Like many other Weipa Fishing Classics from years gone by, the southerly winds made fishing conditions blustery for most of the weekend.

The strong winds did not put a dampener on the event though as Weipa was packed all weekend and all 1500 competition tickets were sold. Allison Alloy Boats and Weipa Auto (along with many other sponsors) were very kind to donate the major door prize of a brand spanking new 4.95 Allison Arafura and Yamaha four-stroke package. A young bloke from down south who was in Weipa temporarily for work won the package and was over the moon.

Although there were no standout fish weighed in for the comp, a few decent fish were still caught over the weekend including a good GT that nearly broke the 20kg mark and was caught after a lengthy battle under the Mission River Bridge. Over all it was a well-run competition with nearly $100,000 dollars of fantastic prizes on offer.

One thing that surprised me was that there was no category for black jewfish to be weighed in. Weipa has some of the best black jew fishing on offer in Queensland and it was disappointing to see no category for this fish, which is one of the hardest fighting fish on offer in Weipa.

On other reports aside from the competition, there has been some great pelagic action around the lead beacons and down south towards Pera. We have seen a fantastic run on good-sized winter Spaniards with some fish approaching the 15kg mark.

Mixed in between these big Spanish have been some cracker queenies around 110cm and some good longtails in there for some line burning action. Jigging metal slugs around 9 mile has accounted for some good reefies however be prepared for the ever plentiful 50lb GTs that will test out every inch of any anglers’ gear and stamina when using 30lb spin gear. As usual, the men in grey suits have made their presence well known and have accounted for their fair share of lost fish.

The Pine and upper reaches of the Hay Rivers have been firing for good 80cm+ barras and even a few decent fingermark thrown in for good measure.

I have had a few good sessions on smaller barras up to 70cm on the flats in the Mission with small soft plastics taking most of the fish. These shallow flats fish well all year round however they seem to produce fish in the cooler months more consistently than the deeper snags that fish well over summer.

The only down side to fishing the flats is that due to the high number of rats, which can be more than 50 a day, you tend to become a bit complacent. Then when you are least expecting it, you will be smoked back into the mangrove by a 20lb fish, which has busted off the lure before you even know what happened.