Tag: Carnar-Fin

Week-long Carnar-Fin celebration showcases the top Gascoyne fishing on offer

Carnarvon’s recent Carnar-Fin Fishing Competition has gone down as one of the biggest turnouts for the cherished Gascoyne event since its inception in 1992. 

More than 220 anglers in 70 boats hit the waters of Carnarvon to catch a wide range of species such as red emperor, coral trout, trevally, mackerel, tuna and many more.  

Recfishwest was there to lend a hand at the kids fishing clinic on the fascine, hosted by the Carnarvon Lions Footy Club, which saw 130 kids excitedly wetting a line with fish captures and beaming smiles galore. 

Thanks to local photographer Andrew Robertson from Gascoyne Media for sharing this great footage from this lively week-long event. 

Western Angler editor Scott Coghlan returned to MC the event, with daily leaderboard shake-ups during the evening weigh-ins keeping the large crowd on their toes in suspense.  

Local legend Liam Freeman, who took out this year’s Overall Champion Angler, also broke the flathead record in the process, catching a stonker 1.334kg specimen that pipped the previous mark set 18 years ago.  

Under Carnar-Fin rules, the main prize goes to the fish which is closest to the competition record and Liam’s flattie was the only one to beat the previous competition species best.  

Recfishwest believes this is a great way to go for community fishing competitions, with anyone catching even a whiting having a chance to take out the top honours for the competition.  

Other eyebrow-raising catches from this year’s competition included a 25.4kg cobia, a 5.36kg spangled emperor and 3.79kg tailor. 

“There were good numbers at the competition and a good mix of fishers, including a lot of local families,” said Scott. 

“It’s truly a family-friendly competition – with a couple of families claiming multiple prizes across the 18 categories. In the case of the Rudge family, Bailey took out the biggest mangrove jack, while his brother claimed best spangled emperor, with dad Bruce catching the best tuna at 20.35kg. 

“The competition is very much a highlight on the social calendar for the town and brings a nice little boost for the local economy with all the money spent on accommodation, bait and fuel. There was a great atmosphere, and it was a pleasure to be a part of it.” 

Congratulations to the Carnar-Fin committee who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to deliver another memorable event. Check out more stunning snaps from Andrew Robertson below and click here to visit the Carnar-Fin Facebook page!  

Gascoyne’s spectacular fishing on full display at Carnar-Fin Fishing Competition!

Hundreds of local community members and more than 250 fishers flocked to Carnarvon to experience the highly anticipated Carnar-Fin Fishing Competition. 

Since its inception in 1992, Carnar-Fin has become an annual spectacle in the Gascoyne region held over the June long weekend, with the fantastic fishing available on Carnarvon’s doorstep being the main star during the week-long event from 27 May – 2 June. 

Event coordinators were kept busy constantly updating the whiteboard with the biggest captures across more than a dozen species, with Spanish mackerel, red emperor, coral trout, cobia, trevally and many more species keeping rods bent, reels sizzling and cameras snapping.  

As you can see from the beaming smiles in the pictures below – Carnar-Fin helps bring the local community members and fishers from across WA together to have a yarn and celebrate all things fishing. 

Recfishwest was there to help out with the Carnar-Fin Kids Fishing Competition, which saw some spectacular species caught and released right on the doorstep of the town marina. 

Our Senior Operations Officer Sam Russell was on hand to help teach kids the importance of correct fish handling and releasing, which certainly kept him busy! 

“As you can see in the quality snaps, there were plenty of fish caught and it was great to see a lot of smiling youngsters and families wetting a line. The atmosphere here every year is always buzzing and it was great to see people come together for a laugh and friendly chat,” said Sam. 

“Captures that are brought in for weigh-in don’t go to waste either and are also kindly distributed around to community members, so there is a great social element to this event every year.” 

Big payday for lucky angler

The biggest prize of Carnar-Fin was a 4.6m tinnie valued at a whopping $30,000 up for grabs in the raffle, which saw mad fisher Kieran Pirini lost for words as the eventual winner, with proceeds from ticket sales being reinvested back into the community.  

A new $30,000, 4.6m Stessco Catcher 460 for lucky fisher Kieran Pirini! Who scored this beaut new ride courtesy of the Carnar-Fin raffle!

Western Angler’s Scott Coghlan had the pleasure of being MC for the event and didn’t want to miss out on the sensational fishing – even he towed his boat up and managed to reel in some impressive mulloway and trevally alongside his fishing mate Glenn Edwards.  

“Every day the crowd was excited to see the catches rolling in and there is a huge sense of positivity, connection and friendly banter between everyone who comes to Carnar-Fin each year. Fishing events like this form the fabric of coastal community towns like Carnarvon and they are crucially important for the social and mental wellbeing of everyone attending,” said Scott.  

Check out some of the amazing snaps and captures from Carnar-Fin below and click here to visit the event’s Facebook page!