The 2014 Leigh Martin Marine Mercury Classic, Lake Hume was held on the weekend of the 1st and 2nd of November. 332 anglers were lucky enough to produce 317 fish, made up of 104 yellowbelly, 8 trout, 63 redfin and 142 carp.

This was despite the inclement weather on the Saturday morning, which saw many of the anglers off the lake due to the high winds. This was evident by the small number of fish weighed in for the Saturday morning session. The afternoon session produced an abundance of fish. Sunday morning’s session proved to be the most productive session of the competition, with the greatest amount of fish weighed in.

The Seniors best yellowbelly for the weekend was a nice fish of 66cm, belonging to Mick Lyons. Best redfin was 42cm by to Rhys Creed. Best trout was awarded to Joel Carroll with a 65cm brown trout. The best senior carp was 75cm belonging to Sam Went. The juniors’ best yellowbelly was 61cm belonging to S. Chetcuti. Best redfin was 38cm belonging to Hunter Hartnet.

Best trout junior was awarded to a local young girl, Gabby Bowran and measured 53cm. The best carp for the junior section was measured in at 71cm and belonged to Jack Brown.

The Champion Adult Male Angler was Jamie Roberts, who managed to produce 12 fish for the weekend. His winning bag included 10 yellowbelly and 2 redfin. Not a bad effort considering the number of yellowbelly caught over the weekend.

The Champion Senior Female was Katrina Smith with 2 fish.

Champion Junior Male went to young Riley Bourke with 2 fish.

Gabby Bowran took out the Girls section with a total of 5 fish.

Champion team was awarded to ‘Social Fishing’ with a total of 15 fish.

Best Represented Club was the ‘Kinross Fishing Club’ with 29 members, this is a good turn out for a local club.

The Major Prize - The Quintrex boat and Mercury motor, all on a trailer was won by the lucky entrant Allan Fabris. Apparently, he had motor issues earlier in the day, so this outcome was a fortunate result.

Next years’ event is going to be held on the 24th and the 25th of October. We hope to continue next years’ event with the support from all our sponsors. It would not have been possible without the generous support from our local and corporate sponsors. We hope to see you all there for what is becoming a premier yellowbelly event. – Adrian Kent.