Tuross Competition testing but rewarding

At this time of year the promise of good fishing before the weather cools down typically draws a crowd to the South Coast waterways at the weekends.

This year is no exception and like many others I spent most of the weekends fishing.  No surprises there.  What has surprised people I’ve told is that myself and 244 other anglers entered a competition that involved 18 hours of fishing over two days and wait for it … no one was allowed to keep a fish for dinner.  This isn’t as crazy as it first sounds, let me explain.

The event was the 2014 Tuross Heads flathead and bream competition.  It is a strictly catch-and-release competition and all fish must be caught using lures or artificial flies.  Competitors photograph their fish, along with a key tag showing their number, on a measuring mat.  To minimise stress to the fish, only their length is recorded, hence the competition was divided into three categories; the longest flathead, the longest bream and the longest ‘bag’ comprising two of each species.

On Friday night there were a few signs of nerves as people fussed over their boats, reels and lure collections.  To add to the drama, a fierce thunderstorm rolled over Tuross at about 11pm and didn’t pass until 2am on Saturday morning.  Tents and windows shook, the rain came in sideways and the lightening show was blinding.  Most anglers only managed three or four hours sleep before the competition started.

With the exception of Friday’s storm, the weather was great and there were some beautiful fish caught over the weekend.  Paul Scott won the prize for longest flathead for an 87cm fish.  Nine flathead over 70cms were caught reinforcing Tuross Lakes’ well-deserved reputation for big flattys.  Jake Mikolic won the prize for longest bream beating many experienced anglers for the title - Jake is only 10 years old! The biggest bag was won by Patrick Suthern with an impressive total of 183.5cm for his four fish.

Perhaps it was the large influx of freshwater from the storms, or the lack of sleep, but whatever the excuse most people found the fish were not as easy to come by.  A modest 138 or 56% of anglers recorded a legal-sized flathead and only 49 or 20% of anglers recorded a legal-sized bream. 

I’m happy to admit I did my part to contribute to these statistics catching a few flathead but not a single bream.  The largest fish of 58cm raised me to the lofty heights of 22nd overall.  All of the flathead were caught on Rapala minnow lures that slowly sink – a great searching tool for the sandy bottom and any fish lying-in-wait. Like 80% of anglers though the bream were too timid or cunning for me. A series of half-hearted bites early in the morning and fish retreating to the snaggiest parts of the lake during the day made them tough to catch - stories I heard repeated time and again each evening by other anglers.

For many participants though, the fishing was secondary to the event itself.  The mood throughout was festive and the competition friendly.  There was a great presentation from NSW DPI Fisheries on the latest techniques and research for maximising fish survival - more on this in a future column.  

So the question remains; were we just crazy fisherman to brave the thunderstorms, relatively tough fishing and the heartache of returning all the fish we caught to the water? Nope! It was a lot of fun and brilliantly organised by volunteers from the Tuross Heads Fishing Club and the Boat Shed. Any profits are richly deserved and will keep the town’s coffers ticking over between school holidays.  The event is now an important fundraiser.  Love to see you there in 2015.

Graham Fifield
Flickandflyjournal.com