The weather gods did not smile. Instead they blew strong southerly winds on the Saturday, and plenty of rain on Sunday.

It made fishing difficult for those who persevered and managed to scrape together a few fish, and was certainly nothing to write home about.

The highlight of the weekend came from father and son Peter and Will McLachlan. They ventured out into open waters on a local charter, and were suitably rewarded for their effort. 

Peter McLachlan was the senior winner of the ocean category with a total bag of 3 kilograms. Will McLachlan started his deep sea career with a total bag of 4.4 kilograms to win the juniors.

In the estuary, it was another family affair when the Mepham’s concentrated on a few favourite spots upstream of Iluka, in the Browns Rocks area.

Alexandra Mepham won the sub-junior estuary category with a 400 gram bream. Her brother Daniel Mepham had a total bag of 550 grams to win the junior estuary category.

Kevin Mepham spent most of the weekend soaked from the rain, but he said it was better than being covered in dust and he landed a few bream. A bag of 1.28 kilograms saw him win the men’s division. Peter Black found conditions tough and resorted to chasing catfish to get his bag of 1.2 kilograms to come in as the runner-up.

Liz Mepham managed a hard-to-land mangrove jack and a total bag weight of 900 grams, which enabled her to claim the ladies’ title. Nicole Black experimented with soft plastics for the first time and caught a nice half kilogram flathead that was big enough to give the prize for the runner-up.

Unfortunately for Nicole some lackluster efforts from her deckhands on the landing net resulted in the loss of her trophy fish at the boat.

A wet, windy and ‘the one that got away’ weekend was, nevertheless, enjoyed by all.