Sydney's Daiwa BREAM Australian Open rolled into a sunlit day two with Steve Morgan still wearing key tag number one, the ABT founder cranking an early limit out of Middle Harbour before grinding upgrades from the oyster racks on Eco Gear Aqua and a finale on Outback River Baits Little Mass.
The Daiwa BREAM Australian Open—the marquee event on the ABT national calendar—runs across three days out of Sydney Harbour, with the championship settled on aggregate bag weight at the final weigh-in. Morgan opted to go back to the same water that produced his opening limit, and posted the day two diary to his Steve Morgan Fishing channel.
"It was pretty cool leaving with key tag number one on the second day of the Daiwa BREAM Australian Open," Morgan said. "Like day one I left, went to Middle Harbor for the day. A little bit rougher this morning. And a sunny day which I think's pretty good. I think it positions the fish right in the structure where you expect them to be."
With brighter banks and a steadier wind line, Morgan worked the moored boats and pontoons first thing for a quick five-fish limit, then turned the day into a measured upgrade hunt.
"Caught an early limit cranking the boats. Upgraded immediately on Aqua and then finished out the day catching plenty of fish on the Outback River Baits Little Mass," Morgan said.
Early fish ran in the 274mm to high-twenties range—classic bag-filler material that any bream tournament regular pots up to get the cull started. As the sun shifted the fish deeper into the oyster racks the size class climbed and the Eco Gear Aqua came into its own.
"This is a lot more exciting fishing because you're throwing up shallow and if they can come out of—I had one yesterday come out of about a foot of water and just charge it down," Morgan said. "So I do a lot of this in the Hawkesbury actually, up Cowan Creek. We do this a lot. Sink it down near the structure and make sure you got a tight drag."
"That was the first one of the ones we really need today," Morgan said. "How did he get out of those oysters? I'll put that down to luck, not skill. The only skill I had there was knowing not to pull too hard."
With stick minnow fish refusing the program—"I threw stick minnows on there yesterday. They didn't like it. They decided the mussel is what they want"—Morgan rolled into the Outback River Baits Little Mass and ground out 27 to 30 centimetre fish, working his cull forward in 100‑gram increments without ever uncovering a clear kilo-class bite.
His closing one-liner summed up the day. "Little Mass for the win."
With day three of the Daiwa BREAM Australian Open still to come, Morgan retains key tag number one and the launch-first advantage that comes with it.