By Trevor Jackson
THE annual Kingston Surf Fishing competition has been done and dusted for another year, with some impressive catches from the 1112-strong field.
The 97-kilometre stretch of beach resembled a camping ground is some locations, with caravans, campers and tents dotted along the sand.
Kingston’s Chad Vanstone claimed the top honours with a mulloway which pulled the scales down to an impressive 26kg.
Fellow Kingston angler Tyler Baker was close behind with a 21.4kg specimen, while there was daylight to the remaining catches.
In the shark category Naracoorte’s Brad Pilven landed a 10.2kg specimen, while Encounter Bay’s Kane Taylor claimed the junior honours with a 1.85kg salmon.
The field consisted of 956 adults and 156 juniors.
A total of eight mulloway were landed, 39 scale fish, 14 sharks and 18 junior fish.
Fishing chairman Lyle Griffin said it was another good year for the competition, with big numbers and warm weather to ensure everyone enjoyed the weekend at the beach.
“I didn’t think we would get that many because of the Covid thing,” he said.
“But they still seemed to come.”
Griffin said the weather held out but there was a lot of weed in the water.
“It made it tough for the fisherman – a lot of them gave it away on Saturday night,” he said.
“The next morning the fish must have come in because they ended up with 79 fish all together.
“There were a lot of small ones but an eight-foot mulloway which won.
“That is a big fish.”
Griffin said the win by Vanstone was well deserved, considering the time he puts into the sport.
“He is a pretty full-on fisherman,” he said.
“He works for his fish but every chance he gets he has a rod in his hand.”
As a bonus for Vanstone, the major prize win of a boat and trailer package for the biggest mulloway landed was quite timely.
“He was only just thinking of upgrading his boat and trailer and now he doesn’t have to,” Griffin said.
The popularity of the competition was again evident in the location of anglers competing, with some from Kangaroo Island and Adelaide, along with Murray Bridge, Mount Gambier and various other locations.
Junior numbers were up on last year, with many young, inexperienced anglers but all seemed to enjoy the weekend.
The prize pool up to $25,000 included the major prize of a boat and trailer package valued at $15,000.
Other prize values went from $200 up to around $500.
“They are good prizes,” Griffin said.
“I think that is what keeps the interest in it.
“We do give good prizes and we don’t overcharge for nominations.
“We keep that cost down so it is more of a family thing.”
With the Covid-19 pandemic still affecting many sporting fixtures and other activities across the state, Griffin said there were no real issues at the event, with competitors taking it upon themselves to ensure social distancing requirements were met.
“There is 87km of beach they have a chance to fish on,” he said.
“Even when they came back to the Lions Park for presentations, they all spread out which was good.”
