"

Moreton Bay Classic a Massive Success
  |  First Published: October 2010



From Rockhampton in central Queensland to Port Melbourne, Victoria, competitors from near and far flocked to the shores of Moreton Bay for the second annual Moreton Bay Fishing Classic.

The 2010 classic was a massive success with nearly double the number of competitors than the 2009 tournament, sharing in over $200,000 in cash and prizes.

More than 600 competitors competed in the Classic over the six days, some from as far afield as Port Melbourne, Victoria.

The Classic was held between Moreton Bay Trailer Boat Club at Manly and Little Ship Club at Dunwich. A daily televised live-cross between the two headquarters gave keen competitors the chance to fish the Bay or the ocean in the bid for up to $1,500 cash for the largest catch of each of the 13 species.

Full competitors were also in the running for the ultimate prizes: a Haines Signature 540F Trailer Boat and Suzuki Motor valued at $49,292; a Suzuki Grand Vitara worth $29,613; and an Ocean Kayak Malibu Two XL Angler Kayak priced at $1,600.

To add more excitement to the prize pool Carlton offered an extra $10,000 to competitors who entered in the Carlton Mid rich fish competition. Unfortunately the $20,000 rich fish eluded the comp, but certainly didn’t dampen the spirit of the tournament.

This year, The Classic took on a family focus running a junior competition in conjunction with the big league. Daily fish prizes and random prize draws were open in the junior category every day of the competition, with overall category winners for bream, whiting and flathead species awarded on the closing night.

Sunday featured the Suncorp and 4BC Family Fun Day, kicking off with 4BC Broadcasting from the Classic’s Manly base. Jaime Dunn and Agro paid a visit; while the festive atmosphere continued all day with face painting, live entertainment, a kids fishing clinic and on-water demonstration from Ocean Kayak.

Tuesday saw the weather turn wild with extreme winds and big seas. But it certainly didn’t discourage the keenest competitors, who dutifully arrived at 4:00pm for the daily weigh-in with their catch.

Anthony Gosen won the title Classic Catch with a 21.45kg jewfish that he caught on the first day of the event. The largest fish caught was a 33.35kg cobia hooked by Andrew Campbell.

Event organisers and competitors alike are already looking forward to next year’s tournament; bringing even more fishing fun to South East Queensland with the region’s wealthiest fishing competition.

With the growing event predicted to be even larger next year, the organisers are looking at capping entrant numbers at 1000, so make sure you get your entries in early next year. –Moreton Bay Trailer Boat Club

Reads: 3629

Matched Content ... powered by Google