumba in 2009.
Callum is a quiet and unassuming young angler who definitely has a knack of finding bass and getting them to bite. When not on a bass dam, Callum can be found working part time at Davo’s Bait and Tackle, Noosaville. Although he’s not sure what the future holds, I’m confident we will see a lot more of him on the Bass scene in years to come.
Matt Fraser
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