Yellowbelly Classic 2006

RUMOURS circulated along the banks of the Thomson River last Sunday, with one angler claiming to have landed an "absolute monster".

Early on the last day of the Longreach Yellowbelly Classic, competition organiser James Balke received a phone call: "Mate, I’ve got a scorcher, it measures 60-centimetres!"

Mr Balke was astounded by the angler’s claims and promptly instructed him to bring the fish to the fishing comp’s HQ at Apex Park for further inspection.
(At that stage the longest Yellowbelly measured 52.3 centimetres.)

However the epic struggle of the behemoth Yellowbelly and the grand old angler of the Thomson was not to be immortalised, for it seems the wayward fisherman had used a flexible tape measure up-and-over the fish’s fat belly to determine its length.

In reality the fish was an earthly 49 centimetres.

The fisherman was soon heard to yell: "Throw that bloody tape measure away – it’s no good!"

Just over 700 entries were received in the third annual Longreach Yellowbelly Classic, over 200 up on last year.

A special weekend-long visit by ex-footballer- turned-television-star Andrew Ettinghausen kept the anglers happy with many hitting him up for a chat over a cold beverage on both Friday and Saturday nights.

Affectionately known as ET, the avid fisherman hit the water over the weekend with a television crew from the Escape With ET program to film a number of segments about the fishing competition and Longreach’s inland waterhole.

"Our objective was to promote the sport of fishing by holding a family orientated fishing competition over a weekend in Longreach and to encourage tourism in the area – I think we achieved our goal," organiser Helen Balke said.

"The competition grew dramatically this year.
"While cruising along the river, James and I were amazed to see that almost every family had joined up with other families and friends to set up their camps, making for an even more enjoyable weekend."

A total of 210 fish were measured over the weekend, mostly Yellowbelly between 31 centimetres and 53.5cm that were released back into the Thomson River to live another day.

James and Helen Balke thanked all of the Yellowbelly Classic’s sponsors who made this year’s competition a huge success.

And in case you were wondering, the main draw of the weekend - a Stacer 350 Seasprite boating package valued at $6,000 donated by Terry’s Marine Centre from Rockhampton - was won by the very lucky 17-year-old Douglas Webb of Alpha.

Other results from weekend were as follows: overall heaviest redclaw Brady O’Connor (Emerald) 526 grams; Juniors – longest Yellowbelly Jason Willersdorf (Longreach) 52.5cm, longest catfish Scott Frazer (Augathella) 50.5cm, longest bream Leroy Brown (Blackall) 31cm, longest Barcoo Grunter James Barwick (Barcaldine) 32 cm, longest Welch Grunter Mackenzie B-Peet (Dysart) 33.5cm, major prize winner Gary Cutting (Longreach); Adults - Lloyd Mercer (Perth) 53.5cm, longest catfish Brett Carlson (Longreach) 50cm, longest bream Shane Heinemann (Quilpie) 31cm, longest Barcoo Grunter Phil Leard (Charleville) 35.5cm, champion adult Yellowbelly angler (most number caught) Louis Turlan (Mackay), major adult prize winner Douglas Webb (Alpha).