2024 Overall Winner
Our standout champion in the 2024 Competition is Christo Nortje.
Christo displayed true determination and commitment, putting in the time and effort to catch some spectacular fish.
Perhaps what set him aside during this year's competition from some of the other noteworthy contenders was the fact that he was able to catch two of the sought-after gamefish species, both a big GT (the only one in the competition) and a Spanish Mackerel.
Seeing you out on the beach before sunrise confirmed your commitment to the sport we all so dearly love. Catching and releasing those sharks and seeing the smile on your face is awesome.
Well done, Christo, you're our well-deserving winner for 2024!
Biggest Tailor
Brian Potgieter wins the Biggest Tailor. Well done, Brian! Your 620mm fish in the early stages of the competition when the weather was still crappy shows that you can fish when it matters.
Well done, mate, well-deserving winner of the Biggest Tailor overall and for the men's division.
Hopefully next year you can put some more time into the competition and really show us what you can do...
2024 Biggest Tailor Winners
We have 4 Biggest Tailor category winners...
Congratulations to the following winners on your awesome catches!
1. Men - Brian Potgieter with a 620mm Tailor
2. Women - Jacquie Nel with a 540mm Tailor
3. Girls - Michaela von Benecke with a 560mm Tailor
4 Boys - Ryan Smal with a 570mm Tailor
Biggest Spanish Mackerel
What a fish... Well done Marius Grobler on this beautiful Spanish Mackerel!
After a couple of guys had hooked up and lost their fish during the course of this particular morning, all the spectators watching how you skillfully brought this fish to the shore... were gasping with anxiety everytime they saw this fish speeding off in the crystal clear water in front of us. It was the most exhilarating thing to watch seeing this beautiful fish swimming up and down in the waves... beautiful but nailbiting at the same time!
The cheers from the crowd when you held this fish in your hands was simply the cherry on the cake. Well done mate, you deserved this one. You worked extremely hard for your live bait that morning. It came late in the day when most people would have given up thinking the Spanish bite was over... but you persisted and kept the faith... the traits of a true fisherman. Well done mate you truly deserved this one!
Biggest Shark
Congratulations to Kevin Lamprecht on catching the biggest shark of the Comp.
This fish was the biggest Dusky Whaler which some of the seasoned fisherman at the release had ever witnessed. This was truly a monster fish. Due to the long 2 hour 50 minutes fight, on heavy tackle (Shimano Tiagra 50wlrsa with 100lbs braid) we didn't want to keep this fish out the water at all and therefore released it in the shorebreak with as little time as possible removing the big circle hook. Luckily, this old beast swam off healthy. Kudos to you, Kevin, for insisting on getting this fish back into the deeper water so quickly and not worrying about a trophy photo or an actual measurement... it confirms the special kind of fisherman you are.
On estimation this fish would touch on 4 meters, but I guess we'll never really know now...
Congratulations Kevin, you're a legend!
General Photos & Videos
This year's event was truly great... the first couple of days were somewhat unpleasant as the wind was blasting at 30 km/h, but on Tuesday, the weather turned for the better, and we started having those beautiful Fraser Island days, which simply made you want to stay there forever.
From Tuesday, the water's color changed to that turquoise see-through color, at least when you had Polaroids on and the bite came on.
The Tailor was thick and plentiful. They were relatively close to shore as well which made it great for some of the younger fishos who were able to get stuck into the fish. It was so awesome to see young and old, male and female, experiencing that 'fish fever', the chaos of running up and down, shouting for joy when hooking up, and the frustration of sometimes losing a fish when it comes off. Ultimately, everyone got a fish and a decent one for that... oh... sorry... everyone but one...
But next year might be your year G...
Acknowledging our Sponsors
_Updated31July2020.png)
