Steve Wheeler

Being born in Gippsland i fished a lot as a young fella, mainly for trout & Redfin in the local rivers and lake on Celta's and the like.
We chased bream at places like Hollands Landing but usually on bait.
Lure fishing has always been a passion though, so when the soft plastics revolution started i was an avid participant , and used plastics extensively in my early tournaments.

I discovered hard bodied lures not long after and they still remain my favorite method of chasing fish.
I started fishing tounaments as a non boater and in my first comp qualified for the 05 grand final at Gippy, i was hooked for sure!
In 06 i bought my first bream boat a 445 Hornet Trophy , that boat did a hell of a lot of fishing , and in it i qualified for the 07
ABT grand final at Lake Maquarie NSW, leading going into the final day televised shootout i had to settle for 2nd and a fridge
instead of the 30K boat !!!

I have fished many ABT and classic tournaments since, travelling to Tassie & SA regularly with the odd trip to NSW.
My favourite places are still in Vic though with Mallacoota and the Gippsland Lakes hard to beat.
Have had a runner up in a Vic classic grand final and multiple top 5s in other events, like most blokes i am keen to win a BIG
tournament , but i enjoy competing even if i dont finish as well as i planned.
I have upgraded my boat to an 18ft 6 Triton with a 150 Optimax , it allows me to get to spots quickly but more importantly
to get there safely even if its blowing a gale.

I have had good success using CRANKA lures with quite a few 30+ fish sessions recently using my favourite black vibe
hopped from the edge down into deeper water. they can't resit it !