October 4th & 11th Kids Whiting Comp

Our major sponsor this year

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 170 excited kids signing up the first Thursday, all ready to fish the beach from the Chinamans to the first jetty.

The crowd at the weigh-in

Some of the 170 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, Kalbarri Police, Ashley Van Viersen Lui Palamara and Nic Bramwell 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 Angus Coull in the under 8’s catching the biggest. Veronica Zurzolo caught the most bream. In the 9-14 age group Lizzie Hine had the biggest whiting, a 252 gram specimen and a meritorious 352g flounder, while Nick Moritz caught the most bream. Most unusual went to Dillon Conroy for his angelfish.

Each day we finished off with a lunchtime sausage sizzle and prize giving. A big thank you to John Stewart, son Martin, Rylee Eley and Beryl Tolson for doing the sausage sizzle. Kalbarri Surf Shop, Kalbarri Sports and Dive, Rainbow Jungle, The Seahorse Sanctuary, Marina Home & Leisure, Kalbarri Natural Spring Water, The Kalbarri Pharmacy, The Gorges Café, Kalbarri Café, Kalbarri Pizza & Pasta and Kalbarri Boat Hire all donated prizes.

The second Thursday saw another 171 kids line up along the beach waiting for the 9am start. Within minutes the blowies began to arrive, but sprinkled amongst them were good fish such as a 322-gram flounder by Peter Vamelueni, and a surprise 3.3kg nor west blowie that took out the meritorious category, caught by Liam Cavanaugh. 3 year old Lydia Tranenen landed a small estuary cod for the most unusual and Ben Smedley caught the most bream. Desiree Louis won a rod & Reel for her biggest blowie in the 9 and over section.

About 850 fish were caught over the two days in four hours! Species recorded were as follows: blowies, (lots of) whiting, black bream, silver bream, gobbleguts, crabs, estuary cod, trumpeter, flounder, angelfish, wrasse, zebra fish, nor west blowie, buffalo bream, flathead and a sardine type fish, a total of 16 species. Of note, missing this year were yellow-eyed mullet, tailor and mulloway that made up the 10 species last year.

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

Laurie Malton