Three keen anglers – Sam Schembri, David Gerard and Ronald Abdilla – arrived on Thursday afternoon, set up camp and prepared for a big weekend of fishing. The plan was simple: find a quality feed of flathead and enjoy the Sydney Sportfishing Tournament.
Friday’s forecast called for a manageable 15-knot breeze, but Mother Nature had other ideas. After launching from foreshore drive boat ramp early in the morning, the wind quickly built to 30–40 knots, making conditions challenging Unfortunately.
In David Gerard’s boat, the sea drogue was deployed which helped steady the drift and kept us in the game.
Despite the tough weather, the bay was alive. Migrating whales cruised through the area while birds worked bait schools on the surface. Dave rigged live bait rig and we soon found ourselves connected to plenty of bait fish. By the end of the day, we had landed a solid tally of 12 flathead, providing a great start to the tournament.
Saturday brought more action. Returning towards Cronulla, we added another four flathead, although fishing remained slow. A move to Maroubra proved to be the turning point of the weekend. The decision paid off immediately, with larger fish coming aboard, including quality flathead stretching up to 550mm.
The hot bite continued and we boated another 18 flathead for the day, bringing our tournament total to an impressive 30 flathead. With fish weighing around the a couple of kilo mark, every drift carried the possibility of a tournament contender.
Saturday night was a great social occasion, with
Rob Sinclair, Roy wartmann, Mick Withford and Michael Markich joining us for dinner and sharing stories from the water.
A huge thank you goes to South Sydney Sportfishing Club for their hospitality, allowing us to camp on their grounds and making us feel welcome throughout the weekend. Special thanks also to Stan Konstantaras, who went out of his way to ensure everyone had a fantastic tournament experience.
It was a memorable weekend of fishing, mateship and competition. One thing that still leaves me wondering is how we can attract 49 members to fish a tournament at Lake Lyell, yet struggle to get the same numbers fishing locally. Either way, those who attended enjoyed a terrific weekend and created plenty of stories to tell.
CB25 Ronald Abdilla
