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Jindabyne Roundup 2009 The weekend of the 21st and 22nd February 2009 saw 86 anglers compete in the Discovery Holiday Parks Family Fishing Carnival on Lake Jindabyne in what can only be described in perfect fishing conditions. Saturday morning was a little cool and cloudy (great for trout fishing) but it cleared in the afternoon and Sunday sunny with a slight breeze on the water which is also good for trout fishing. Anglers were made up of many family groups with husbands, wives and children enjoying a weekend of fishing fun. Some anglers teamed up and competed also for the best catch by a team of two. Next year we would like to see some team uniforms and we might even include a prize for the best fancy dressed team. Brown trout, rainbow trout and Atlantic salmon and brook trout were the targeted fish for the weekend but the brookies were once again elusive. Fishing was held over three sessions, two on Saturday and one on Sunday morning, with anglers being allowed to only ‘measure in’ one fish per species at each session. Some anglers chose to measure their fish alive and then release them. While a total of 164 fish were measured for the competition, an average of 2 fish per registered angler, it is estimated that at least another 300 were caught mostly to be released again. That can only reflect the fantastic fishing conditions experienced by the anglers over the weekend. All anglers had a great time and most have said they would return again in 2010 as they had made so many new friends over the weekend. Registration for the event was held on Friday evening with a reading of the rules at 7pm. NSW DPI Fisheries were also in attendance on Friday evening with their information trailer manned by Gavin McDonall one of Fisheries education officers. Everyone had a great time and the organisers think that the social aspect of the competition is a very important part of the weekend. Saturday night’s dinner gives the anglers a chance to exchange fishing tales and get to meet new friends. The food was great and prizes were awarded for day one of the competition and there was also a lucky entry prize also for day one. Many raffles were held to raise funds for Cooma Challenge, our charity for the weekend. Anglers were entertained by Daniel Sherd of Indoor Fishing with his fishing simulator. The major prize winners for the weekend were - Brown Trout award– David Tinworth from Sydney Rainbow Trout award – Shane Norenburg from Florey ACT Atlantic Salmon award – Leigh Ralph from Denman NSW Master Angler – David Tinworth – from Sydney Runner up Master Angler – Deborah Smith from the ACT The award for the best overall Lady Angler was – Kerry Webley – from Dapto NSW Best Junior – Amy Booth from Bywong NSW Best Team – ‘The Grinners’ Simon Anderson and Bill Dart from Wangaratta Victoria. Runner up team award went to Tony and Mitchell Quinell from Tumut’ Steve Williamson’s Encouragement award went to sisters Claire and Jasmond Kent from ACT. THINK You CAN FISH – FINAL Grand Final Roundup - 2009 Over the last 12 months anglers have been testing their skills at fishing competitions held at the five Discovery Holiday Parks in NSW. The final of the Discovery Holiday Parks ‘Think You Can Fish’ series was held on the weekend of 22nd and 23rd February 2009 under perfect whether conditions on the waters of beautiful Lake Jindabyne. The first 4 of the competitions tested angler’s saltwater skills where a variety of different species of fish were targeted. The Discovery Holiday Parks saltwater venues were Lemon Tree Passage - Port Stephens, Gerroa, Pambula and Eden on the far south coast. As we headed towards the final held on the waters of Lake Jindabyne, three anglers were very close in their points score and all had prior trout fishing experience. Kerry Webley from Dapto was the current leader of the series and possibly the least experienced in trout fishing however she had been having coaching from Steve Williamson. In second place after round 4 was Shawn Lawrence, a Jindabyne local and manager of Discovery Holiday Parks Jindabyne. Not far behind them was Matt McCann from the ACT. Matt was a regular to Lake Jindabyne and was a very good trout fisherman. If those top three anglers were for some reason to have a shocker, then there was also another three or four anglers that could also win if they had a good weekends fishing! The Jindabyne venue was to test anglers for their freshwater fishing abilities where the targeted fish are to be brown and rainbow trout, brook trout and Atlantic salmon. At Jindabyne the pressure was on for anglers to do their very best trying to catch one of each of the chosen species at each of the three fishing sessions. Not an easy task at all! On Saturday