Well. That was EPIC. With a record number of anglers and supporters, we enjoyed a sensational weekend of fishing, picnicking, laughing and boating. We were very lucky with the weather – the only decent rain falling at night – and boy were there some fish around! With 99 anglers registered to fish, there were 107 fish registered and 232 released across nine different species. A massive shout out to Katie and the crew at the Gipsy Point Lodge who did such an amazing job hosting us for registrations and the final Presentation afternoon. The food was fantastic, the atmosphere was perfect and it really is so great to open and close the comp overlooking the Genoa – THANK YOU!

I know I paid homage to our Founders a couple of times throughout the weekend, but I want to once again mention Woody, Marg Jackson and Sally Foster who started something back in 2004 that is still thriving today. They started the comp to bring the community together and to raise money for local projects – I feel like we did their mission so proud this year! I think one of my favourite parts of the weekend was watching the connections of the next generation deepen. I know that we used to look forward to seeing Davo and Heather when we visited Gipsy when we were kids – well, don’t our clans have that, on STEROIDS! Fifty odd kids all getting around in their tinnies, taking off on adventures, jumping off jetties in the rain, night fishing, trekking around together. I just love it! So special the way they all look out for each other and are all so inclusive. So many new friendships made this year as well, which was so great to witness.

FUNDRAISING

Thanks to everyone for donating prizes and buying tickets, we were able to raise more than $2,000 from the raffle this year. But the big money was seen in the huge number of auction items we had, with $7,500 raised from this section of the night. All told, thanks to the grant that was accessed by Em and Tracey, we ended up raising approximately $17,000, something I think we should all be very proud of. We have already had a couple of submissions in terms of distributing these funds – please forward any suggestions/applications for funds to lucy.gilfillan@gmail.com

PRIZE WINNERS

With so many fish being caught, the main prize was always going to be hotly contested – and patience paid off for many!

Longest Bream

Archie Stringer 40cm

Anna Harcourt and Max Rodgers-Wilson 39cm

Dave Clerk 38.5cm

 

Longest Flathead

Tom Brownlie 80cm

Dennis Brownlie 76cm

Michelle Stothers 74cm

Women’s Prize (donated by Sally Foster)

Tanya De Geus

John Wood Memorial Prize

Ash Spicer (who released dozens of fish!)

Paul Davis Memorial (Junior) Prize

Max Rodgers-Wilson – 39cm Bream

Lilly Stothers – 54cm Flathead

U/14 Maderline Dowton – 48cm Taylor

U/10 – Lilly Stothers – 54cm Flathead

We look forward to seeing you all back again next year – I have already updated the website with dates for 2025 so pop them in your diary! Still stream-lining a few processes to make everything as easy as possible – please send any feedback you have! If you need to update your details or add anyone’s email to the list, please just shoot me an email to lucy.gilfillan@gmail.com

I look forward to seeing you on the river soon!

Tight lines!