The third Pirtek Fishing Challenge was held on Sunday, April 10 with 3905 anglers from all over Australia competing in the one-day event from 6am to 6pm.

The Challenge is a catch and release tournament with anglers photographing their prized catch of the day and then uploading the photo for judging. This year there were 17 target species spread across the nation and six prizes up for grabs for each target species – a total of 102 prizes.

Fish that stretched the longest across the brag mat would be in contention for a share of the $140,000 in cash and prizes. Pirtek Fluid Systems injected an incredible $70,000 cash ($4,000 for each longest target fish) along with Berkley, Lowrance, Roman Camping and JVC supplying the second, third, fourth and junior prizes.

Winners were announced on radio 2GB’s The Fishing Show on Saturday, 16 April and via the website - www.pirtekfishingchallenge.com.au .

This year thanks to the incredible generosity of our associate sponsors Polycraft Industries, Evinrude, Lowrance, Berkley, Oceanic Trailers, Hydrive and X-Factor Signs one lucky angler, Alan Rippon from Eimeo, QLD took home the Ultimate Fishing Rig - a $36,000 boating package.

Grant Jaques from Tumbi Umbi, NSW, was the winner of the $1000 BCF Spending Spree; and Frank Toa from Somersby, NSW, won the Fish The Challenge with ET and Guesty prize draw.

Michael Guest who directed the competition on Pirtek’s behalf commented, “Almost 4000 anglers all fishing on the one day and then uploading their catch photos made for interesting viewing. It was great to see the juniors get amongst some fantastic fish, our sincere thanks to Pirtek and associate sponsors for once again supporting this great event.”

Weather conditions were contrasting on the day. Lashing rain and storms in South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania made for tough fishing conditions; while the rest of Australia seemed to fare much better. Once again family teams had a lot of success winning senior and junior divisions in some of the target species.

Pirtek Fluid Systems Group General Manager, Stephen Dutton has been excited by the company’s involvement in an event that encompasses so much of the community. He commented, “We were delighted to see the participation rate increase this year by over 60% allowing us to continue in our goal of raising funds and the profile of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.

“100% of the every angler’s registration fee goes directly to the PCFA to further support research and awareness programs. Pirtek and our franchisees would like to thank everyone who participated and are looking forward to hosting the Challenge in 2012.” – PFC