KOTC 2014 write up
As some of you are aware we ran King of the Cape for it's second year & I am so stoked to see it's growth albeit not without some serious blood n' tears by the committee, sponsors & volunteers plus the avid participation of competitors. So to them I can't thankyou enough for what you have given to our community & angling in general particularly Pflueger Salt Reels for coming on board & looking after the kids with all the awesome goodies!
Our focus is & will always be on the future generation of young anglers in the South West & beyond, getting them into our beloved sport & ensuring its future with catch / release style competitions. A previous post has highlighted a concern for me with geo tagging, sad that the exploitation of technology can undo others hard work & therefore I will only post my own pics & those I have permission to do so.
We started on a Friday evening & with the previous day being a cracker & the weekend forecast being average competitors were keen to get cracking that night, as you can see the bay was a pond with the wind yet to steam in. Thankyou to Dunsborough VMR for their hospitality, great blokes & all too keen to share our vision!
This year we got unbelievably fortunate to secure local artist Annie Heyring to carve a perpetual trophy for the annual comp which will reside at Dunsborough Outdoor Sportz, what an amazing piece & I have never seen any fish carving like it let alone the identical features of a Dhuie.
Most of you know Dave aka Xtreme Coolers who again was a big prize donator for us, I always enjoy fishing with him & his boys. This time around his eldest was unfortunately struck down with the dreaded school holiday lurgy leaving him green with envy as his younger brother got down to business catching his share too.
Young Bailey getting stuck into the squid early on the 1st day
That’s how you do it! Giving the biggest squid prize a good old nudge
The competitor’s toughed it out as the wind & swell swung in hard from the west, trying conditions for all with great resilience from the kids displayed. Whilst I was hitting up a bay mark that looked to be holding well we struggled to entice the pinkies for a chew & the young bloke puts another run on the board with his first dhu banger.
Black smoke billowing constantly on the horizon & nobody able to identify what it was saw us head out into the thick of the washing machine hoping nobody was in trouble. Ended up being a Chinese tanker with a serious smoke stack, happy days & even better that Bailey had some serious sea legs under him as we made a few drops wider but without joy.
Back in & grabbing a feed of plump whiting to make fish taco’s for Sunday night
Few beers with Seakem, Dave, Tiimmbo & the young lads that night whilst watching my young bloke pull some serious moves on the girls at the next table had me thinking of some stunts inspired bad grandpa style (pity that the better half was onto it quicker than I). Waved goodbye to Dave & Bailey & prepped for the next day with the wind forecasted to drop but late, needed a game plan that would see us back in time to set up for presentations.
Headed out with Damo & Habanero dodging whales & enjoying the sledging
Damo with a good flatty that had fillets of pure cream!
Amongst the smaller pinks this bruiser came courtesy of a jigged bonito from Habanero
Struggled to get the Dhu’s to chew & with Damo losing a good one to an unfortunate or hilarious (for us) mishap with a strong run & the braid catching his finger like wire on a block of cheese.
This sheila followed my line up some way as the last drop was over & time to get home, yep what a tin arse.
Conditions far better Sunday, my son hitching a ride with the boys
Will get some pics up from the other boys but here was the winning team slaying it, they played a smart game & good skippering from Toby saw them come romping home.
Edge with an absolute monster on an unusually quiet seriola front
He was having a day out too by the looks
Well done to PJ, Edge & Toby. Thoroughly deserved win fella’s
A quick late arvo run with the lads the next day but the sea breeze decided to say g’day early. Dave from DOS with a jigged dhu in some lightening quick drifts
Cheers to Seaquest, Dave, Toby & Mark for all of the hard work you put in.
Thankyou to our sponsors & our local community for enabling this event to occur
Well done to the winners in the categories & a special mention to the young forum member double header king aka Max for some cracking form in the junior section offshore.
I will make a few edits with more pics when I can get to my hard drive & add a few more in for those interested
Xtreme Coolers
Posts: 725
Date Joined: 02/01/10
Hi Liam
A big thanks to you all down there who organised the 2014 KOTC. Dave, Liam and Brendan, you boys did an awesome job. It was really good to see the businesses from the region put up some great prizes and Bailey and Jamie certainly love their new outfits. Bailey had a great day out and it was great to blood him again on your boat. Even if he did leave a lollie trail all over the front seat. He was super stoked to get his first Dhu and is certainly giving it to his brother. Boys, I was impressed with your efforts and comp. it will only get bigger and better. It was really good to see everyone at the signin where a good snag and a few beers where on offer at the Dunsborough VSR.
I am am also very glad to see some big fish come on board on Sunday arvo. Bailey would like to say a big thanks to Liam and Damon, for taking great care of him on Sat. Great to catch up with Timmbo, Andy and sons, always a good chat and time over a few beers. Yes Andy, the Pour was pretty impressive. It was good to your boys looking in the right direction. Liam, regards to Kate and Oscar.
So, next year, looking forward to an even bigger comp as I am sure many more will make the effort to get down. Would love to be involved again in helping this to become a premier fishing comp in a super location.
