The 2025 Australian Bass Tournaments (ABT) Bream series got underway last week on the Gippsland Lakes, with Darryl Baird winning the coveted boater section.
The event attracted 56 boats with the competition broken up into a boater (captain) and non-boater section (passenger).
Baird’s impressive win saw his 10-fish haul over two days weigh in at just over 11 kilograms (11.087kgs).
It was his second ABT victory, having also scored a win at Paynesville several years ago.
Baird was the overnight leading, continuing to work the magic with his hard bodies, holding on to defeat Damien McGlynn (10.504kgs) and Paul Holmes (10.448kgs).
The non-boater section was won by Melbourne’s Simon Krause contesting his very first ABT event, his six-bream haul weighing in at 7.194kgs.
Heath Kimber (6.873kgs) was placed second, with Nathan Booth (6.456kgs) third.
The biggest fish of the tournament was caught by Mario Vukic, a 42.5 centimetre species which weighed in at 1.735 kilograms.
Both winning anglers have earned the first qualifying spots in the 2025 ABT grand final which will be held across Marlo and Bemm River in October.
