GoFish Nagambie 2022 has been run and won in spectacular style. From the record numbers of fish caught, to a festival hub brimming with fun and an epic metre cod taking out the competition, this year’s event was incredible!
Pre-Fishing Nagambie Before the Comp | Wednesday & Thursday
Wednesday saw Rhys and I hit the waterway for a bit of fishing action. Arriving early in the day, Rhys found a couple of solid Nagambie cod before I joined him for our annual showdown in the afternoon. Let’s just say I was on fire and won the head-to-head battle yet again.
Over the course of the day Rhys and I boated 7 fish, this was a very promising sign for the competition. During this session we gathered all the latest information on the water conditions and bite patterns going into the competition and pulled it all into a report for the Social Fishing Members to help give them the edge going into the competition.
To see the full pre comp report click here (inside the SF Membership). It includes details from our two days on the water, what techniques worked and tips for the competition. These tips will still help if you’re ever planning to visit Nagambie Lakes.
The Main Event
GoFish Nagambie all kicked off on the Thursday afternoon with around 1500 keen anglers transforming the quiet town of Nagambie into a buzzing hive of excitement with all anglers dreaming of taking home the $80K cash grand prize! With competitors flooding through the gates of the Festival Hub, there was so much on offer with plenty of exhibitors and food vendors plus live music on stage. Once the competitor briefing was done and dusted, everyone headed back to their accommodation for final preparations for the next big 2.5 days of fishing.
Competition Day 1
Friday morning saw a strong, cold southerly wind roll into town which made for trying conditions for many anglers on the water particularly those with plans to fish the open areas of Lake Nagambie, the backwaters and Goulburn Weir. Rhys and I both hit the water early in the day to see how all the competitors were tracking, whilst Rhys stayed in close to town in the river course, I braved the windy conditions down Goulburn Weir and we both caught up with several competitors out on the water with the consensus being the fish were biting!
At the completion of the first day of competition the Festival Hub came back to life with competitors rolling back in with the stories of their day and the ones that got away. There were yabby races, the daily wrap up with Rhys and Paul Worsteling where it was announced a 103cm was leading the scoreboard as well as the daily prize giveaway that saw one female angler take home $10,000 cash for Cod O’Clock.
Women In Fishing Event
Personally, a huge highlight of the Friday night was seeing the vision I have had for the past 2.5 years come to life with the Women In Fishing Function taking place. This event aimed to celebrate the ever-growing number of women participating in the sport whilst empowering and upskilling women in all aspects of fishing. With a huge line up of some of the industry’s best anglers presenting mini educational clinics, this was one amazing event with every female angler leaving inspired plus some were even lucky enough to leave with some pretty incredible prizes courtesy of our event partners and sponsors Daiwa, Yeti and the Women In Recreational Fishing Network.
Competition Day 2
The second day of fishing saw weather conditions settle with wind speeds dropping off considerably but with that the heat kicked in. The fish kept firing with bait being the best technique but there were quite a few fish caught early on with surface lures. Both Murray Cod and Golden Perch fed well throughout the event, with some big numbers being pulled particularly by those anglers using live technology on their boats.
The hub looked a little different this year with fishing clinics for the kids run by the Victorian Fisheries Authority and the Nagambie on Water Festival in full swing during the day. The hub was action packed but the highlight was definitely the grape stomp off between Rhys, Paul and myself.
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In the evening it was announced that we had a new leader for the competition. A local Nagambie lad who landed a 105cm Murray Cod on the surface in the morning before having to head to cricket for the afternoon. He was in for a long and nervous wait to see if he could hold on and take out the competition.
In true GoFish Nagambie style, the Saturday ended with a bang with a spectacular fireworks display lighting up the skies over Lake Nagambie.
18 Year Old Johnno Wins $80,000!!!
The final day of competition saw the return of the windy conditions and the last-ditch attempt to catch the winning fish. The Sunday session is brief but there is always the good chance with generally less anglers out on the water, plus you are in with a high chance of taking out one of the daily prize draws. Over the entire weekend, we saw a new record set for the competition with over 2200 fish caught across the 1500 competitors.
The winner was Johnno Moore with a cracking 105cm Murray Cod caught casting a surface lure early on the Saturday morning. This was Johnno’s first metre cod and he did it in style landing himself a whopping $80,000. That is one fish you will never forget.
Each and every year this event gets bigger and better, and I can’t wait to see what GoFish Nagambie 2023 looks like. If you missed out this year, make sure you get in early and grab a ticket! This is one event on the fishing calendar you don’t want to miss.
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