The second Bluefin Lake Maroon Fishing Classic was held on 14-16 November and attracted 462 competitors, including 130 juniors aged 13 and under.

The competition format catered for the novice to the experienced angler. After the briefing on the Friday night, Tim Morgan was on hand to give a presentation about using lures at Maroon Dam and also how to get the most out of a fish finder.

Leeann Payne followed Tim’s presentation and she discussed knots and rigs to use for live bait. There were many beginner anglers involved in the comp and most opted to use live shrimp as bait. Competitors picked up some great tips during both of these presentations and everything was then set for a 6am start the following morning.

The hooter signalled the start of the event and the boats, canoes and kayaks moved to their chosen fishing spot. There was a large number of fishing craft on the water, but even under fishing pressure, Maroon produced some excellent fishing results. Steven Dickens landed a 47cm bass to take out the senior bass division and he set a new record in the process. There were a few other records broken too, and all species were landed, except for the elusive Mary River cod. Category winners were;

And special congratulations to Overall Champion Senior Angler Mal Flesser, who amassed 135.2cm, and Patrick Cooney, who’s bag went 137.3cm and earned him Overall Champion Junior Angler, who had the longest combined totals of all species.

The competition was run in a relaxed, family-friendly environment. On the Saturday night there was a kids’ movie on the big screen, followed by a performance from Stereo Blonde. Stereo Blonde also performed leading up to the major prize draws on the Sunday. It was great to have them as part of the competition weekend. Caterers, David and Sonya Cotelli from CJ’s Pasta were also on site and they did a magnificent job.

The infrastructure that was set up around the competitors enabled everyone to just relax, enjoy some quality time with mates or family, and to just focus on the fishing.

There were plenty of prizes on offer, and this year, there were more random give-a-ways spread across the weekend. The comp attracted more sponsors this year, which no doubt added to the overall success of the event. I know it took a few days to sink in for Ashley Scott that he had just picked up a Bluefin Drifter Tournament, powered by a 40hp Mercury 4-stroke outboard on a Dunbier trailer as the senior lucky door winner. And likewise for Sam Ryan who picked up the Bluefin 3.0 Catfish as the junior lucky door prize.

Bluefin’s contribution to the competition was extremely generous and one that is greatly appreciated. Bluefin will once again be the major sponsor the event in 2015, which will ensure the competition only gets bigger and better. So pencil the dates in now and be a part of the 3rd annual Bluefin Lake Maroon Fishing Classic scheduled for 13-15 November 2015.

During the warmer months, fishing can definitely slow for freshwater impoundments in the middle of the day. This was to be the ideal time to conduct the Abu Garcia & Shakespeare Kids’ Casting Competition.

It proved to be a popular competition, which involved a workshop just prior to the commencement of the competition and allowed all the kids to have a practice round. Cameron Dixon took out the title of Champion Boy and Jade Matthews won the title of the Champion Girl.

As mentioned, there were also plenty of random draw give-a-ways during the comp, as well as merchandise purchase and early entry random draws. Douglas Cobbin was one of the lucky winners of the early entry draw, picking up an Old Town Vapor 12S Kayak. Tom Edwards was wrapped with his Humminbird 688 Di HD Combo Fish Finder as an early entry prize and so too were Marty Branigan and Milton Peters who both picked up Nordic Stage Favorites fishing rods.

For a full list of the prize winners together with the sponsors’ prizes, go to the Camp Lake Fire or Sports Tuition websites.

Special thank you to all the sponsors who made the event such a success; Bluefin, L. Wilson & Co, Austackle, Rapala, Dunbier, Bush n Beach Fishing Magazine, BLA, Berkley, Abu Garcia, Shakespeare, Nordic Stage, Dunbier, Old Town Canoes & Kayaks, Mercury, Bob Jane T-Marts Mt Ommaney, Damiki, Humminbird, Qld Fishing Monthly, BCF, EvaKool, Coles, Westfield, Westpac, Tackle Land and Barz Optics.

These sponsors contributed to each fish category prize; and in addition to this, some sponsors also contributed to the kids’ sample bags. L. Wilson & Co also provided a substantial amount, including a Wilson Fishing satchel as the bag itself and they contributed; Wilson Slick Back lures, Mustad hooks, Wilson stickers and SureCatch lures. In addition to this the bag also had Berkley soft plastics, a Spin & Turn Spinnerbait, Queensland Fishing Monthly magazine, Bush n Beach Fishing Magazine and Bush n Beach Fishing sticker, a Westpac pencil and a Sports Tuition $30 voucher. It made for some very happy young anglers and for the $15 early entry fee, it was pretty good value!

L. Wilson & Co also provided some lure packs for some novelty catches, which included Elijah Croxford’s 35cm turtle and Donald Osbourne’s massive eel.

Hope to see you at next year’s event. – Steve Wilkes