Well the day has come and gone and once more it was a fantastic day for all the members and their friends to get out and enjoy the sport and mateship that comes from sharing a common passion.
We had brilliant prizes made available from our two major sponsors Century & Ultima.
(Some of the prizes )
With three top class blanks being supplied by Century with the Kompressor SS, Tip Tornado Sport and Tip Tornado Super match.
Line, hats and tops supplied by Ultima with the bulk spools of Distance been highly sort after by members wanting top class line that delivers both on the field as well as on the beach.
( Top line support from Ultima )
These prizes where on top of the trophies that the club had for the event which just increased the drive for everyone wanting to get the most from themselves as well as the hope of snagging a share of the prize table items.
The day that greeted the casters wasn’t the best that Victoria can offer with a cloudy overcast day with cold south to south west wind making itself felt not because of the strength of it but by the way it cut through the warmth and made you realise that we are now into winter. Thankfully for all concerned the rain that threatened all day did not eventuate and we were able to have a great but difficult days casting with the lead changing places during the course of the day.
( The Face of the 2010 Australian Champion - Lee Andrews )
Top honours once again were taken by Lee Andrew’s who after starting the days cast with a big crack off and a number of casts ending in disaster due to reels blowing up, was able to hit a top effort of 242 meters with the 125 Gram and a follow up of a 236 meters with the 150 gram .It was impressive watching the way the Ultima distance line melted off Lee’s reels and sliced through the cold air before gently floating down to the ground. It’s a great sight to see regardless of how many times you see it, when you realise that the lead has finally landed well past the 250 yard line which was previously seen as a great cast, still is even in these metric measure days. 229 + meters just doesn’t sound as good as 250+. Both cast we done with his TTR which he has been using since retiring his trust Kompressor GP.
( Up and Coming NSW Caster Gary Bonner - 2nd place Getter in the event sharing hints with new member Allan)
The second spot was taken by one of our NSW members Garry Bonner who was in a battle with me during the day. Gary has been practicing on a regular basis and the improvement and consistency in his cast for all weights reflected this. It was pleasing to see Gary using a variety of rods with the Kompressor SS and WR300 being his preferred weapons of choice to relegate me to the Third position.
Throughout the day he was able to hit all leads to good affect and narrowly missed taking the aggregate trophy as well which I was able to snare when I finally put the 100 gram out after multiple snap off’s. I have a feeling that with a lot of the newer guys coming in I may be seeing myself even further down the order.
( Yours truly heading further down the order )
Other highlights came from our south Australian members who acquitted themselves brilliantly; special mention going to Mike Bailey who broke the 200 meter barrier for the first time, the championship round was a fitting place where the effort was acknowledged by all the other guys as a milestone that reflects the dedication to the sport. We should also mention that this was Mike’s first formal attempt at the pendulum as previously he was an OTG man.
( Newest 200 Meter man Mike )
Other top efforts came from our newer members who were putting the leads out very good distances , given the limited time that they have had with the rods that I and a few of the other were able to share. It was pleasing to see the smiles on the faces of Mike, George and especially Dennis with his 106 meter cast using the Threadline (Fixed spool) and the Century TTLD. I had told him that both he and George had the ability and it only takes a bit of friendly advice and some well balance tackle to hit the targets that they wanted.
( New up and comer Mike and friend Miro getting hints from the Champ )
( Mike B, George , Gary and others sharing a bite during the lunch break )
I would also like to thank another good friend who was taking a large amount of photo’s and video footage that will be posted up in due course, John Derkas was brilliant with his ability to capture the mood of the day well in the photo’s showing everyone helping out and enjoying the food, drinks and mateship that the day had to offer.
( Preparation of gear between rounds – Ultima Poweflex leaders and Distance line featuring on most outfits)
After a hard fort battle with plenty of laughs and jokes being thrown around we had to get down to the formal side of things with presentations and the like. Eddie and Mark had been doing a top job of coordinating the score board and transcribing the results as they were made to both the score board as well as the final tally sheet that allowed the order of prizes to be distributed.
( Leader board that changed a number of times during the day)
Once again the prizes really topped of the day and put even bigger smiles on the faces of members most notably was young Graham Smith who took out the open raffle prize of the Century Kompressor SS which complimented the bulk spool of Ultima distances that he had also picked up earlier during the presentations. The shout of joy that was emitted as I pulled out his winning ticket had to be heard to be believed, you would have thought that he had won Lotto. There again a prize like that is like winning the Lotto and will enable him to put those leads out even further as he refines his skills.
All in all a top day with mates made all the more enjoyable as I watched the faces of everyone as they shared in the fun.
( The rod rack is starting to look quite small with the increase in numbers )
Thanks to all the members for making this a fantastic day and one that we hope to repeat each year with more and more like minded souls . Who knows if we keep growing at this rate we may well have a team competing in the worlds in the not too distant future.
(Final results from the day )
Roll on the next one.
P.S Video and more photos’ to follow as JD took 700+ photos that we need to now sort through.
no scott or nick ?
But not bad for a bloke with 15 plus years on most of them 