NEW SOUTH WALES, Australia — Troy Danes won the Inaugural Megabass B.A.S.S. Australia Nation Championship, Sept. 7, on Lake Glenbawn, and now he’ll be the first Australian ever to compete in the Old Milwaukee B.A.S.S. Nation Championship, Nov. 6-8.
Danes won the event by a slim margin — only 10 grams, or less than 1 ounce — over Tom Slater.
“Once the weigh-in was concluded, the humbled Troy spoke very highly of his sponsors and the group of anglers he had been competing with, which opened up a lot of emotion from the spectators,” said Drew McGrath, Australia B.A.S.S. Nation president.
“Troy now becomes the very first angler to represent Australia officially and travels to Monroe, La., in the U.S.A. to take on the world’s best from the B.A.S.S. Nation, where he has a one in nine shot at making the world championship of bass fishing, the Bassmaster Classic.”
Danes weighed in eight fish over two days for 5.29 kgs. For his victory, he wins an all-expenses-paid trip to the championship, $2,000 spending money, a Megabass Caiyen 256 Spin Reel and a pair of Tonic Polarised Eyewear sunglasses.
“The BlueScope Steel worker from Blaxland in NSW couldn’t be more Australian, genuine and humbled by being the first Australian representative,” said McGrath, “and he flew under the radar a little. Troy has only been fishing at this level for a year and noted to us that a Top 10 finish would have been satisfying. But with a really strong pre-fish the weeks before with Mal Draper, he had a very strong plan that held out for the entire weekend.”
Danes determined that the fish were sitting deeper than most competitors were fishing, and he focused on the 25- to 35-foot water column, where he felt the fish would replenish more quickly and bite more freely in the ultraclear tournament waters.
“Lake Glenbawn is a pure bass factory, and at any time of the year you can expect to catch bass with ease in the system,” said McGrath, “but with a tournament of this magnitude being held and with an unprecedented two-day pre-fish, the bass had become a little shy.
Danes cast his jig out to 25 feet and bounced it down the bank to 35 feet with short hops, being sure to keep the lure touching bottom. Once he felt a small bite, he would either increase the retrieve to entice the strike or deadstick it to allow the bass to suck it off the bottom.
Danes had limits by 7:30 each morning, which took the pressure off for the rest of the day. His last cull was a 3-pounder in the last half hour, which sealed the deal for him.
Danes used a combination of cut down 3-inch Keitech Swing Impact plastics (sahara olive and baby ayu) with a 1/4-ounce TT jighead with a 1/0 hook. He added it to a Samurai 101 rod and Shimano Ci4 Stradic 2500 with 6-pound-test Sunline PE and 5-pound Sunline V-Hard Leader.
“I find the 5-pound is a real good trade-off when you don’t know when to go 4-pound and risk being too light, or going to 6-pound and decreasing your bites,” said Danes.
Danes thanked Mick Roberts from Asakura Lures, Baden Sparrow from Keitech and his wife and family for their support over the season.
Behind Danes with 5.28 kgs was Tom Slater, Austackle Rookie of the Year winner, and Warren Carter, 5.15 kgs.
Mark Ferguson won the co-angler division, using cut down 3-inch Slider Grubs (muscadine and smoke yellow core) on Ausline 1/4-ounce jigs, a Samaki Zing Rod, a Daiwa Luvias 2000 reel and Berkley Braid Fireline in 6-pound-test and Berkley Vanish Transition 6-pound fluorocarbon for the leader.
Behind him were Matthew Langford and Malcolm Draper.
“Next season promises to be bigger and better than ever before as we are running tournaments for anyone interested in fishing under the B.A.S.S. banner from the ages of 11 years and older, no matter what your budget requirements are,” said McGrath.
To learn more or to get involved, visit www.bassaustralia.com.au or email McGrath at bass@bassaustralia.com.au.