Hundreds of lines cast as Carnar-Fin Fishing Competition in Carnarvon proves to be a big hit

Those not at the race track in Carnarvon were likely down at the foreshore as the Carnarvon Fishing Club held its biggest tournament, the Carnar-Fin Fishing Competition.

The annual competition held in partnership with the Lions Club drew in anglers far and wide for their chance to bag some big fish and was held over seven days, ending on Sunday.

Competitors compete across 16 categories of fish ranging from monster tuna to the smaller bream or spanish flag.

This year also saw two wild-card categories with blue manna crab and squid entering the competition this year.

This year’s overall champion was local Peter Faithfull, while the biggest individual catch was a 25.14kg spanish mackerel caught by Nate Vanderwal.

Faithfull also broke the record for a black snapper catch with a 4.30kg entry, breaking Jessica Schultz’s record from 2007. And Michael Mitchell broke the bream record with his 1.51kg edging out Matt Lawer’s effort from 2006.

Plenty of prospective fishers came from Perth and outside the region with live bands, food trucks and other entertainment provided throughout the week.

President of the Carnarvon Fishing Club Sean Challis said the event was a huge hit.

“It went really really well,” he said. “We had really good numbers and the change of the presentation night venue to the race track seemed to go down well.

“I’m not sure exactly how many people came from outside of the town but there were plenty of new faces and I had people from Perth come up and say it was one of the best fishing comps they’ve ever been to.

“We had a lot more people doing catch-and-release fishing this year and searching for that one big fish to bring to weigh-in, which is obviously good for the environment.”

Challis thanked everyone who helped bring the tournament together, and said new committee members were being sought for next year.

He made special mention of the Lions Club.

“(They) really helped drive the kid’s tournament which was a big hit this year,” he said.

“It is something we are really looking to push more in coming editions.”