the fishing started at dawn under overcast and misty conditions with temperatures down to 5 degrees Celsius, great for the trout but a little chilly for anglers however the fishing was ‘hot’ with some absolutely fantastic catches and lots of well conditioned rainbow trout jumping onto anglers lines. Most anglers were catching enough fish to continually upsize the rainbow trout but the Atlantic salmon and brown trout were a little more elusive. The second session on Saturday afternoon was set down with the difficult fishing times of 1pm till 5pm that would test angler’s skills even further. The sun was high and the day had warmed up to the mid 20’s but anglers again managed to catch fish, although numbers were way down on the mornings weigh in as would be expected. The third session on Sunday morning was totally different to that of Saturdays, with bright skies and a wind from the north east. The old saying ‘when the wind is from the east the fish bite least’ came into play and the catches of rainbow trout were way down to that of the day before, however on the bright side, we saw some very big brown trout measured at the weigh in at 11am. With the rainbow trout ‘off the bite’ this allowed the brown trout to come out and play. There were some big smiles on some anglers faces that were able to land some of the bigger browns. With all of these good catches, competition was going to be hard and it was going to come down to a very fine line. After day one and fishing sessions one and two, all anglers managed to do very well, the weather was perfect for trout fishing and plenty of fish were weighed in. Rainbows were a plenty, and a few Atlantic salmon were caught, but the brown trout were very hard with only a couple weighed in. The brook trout were elusive and if one was caught it would almost guarantee a win. After the second weigh in, Kerry Webley had increased her lead and Matt McCann had moved into second place over Shawn Lawrence with one fishing session to go. The competition was very close and anglers would have to wait for the judges final decision. The Discovery Think You Can Fish’ series 1 winner went to Kerry Webley of Dapto. Kerry won two weeks accommodation in a Deluxe Spa Cabin at a NSW Discovery Holiday Park of her choice and $1,000 cash. Second Place went to Matt McCann of the ACT and he won weeks accommodation in a Deluxe Spa Cabin at a NSW Discovery Holiday Park of her choice and $500 cash. Best overall team went to Steve Williamson’s Fishing Team captained by Kerry Webley and husband Cameron. They won a weeks accommodation in a Delux Spa Cabin at a NSW Discovery Holiday Park of their choice and $1,000 So with three weeks holiday and $2,000 cash Kerry and Cameron Webley will be well rested and odds on favourites for the next competition to be held in October this year. THINK You CAN FISH SERIES TOP ANGLER. The places after the FINAL were- Individual Championship (First 20 places) 1) Kerry Webley – 5640 points 2) Matt McCann – 3292 points 3) Cameron Webley – 2763 points 4) Shawn Laurence – 2533 points 5) Robert Webley – 2282 points 6) Tony Quinnell – 1660 points 7) Bob Moore – 1374 points 8) Bryan Peake – 916 points 9) Russell Cheeseman – 874 points 10) Damian Kirkwood – 855 points 11) Reg Speechley – 837 points 12) John Saydel- 832 points 13) Nicole Potter – 822 points (Junior) 14) Craig Potter – 820 points 15) Peter Atkin – 685 points 16) Neville Betts – 564 points 17) Denise Potter – 447 points 18) Nicholas Jessep – 443 points 19) Andy Freeburn – 430 points 20) Alexander Jessop – 414 points Team Championship (Top 10) 1) Steve Williamson’s Team 3 – 5413 points Captain – Kerry Webley 2) Team 3 Snowline – 3977 points Captain – Matt McCann 3) Steve Williamson’s Team 2– 3377 points Captain – Robert Webley 4) Team 4 Snowline – 2565 points Captain – Tony Quinelle 5) Team 2 Snowline – 1876 points Captain – Reg Speechley 6) Team 1 Snowline – 1771 points Captain – Shawn Laurence 7) Team 5 Snowline – 1709 points Captain – Neville Betts 8) Fillet and Release (Eden) – 832 points Captain – John Saydel 9) The Wizards – 821 points - Captain Craig Potter 10) Steve Williamson’s Team 1– 563 points Captain - Jason Williamson JINDABYNE FEEDBACK FORMS At each and every event held, we allow competitors to give us feedback on what they think about the competition so as we can make the events bigger and better each time. Some comments we feel are against our business plan and agenda and some are very valid points that we take on board and you will see those improvements in future competitions. On the weekend of the 21st and 22nd we asked competitors once again for their feedback. Registration Summary A total of 78 anglers registered for fishing. 