Family Beach Fishing Competition

Jan 21st, 17:00 by Mandalay | Posted in Events

The annual Mandalay Family Beach Fishing Competition was a huge success in 2012.

The last fish anyone expected to catch at the annual Mandalay Family Beach Fishing Competition was a highly prized sportfish normally found in the tropics!  During January Mandalay Holiday Resort and Tourist Park in Busselton holds a very successful Family Beach Fishing Competition in the calm waters of Geographe Bay, with over 200 competitors vying for the glory of best fisherman or woman.  The catch and release competition normally sees whiting, herring, tailor, trumpeters, garfish and the odd crab as the main catches but this year included a 41cm Cobia,  a subtropical to tropical species most often found north of Dongara.

 Junior angler Sam Richardson, of Ardross, caught the interesting fish within the first half and hour of the competition.  Thinking it was a shark at first, it took the keen eye of experienced fisherman and competition helper Rhys Johnson to identify the fish as a Cobia.  Mike Burgess from the Department of Fisheries who also attended the competition was as surprised as the rest of the entrants, explaining that he had never seen nor heard of anyone catching a cobia in Geographe Bay. 

 A very big thank you to all contributors, in particular Jim and Karen Hailstone, Glenn and Yvonne Truarn, Rhys Johnson, Compleat Angler Rockingham for the donation of over $2000.00 worth of fantastic prizes and Mike Burgess from the Department of Fisheries for helping on the night.  This was the fifth annual Family Beach Fishing Competition and it seems to get bigger and more popular every year.  The Mandalay Family Beach Fishing Competition is held annually during the third week of January.