2010 Brisbane River Classic - Wrap Up

[Angus]

Ray Kennedy Competing in his 5th Brisbane River Classic!

For those not familiar with the Brisbane River Classic event, it is a competition held annually by the team at Brisbane Fishing Online. It is an event targeted to suit a wide range of competitors, from serious bream anglers through to fishermen who just love to soak a bait and have a good time with mates. Entries are taken based on length and submitted via a photo entry system. This ensures that although competitors are free to keep a feed within the legal regulations, those that want to release can as opposed to stringing multiple fish up on scales. This is especially important with species such as Catfish (yes there is a category for this Brisbane River icon!!) as there is no need to kill these fish purely for trophy reasons. We also include a junior category for all the families that love to fish. In addition to this a huge pool of lucky door prizes has been added in recent years to ensure that everyone is in with a chance of walking away with a great prize!

The categories for the event are:

Longest Catfish

Longest Bream

Longest Shark

Longest King Threadfin Salmon

Best Miscellaneous Fish

Best Junior Miscellaneous Fish

The Miscellaneous categories are judged based on the fish’s overall length plus a certain number of additional points. These additional points are awarded based on a combination of the specific fish’s rarity in addition to its fighting prowess. For example, Mangrove Jack’s have a high additional points value to Flathead.

Declan Stevens holding up a GT, the surprise species that dominated the Misc Category this year.

The Shark category always draws a lot of interest at this event due largely to the novelty nature of the target itself. In fact, one of the leading reasons to introduce and refine a photo entry format for this event was the shark category. In 2007 one of our competitors caught and landed an impressive 2800mm meter bull shark during the event! In 2008 the same competitor backed up his efforts beating his previous record by 10cm landed a monster 2900mm specimen. While these were impressive fish beyond measure, The Team and Brisbane Fishing Online are very focused on a sustainable future for their events and fishing in general so we knew a decision must be made to ensure that while fish such as these must be eligible, they also need to be released. In 2010 the shark category was dominated by a couple of mates Shawn Labudda and Jason Baker. While not as monstrous as the 2007 and 2008 specimens their catches, 1450mm and 1360mm respectively ensured them 1st and 2nd place at this event. Also worth pointing out is that Jason Baker was backing up after a 2009 win in this category!

Always competitive, the bream category for 2010 did not disappoint with a larger than average number of entries. Paul Graveson was unassailable however as the 2010 winner with a hefty 394mm fish. This was a well earned win after placing 3rd and 2nd respectively in this category over the previous two years! Also with excellent fish were Joel Farley with a 352mm catch and Pat Kliese with a 346mm. In addition to this there were many more entries by other competitors well over the 300mm mark which is just great to see.

Pay Kliese with his 3rd place bream.

In the spirit of making this an event that is truly open to all skill levels and fishing styles, and the addition to just having some fun, the Brisbane River Classic has always featured a Catfish category. Although the prizes may not be as spectacular, who could frown upon the idea of being immortalized by having their name engraved upon the coveted Catfish Cup! Ted Stevens managed to take out this category with 585mm of croaking catfish! Ted was not the only one celebrating however as his son Declan not only caught the 2nd largest catfish of the comp, but took out Best Miscellaneous Fish with a 384mm Giant Trevally. Declan narrowly took first place in the juniors over the former champion Anthony Slugget who came in 2nd for 2010 with a 533mm flathead. Adam Hill finished off in 3rd place in the cat fish category with a 395mm fish.

Ted and Declan holding the Catfish Cup and Junior Cup.

One of the more hotly contested categories in the Brisbane River Classic is of course the King Threadfin Salmon. This fish which has fast become an iconic Brisbane River species made its way into the categories for the event in 2009. Since then tactics and locations targeted by the die hards change, but the one thing that remains is the fascination and awe of these mighty fish. 2010’s Brisbane River Classic saw several Threadfin Salmon caught with the undeniable champion of this species being Hunter Armytage who managed to take out 1st and 2nd place with a 1185mm and a 1060mm fish respectively. Patrick Kliese followed suit in 3rd place 713mm fish. All Threadfin Salmon caught in the 2010 competition were located in the lower reaches which most people have assumed to be due to the large rains we experienced leading up to the event.

Arguably the most exciting and most competed for category in the Brisbane River Classic is the Best Miscellaneous Fish. The reason for this is simply that no one really knows who has taken it out until the end! Each year species on the bite change making this an interesting and dynamic category featuring all of the rivers more exciting sports fish. In 2010 we saw an interesting addition into the mix in the form of Giant Trevally. Over the years the occasional trevally has been landed by competing anglers, however in 2010 there were 5 caught over the duration of the event with 3 taking out a place. David Coman took out first place this year with a healthy 453mm GT followed close behind by Paul Graveson and his 439mm model. Coming in 3rd was Paul’s dad Garret with a 526mm flathead.

Overall it was exceptional event thoroughly enjoyed by both entrants and organisers. Massive thanks must go out to our sponsors for this years event:

Damiki Lures

Pontoon 21 Lures

Uncharted Tackle

Smoking Drags Lures

Flying Fisherman

Viking Kayaks

Brisbane Fishing Online

BucKat List Fishing Charters

Sports Tuition

Bridgestone Select Springfield

Not only did the sponsors provide brilliant prizes for the categories, but there were many happy winners of a plethora of lucky door prizes awarded at the final presentation. We are really looking forward to the upcoming events in 2011!

Dates and venues for the 2011 Moreton Bay Classic, State Of Origin Fishing Competition and the Brisbane River Classic will be announced over the next few weeks.

Cheers and good fishing.

Angus Gorrie

[ryanyoung]

Great wrap-up Gus, this is the first I have seen of the day and results......Wish work hadn't been so hectic, would have been great to attend.

Ryan.

[werewolf]

The first results I've seen too (other than on wiki).

Cheers

wwolf

[Angus]

Yeap sorry it took some long to get this up.

It has been a hectiec time of year work wise and this has just not made it to the top of the "need to do first" list until now

It was a great event and we are looking forward to the next one.

Angus

[fishguru5]

yeah thanks for the wrap up angus am going to start consistently pre-fishing it for the next . well thats my escuse to go anyway

pt