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On Sunday the 17th of April myself and a mate took part in the Pirtek Fishing Challenge to help raise awareness for prostate cancer. Over 6,500 anglers Australia wide took part in the competition with CPR (Catch, photo, release) the name of the game, subject to pest species conditions. The night before all anglers were informed of their angler numbers and their states fish species to be caught.
Being from the A.C.T sadly we are not on the coast so missed out on the combined NSW/ACT listings, however we were eligible for some freshwater quandary. Our choices consisted of either Carp, Yellowbelly or Redfin, secretly hoping it would be Carp all along. A few limiting factors saw me spending the day fishing from the bank in various spots while my mate Jason fished from his kayak.
By lunch time I had caught a 41cm Carp, lost one due to hook set fail and upgraded to a 54cm model, Jason unfortunately had not received a touch. We changed plans after lunch and decided a new venue for the afternoon might pay off. We knew the Carp were big there but we hadn't had any major success (Be that bank or kayak) at this venue before, it was more of a last hurrah gamble if anything.
Jason paddled off while I got the hair rigs pumping, only to return quickly with a glint in his eye. He had found a patch and had only come back to receive some worms I had collected from my garden earlier. The Carp had refused his plastic offerings and anything else he had thrown so he hoped an unweighted bunch of worms on a small size 6 hook might do the trick. I mentioned I wanted to see a 'Donkey' and bided him farewell.
An hour past and Jason appeared in the distance, appearing to be trolling. Turns out he wasn't trolling at all, he was just using his paddle for forward momentum and the occasional steadying of the ship. It was at this stage I saw the kayak floundering, he had landed something and it was big. I then saw the tail poking out from between his legs (Erm, not that) and i burst out laughing, cheering, I was gobsmacked.
Jason did indeed find a 'Donkey' a rather large Donkey that would have easily been over 10 kilos. I took some happy snaps and laughed some more, Jason was stoked and you knew it from a mile away. What made it most memorable for me is that he basically gave up after that and offered me the kayak so I could return to the scene and rustle up a 'Donkey' of my own.
Graciously obliging I hurried off into the distance, finding 3 that didn't want a part of it and one that just seemed to laugh at me (What's with all the laughing?). Things that had changed were some cloud cover, making early afternoon feel like sunset, that and the fish just weren't around. Was worth a shot so I returned to our bank if only to catch another glimpse and chuckle once more.
We both got some entries in the tournament, both donated towards the cause and both had a great day on/by the water. Gungahlin Pond is only just down the road and my worms need a feed again, nothing like donating a dead Carp to the mulch zone. I won't forget Jason's big Carp for a long time, not sure if he has won a prize yet but surely this donkeys dick will be right up there come results.
