Tackle Tactics » LATEST-NEWZ » Stuart Walker ABT Champion
Stuart Walker ABT Champion
Q&A with Stuart Walker
Tackle Tactics Pro Angler Kris Hickson caught up with 2018 ABT Non Boater Grand Final Champion, Angler of the Year and #1 ranked Non Boater Stuart Walker.
Stuart 'Willie' Walker has made a name for himself on the bream scene as possibly the best Co Angler in history and the 2018 season has been testament to that!
He's also not shy in promoting the fact that a great deal of his success has been on the back of one specific lure or a variation of it. Stewart is a man of few words, however Kris Hickson spoke with the man himself about his recent success.
So Stewie, what did you do?
"2018 has been a great year and I managed to snag a win at the ABT Bream Grand Final."
And...
"... and I also managed to take out the Non Boater AOY as well as keeping the #1 Ranking."
How did you manage this?
"This year I managed to fish 8 out of the 9 qualifying rounds and in those rounds I had 5 Top Ten finishes, which was enough to take out Angler of the Year. I had a great draw in the Grand Final down in East Gippsland, fishing with Jason Mayberry Day 1, Wayne Robinson - who had conveniently been one of only a handful of anglers to pre-fish Bemm River and then Jason again on the last day.
The GF Day 1 I had a 2.5" ZMan GrubZ and a ZMan 2.5" Slim SwimZ, both in Motor Oil colour tied on. With no fish in the first hour we shifted to a deeper bank, between 10 and12 foot, I picked up the GrubZ rigged on a 1/16oz TT HeadlockZ jig head.
Second cast, on the first hop after hitting the bottom, I got a hefty thump and the first fish, going?37cm fork. Over the next hour, the Motor Oil GrubZ and the 1/16oz HeadlockZ accounted for another 6-7 fish, going 35 fork to 38 fork.
Day 2, the first half a dozen bream all came on the GrubZ again in Motor Oil on the 1/16oz HeadlockZ.
Day three, I caught 7 or 8 keepers, once again all falling to the GrubZ fished in 2 to 3 foot of water."
So what's your favourite soft plastic setup then?
"Without doubt, my favourite lure for bream would be the ZMan 2.5" GrubZ in Motor Oil rigged on a 1/16oz HeadlockZ Finesse jig (light wire) but a very close second would be the 2.5" Slim SwimZ in Motor Oil, rigged on the same jig head."
Your Reasoning behind loving this combo so much?
"It just catches fish! Nearly anywhere, anytime, I can rely on one of these two combinations to catch fish."
Any special techniques to catching Bream on the "Stewie Special"
"I don't have any special techniques. After casting, wind back any slack line so that you can keep in contact with your lure, detecting any small taps. After hitting the bottom use small hops back to the boat. You can vary the speed of the return and the size of the hops from the bottom. Just basic bream fishing.
The GrubZ or the Slim SwimZ certainly didn't catch all my fish this year but for me they were by far the most consistent and I would not?go into a tournament without either or even both tied on!"
There you have it, a prime example of keeping it simple to hop your way to success in bream tournaments.
The trusty old ZMan GrubZ and now the Slim Swimz have stamped their authority once again in the tackle boxes at the top of the leader board and we can't see this changing any time soon.
Do yourself a favour, get into your local and grab a few packs to try for yourself. Willie said so!