Angling Competition 1st & 2nd February 2025
The Rhyll-Phillip Island Angling Club (RPIAC) held its 8th angling competition for 2024/2025 season over a hot and sunny weekend on the 1st and 2nd of February. Anglers worked hard to turn a reel as fish chose to bite at different times and locations. Others had obviously charged up their fish magnets and had an abundance of fish eager to get hooked. Thankfully, the summer weather itself was a great reward for everyone.
Each day’s weigh-in, between 4:00 pm and 5:00 pm, kept the weigh-in masters busy as a total of 54 fish, 2 sharks, and 1 game fish were recorded. The eligible species included snapper, whiting, salmon, leather jackets, flathead, mackerel, gummy shark, and a Kingfish. The weather was steamy as club members gathered for the post-competition awards presentation to acknowledge extraordinary feats. An equally extraordinary feast of barbecue sausage submarines were kindly sponsored by Brett and Jillian Slade and Bakers Delight Cowes, made possible by the RPIAC’s exceptional weekend-volunteer catering team, embodying the club’s spirit of generosity and community, to close-out a magical weekend.
Whilst the conditions allowed many hours of fishing the elusive RPIAC Extraordinary Catch Incentives remain banked. With the 1 kilogram King George whiting prize claimed last year by Nigel Firth, none of the four remaining members-only, competition weekend $1000 first-to-catch prizes, were claimed. However, anglers remain optimistic that they will catch an eligible species that equals or exceeds the nominated weight: Snapper (10.0 kilograms), Gummy Shark (20.0 kilograms), Mulloway (25.0 kilograms) and Kingfish (25.0 kilograms).
RPIAC encourages participation in recreational angling and welcomes newcomers to learn more about participation in the club’s activities. RPIAC offers complimentary membership to children, aged 16 and under, so they can develop skills and an awareness of sustainable and responsible angling.
With holidays over, RPIAC celebrated some great achievements in the Squidgie category, for anglers aged nine and under. With many anglers returning empty-handed, Harley Griffin and Byron Griffin impressed everyone in a two-way tie for first place in the Squidgie Mixed Bag competition, each catching 5 fish worth 70 points. The Junior Weight competition was uncontested, whilst the Junior Points competition saw Ryan Brett triumph and win the Junior Points prize with a pinkie snapper worth 684 points (855 grams).
The Senior Heaviest Weight competitions had the scales bouncing with some nice fish, and were won by Brendan Garlepp and Carrianne Peatey, weighing in a pair of snappers weighing 1965 grams and 1750 grams, respectively. Flathead and King George whiting were the species responsible for victories in the Senior Points competitions. Trevor Gleeson had the best flathead of the weekend, worth 3258 points (1810 grams), and Tenille Preddice caught a winner King George whiting, scoring 1918 points (685 grams). With squid all around Phillip Island, none greater than the 1-kilo minimum weight made it to the weigh-in room, leaving the squid/cuttlefish competition uncontested. The Shark competition was a tale of one winning gummy shark, weighing 3975 grams, and was brought in by Alex Bowden. The Game Fish prize was won by Gus Fahnle for an impressive Kingfish, turning the scales to 9100 grams. The Secret Weight prize was awarded to Jillian Slade, for a mackerel weighing 345 grams (secret weight 347 grams). The RPIAC clubroom is located adjacent to the Rhyll boat ramp and is open to members and visitors on Fridays (from 5 pm) and competition weekends coinciding with weigh in. The next angling competition will be held over the weekend of the 15th / 16th of February 2025. There are still many opportunities to take part in the scheduled angling competitions and compete for comp-weekend prizes and the club championships. For further information about the club, events, competitions, and rules, please visit the website: www.rpiac.com
