Community
30 October, 2024
Massive prizes up for grabs at North West Fishing Classic
Fishing starts today and closes with a major celebration at Lake Moondarra on November 9.
Massive prizes – including a boat for one lucky entrant – are up for grabs at this year’s North West Fishing Classic, which is now underway ahead of next weekend’s festival finale.
Fishing starts today for those eager anglers, with the Mount Isa Fish Stocking Group hoping for more than 300 nominations, which are open until the morning of November 9.
“It’s building up nicely. Actually, it’s going to be a pretty awesome 10 days,” said MIFSG president Mick Scotney.
“We’re absolutely stoked with the support we’ve received from the community.
“Custom Steel Fab is a major sponsor, but also not only that, Travis McElligott has jumped on the committee to be a big part of running the event.
“Secure Mine Solutions has chucked in a huge amount of money for the fireworks, so we have an epic fireworks display.
“And then we’ve got the Mount Isa Water Board again on board.
“I think, when you look at all the prize pools and the cost to put it on, there’s like 70-odd thousand dollars in sponsorship we’ve received.
“We had about 10 people come on board to pitch in so we could buy a tinny as a lucky nomination prize.
“So there’s a three-and-a-half metre boat up for grabs for just nominating, as well as about $30,000 worth of cash prizes for the fishing side of things.”
Mr Scotney said the catch-and-release tournament was designed to maximise participation without significantly affecting the local barramundi stocks.
After nominating, anglers will need to pick up a “brag board” sheet that will need to appear in the photo with their catch, as well as a unique ID code.
“Every photo has got to have your ID tag and the competition number displayed. The extended format gives people on the rosters a chance to participate,” Mr Scotney said.
“There’s two weekends so pretty much anyone on any swing can jump out and do a bit of fishing and enter.”
With the barramundi season closed in the Gulf of Carpentaria in Queensland, fishing will be restricted to Lake Moondarra, the East Leichhardt dam and Lake Julius.
“You can tell the difference between a saltwater barra and a freshwater barra so don’t try and game the system,” the MIFSG president said.
“We’ve got an objective to get a good crowd out there and we want 300-plus nominations this year.
“We had 220 or 230 last year but more entries will help the club and our stocking activities.
“We hope to be able to get barra again soon when the Karumba hatchery’s producing again because they’ve been out of action for a few years.”
While the fishing is the showpiece of the event, a massive weekend is planned at Lake Moondarra to coincide with the presentations.
“It starts Friday night with a sponsors appreciation night and we’re allowed to camp at the dam area, which will be awesome,” Mr Scotneys said.
“On Saturday you’ve got the triathlon with IsaRATS and then our club gets its teeth into a heap of activities.”
Fishing Classic entries will close at 10am on the Saturday but there will be something for the whole family at the lake, including market stalls, casting competitions, a golf event and a beach volleyball tournament – all with great cash prizes.
The fishing presentations start at 6.30pm on Saturday, which will be followed by the fireworks display and another appearance from Luke Geiger and his band.
Members of the public are allowed to camp on site that weekend, something Mr Scotney would like to see more often.
“I’d love to see camping in certain areas – maybe have a dedicated facility that’s flat – something like that would be a wonderful addition to the lake and I think it would be pretty well booked out.
“At the moment, the lake is a bit underutilised.”
