EACH year, during the first week of the winter school holidays, the Trophy Hunter Snapper Bash draws anglers to Coffs Harbour from afar.
This is a prestigious event where some of Australia’s top fishos compete for a pool of over $200,000 worth of cash and prizes. It is clear that the taxidermied snapper tail trophy is on everyone’s mind, unlike other competitions I have fished, it never gets in the way of people being respectful, helpful and having a good old laugh.
Sondal Bensan and Mike Bonnici go above and beyond with preparation to make this competition such a success. They have released the Trophy Hunter App that is simple to use and makes for a seamless experience competing and logging fish. They personally spent countless hours on the phone supporting individuals and teams struggling with understanding rules, Coffs Harbour fishery specifics, such as safety regulations, the boat ramp or how to log fish.
I caught up with Sondal and Mike a week ahead of the competition and recorded a podcast for On The Sauce, where there are some interesting details and insights into the effort required to hold a competition. This is a comp designed by fisho for fishos. The main reason for their tireless efforts is that they previously loved fishing in the Dave Irvine Snapper Classic that preceded the Trophy Hunter Snapper Bash. The Dave Irvine comp came to an end, and these boys wanted to keep the good times rolling. They have tweaked the rules and restructured the comp to make it team-centric and bigger and better than ever. Of course, they both fish the Snapper Bash, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to reap the rewards and lap up a few days of fun on the water, fun what this comp is all about.
The Briefing and presentation evenings at the infamous Hoey Moey Hotel in Park Beach are a chance for everyone to let their hair down and meet the rest of the field. There are genuine cheers from the crowd to show support for the success of their peers; there is no place for sour grapes in this comp, just eagerness to do your best and get involved. The culture of the comp has brought in a lot of tourists to the area in the form of experienced anglers, beginner fishos and families that enjoy a week on the Banana Coast. The locals take pride in doing their part in challenging those bringing foreign skill sets to these waters, all in good faith.
Phone calls in between drifts to other vessels and meeting up for a drink at the pub after “stop fishing” is a great way to break down everyone’s day. There are so many different experiences with 154 boats fishing roughly the same waters. It is amazing what persistence and trust in your ability to read the ocean, equipment and feeding habits does to your day on the water.
Here is a little detail on how I faired on board skipper Phin Gibson’s vessel “Itch Please“, named after his Haines 580 fibreglass rebuild. The countless sanding and stripping had him a little itchy and scratchy. We were joined by Ryan Doyle from Watsons Bay, who has come up to fish with us on multiple occasions. Not being the local, had him relegated to jigging duties. Our plan was for Phin and I to cast plastics in the direction of the current, whilst Ryan managed two rods at different depths vertically. This technique is something featured on most boats and can often be the difference between getting a bite or not. We thought dedicating Ryan to looking after these rods would mean that we would be switched on and not miss any bites. Ryan was labelled the “Jig Master”, although he would be asked politely to get back in his corner when he thought to ask if he could also place a cast. In time, we softened to the Jig Master; he was allowed alongside us on the Atomic Plazo train.
We were ready at 4:30 am the morning of fishing. The car park was already full of empty trailers, which forced us to park in the overflow. Everyone was super eager to get to their planned destination to start fishing at 6:15. We were told to leave extra time for a slow run in peak whale season. The fantastic facilities at Coffs Harbour boat ramp meant that all 6 lanes were being utilised and there was minimal waiting time to get your boat in the drink. The amount of reef that potentially holds snapper off the Mid North Coast means that this is the perfect destination for this comp. The area has the capacity to hold 154 boats for a tournament and not be stacked on top of each other in the water. It was certainly a spectacle leaving the sheltered harbour with the display of navigation lights of boats disbanding in all directions under the brightness of the full moon.
I was sceptical of the full moon phase and how it would impact the fishing. My experience of snapper fishing is that when the full moon rises in the evening and sets at daybreak, the snapper are switched off compared to other phases. The snapper are able to feed more easily at night. However, there were plenty of quality fish caught leading up to the event, and everyone fishes under the same conditions. So even if it was slightly shut down, the prowess of skippers and anglers would be highlighted. It turns out we had our most extraordinary snapper session to date in the first two hours on day one. Yes, we filled our bag over the two days, but the sad part is that we only landed 1 of 10 premium fish that we hooked.
Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. Big fish taking Atomic Plazos on the drop. Tell-tale snapper fights with big headshakes, with evidence of the puncture wounds from their teeth on our jerk minnows. Phin lost a beast of a fish to the reef, one minute later, we both had a double on what some people would call a fish of a lifetime. Phin’s brand new braid popped, I pulled the hooks 3m from the boat. We lost 5 fish that were exceptional. Every year we have fished the comp, we have lost 1 that left us scratching our heads, thinking what could have been… Was that the biggest fish of the comp? Having caught a bunch of big reds, I am sure that we lost five that would have been “that fish” and four more that were right up there. The Jig Master himself was also getting pumped on the jigs and lost a beast or two on the plastics.
I started questioning the make-up of my person… what had I done to expect this negative Karma? Was it the time that I was serving ice cream and decided to add extra toppings to mine and mine alone? Perhaps I just need to be a better person to get the fishing gods to see me in a different light. Upon hooking a fish, I was thinking… how are we going to lose this one… I lost the faith.
At one point, I was questioning why I even fish.
Phin is a very good snapper fisherman. He has caught his fair share of brutes. I put a request for a Gibson special. And he produced a solid snapper at 770mm fork length and 880mm to the tip. A fish that fought only a fraction of those that we didn’t see. But I guess that is what made this fish so special. In these comps, you need to convert on your opportunities. So many boats come back with similar stries of losing fish. Hooking them isn’t enough, clearly.
During the comp, we went through a lot of equipment, which is to be expected… but also snapped two rods via user error. At one point, I was questioning why I even fish. But going back and re-watching the moment that I filmed Phin landing his fish was a great reminder to me of why we keep going back. Absolute joy and camaraderie in the capture. A feeling that is very difficult to replicate and makes all of the hard yards and losses go away.
We had such a good few days together fishing. Above all, that filled my cup. Watching the Socceroos lose in penalties whilst trying to concentrate on a snapper bite was all part of the experience. We had a great time. I cannot recommend being involved in this competition enough. I am a person who doesn’t really believe in competition fishing and had given up on it after years of game fishing. This comp is different, and I cannot wait for next year. A huge congratulations to Tai Donelan and his crew for taking out the ultimate prize. They blew the field away with their bag of 10 cracking fish. He is clearly the man to beat around here and deserves every bit of praise for his efforts.
