Charee nets top fishing prize
AMurtoa woman’s 47.5-centimetre yellow belly has netted her the top prize of The Weekly Advertiser Horsham Fishing Competition.
Charee Chaplin and her family took home an all-terrain CFMOTO C Force 450 quad bike after the lucky catch on Sunday, which was crowned the competition’s longest fish in the senior division.
It came much to the delight of her children – son Sam, 12, and daughter, Hayley, 8, who said: “I’m excited to ride this bad, big boy.”
Mrs Chaplin used worms as bait and was fishing at the river end of Baillie Street in Horsham when she reeled in the ‘surprise’ catch.
“I’m still stunned. I don’t win anything, so this is amazing,” she said.
“We usually catch carp all the time, so to catch a yellow this big is amazing. I joked with the hubby, it’s not that big – until I dragged it in. It was definitely a decent size.”
Tyler Mcrae placed second with a 46cm yellow belly, winning a Savage Hawk 360 boat and trailer; while Kelvin Mcgill, in third place, will take his mates on a fishing charter with the spoils of catching a 45cm catfish.
Amelia Beer was the junior winner with a 42cm yellow belly. She won a junior-sized all-terrain quad bike. Lyla Launer, with a 41cm catfish, placed second.
More than 1100 people registered for the weekend’s 46th annual competition.
Organisers turned their attention this year to awarding prizes for skill, rather than for participation. Prizes worth $40,000 were on offer.
The competition’s marketing officer
Bart Turgoose said anglers across senior and junior categories caught more than 700 fish throughout the day – a significant increase on the ‘average’ of about 300 fish caught during the competition annually.
He said the competition was a ‘real positive’ for the ‘Cash for Carp’ program, with ‘significant’ numbers of the species eradicated.
Police presence throughout Horsham, including at campsites and fishing spots along the Wimmera River, increased across the weekend with bike and vehicle patrols monitoring and combating anti-social behaviour.
Police, along with representatives from the competition’s organising committee, Country Fire Authority and Horsham Rural City Council had urged patrons ahead of the event to exercise responsibility for themselves and others.
Inspector Di Thomson said the community safety messaging and proactive policing, along with pleasant weather, made for an issue-free weekend.
“A lot of people made reference to the media campaign and felt reassured it was going to be a safe event,” she said.
Inspector Thomson said many people had taken the opportunity to camp along the river at the weekend, regardless of whether they entered the competition.
She said police had managed minor incidents involving alcohol, and camping and campfire infrastructure.
For a full list of prize-winners, visit the competition’s Facebook page.