FRIDAY October 4 saw the first day of competition in the Trafficwerx NT Secret Women’s Business Barra Challenge, with a record total of 37 teams and 123 women anglers descending on Corroboree Billabong.
The main focus of the tournament is to catch as many barramundi as possible over the course of two days. Competitors must measure the fish, take a photo, put a tag in and release them unharmed back into the water.
If the barramundi aren’t biting there are of course a few saratoga to be wrestled out of the lily pads. The saratoga are worth half the points of a barramundi so need to double the length of any caught barramundi.
It was tough a day for most with the sun blazing and some of the hard earned pre-fishing spots blocked off due to a tragedy on the billabong on Thursday afternoon. The girls were no slouches though and toughed it out in the conditions and put their abilities to the test to find new fishing spots. A majority of the girls had put in a full day, basically from sunrise to sunset.
Day One results:
- 10 barramundi tagged and released and 29 saratoga caught and released.
- The longest barramundi was 53cm caught by Bree Sing.
- The most barramundi tagged and released was three by Tina Moyle.
- The longest saratoga was 71cm caught by Alana Young.
- The most saratoga caught and released was five by Tracey Saliba.
- The leading team was a Cupla Qwyties & A Chill on 355 points.
Tina Moyle tagged & released the most barra on Day One of the comp.
The competition’s organiser, Christina Hurren, says just 37 fish were caught in the first day.
Of the low numbers of fish caught on the first day, competiition organiser Christina Hurren told the ABC, “I think it has to do with the wet season not being so wet, because it’s been steadily worse over the last three years”.
Legend has it, the tournament was dreamt up over a glass of wine by a few local women who wanted to rock the boat.
“It started seven years ago, a couple of ladies sitting around thinking well we want to have own fishing comp, we love to fish and there isn’t much opportunity for us to fish in tournaments,” Ms Hurren said.
“It’s friendly but they are in it to win it, so I think there’s a mixture of real competitiveness and just getting out there to have some fun.”
Read more at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-06/women-break-fishing-mould-in-northern-territory/5001480
The full results of the two day competition are still to be released.
