River primed
Authorities have worked hard to ensure near-perfect conditions for thousands of people lining the banks of the Wimmera River for Sunday’s annual Horsham Fishing Competition.
A technical fault at Horsham Weir before last year’s competition led to the river level rising, frustrating some anglers.
Wimmera Catchment Management Authority chief executive David Brennan said there would be no issue this year.
He said the CMA had been working with Horsham Rural City Council to ensure anglers would enjoy ideal river conditions.
“Everything being equal the Wimmera River levels will stay exactly the same at the weekend as they have been for the past four or five weeks,” he said.
“The river is in really good health at the moment considering we’ve had such a dry summer.
“It’s always hard to predict whether it will be a good day for fishing, but certainly the water quality and the environmental conditions along the river for the fishing comp are as good as they could be.
“Something people will notice this year in particular is the water quality and the reduction in turbidity.
“Basically, the water is a lot clearer than it has been for the past few years.
“It’s a showcase event for the Wimmera River and we hope we can continue to see a trend where we’re catching more native fish than carp.”
Fishing competition chairwoman Adele Rohde said entries were on track to match or exceed last year’s total. As of yesterday afternoon competition organisers had received about 1100 entries.
“This is a huge week for Horsham in general – with the Wimmera Machinery Field Days and a heap of other things happening – which is great for the town and hopefully the fishing competition can add to that,” Mrs Rohde said.
“A survey last year indicated about 25 percent of contestants would spend more than $700 locally during the weekend.”
“That injects a fair amount of money into the community and local businesses,” Mrs Rohde said.
She said organisers had noticed an uptick in junior numbers for this year’s competition.
“We feel there are a lot more juniors, which might be reflective of the new initiatives we’ve put in place,” she said.
“They are the future of the fishing competition, so that is really good to see.”
Among the activities planned for children are a free ‘movie under the stars night’ with a screening of The Incredibles 2 at Horsham Soundshell from 7.30pm on Friday and a free children’s fishing clinic at Horsham Angling Club on Saturday.
Every junior who hooks a fish longer than 30 centimetres in the competition will receive a prize.
Popular zoologist and television presenter Chris Humfrey will also return to the competition for a fourth consecutive year.
Mr Humfrey, appearing on behalf of Wimmera CMA, will make presentations at three riverbank locations on Sunday before an appearance at Horsham Soundshell at the end of the competition.
“We want to make sure there is some entertainment for the kids and the wider community,” Mr Brennan said.
“To get somebody with a high profile like Chris is fantastic.
“We’re encouraging the community to come along and listen to him, particularly because he talks about and shows animal species that are relevant to the Wimmera and the Wimmera River.”
This year’s The Weekly Advertiser Horsham Fishing Competition will feature an impressive array of prizes.
Prizes include the choice between a new Kia Rio car and a five-night barramundi fishing trip for two peo- ple in the Tiwi Islands for the person who catches the heaviest eligible fish.
Mrs Rohde said there had been plenty of positive feedback about the second prize – a Savage 3.6-metre boat, four-stroke Tohatsu motor and trailer valued at $6870.
She said organisers still needed more volunteers to ensure the competition ran smoothly, and encouraged anyone interested in helping to put up their hand.
“There is no reason to panic, but the more hands available to help out on the day the better,” she said.
“If anyone is available to help we would love to hear from them.”
The competition will be from 7.30am to 3pm on Sunday.
People wishing to register or looking for more information can visit website horshamfishingcomp.com. au for more information.
People interested in volunteering can call Mrs Rohde on 0439 826 187.