THE Sofala Carp Blitz held recently proved popular with families with 307 people registering to go fishing. Families from as far away as the central & south coast, Sydney region in the east, Dubbo in the west and also from Mudgee, Lithgow, Oberon, Blayney, Orange and the Blue Mountains travelled to Sofala to camp & fish along the Turon River.
104 juniors 16 years & under fished in the event with another 30 registered anglers being up to 21 years old who have been attending the Sofala event since they were teenagers. 239 carp and one redfin were weighed after being removed from the Turon and Crudine Rivers for a total weight of 618.3 kilograms. The carp were taken away to be used as fertiliser for a community garden project in Bathurst and fertiliser for tree planting projects. 32 juniors went home with some great prizes for weighing in their fish with long time sponsor Pure Fishing supplying combos and caps and Blue Seas Tackle Co. supplying tackle boxes and starter kits.
Sponsors, Central Tablelands Local Land Services, were represented by Clare Kerr who presented BCF gift vouchers to the anglers with the biggest bags of carp in the junior boys & girls & adults categories. Winners in the juniors were five-year-old Jessie Moorehead, three fish, 13-year-old Rhodri Bjerki, four fish, and 17-year-old Keira Roach with 11 fish, and Rod Evans with 28 in the adult section.
The Bathurst BCF prizes went to Louise Murphy with the biggest carp weighed in at 7.33kg, Peter Lister for the biggest caught on a fly at 7.07kg, biggest carp adult men went to John Roach 6.34kg and Sam Meekin in the ladies 2.75kg. BCF vouchers also went to Simon Fazzari for biggest redfin, Aaron Meekin first fish weighed, Col Clapham smallest carp weighed, Rick Darley with 21 carp, Jake Pollard with 12 carp, Jason Stapleton with eight, Michael Hanrahan with four caught on fly and Catherine Williams 2.53kg.
The Old Sofala Gaol Café mystery weight $100.00 cash prize was presented to Tom Davies for his 4.26kg carp by Café operator Sherie Sinclair, being closest to the 4.22kg weight. Payton Edwards 4.86 kg and Jack Hall 2.51kg won the under 5s , Emi Edwards 3.94kg and Brock Gosper 4.31 won in the 6-year-olds, Brooke Rankin 3.45 kg and Luke Moore 2.3kg won the 7s, eight years winners were Dixie Meekin 5.5kg and Cooper Edwards 5.09kg, Nine year old Ethan Robinson 3.42. Other winners included, 10 years to Noah Evans 2.18 and Benson Burge 1.84, eleven year old Charlotte Evans 1.88kg and 12-year-old Jacob Hawley 1.8kg were winners, thirteen-year-olds Sarah Lane 5.03kg and Callan Finnerty 3.82, in the fourteens Leticia King 4.31kg and Callum Evans 3.9kg, fifteen years Connor Evans 3.44kg & Tiarna Robinson 1.19kg in the 16 year olds.
Luke Evans representing the Inland Waterways Rejuvenation Association presented the Engel fridge they donated to Amanda McMahon who won first prize in the raffle, Peter Sparks won the second prize of a Turon Gates holiday, third prize of a gold nugget was won by Aiden Sinister and Simon Fazzari and Tony Samuel each won a camping chair.
IWRA president Matt Hansen engaged the kids at the presentation with a talk about fish friendly nets & catch and release for sustainable fishing, giving away two fish friendly nets and four DPI catch and release kits to the kids who correctly answered the questions about his talk.
NSW DPI compliance officer Pat Corcoran was on hand to answer any questions about fishing regulations and Clare Kerr gave a talk on the role Local Land Services have in rehabilitation of bankside vegetation and removal of invasive weeds. She had a table full of information including a booklet about cooking carp, fish friendly farming and give away bags from LLS.
Fishing World donated a stack of magazines which were snapped up by the kids, and all youngsters 16 years & under also received a prize of a Shakespeare Ugly Stik 40th Anniversary fishing cap, drink cooler & a lure from Pure Fishing.
Matt Hansen got the crowd excited auctioning off some great prizes raising $1640.00 with 50 per cent of the money being donated to the Kids With Cancer Foundation. One of the items was a fantastic sculpture of a couple of dogs catching a pig made by Helen Cobden and won by Des Gascoigne for $800. Fly fishing guide Josh Hutchins donated a fully catered days guiding and tuition which was won with a bid of $120. Other prizes include a Rhino cargo case, Fishizzle spinnerbaits, Stihl Timberwolf camping chairs from Brabhams Outdoor Power Centre, a model of an old Sofala longdrop dunny made by Ron Heffernan and items of fishing tackle. The Wattle Flat Shop coordinated with Westco Confectionary Distributors and Peters Ice Creams to give away sample bags and ice blocks at the presentation.
The profits of $5500 from the 2016 Sofala Carp Blitz will be put back into Recovery projects in the Turon River. The Sofala Branch of the Central Acclimatisation Society has ordered over 6500 Murray cod and 6800 golden perch via the NSW DPI Fisheries Dollar for Dollar Native Fish Restocking Program with a contribution of $4000 from the profits of last year’s carp blitz which will be matched by the NSW Recreational Freshwater Fishing Trust. The fish will arrive in the next few months and will be distributed by Sofala CAS volunteers at DPI approved release sites in the Turon River catchment to promote native fish recovery and enhance recreational fishing opportunities in the region.
Sofala CAS would like to express their appreciation to everyone who attended the 2016 Sofala Carp Blitz and recognise the supporters of the annual event, Inland Waterways Rejuvenation Association, BCF Bathurst, Central Tablelands Local Land Services, Fishing World, Pure Fishing, Brabhams Outdoor Power Centre Bathurst, Warrick Osborne Econocycle, Wayne Crowe Constructions, Shane Lyons Turon Plumbing, Turon Gates Country Retreat, Blue Seas Tackle Co, Old Sofala Gaol Café, The Wattle Flat Shop, Westco Distributors, Peters Ice Creams, NSW DPI Fisheries, Rhino Toolboxes, Rebellion on the Turon, Colin Clapham Contracting, Fishizzle Spinnerbaits, Bathurst Portables, Roy Wotton Bricklaying, Royal Hotel Sofala, 1503 2BS Gold Bathurst Broadcasters PTY LTD.
