ABT Costa BREAM Series Grand Final: Outsider clinches top title and a Mercury 150 FourStroke
by Mercury Marine 6 Dec 2018 01:31 UTC
Mercury Cup champ Kris Hickson with Mercury's Andrew - ABT Costa BREAM Series Grand Final © Mercury Marine
Jason Mayberry, a self-confessed outsider, has clinched the ABT Costa BREAM Series Grand Final to take home a $60,000 Bass Cat boat package featuring a Mercury 3.0L 150hp FourStroke outboard.
Jason, from the south coast of NSW, led the event from start to finish and took the top prize ahead of 44 other breamers who had qualified through events all over Australia.
Held in Victoria's East Gippsland, the three-day tournament saw competitors fish Gippsland Lakes, Bemm River and Marlo.
Amazingly, Jason had never fished the final two arenas before. Ever.
However, a life time of experience and a mastery of catching bream on 2lb breaking strain line saw him take the trophy ahead of a fast-finishing Victorian, Brad Hodges.
"I think it'll take a few days to sink in," Jason said, after accepting the prize from Mercury's Andrew Small and Bass Cat Australia's Craig Simmons.
"This is the most prestigious title in Australian bream fishing and the biggest prize and when I came here, I really thought that I was just making up numbers. I didn't rate my chances at all," he said.
With around 70% of the field using Mercury outboards, the event illustrated the preference of Australia's leading anglers for the power, speed and reliability of Mercury.
Mercury Cup
Throughout the tournament season, Mercury owners once again competed amongst themselves for the Mercury Cup.
This year the Cup was hotly contested with 2018 BREAM Angler of the Year from Queensland, Steve Morgan; the ultra-consistent Victorian, Cam Whittam; and Taree's Kris Hickson all in contention on the last day of the season.
But ultimately it was Hickson who won the Cup and the $1,000 prizemoney.
"I started the season with a 225hp Verado but switched boats and used a 150 ProXS FourStroke for the second half," Hickson said. "I've only ever run Mercury outboards and I can't ever see myself using anything else."
"It's great to see so many Mercury motors on competitors' boats," said Mercury's Andrew Small. "From 40 to 250hp, it seems that it all of the top anglers use them."
It all goes to prove that Australia's best breamers are powered by Mercury.
Full results can be found on www.abt.org.au or like "Australian Bass Tournaments" on Facebook.