THE Dave Irvine Memorial Snapper Classic was held in variable conditions over the long weekend at Coffs Harbour on the NSW North Coast. Now in its seventh year, the annual catch & release tournament started from humble beginnings in honour of the contributions to rec fishing by the late Dave Irvine, advocate for catch & release fishing and designer of the Environet and Brag Mat.
The 2013 lure-only catch, photograph & release snapper comp kicked off at 5.30am last Saturday in trying conditions courtesy of a 20-knot southerly wind and messy seas. The bad weather resulted in many of the 71 teams not venturing out of the harbour until the afternoon of Day One, if at all.
Of the teams who headed offshore on Day One many reported the fishing as fairly tough with bites few and far between.
In stark contrast, Michael and Hayley Bonnici and Timmy Forster of Team Evinrude/Simrad reportedly drove a long way north of the launch site to fish. This smart play accounted for good numbers of snapper which put the team well ahead on the leader board on Day One. Probably wouldn’t have been much fun punching back into the southerly on the way back though!
Captured fish are placed on a Brag Mat to verify size and a photograph taken for proof prior to release. Note the deckwash hose supplying water to the fish.
There were a few hard luck stories of lost fish and breakdowns on Day One. Noted angler Chris Cleaver was out of the running early after his Edge Water was swamped by a wave in the rough conditions and had to be towed back to the harbour by Marine Rescue.
Team Fishing World – Jim Harnwell, David Green and Chris Yu – were in the running for the Biggest Snapper award after Day One. After several fruitless hours on the water David Green boated a magnificent 92cm snapper that took a fancy to a 7″ Gulp Nemesis in Pearl White. The big knobby-headed red was Greeny’s “third biggest ever snapper” and he was suitably rapt. Unfortunately it turned out to be the only red caught on the Fisho Bar Crusher for the day and the comp! Thankfully the Fisho crew enjoyed patches of good fishing prior to the DIMSC – read the details here.
Thankfully, Day Two of the DIMSC played out in more pleasant conditions with light southerly winds and a dropping swell prevailing.
Fishing concluded by 1.30pm on Day Two with competitors required to hand in score sheets and images of their captured snapper by 2pm. The official presentation was underway shortly after where a generous total prize pool of over $60,000 was given away courtesy of the event’s valued sponsors.
The DIMSC’s winning team was Evinrude/Simrad with 3638 points. Runners up were team Bye The Gills (3226) and No Limits (2008).
The biggest snapper caught for the event was a 94cm beauty taken by Paul Davidson. David Green’s 92cm fish finished in a three-way tie for the third biggest snapper.
The Top Female angler was Hayley Bonnici with 2231 points. Not surprisingly, Michael Bonnici took out top overall honours in the Open category, followed by Sam Gilchrist and Tim Forster.
The total number of anglers competing in the event was 185, consisting of 71 teams (boats and kayaks), 11 juniors and seven ladies.
The total number of snapper caught was 346, an average of 1.87 per angler. (See all results below.)
The 2013 Dave Irvine Memorial Snapper Classic was once again a credit to the organisers, the Coffs Harbour Deep Sea Fishing Club, which put on a very successful and enjoyable event for all participants. Special thanks to the sponsors including Shimano, Evinrude E-TEC, Lowrance, Mako Sunglasses, Hobie Kayaks, Coffs Harbour Marine, Camera House, Fishing Tackle Australia, Big Fish tournament shirts, Gamakatsu and Fishing World magazine.
Fisho now looks forward to the 2014 Dave Irvine Memorial Snapper Classic!
