Significant ABU Friends
Ming Liu Online & Product Development Coordinator, Pure Fishing, Australia
I have known Ming for several years since he first joined Pure Fishing Malaysia.
His boss Quek but us in contact and Ming won the promotion to his current role working for PF early in 2015.
As well as having a strong interest in the roots of the old ABU company, collecting lures, rods and reels, he is firmly rooted in the modern ABU Garcia of Pure Fishing Australia.
He is a talented industrial designer, see some of his tee-shirt designs on this site, as well as a very net savvy, social media organizer for PF as well as a very competetent fishman. See his recent meritorious Flathead caught at the Gold Coast Flathead Classic. The story of the event is below
2015 Gold Coast Flathead Classic has come to an end and we had memorable time with 2 teams participated for this event. Team Abu Garcia was represented by Peter Kerr, Mark Singleton and myself & Berkley represented by Nitro Matt &Chris Gates.
Day 1- It was an eventful one, with me bagging my first Flathead measuring at 96 cm ! Making it the second biggest Flathead in the history of the classic and I was absolutely stoked at the shear size of that beauty. Looking at the murky water at the sand flats off the 'Pin'. I rigged up a Berkley Gulp! 4" Jigging Grub - Chartreuse on a Nitro Jighead (Matt Fraser special colour) and casted to the shallows, working a short lift & drop. The next thing, I felt was a hard hit on the bait and the Spiderwire Stealth Code Red just started peeling off from the Revo STX baitcaster. It sped off just like a one way bullet train in the shallows and it took me close to 15- 20 minutes to land it on the light setup. The shear size of the Flattie was just too overwhelming as it stretches almost close to end of the measuring mat ! We had the biggest pleasure to have David Granville to document all the great shot of the big girl. Thanks Dave ! Later that day, we managed to pick up a few here and there to top up some points for first day.
Day 3 - We kept to our game plan and really put through its paces working the shallow drop-offs while waiting for the incoming tide. Once the tide flooded over the flats, we nailed another dozen worth of flatties ranging from the 40s - 50s. Exact sizes we need for the vital points. The fishing was getting tougher on the last day and I've cracked the code on how the flatties were feeding off the fringes of the mangroves. The hesitant light taps and bites did prove that they were finicky and out-smarting us. They were chasing baitfish and matching our soft-bait to the size of the bait-fishes was the key (match the hatch). The 3.5" & 4" Black n' Gold has proven deadly and I've picked up another 4 at the last 30 minutes of the final day.
We ended the classics with a good results of 1693 points, putting is at the 20th placing for the 3 Anglers Teams and I ranked 42 out of 500 odd anglers at the classic. I'm just stoked of winning the 'Longest Flathead' and our team (Team Berkley 1) came top 20 ! Not too bad for a first time visiting team and working on a foreign fishing ground.
We ought to be back stronger and better for next year's classic ! Special thanks to the legendary Matt Fraser (The man behind the ever successful Berkley Nitro Jigheads) for hosting us and I've learned so much from him in the past 3 days. His shear passion, determination and creativeness is outstanding. My hats-off to you Matt. Keep it up :)
Nonetheless, I have the biggest pleasure to have great team-mates and that custom-made Bar Crusher Boats by Peter Kerr is a monster of a ride ! :)
Cheers and Tight Lines !
See you again in 2016 !
Much more to follow in the career of Ming at Pure Fishing Australia, I'm sure!
Incidentally, Ming has been responsible for organizing the supply of the fine ABU Garcia Pure Fishing prizes offered each month in 2015. We hope this competition continues for ABU fans worldwide in 2016.
If you are a person that has significantly had an effect on design/development/testing of ABU equipment over the years please contact me abuadmiral@gmail.com if you wish your contribution documented for posterity and the immediate interest of the ABU fans worldwide!