THIRTEEN yellow bellies were caught from 21 nominations at the Lake Keepit Family Fishing Club’s (LKFFC) monthly competition last Saturday.
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Narrabri duo Gav Seymour and Jeff Rutter again reigned supreme with Seymour taking home the monthly Mitre 10 voucher, having secured a bag full of yellow bellies.
Rutter also bagged out, leaving only three other anglers to get one fish each.
The monthly medal went to newcomer Darcy Easton, with a nice yellow belly weighing in at 3lb 8oz.
The club also held its monthly meeting, and much discussion focused on the recent trip to Burrendong Dam by Rutter, Seymour, and Annie Michie for the OzFish Fishing Summit.
Fifteen fishing clubs were invited from across NSW, from Tenterfield to Mildura. The summit included fishing identity Steve Starling, NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Fisheries and invited guests.
“The chance to network with like-minded, highly motivated rec’ fishers was a sight to behold,” LKFFC’s Kevin Sheridan stated.
“It was a chance to exchange ideas, learn how to enhance ways to effectively market, fundraise, identify and guidelines for self-fund fish habitat projects at a grassroots level.”
Sheridan stated that the fundraising by the Inland Waterways Rejuvenation Association (IWRA) “was pretty mind blowing to say the least”. The first ever fundraiser they held was a raffle, which was a 40-litre Engel Fridge full of lures.
They raised $16,000 from this raffle which kickstarted their mission of Habitat Restoration throughout the Macquarie river system.
They also host the Burrendong Easter Fishing Classic. In six years this has grown to 1200 nominations and more than $50,000 in prizes which helps them to continue habitat restoration in the Macquarie system.
Local fishing clubs can fundraise and apply for grants for habitat restoration or restocking, but they understand that this is a difficult and arduous task. Not all clubs are as fortunate as the IWRA, Sheridan stated.
OzFish Unlimited is based on the same proven modelling as in America which “Trout Unlimited” operates. They have more than 150,000 members, and including sponsors have an annual budget of $50,000,000.
It’s an organisation which generates funds “to rehabilitate the fish habitat and to restock for the benefit of all fishos to enjoy for years to come”, Sheridan stated.
“OzFish Unlimited will operate the same way, providing funds and assistance to clubs of inland NSW to improve our fisheries and stocks of native fish,” Sheridan stated.
“It should not be too hard to generate more funds than is available by state government, which is currently only $750,000 for all of NSW including coastal waters and estuary systems.
“To assist the 15 clubs selected to attend the summit, each club has been given a 40 Litre Engel Fridge worth $1400 and a lure prize pack worth $750 to assist them with fundraising for the benefits of our inland waters.”
In other news, volunteers are sought for the annual “Fishability” competition at Keepit Dam on Saturday November 26.
Competition starts at 9am, so please be early.
The next competition will be on Saturday December 10 and be followed by the annual Christmas party at the clubhouse.
All members and their families are invited.
