393 fish were caught during the Moulamein Football Netball Club’s annual fishing competition.

218 entries were recorded for the event, including 39 juniors.

Event administrator Donald Willox was very pleased with the event.

“It was a fairly successful weekend considering the heat and how low the river has been.

“There was actually a little rise that had come through that helped things,” he said.

This year’s event saw entrants become citizen scientists, forming a partnership with Dr Nathan Miles from NSW Fisheries at Narrandera to record vital fish data to monitor fish numbers between the Balpool Bridge and 19-mile reserve on the Edward River at Moulamein. Over five years, the fishing competitors will catch and record the sizes and species of fish in that stretch of river.

This year, 77 cod were caught, the biggest being 75cm and the smallest 43. Nine yellow bellies were caught, the largest being a whopping 54cm. There were 36 brim and the balance being 271 carp.

The luckiest save of the weekend went to an angler who lost a rod overboard, only to have it retrieved by snagging it with a lure. The returned rod was reeled in with a cod still on the line! 

A big thank you goes to the sponsors and volunteers for the weekend. 

Mystery length carp (open to all)

• Session 1 Saturday: Mia Bennett 74cm
• Session 2 Sunday: Roza Babic 70cm

Mystery length native (open to all)

• Session 1 Saturday: Danny Wild 37cm
• Session 2 Sunday: Shawn Nairn 29cm
• Junior most carp
• Saxcen Cameron 328cm total length

Junior longest cod blade hunter memorial

• 1st: Dusty Thomson 64cm
• 2nd: Hayden Selman 58cm
• 3rd: Cooper Thomson 58cm

Junior longest yellow belly

• 1st: Saxcen Cameron 34cm

Adult yellow belly

• Session 1 Saturday Longest: Richard Hollands 54cm
• Session 2 Sunday Longest: Gerard Paul 36cm

Adult cod

• Session 1 Saturday Longest: Paul Blake 70cm
• Session 2 Sunday Longest: Ray Armstrong 74cm

Mathew Morson memorial most carp

• Most carp caught over the weekend: Mia Bennett 670cm total length, 13 fish

Deb Hughes memorial champion lady angler

• Longest native fish: Mia Moloney 64cm cod

Champion angler $2,000 cash prize

• Longest native fish (combined total length): Jake Saville 727cm total length, 15 fish

Major raff

• 1st 40L Engel: Sue Karp
• 2nd Honda bent shaft brush cutter, donated by Swan Hill Power Products: S. Murray
• 3rd fire pit, donated by Murray River Equipment: Sophie Sutton

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 14 March 2024.