THE Evans Head Fishing Classic kicked off on Friday June 25 with a good crowd attending the briefing at Evans Head RSL, catching up after a hiatus through 2020 due to Covid-19. The 2021 competition saw a record number of participants with over the 700 anglers.
Saturday morning greeted competitors with threatening skies, but a few drops were not enough to put off the competitors. Saturday was also the first day of the Junior and Cadets two-day expression session. 111 juniors and 86 cadets signed up for the kids comp chasing key species: bream, whiting and flathead.
Sunday kicked off under ideal conditions, but by 2pm the event was turned on its head. New covid rules came into effect requiring mask wearing and social distancing. The Shimano team turned up with stack of giveaways making sure no young ones were left without at least something from the event.
The junior and cadets comp was run primarily over Saturday and Sunday. Makai Oldfield held onto the bream cadet category with a 432mm fish. A 270mm whiting for Charlie Palmer was also enough for victory. In the cadets there was a dead heat for first in the flathead category for Amali Martin and Macklin Groth.
From there the event settled into a steady stream of fish photos and occasional bursts of rain. Offshore conditions deteriorated but still offered experienced anglers a chance to get outside early in the week. Tuesday saw a good soaking and by Thursday the bar looked a frothy cappuccino.
The last day of the competition saw only a few super keen anglers head offshore for their last chance at victory. At the end of the day, the winners were settled and there were quite a few quality fish photographed.
The snapper category is always hotly contested and first went to Darcy Banks with a good 948mm fish. Pearl perch went to Brad Mayes with a 607mm fish. The kingfish and mulloway were also massive with a 1175mm king for Glenn Banks and a 1287mm mulloway for Stephen Banks.
For the inshore species, the blackfish category continued to impress with a fish of 446mm taking out first. Lyle Outerbridge’s 454mm bream was a donkey of a fish and saw him take out first for bream/tarwhine. Bernard Richter, dart specialist took out first place for overall handing him his 5th win in the category for the week.
The flathead section was won by Mal Hancock with an impressive 1000mm fish while tailor was won, not for the first time, by Ryan Kernaghan with an 852mm fish. Alexander Klassen pipped Robbie Graham for whiting with a 439mm fish.
As always, this event could not go ahead without the support of the sponsors. Anaconda was onboard this year for the first time joining foundation sponsors Gamakatsu, Atomic, Samurai, Frogleys Offshore, Wilsons Fishing, Lowrance, Great Northern Brewing Co, Shimano and many local businesses including Evans Head RSL, the local Ritchies IGA, Hooked On Brewing Bait and BBQ and the local Richmond Valley Council.
The 2022 event is scheduled for July 1st to 8th 2022.
