Sunday the 8th December 2019 saw our loyal boaters turn up to St Georges Basin N.S.W with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of the nicest fishing rigs you are likely to see. They came for the day they look forward to every year, the day they get to take out veterans and first responders and introduce them to the finer points of fishing.
With fires raging across most of New South Wales, roads were blocked and the fires kept some boaters and fishers from attending the event. I was unable to make the event due to road closures and a fire front threatening Bolaro Forge, so it was up to Bottsy and Jamo to run the day. With lots of phone calls, boater and fisher re shuffles, we managed to get our full field of 25 boats sorted and organised. The boys did an amazing job hosting the event without a single hiccup, boaters and fishers alike stepped up to the plate to share the workload ensuring the day was an amazing success.
With the briefing completed and the most amazing gift bags from our sponsors in the hands of the fishers, the boats fired up and off they went. It didn't take long for some boats to start putting fish on the deck as a combination of local knowledge, a great waterway and some serious angling talent was put to work. First time fishers were landing fish and learning the craft at a very impressive rate, a lot of first fish, first species and personal bests were set that day.
Our sponsors gladly donate some amazing prizes each year to benefit our veterans and first responders and I feel safe in stating that they are handed the most generous gift bags I have ever seen on the fishing circuit. They hit the water armed with a fist full of lures perfectly suited to the waterway they are fishing. The lures, combined with the coaching of some of Australia's best anglers is a recipe for success for the fishers.
As the day rolled on, some boats had the landing net out very regularly whilst others did it a little tougher, but at the end of the day that's fishing. I swear that some days it can come down to how you are holding your tongue. The weather held out, the water stayed calm, the smoke hovered in the distance and a covering of cloud stopped the crews from getting sun burnt. There was not much more you could possibly ask for.
Kev kept everyone well fed and watered when they got back on dry land while Amy tapped away at her laptop compiling the results to give us some winners. Once again thanks to our generous sponsors, we had an amazing prize pool to hand out to the anglers. Each category was able to have prizes down to third place for the boaters and the fishers with some extremely great prizes being handed out from Mako Sunglasses to fishing rod combos to fillet knives and everything in between.
The anxiously awaited results were collated and the presentation commenced. I wont report the full results here but i will report on the most important result of the day, the one that sees the winners get their names on the the highly coveted Forge Through Fishing Trophy.
The largest combined length for the day was achieved by Team Mako consisting of Guy Jamieson, Andy Clark and Kurt Mehmet with a total of 5.369 metres of flathead and .657 metres of a mixed bag.
However, the day is run as a two person team event so Team Mako needed to lose some points to account for the third angler. My intent was to dock them the total fish length from the angler who caught the least on their boat, but when I saw the results from the next team on their tail I only had to dock them one fish.
So with a total 5.119 metres of flathead and a mixed bag of five fish totaling 1.2 metres the title of Forge Through Champion Team for 2019 goes to Tim Francis and Matt Dimitridis.
Theirs names will be forever immortalized on our perpetual trophy. Well done gents on a champion fishing effort.
As a collective crew of experienced and first time anglers they managed to catch and release, in a short five hour period, a massive 41 metres of flathead and 3.7 metres of bream. That is a whole lot of fish.
Now all we have to do is anxiously await the Forge Through Fishing Day on December 13th 2020. So if you want to be a part of this wonderful event make sure you keep up to date with the page for the announcement of registrations.
I would once again like to personally thank and acknowledge all the sponsors that support this event, irrespective of the size of the prize, the message it sends to our veterans and first responders is a very strong message of support. This day puts smiles on faces that have almost forgotten to smile and builds friendships that will last well after the sun has set on the day.
THANK YOU:
Shimano, Mako Eyewear, Frogleys, Daiwa, Pure Fishing, J3Seven, Compleat Angler Nowra, Tackle World Nowra, BCF, Fishing World Magazine, Omni Executive, Tackle Tactics, Wilsons, Nomad, Oztrail, Yeti, Victorinox, Cranka Lures, NSW Department of Primary Industry
If I have failed to mention anyone I sincerely apologise.