The second annual Pirtek Fishing Challenge held on Sunday April 11 saw 2500 anglers around Australia competing for great prizes all for a worthy cause – to fight prostate cancer.
The unique national one-day event was a catch & release tournament staged between 6am and 6pm, with competitors not knowing their State’s target species until the night before the event.
After photographing their prized catch for the day, anglers were required to upload photos for judging. The biggest fish verified by brag mats were in contention for a share of $110,000 in cash and prizes. Pirtek Fluid Systems generously donated $70,000 in cash prizes ($4,000 for each longest target fish) with Evinrude, Berkley and Lowrance supplying junior, second and third prizes.
A full list of winners can be found below.
Michael Guest who directed the competition on Pirtek’s behalf commented, “2500 anglers all fishing on the one day and then uploading their catch photos made for interesting viewing. It was great to see the juniors get amongst some fantastic fish, hats off to Pirtek and our associate sponsors for once again supporting this great event.”
Weather conditions were contrasting on the day. Lightning storms in Tasmania and windy weather in Victoria and South Australia made for tough fishing conditions; while the rest of Australia seemed to fare much better. Once again family teams had a lot of success winning senior and junior divisions in some of the target species.
All registration money from the event goes to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.
More at: www.pirtekfishingchallenge.com.au
NSW tailor winner Ian Phillips.
NSW junior whiting winner Wyatt North.
Victorian salmon winner Leigh McVeigh.
2010 Pirtek Challenge results
(State Place Species Winner Length)
NSW/ACT 1st Tailor Ian Phillips 71.50 cm
2nd Tailor Andrew Mainey 63.70 cm
3rd Tailor Steve Shelley 60.00 cm
Junior Tailor Ryan Kennedy 54.00 cm
NSW/ACT 1st Sand Whiting Peter Hotz 45.90 cm
2nd Sand Whiting David Potts 43.30 cm
3rd Sand Whiting Darryl McKinnon 42.90 cm
Junior Sand Whiting Wyatt North 40.00 cm
NSW/ACT 1st Flathead Thomas Evans 84.00 cm
2nd Flathead Adrian Barrett 72.20 cm
3rd Flathead Wayne Reid 72.00 cm
Junior Flathead Aaron King 69.90 cm
NSW/ACT 1st Golden Perch/Yellowbelly Tim Booby 52.10 cm
2nd Golden Perch/Yellowbelly Kieran O’Loughlin 51.90 cm
3rd Golden Perch/Yellowbelly Wayne Mee 51.00 cm
Junior Golden Perch/Yellowbelly Mitchell Fitzgerald 48.10 cm
NT 1st Barramundi Colin Larke 113.00 cm
2nd Barramundi Daniel Beechey 97.00 cm
3rd Barramundi Matt Lansdown 93.80 cm
Junior Barramundi Jacob Enever 87.00 cm
QLD 1st Flathead Gary O’Bryan 88.10 cm
2nd Flathead Greg Stark 87.20 cm
3rd Flathead Chris McCurdy 87.10 cm
Junior Flathead Jarrod O’Bryan 80.00 cm
1st Bass Jamie Hedger 51.30 cm
2nd Bass Anthony Bull 45.00 cm
3rd Bass Craige Floyd 42.30 cm
Junior Bass Tiarna O’Rourke 44.00 cm
1st Blue/Threadfin Salmon David Blank 83.20 cm
2nd Blue/Threadfin Salmon Nicholas Brooks 72.00 cm
3rd Blue/Threadfin Salmon Brad Messinbird 61.80 cm
Junior Blue/Threadfin Salmon Will French 46.40 cm
SA 1st Black Bream Ben Smith 39.10 cm
2nd Black Bream Rodney Evans 38.90 cm
3rd Black Bream Jason Kotek 38.30 cm
1st K G Whiting Dan Harvey 52.50 cm
2nd K G Whiting Mick McCallum 51.00 cm
3rd K G Whiting Mark Wilkins 46.40 cm
TAS 1st Silver Trevally Michael Haley 62.80 cm
2nd Silver Trevally Brendan Turriff 51.90 cm
3rd Silver Trevally Mason Paull 50.00 cm
Junior Silver Trevally Bryan van Wyk 53.00 cm
VIC 1st Flathead Leigh Appleyard 78.80 cm
2nd Flathead Brian Moran 50.80 cm
3rd Flathead Kirk Lawrence 45.60 cm
Junior Flathead Lachlan Fenner 51.20 cm
1st Aust Salmon Leigh McVeigh 63.80 cm
2nd Aust Salmon Ryan Ware 56.30 cm
3rd Aust Salmon Shane Cox 55.10 cm
Junior Aust Salmon Kai Mayer 50.20 cm
1st Golden Perch/Yellowbelly Jacob Crow 52.20 cm
2nd Golden Perch/Yellowbelly Peter Read 31.80 cm
WA 1st Golden Trevally George Popa 67.50 cm
2nd Golden Trevally Jason Groves 64.00 cm
3rd Golden Trevally Richard Nugent 44.00 cm
1st Black Bream Eric McCrea 41.10 cm
2nd Black Bream Neil Grant 39.20 cm
3rd Black Bream Corry McCarthy 39.00 cm
1st K G Whiting John Golder 45.00 cm
2nd K G Whiting David Wilson 38.50 cm