10 were children under 16 7 were lady anglers QUESTIONAIRE RESPONSES 53 forms were returned. THE COMPETITION 37/53 feedback forms rated the event 5/5 14/53 rated the event 4/5 Only one rated the event 3/5 The following is a few valid points that we would like to make comment on. Comment – “weigh fish at lake next year” Good comment and one that will, depending on lake levels will be done at the next competition. Comment – “Longer and later fishing hours” In our business plan it states that the competition was to be a ‘social event’ where unlike other fishing competitions, anglers are encouraged to bring along their families and to make the weekend a social event. We want anglers to meet each other exchange ideas and to make new friends. Therefore there will be no change in the fishing hours. If anglers what to fish 24/7 then they are attending the wrong event! Comment - Gut and Gill Fish at weigh in The way we measure or weigh in fish must be standard. DPI Fisheries have a code of ethics for fishing competitions and they are encouraging as much catch and release as possible. To weigh in fish only encourages catch and kill – which is against the code of ethics. There is also now a National Standard for accrediting fishing competitions with a star rated system. At present we meet 4/5 stars. To encourage anglers to kill fish would bring us into the 2/5 star category. Comment- Heaviest fish award We looked at weighing the fish in but again it’s either all catch and kill or all catch and release to manage the weigh in so as it is fair for all. The present system has been used now at all 6 competitions and this is the first comment on weight we have had. Comment - MSB on water – boats without lights. At the talk on Saturday night I stated that lights on boats when out in the dark in not a matter for the competition committee. This is a NSW Maritime problem and you must firstly get the boats rego number and we have complaint forms available in my shop. You have to fill out or write a letter of complaint to NSW Maritime and have a witness. You could request that they attend the competition, which is what we did as a committee however the officer responsible went to hospital the day before. I also must remind everyone that it was a competition rule that all boats start fishing at dawn (classed as when it is light enough to see)! My question to you is “should we have disqualified all boats on the water before dawn including the ones that made the complaint?” Comment - Keep competitor numbers the same. We are still aiming to keep the numbers at Jindabyne to a maximum of 100. This will call for you to book even earlier for next year! Question – “If the series was to continue what other venues would you attend?” Answer -
THINK You CAN FISH SERIES PHOTO DVD A DVD of the competition photos will be available soon at a cost of $25 including postage and handling. The DVD will have a combination of all the best photos taken across the 5 competitions. An individual DVD of photos just for Jindabyne will also be available at a cost of $20 including postage. You can call Steve Williamson’s Tackle Shop or send a request with credit card details to Steve Williamson C/- PMB 5 Jindabyne NSW 2627
MORE INFORMATION Steve Williamson of ‘Steve Williamson’s Fishing Adventures’ is the competition organiser and you can find out more information on the competitions, by going to www.swtroutfishing.com.au To book your place at each of the competitions you will need to contact the relevant holiday park and tell that that you are booking your accommodation for the event. That way you will receive and discounts or bonuses that are being offered by each Holiday Park. Stay tuned for our next event later in the year and don’t forget to book early for the Discovery Jindabyne Trout Challenge 2010. See you there! THANK YOU The management and staff of Discovery Holiday Parks Jindabyne would like to thank you for your support our event on 21st and 22nd February 2009 and look forward to seeing you again at a future event in the near future. I personally would also like to thank all the people that supported all of the events over the last 12 months and I would like to thank the sponsors as well because without your help we would not have been able to raise so much money for all the charities we have supported at each individual event. I would also like to thank my staff and my wife Christine as well as Barry and Glenda Hein for their support. Thanks must also go to DPI Fisheries and NSW Maritime for their support also. Steve Williamson. Event manager and organizer PARK CONTACT DETAILS Discovery Holiday Parks - Jindabyne Kosciusko Road & Alpine Way T: (02) 6456 2099
Steve Williamson’s Fishing Adventures PMB 5 Jindabyne NSW 2627 E swtrout@airlan.com.au P 02 64561551
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