Moderate winds and cold rain greeted the 28 anglers competing in the Bass fishing event of the 2007 Qld Police and Emergency Services Games held at Somerset Dam on the 6^th & 7^th September. The Qld Police Service, Qld Fire and Rescue Service and the Qld Correctional Service were represented at this event. Despite the poor weather the anglers were on the water waiting for the 6.30 start of session 1. Using only lures or fly the majority of anglers opted to cast to the newly flooded banks to target the bass. Fighting the windy and rainy conditions 9 anglers presented bass to be measured in. 14 bass were measured with the biggest going 445mm fork length. 5 anglers presented their 2 bass limit.

During the lunch break the successful anglers shared their knowledge with the other anglers and despite the bad weather were back on the water waiting for the start of the second session. Casting Spinnerbaits and Jackals to the banks 11 anglers presented 18 bass to be measured with the biggest bass for the 2^nd session going 492mm. 7 anglers presented their 2 bass limit.

Thursday night everyone got together for lucky draws with the winners taking home Smak Spinnerbaits, Platypus Superbraid, Bassman Spinnerbaits and Nitro jigheads. The top two anglers after session 2, Terry McCullough and Adam McLoughlan were called upon to share their techniques. Both anglers reported that they persisted with casting to the banks and that persistence paid off with bass. This information heightened the enthusiasm of the other anglers and Friday morning all the anglers were back on the water waiting in the rain for the 6.30 start of the 3^rd session. The information gained from the previous night helped some of those anglers who had not caught any fish in the previous 2 sessions to catch some bass.

The end of the 3rd session saw a slight change in the leader board and Ipswich Policeman Adam McLoughlan took out the Gold Medal with a 6/6 bag totaling 2.433m. Thanks to the generous support of sponsors Adam also took home a Team Daiwa Advantage 153HSTA Baitcaster and lures pack donated by The Toowoomba Chronicle. Adam used a 7ft Shimano 2-4kg Katana rod with a Shimano Symetre reel loaded with 6 pound crystal fireline and 8 pound Yamatoyo leader to cast various lipless crankbaits to the very shallow banks. Adam alternated between Jackalls and River2Sea rattling crankbaits to land the majority of his bass. Adam, an accomplished Bream angler, said that he landed his biggest Bass, a fat 488mm bruiser using a Daiwa Procaster 1-3kg 6’10 rod matched to a Daiwa Samurai 1500 loaded with 2 pound pink Fireline with 6 pound Sunline leader casting an Ecogear SX-48 in Foster colour. The fish took it and swam parallel to the shoreline and boat before it realised it was hooked and then put up an almighty fight on the light gear. “The fish was swimming in shallow water and I could see it’s fin as it cruised the bank.” Adam commented.

Silver Medal winner was Kingaroy Policeman Terry McCullough. Terry spent the 3 sessions casting Jackall TN60’s to the same 100 metre section of bank. He used a 7’ Black Diamond Crankbait matched to a Daiwa Alphas spooled with 10lb Spiderwire Stealth and 14lb Berkley Vanish Leader to catch his 6/6 limit totaling 2.374m. Terry also took home an S2 Egrell Spin rod donated by Egrell Dezingz rods.

Toowoomba Policeman Brad Clark took out the Bronze Medallion with a 6/6 limit totaling 2.29m. In addition to the Bronze Medal, Brad also took home an S4 Egrell Spin Rod. He alternated between a Smak Pro Select spinnerbait and a Jackall TN70 to catch his limit casting to the banks. He used a 7’ Black Diamond Crankbait matched to a Daiwa Zillion baitcaster spooled with 16lb Yamatoyo Super PE and 12lb Berkley Vanish Leader to deliver the Jackall and a Daiwa Procaster Z with a Daiwa Certate spooled with 6lb Yamatoyo Super PE and 12lb Vanish leader to get the Smak Spinnerbait to the banks.