The 2011 Brisbane Fishing Online Winter Camp was held on the first weekend of August. Always a much anticipated event this year was no different with a huge amount of online banter kicking off months before the event was scheduled! A week out from the event there were a total of 34 registered entrants ensuring it would be a great event.
Most people arrived at Camp Lake Fire on the Friday evening to catch up with the rest of the crew before the official event kick off on the Saturday morning. It was great to see so many veterans of this event mixing and mingling with the new faces. It was not long before everyone felt welcome and the festivities were in full swing. Obsession Fishing, one of the official sponsors for the event had put up an awesome lucky door prize for the Friday night which consisted of 3 brand new to Australia, Nordic Stage rods. Many of the participants were very eager for their name to be the one drawn out of the hat. In the end the lucky recipients of these prizes were: Graham Pflaum, Bronwyn Lyall and Chris Simmonds. These winners were lucky two fold as they all went on to blood their new rods over the next couple of days.
After various amounts of sleep and a 6:00am briefing on the Saturday morning competitors stormed off in search of that winning bass or yellowbelly in the hope of claiming one of the awesome Pontoon 21 prize packs offered by Searing Tackle. The weather was absolutely sensational with less than 5 knot winds and clear skies throughout most of the day truly enhancing an already sensational atmosphere. Despite these awesome conditions however the fish were not really in a lure smashing mood and those not using shrimp struggled a bit early on.
As the day progressed however schools were located and in the selfless nature of the event shared around. Towards the end of the day many boats were congregating around several key areas with fish being boated all over the place. Despite the numbers most of these fish were consistently around the 35cm mark and we could all tell there was only going to take a couple of extra centimeters to crack that winning fish. By the end of the day a few anglers such as Ted Stevens, Jeff Flynn and event sponsor Robb Searing had edged out into the lead with high 30’s fish, but with anglers spread all over the dam again it was difficult to predict the outcome. Yellowbelly were also quite scarce however kayaker Liesbeth Thie managed to find a couple of good specimens right up in the timber.
At 4:00pm the final whistle blew and all the boats started heading back to the ramp. It was smiles all round as although the size of most fish was fairly average there will stacks of them caught. Various boasts were going on around the camp site as competitors rocked up about huge fish caught and lost, frisbees left of boat seats and some rather epic boat towing stories. But with all the talk it was still highly uncertain who the winners would be!
Back at the camp site on the Saturday night really emphasized the perfection of the Camp Lake Fire venue. The Sports Tuition team were hard at work preparing an amazing feast for the crew, the camp fires were roaring and all the while we were perched on a ridge overlooking some sensational lake and mountain terrain. This is a venue I would recommend for any group as they do cater for smaller bookings for both the cabins and the camp sites. The dirt ramp actually being positioned on the property makes things a logistical dream as well as far as launching the boats goes.
After a great dinner it was time to announce the overall winner of the competition which were as follows:
1st Longest Bass: Jeff Flynn
2nd Longest Bass: Ted Stevens
Longest Yellowbelly: Liesbeth Thie
Best Misc (Tandanus): Ted Stevens
A special mention must also go to Rob Searing who technically caught the largest bass of the event measuring in at 39cm. However being an event sponsor Rob opted to pass his prize over to the next longest fish.
Overall it was a great event and my personal favourite Brisbane Fishing Online Winter Camp so far. A massive thanks must go out to:
• The Sports Tuition staff who made things so easy and comfortable for everyone.
• The event sponsors Searing Tackle and Obsession Fishing for the awesome prizes.
• The members of Brisbane Fishing Online for attending and making this event what it is.
For more information regarding Brisbane Fishing Online and its various other events held throughout the year please don’t hesitate to visit our website: www.brisbanefishing.com.au. For more information regarding Sports Tuition and Camp Lake Fire please feel free to check out the following websites respectively: www.sportstuition.com.au and www.camplakefire.com.au.
Good Fishing!
Angus Gorrie
BFO Winter 2011 Showlist
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