A crowd of enthusiastic anglers, many of them young people, gathered at the Bingara Hatchery on Sunday afternoon for the presentation of prizes at the annual Easterfish competition.
Although entries and the subsequent fish numbers were down a little on last year, a number of good fish among the 211 weighed in. Catfish were to the fore of the weighed-in fish, with 118 caught. These were all weighed in at Copeton Dam because it is illegal to catch catfish in the river. Forty one Golden perch, or yellowbelly were weighed in, while 14 cod were registered in the competition.
Winner of the Anglers Club major raffle, Kylie Johnson, with children Liam and Blaire in the new boat. Blair won a couple of prizes in the Easterfish competition.
The local streams now have 38 fewer carp after the competition, 14 of which were caught by Sean Siege.
Steve Apthorpe was the winner of the prize for the biggest cod, a good sized 8.75 kg fish in the men’s section. Greg Macey was the winner of the yellowbelly section with a 4.385 kg fish, while Jeremy McNamara caught the biggest catfish.
Ladies winners were:
Cod Nicole Wilson, 4.330 kg;
Yellowbelly, Liz Hobday 3.365 kg,
Catfish, Debbie Grant.
Boys winners were:
Cod, Campbell Abra 5.540;
Yellowbelly, Luke Hobday 3.370 kg,
Catfish, Matthew McNamara 2.320 kg.
The girls section winners were:
Cod, Cassidy Hobday, on a countback on a yellowbelly, 1.045 kg;
Yellowbelly, Blaire Johnson, 1.035 kg, and
Catfish, Cassidy Hobday 1.630 kg.
The biggest carp, a 4.580 fish, was caught by Peter Gambrill.
Nicole Wilson was the winner of the secret weight competition, 4.330 kg cod. Second was Merv Ford, 2.064 catfish, and third, Lionel Grant .705 catfish.
The Johnson family have a head start to continue their winning form next year, as Kylie Johnson, mother of prize winner Blaire, won first prize in the Anglers Club major raffle, a boat, motor and trailer.
Sophia Mack won second prize, a kayak. Other prize winners included Tammie single, Jeremy McNamara and Lenore Kennedy.
Sponsors of Easterfish include major sponsor, Meat on Maitland, Sportsman’s Hotel, Wurth Australia, Nab Bank, Hardman Outdoors Moree, Graham Rampling Electrical, Brian Riley Building, the Pally gang who man the weigh in station at Copeton, Max Glenis for his barbecue skills, and Steve McGarrity for music.
The committee members were also thanked for their assistance.
A raffle with proceeds going to Bingara Care for Kids was won by Rosemary Akers. Second was Fiona Rattray and third Gwen Baldock.