Well done boys and see you in three weeks.
Cheers
Dave, Bailey and Jamie.
sea-kem
Posts: 15034
Date Joined: 30/11/09
Yeah thanks again Liam and
Yeah thanks again Liam and all the crew down there. As I said a very smoothly run comp and you are streamlining it each time. The boys love their rods and are banging at me to get them Stella's lol. There's even been a little we'll tell mum how much yours were ha ha . Mate I'm very much looking forward to next year and if the weather can string a couple of days together I can only imagine what would be submitted fish wise. I was impressed considering the lumpy conditions, there are some hard campaigners down there. Congrats to the winners btw, hopefully a Perth crew will give you guys a run for your money next year ;)
Love the West!
Patto 1
Posts: 371
Date Joined: 02/12/10
Was a good weekend and
Was a good weekend and thanks for all the effort you fellas put in to organising the comp .Was hoping to hang around Sunday night for a few but something got the better of me .looking fwd to next year.
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Boydy
Posts: 623
Date Joined: 26/09/12
Top write up, looks like all
Top write up, looks like all involved had a great time.
Good to see the kids getting a shot at it as well.
Tell you what, your trophy maker deserves a trophy for making it that is awesome!
dant
Posts: 504
Date Joined: 13/03/13
good on ya lamby and the SW
good on ya lamby and the SW fellahs, good report and awesome work keeping the comp going for the 2nd year, hopefully many more to come.
il be trying to book it in next year as a boys wk end away, hanging to get down to see you fellahs again - great hospitality.
dj dvd
Posts: 237
Date Joined: 27/03/12
Man great looking comp.
Man great looking comp. Seems like heaps of fun. Also that trophy is a ripper
Born to Fish/Forced to Work. www.eatsleepfishrepeat.com.au/
outdoinit
Posts: 1009
Date Joined: 05/10/12
Great write up and
awesome photos.. well done to the winning lads, what a great trophy to have..
I've spent half my life fishing.. The other half I have wasted..
fish 06
Posts: 164
Date Joined: 30/06/13
K.O.T.C
Looks like a welll run comp , how many boats where there over the weekend?
Would not mind having a go next year, how do we go about finding out info?
The colours on that little dhuie & the smile on the young fella's face are worth the effort
Lamby
Posts: 3145
Date Joined: 04/08/09
Cheers Dave always a pleasure
Cheers Dave always a pleasure mate, impressed with the young blokes tenacity even if he threw the cookies it didn't stop him from getting back into it.
Andy thankyou for making the effort to get down again & also Jayce with his crew, much appreciated & as you say it would be great to see some metro crew bring the young ones down to get them involved.
Patto - dare I ask how the helm looked?! You did well to hang in there at presentations mate but I would sack the decky handing out his germs hahaha
Annie has carved an amazing piece of art for our trophy, the detail up close is mind blowing & if you are in town check out the Outdoor Sportz to see it.
fish 06, 129 participants & I think 12 or 13 landbased leaving the rest to hit the tubs. I don't have the data sheet in front of me but more or less a fair few tubs of various ranges hit the water, beauty of this comp is you fish to win your category but you also fish against the others for the overall prize. Toby & his crew had a deserved win in those conditions, the other two teams in landbased & offshore only needed to land another decent fish each to make it go to a count back... thankfully I was spared that headache!
We time the comp prior to the demersal ban commencing & coinciding with the last week of the school holidays, find about it here or social media or join the mailing list .
jayce
Posts: 564
Date Joined: 10/12/11
Cheers Lamby and all the boys
Cheers Lamby and all the boys that organised the comp. Was run really well and a credit to the boys that put the hours in setting it up.
If you have juniors that like fishing then this is the comp to get involved in. The prizes they had organnized for the kids and seniors where great none of the kids missed out.
Was good to catch up with the crews at the ramp for a chat and beer in the arvos.
We dont really have much to add in the way of pics. We played it safe and mostly hung in close catching squid and staying hydrated. We got a 36cm hood squid that got pipped at the post by 3cm for biggest squid and picked up a mystery price for a SBT that was jigged up out in the 30m.
We will definately be back next year for another shot. Hopefully the weather plays the game then.
Well done to the boys that toughed it out and won prizes they definately earnt them heading out deep.
fish 06
Posts: 164
Date Joined: 30/06/13
Thanks Lamby
Thanks Lamby for the info on he comp, will certinly look into it for next year
Keep up good work.
optimont
Posts: 34
Date Joined: 14/09/13
KOTC 2014
Thanks for a very well run comp. Great venue for the presentations, good to catch up with fellow fishwrecked members.Team optigav hope to be back for 2015.Thanks to all the organisers and sponsors.The Eagle bay brewing beer was ok and Gav will enjoy the wine.
doubleheader_king
Posts: 203
Date Joined: 08/06/13
It's always good when dave
It's always good when dave leaves the jig in the fish so you know which ones he actually uses.