CONSIDERING the startlingly cold winter that has enveloped us, anglers could be forgiven for thinking that they have hung up the rods and taken the opportunity to polish tackle.
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Perhaps some saner and less addicted fishing tragics have, but a die-hard core of avid anglers that make up the Tuross Head Fishing Club have continued to fish hard and come up trumps.
Despite frequent bouts of gale-force winds, towering swell, hail and chilling rains, there have been windows of opportunity to exploit and, when exploited, they have rewarded the staunch hunters well.
Waters surrounding Tuross Head have been fruitful all year, with big tuna delighting anglers right now.
Club members Steve and Jo Starling heard all about the Montague Island tuna run whilst filming on the Sunshine Coast grapevine a couple of weeks back.
Obviously, impressive news travels fast, far and wide.
Reports from Tuross Lake have been promising as well, with improved numbers of reasonable bream on the chew.
Last weekend was the Tuross Head Fishing Club’s frival, (friendly-rival), competition, with boisterous buddy club, the Eden Game Fishing Club, dragging their boats up the Princes Highway to pit their hooks against the Tuross anglers.
The bitter cold did not keep competitors away, although it did keep them inshore.
Most anglers found the going tough, but all reported that the day was fun and the company exceptional.
“Thank you to Eden for the ongoing banter and camaraderie,” Tuross Head Fishing Club publicity officer Jo Starling said.
Tuross members will be heading to Eden in November for a rematch.
Incidentally, neither team has ever lost on home soil, so a win for Tuross Head in November will be cause for much celebration.
Running alongside the inter-club friendly was the club’s goblet competition.
The target species for July was salmon and there were some quality specimens weighed.
Big seas made beach fishing a challenge, but didn’t stop crusaders on their quest for the grail.
One such noble angler was John Suthern, who was on the beach to watch the sun rise in a gloriously clear sky on Sunday.
He was reportedly quietly confident by 8am that he had that grail in the bag, as his catch boasted two cracking salmon already.
John’s quarry was carefully stashed in a large bucket wedged up high behind him in the dunes.
That was until a rogue wave rose and charged, knocking John over and reclaiming his prize fish for the ocean.
Despite many more casts, he fronted the weigh-in with nothing more than a hangdog expression and a unique story about the ones that got away.
Whilst goblet-hopeful “John the Incredulous” missed out on the grail, he did get up for one of two turkey of the month awards, so his quest was not for naught.
Only nine members, five men, three women and a junior, reeled in legal captures, weighing in 23 fish.
Seven were salmon and Paul Brown collected the goblet with a 1.75kg salmon.
He also won the men’s rock and beach with his catch.
Pam Alexander won the ladies’ lake and estuary with her 490-gram trevally, and Pattie Parker won the women’s rock and beach prize with a 1.42kg salmon.
Mark Brown took out the men’s lake and estuary with a 630-gram flathead;
Junior angler Lucas Brown won his division with a 0.99kg flathead.
Mike Byron collected the second turkey of the month award for releasing his pet bream into the lake, only to have it gobbled up by a pelican.
To connect with other keen anglers in the region, join the Tuross Head Fishing Club’s page on Facebook or visit www.turossheadfishingclub.org.
