bluewatermag.com.au 83Tournament News
sounder. Dad’s rod went off, and after
a pretty quick fight he landed a 120cm
barramundi. It was the biggest fish I had
ever seen!
A short time later, I got a strike that ran
into the timber, so I had to work pretty
quickly to get it out. It measured 89cm – a
good barramundi, but not a meter, which
is what I really, really wanted to catch.
That was our last fish for the day. We
went back out to the river mouth to watch
the sunset. It was so pretty. After that we
cooked hamburgers in the pie warmer,
set up our tents and went to bed.
The next morning, I was excited as soon
as I opened my eyes. I asked dad, “Do
you reckon I will catch a metery today?”
We packed up our beds and started
trolling again. The water was shallow,
so we were running Green 16A Bombers
- one of our favourite lures. An hour
later, Mum caught a 104cm barramundi,
which was her first metre-plus barra. To
be honest, I was a little upset because I
really wanted to catch a fish. Dad said he
was tripping over my bottom lip, which
was dragging a bit, but my rod finally
bent over on our very next troll run.
I was holding my rod so I felt the hit,
but it was so solid that I called it for a
snag. Then Mum and Dad saw the bucket
mouth of a huge barramundi come out of
the water. Dad yelled and I got excited
but stayed calm and kept my rod tip
up and my line tight. The fight took
perhaps five minutes and when the big
barra jumped I kept my rod down so she
couldn’t jump high and spit my lure out.
Finally, Dad landed it in the net and I let
out a yahoo that I’m sure the whole river
heard. I knew it was a big fish as it didn’t
all fit in the net, and it looked bigger than
Mum’s. Dad got the hooks out quickly
and we put her on the measure board. At
109cm I was ecstatic!
After some photos we took her close to
the bank and swam her for a while until
she kicked a few times and then swam
away. I’d finally caught my first metery!”JUNIOR FACEBOOK PAGE
Our National Junior Tournament Facebook
page has been very successful, with
numerous stories and photos already
posted. We encourage all to ‘Like’ our
page and get involved to spread the
achievements of our Junior anglers.
Please submit your photos and storiesso we can post and share your successes
with fellow competitors and friends.REGISTRATION/ENTRY FOR
2019
Registration in the tournament is ongoing
and free of charge, so if you’ve registered
previously there is no need do so again.
For all new anglers wishing to join in the
fun of this Junior Tournament, please visit
the GFAA website (www.gfaa.asn.au) and
complete the registration in the Junior
Tournament section. The tournament is
FREE and is open to all GFAA-affiliated
anglers under the age of 16.
To enter, you MUST be a member of a
GFAA-affiliated gamefishing club, so if
you are not yet a member, please find
the contact details for your nearest club
on the GFAA website: http://www.gfaa.asn.au
Take care on the water, tight lines and
good fishing.- Kevin Oates
GFAA National Junior Tournament
Coordinator
Cooper Rudd wanted nothing more than to catch a
metre-plus barramundi, finally achieving his dream
with this 109cm beauty that he then released back
into the Northern Territory river.