June Angling Comp

It doesn’t get any better than Craig’s big day out

The Angling Section’s June competition started with weather only polar bears would enjoy and ended at the weigh-in in bright sunshine with a beer, warm snaggers and onions in a bun that brought an inner glow to all and sundry.

By any standards, it was a dramatic day.

Craig Thomas produced an outstanding performance for the ages; a huge shark hung around one of the boats like a labrador looking for a pat; some excellent tuna were taken off Rotto; a couple of superb break-sea cod turned heads and a 10kg sambo caught on 6kg line on a sand-whiting hook was captured and released.

Then there were snook as big as digeridoos, king george, massive herring, flathead and some skippy all chucked into the catch bag to produce one of the better weigh-ins in recent times.

Let’s start with the winner, Craig. Anecdotally, Craig’s amazing nine-species haul which netted 133.3 points is an Angling Section record. Back in November Chris Walkey’s 130.82 points set the bar at a height that many thought wouldn’t be reached.

Craig had other ideas as he went on a points-scoring spree, boating break-sea cod, samson fish, tuna, herring, sand-whiting, squid, flathead, pike and skippy.

And get this. While Craig racked up points with some of the lesser lights of the ocean, his deckie Dror, who is not a member, was almost apologetic because he plucked fish only from the top shelf . . . a dhuie, pink snapper and a ripping king george. Imagine if . . .

Mind you, Craig deserves every 15-pointer that comes his way after towing his boat from Mandurah and sleeping on it at the Club on the eve of the comp.

George Greaves and Ian Samson both presented lovely break-sea at the newly positioned weigh-in station on the lawn under the sail just east of the boat ramp parking where anglers enjoyed the space, with the bottleneck and Shed 7 hopefully consigned to history.

Angling captain John Bech – who earned $100 towards his HSS by landing a modest skippy, a target fish – and wife Denise both weighed in good hauls, with John claiming 87.51 points while Denise netted 75.03. Her points total would have been healthier if not for the flathead that broke free at the side of the boat.

Ray Wilson and Chris Walkey were gob-smacked at the spot dubbed the Snook Supermarket when a lightly coloured shark with a head that wouldn’t fit into a 44-gallon drum circled their Trophy for 15 minutes.

Nearby, at the Skippy Hole near Stragglers, a boisterous Sambo ran like a thief after latching on to Ray’s small hook. It’s 20 minutes of his life that Ray won’t get back but after some nifty net work from Chris the fish was pictured, measured and released. It was estimated to have weighed 10kg.

Pink snapper will join dhufish (carried over) as the target fish for the July 1 competition. Tailor is the target fish for August while sambos get that billing in September.

Written by Ray Wilson