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FIRST ANNUAL 'BIG CATCH' FISHING COMP A BIG SUCCESS AT APOLLO BAY

The first annual 'Big Catch' fishing competition was held on Saturday 10th of February in Apollo Bay as part of the Great Ocean Sports Festival. With around 700 fishing, cycling and surf life saving competitors attending the weekend the town was buzzing in the carnival atmosphere.

Trailers were lining up well before dawn.

The Big Catch kicked off the festival with a 6am start which was dampened by some light drizzle but as the day went on the weather improved into a warm sunny afternoon. Anglers were scattered between Kennett River and Aire River and fishing landbased or boating they were targeting allocated species including Snapper, Flathead, King George Whiting, Sharks and Bream.

Picturesque Apollo Bay was the scene for the first annual 'Big Catch' fishing comp over the weekend.

Each angler was allocated a measuring tape on which digital photos of fish were to be taken allowing fish to be released back into the water if so desired. Photos were then downloaded into the main computer and winners calculated from there. This system ran smoothly and competitors were all smiles as they enjoyed the social atmosphere at the boat ramp which included cricketing legend, fishing author and all round nice guy Merv Hughes.

Aussie Boat Sales (major sponsor) had people drooling over some new Mustang boats they had on display including a 2250 Walkaround and a 545 Clubsport. Fisheries officers and the water police also attended the competition making sure everyone was safe and behaving themselves. Plenty of fish were landed and just about everyone caught something worthy of a photo.

The big Mustang 2250 Walkaround from Aussie Boat Sales.

The day was not without its dramas with one competitor returning to the ramp by 9.30am after a wave broke over his 6-metre boat some kilometres offshore. There were also plenty of seasick anglers, even those who claimed they never got seasick, which is an indication of the conditions on the day.

Craig "Snags" Rippon with his son and the 2m blue that won him the shark trophy.

The competition finished at 6pm but the fun was just beginning as awards were handed out back at the Apollo Bay Surf Life Saving Club. Thanks to some very generous sponsors there was an enormous amount of prizes, trophies and giveaways handed out by Merv who whipped the kids into a frenzy as prizes were tossed into the crowd at the end of presentations. The social activities continued well into the night and a very good time was had by all.

Brent "The Pieman" Wilson with his 64cm flathead.

The Great Ocean Sports Festival would like to thank the following for there help and kind donations: Aussie Boat Sales, Merv Hughes, Daniel Kent, Matt Learmonth, Ben Sandman, Lowrance, Shimano, Victoria Fishing Monthly Magazine, AFN, Colac Otway Shire, Fishvictoria.com, Juro, Pure Fishing, L Wilson & Co., Surf-n-Fish, Apollo Bay Surf Shop, Damien Petrie Traffic Management, DPI and Victoria Police.

AWARDS:

SENIORS - BOAT
Grand Slam - 4 Species	Mathew Kearton	Lowrance sounder, trophy
Longest Snapper	Brent Wilson, 44cm	Shimano rod/reel combo, trophy
Longest Flathead	Brent Wilson, 64cm	Shimano rod/reel combo, trophy
Longest King George Whiting	Craig Rippon, 42.5cm	Shimano rod/reel combo, trophy
Longest Shark	Craig Rippon, 200cm	Shimano rod/reel combo, trophy
Mystery Length Snapper	Dean Candy	'Merv, Caught In The Deep' book, 6-month Victoria Fishing Monthly magazine subscription
Mystery Length Flathead	Sandra Gay	'Merv, Caught In The Deep' book, 6-month Victoria Fishing Monthly magazine subscription
Mystery Length King George Whiting	Mark Garret	'Merv, Caught In The Deep' book, 6-month Victoria Fishing Monthly magazine subscription
Mystery Length Shark	Charlie Buchanan	'Merv, Caught In The Deep' book, 6-month Victoria Fishing Monthly magazine subscription
Craig "Snags" Rippon and some of his winning whiting.
SENIORS - LAND-BASED
Bream	Lance Cahill, 36cm	Shimano rod/reel combo, trophy
Mystery Length Bream	Mathew March	'Merv, Caught In The Deep' book, 6-month Victoria Fishing Monthly magazine subscription
Lance Cahill's winning bream.
JUNIORS
Grand Slam	Aiden Pipper	Rod/reel combo, trophy
Longest Fish	Kane Roberts	Prize pack
Mystery Length	Indy Ryan	Rod/reel combo
Lucky Tag Number	Jack Kettle	Prize pack
FUN STUFF
Noteworthy Catch	Tim Smith, Bream	AFN book, Victoria Fishing Monthly magazine subscription, Berkley Gulp lures
Noteworthy Catch	Luke Buchanan, Blue Shark	Fishing DVD, Victoria Fishing Monthly magazine subscription, Berkley Gulp lures
Luckless Land-based Award	Alan Craddock	Fishing DVD, Victoria Fishing Monthly magazine subscription, Berkley Gulp lures
Luckless Land-based Award	Kris Thomas	Juro lures, Victoria Fishing Monthly magazine subscription, Berkley Gulp lures
Best GPS Unit Without Any GPS Marks	Bill Wilson	AFN GPS book, Victoria Fishing Monthly magazine subscription, Berkley Gulp lures
Victoria Police Award	Darren Foster	AFN GPS book, Victoria Fishing Monthly magazine subscription, Berkley Gulp lures
Biggest Monkey	Bobby Benson	DVD Gift Pack
Best Power Chuck	Jay Martin	DVD Gift Pack
Giveaways	Everyone!

The Victorian Water Police were in attandance with their 24-footer.

Big Merv kept a watchful eye over proceedings from this billboard near the boat ramp. The real Merv was out fishing in the comp but failed to trouble the scorer.

Regards,
Daniel Kent

See Daniel Kent's previous report here.