Fishing For Competition Hat-trick

Newcastle Herald

Saturday February 23, 2008

GR

NEWCASTLE Port Stephens Game Fish Club hopes to make it three wins in a row this weekend at the event many nominate as the highlight of the sport's calendar.

The Riviera NSW Game Fishing Association Interclub Tournament begins at Nelson Bay today.

Up to 220 boats will carry teams of fishermen up to 40 nautical miles offshore to compete in tag and release and capture competitions. The action continues tomorrow and on March 1 and 2.

Don Butcher, 71, of Shoal Bay, has competed in the annual tournament since it began 46 years ago.

Mr Butcher said the event grew from modest entries of 15 to 20 boats to hundreds from around Australia.

Mr Butcher will tag the catches made from Newcastle Port Stephens Game Fish Club president David Litchfield's 11-metre cruiser The Game Fisher.

The club has won the tournament's tag and release competition for the past two years and has its sights set on a title hat-trick.

NSW Game Fishing Association president Otto Volz said the event was one of the biggest competitions in the southern hemisphere but awarded no prizemoney.

"It's done for the prestige," Mr Volz said said.

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

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