THE INTREPID fishers of the Bulahdelah Fishing Club have kicked off their 2024 season, wetting their lines for the first time this year.

The competition weigh-in was conducted at Bulahdelah Bowling Club, with some impressive catches recorded.

“For the first outing it was pretty good as at this time of year it’s hard to fish but fortunately everyone was able to catch a wide variety of fish,” Bulahdelah Fishing Club President Darren Carral said.

“Conditions varied over the weekend with changes to the wind and there is a lot of weed around at the moment.”

Outing winner in the men’s division was Darren Carral with a haul of 23 fish with a combined weight of almost 16 kilograms.

Darren was closely followed by Tom Evans in second place and Jayden Dorney in third place.

Outing winner in the women’s division was Vanessa Shultz with a haul of five fish with a combined weight of five kilos. Vanessa was closely followed by Mel Smith in second place and Fiona Minett in third place.

“It was a hard time to fish as there were many tourists which made it hard to get to your favourite spot but the weather was beautiful and we all had a good time” said Vanessa.

Outing winner in the junior division was Tas Richardson followed by Wade Pringle in second place and Fiona Fraser Ireland in third place.

The next event on their calendar is the annual Bash Bash fishing contest held in Bulahdelah on 9-10 February.

By John SAHYOUN