There were 491 entries (349 seniors and 142 juniors) in the 25th Annual VMR Hervey Bay Family Fishing Competition organised by the Hervey Bay Boat Club Fishing and Social Club from 9-12 March.

The event was a huge success and the weather and fishing conditions were good for the whole weekend. Entrants enjoyed a great weekend of fun and socialising at Dayman Park with a chance to win some of the hundreds of prizes on offer. There was plenty of food and drinks supplied by members of the Rotary Club of Hervey Bay Sunrise, and lots of cold drinks thanks to XXXX and the hard working committee and members of the fishing club.

The live weigh-in was totally sponsored by Fishermans Corner Hervey Bay and 40 bream, 10 flathead and four whiting (a total of 54 fish) were returned to the water alive.

There were hundreds of prizes to win in the lucky draws, the spinning wheel raffles and for weighing in fish, thanks to the tremendous support of the many great sponsors of the competition.

The senior super draw prize was won by Wendy Exelby who chose the $8000 boat rather than the $5000 cash.

The junior super draw prize, an iPad from Wide Bay Motor Group, was won by Bailey Pohlman.

Each day there were lucky draws for $1000 cash from the Boat Club and the winners were: Toby Vandenborn, Kurtis Moller, Paul Green and Scott Gilchrist. In the early entry draw, Pavel Kubac won $250 worth of tackle from the seniors draw, and Riley Ford won $100 worth of tackle from the juniors.

Five species of fish and the any other species category were eligible for the dead weigh-in and three species for the live weigh-in. Seniors weighing in the overall heaviest fish of each section in the live and dead weigh-ins received a Fraser Island ice box. The live weigh-in was solely sponsored by Fishermans Corner Hervey Bay.

The Any Other Species Presidents Choice Best Fish Prize went to Peter Ford with a 15.75kg cobia. There were also three prizes donated by Bay Auto Marine Electrical. A Simrad VHF radio went to Joshua Ozanne for a 10.9kg barra, a marine battery went to Brendon Hughes for a 5.78kg diamond trevally and an LED trailer light kit went to Kurtis Muller for a 9.84kg tuskfish.

Lots of fish were donated by entrants each day, filleted by Urangan Fisheries and delivered to Masters Lodge.

The organisers of the event, the Hervey Bay Boat Club Fishing and Social Club and VMR Hervey Bay, are very happy with the way the competition went and most thankful to all the sponsors and the 491 entrants for their support. – Hervey Bay Boat Club Fishing and Social Club

DEAD WEIGH-IN WINNERS

LIVE WEIGH-IN WINNERS

MEMORIAL TROPHY WINNERS

TrophyAngler