A great day was had by all, with 87 entrants and a great haul of carp caught in this years “Catch a Carp day’ which was held at the Port of Bairnsdale.

With registration at 7.30  in the morning, anglers were quick to get out to their favourite carp fishing spots to catch either “the  heaviest carp or the largest number of carp” in order to win some great prizes.  The great thing about this year’s competition was the number of juniors that entered the competition. At the conclusion of the day the juniors had caught almost twice as many carp as those in the open category.  During the day, the entrants and spectators enjoyed various activities that keep everyone entertained.

Waterwatch brought their interactive display of water bugs and critters and Keith Bell, founder and operator of K & C Fisheries entertained the crowd with his carp demonstration and provided everyone with the tasty treat of cooked carp. Keith also talked about the popularity of carp in other countries and also showed the range of carp products such as carp skin “leather products” and fertilisers.

Keith Bell from K & C Fisheries

The Fishcare trailer was also in attendance with educational displays of carp and native fish and the volunteers were handing out the new 2009/10 fishing regulations to the public.

SES services provided lunch for the day with a BBQ.

The weigh in was between 12.00 to 1.30 pm and people gathered to watch the carp brought in and weigh and recorded.

The Winners of the 2009 Fishcare East Gippsland Inc Catch the Carp day Competition are:

Open heaviest Carp was won by Ray Turner, Carp weighing 7.24 kilos.

Open Second heaviest camp was won by Ella Pugh, weighing 4.727 kilos.

Junior heaviest carp was won by Riley Herbstreit weighing 4.485 kilos.

Junior second heaviest carp was won by Lane Trewin which weighed 4.358 kilos.

Open winner of the most number of carp caught was Mel George with a total of 12.

Open winner of the second most carp caught was Denis Davitt with a total of 7 carp.

Junior winner of the most number of carp caught was Nicholas George with the grand total of 23 carp.

Junior winner of the second most number of carp caught was Ben Bellingham with a total of 12 carp.

Encouragement awards were also handed out to Kayne Osbourne, Hayden Herbstreit and Lizzie Ingram who in a great effect caught 26 carp between them.

Special thanks to our sponsors, The Esplanade Resort and Spa, Lakes Entrance who donated two night accommodation plus a trip on the Thunderbird and also to IGA, Paynesville for their generous donation.

This event was funded by the Victorian Recreational Fishing Licence Trust Account Revenue.