Playgroup winner in fishing
IF an 890g beauty of a rainbow trout is anything to go by, the angling season ahead is sure to be quite the whopper.
Such a catch was reeled in by Bobby Lamont, who won the
41st annual Glenorchy fishing competition on Saturday.
From midmorning, the head of Lake Whakatipu was swarming with aspiring anglers and seasoned fisherman, all soaking up the sunshine and hoping to reel in the big one.
And with a recordbreaking 269 entrants, competition was stiff.
The charitable event was this year organised by the Glenorchy Playgroup to help fundraise for the Glenorchy early childhood education centre project.
‘‘The fishing competition is a bit of an institution here . . . and it’s a really good community fundraising event,’’ playgroup treasurer Christina Lister said.
‘‘We are, this year, raising money to go towards a new early childhood centre, which Glenorchy is desperate for.
‘‘We don't have any kind of daycare [here] . . . and so we’re really trying to get off the ground with that.’’
The project aimed to extend the playgroup’s current facility and open a new education centre which would provide beforeand afterschool care and school holiday programmes.
It was hoped the fishing competition would raise about $8000 towards the estimated $2 million budget for the project.
‘‘This will be a very small part, but a very important part of the community support,’’ Ms Lister said.
Although several anglers reported back the fish simply weren't biting on Saturday, most reeled in impressivelooking brown trout and salmon, caught all the way from Bennett’s Bluff to just off the Glenorchy wharf.
The afternoon weighin event at Glenorchy Hall saw people submit their catch of the day to be meticulously measured and weighed by a Fish and Game officer.
The loot of the lake was then displayed on an ice counter.
‘‘It’s a great turn out this year and the weather just makes it that much better,’’ Ms Lister said.
‘‘The amount of support that we’ve had from the Queenstown community and from Glenorchy businesses, as well as as far down as Invercargill — we’ve got a lot of people turning in all sorts of things in support of this event, which makes it a bit more exciting.’’
And while the prizegiving saw those with the heaviest fish, the ugliest fish, the best family catch and more such titles honoured, the day was of course rounded out with the community trading fishing tales.