[img_assist|fid=18095|thumb=0|alt=Kalbarri Offshore]
October 5th & 12th Kids Whiting Comp

Every October School Holidays, the Kalbarri Offshore and Angling Club, hosts a whiting competition for kids on each Thursday of the holidays. It has grown to become a highlight for regular visitors and continues to grow in size each year. With thanks to our major sponsor this year, Australian National Sportsfishing Association, we were able to give out some great prizes. We had 174 excited kids signing up the first Thursday, 58 more kids than last year, all ready to fish the beach from the Chinamans to the first jetty.

[img_assist|fid=63355|thumb=0|alt=Crowd at the Weigh In - Whiting Comp]
The crowd at the weigh-in

[img_assist|fid=63359|thumb=0|alt=Some of the 174 kids and parents on the beach]
Some of the 174 kids and parents on the beach

Rules of the comp allow any fish to be caught, kept in a bucket and brought to the weigh-in live, weighed and then released. The Volunteer Sea Search and Rescue, Police, and Ashley Van Viersen loaned their 4WD bikes and gave kids a lift to the weigh station saving them the long walk over the sand.

There were 16 prizes each day including 12 rods and reels each day for species, smallest, biggest, most, most unusual etc. Two sections were competed for, under 8s and 9 to 14 years. The quality and diversity of the species caught showed that the river is in good condition. A lot of whiting came to the weigh station on the first Thursday with Maison Deveson in the under 8’s catching the most and biggest. Darcy Sexton had the biggest bream, a 284gram specimen. In the 9-14 age group Kate Davies had the most and biggest whiting, while Ashleigh Keeler landed the only mulloway of 138 grams. Nicholas Edgar won with his biggest tarwhine and Robert Higgins had a 67-gram tailor.

[img_assist|fid=63362|thumb=0|alt=Darcy Sexton biggest bream, 284gram specimen.]
[img_assist|fid=63369|thumb=0|alt=Maison Deveson and whiting]

Each day we finished off with a lunchtime sausage sizzle and prize giving. A big thank you to Freda, Angie and Shane Krakouer for doing the sausage sizzle. Murchison Boat Hire offered a one-day free hire of their 4.3m dinghy as a raffle prize. Kalbarri Surf Shop, Kalbarri Sports and Dive, Kalbarri Entertainment Centre, Rainbow Jungle, The Seahorse Sanctuary, Marina Home & Leisure, Kalbarri Natural Spring Water and The Kalbarri Pharmacy all donated prizes.

The second Thursday saw another record number of kids, 158 kids line up along the beach waiting for the 9am start. Within minutes the blowies began to arrive. It was a blowie day with multitudes being brought in, but sprinkled amongst them were good fish such as a 92 gram Tarwhine for Steven Pekaar, 136-gram blowie for Jamie Ogilvy, an 84 gram whiting for Fraser Allen all in the 9-14 age group

Surprise for the day was Ben Stelfox who brought in a 428-gram tailor, which was legal size! And just a little later on Laura Gifford also brought one in weighing 252 grams. The under 8’s continued the run of good fish with Jesse Cooper catching 7 tarwhine and Makaira Heaney a most unusual small estuary cod.
[img_assist|fid=63365|thumb=0|alt=Junior Tailor]
[img_assist|fid=63372|thumb=0|alt=Laura Gifford and tailor]
We would like to thank ANSA as our major sponsor, Kalbarri Surf Shop, Kalbarri Sports and Dive, Kalbarri Entertainment Centre, Rainbow Jungle, The Seahorse Sanctuary, Marina Home & Leisure, The Kalbarri Pharmacy Kalbarri Natural Spring Water and Murchison Boat Hire as without them we could not run such a fun comp for the kids.

About 600 fish were caught over the two days in four hours! Species recorded were as follows: blowies, whiting, tailor, black bream, silver bream, gobbleguts, crabs, yellow-eye mullet, estuary cod and bony herring, a total of 10 species.

[img_assist|fid=63375|thumb=0|alt=Junior competition lineup - Kalbarri]

A big thanks to all the helpers on the day, without your help this great event for the kids could not happen.

Laurie Malton
[img_assist|fid=63378|thumb=0|alt=Murchison Boat Hire - Logo]