The October long weekend is big on the South Coast and even bigger when you host the largest fishing and spear fishing event for the region! The South Coast Mighty Bonanza was held last weekend and it was a MAJOR SUCCESS. The Bonanza is a three day event that caters for families who love the sport of fishing and this year, for the first time, it hosted a spear fishing division which was a huge success. So much so that that division will now continue and become a permanent part of the Bonanza. This year saw the largest participation ever with excellent registrations from outside the area which is a great result for the local community and even better when those we spoke to said they had a great time and will be back next year.
The Bonanza had everything you would expect from a fishing event. It started with a reasonable first day ending in some wind, the second day with a lot of wind and the third day ended with a beautiful day on the water. The divers were expecting some poor clarity however it shaped up perfectly for them by the last day. For the hundreds who love a great community get together and have a love for the water it ended up being a great weekend.
Like all competitions the results are important Senior champion male winner went to Jack Johnston. The senior champion female winner went to Nina Nye. The junior male champion winner went to Tom Cargill. The junior female champion went to Kirra Blunden and the sub junior champion went to Robert Poile.
It’s great to see events like these in our growing community. The event has gone from strength to strength each year and has now gained the attention of Eurobodalla Council who advertised it heavily this year in 26,000 magazines with four weeks of radio advertising. It is pleasing that they have also announced they will be supporting and getting behind the event even more next year. The Bonanza this year also had the pleasure of Member for Bega Andrew Constance and Eurobodalla Mayor Liz Innes attending to present prizes and show their support. The event also had celebrity fisherman Al Maglashen from the current highest rated fishing show “Fish’n with Mates” and the kids and big kids got a chance to share fishing stories with him.
The organisers were delighted to host delegates and presidents from peak fishing bodies such as ANSA and the USFA with Stan Konstantaras and Peter Saunders thoroughly enjoying the event and the weekend. Both make a major contribution to the community and their attendance and support was well appreciated.
Also present and supporting the event were representatives of major brands. This year was indeed a BONANZA for competitors as the brands have never supported one single event in this region to such an extent. This year's South Coast Mighty Bonanza saw the most cash and prizes ever seen at one event. The organisers were delighted with the sponsorship feed back "It is very reassuring and the brands can see the potential of this event and have seen it as a huge success for this area and have already announced to support it more next year."
The South Coast Mighty Bonanza organisers were absolutely delighted with the feedback from everyone involved offering: "A massive thank you and appreciation must be given to those who helped and contributed. Major sponsors being : Compleat Angler Batemans Bay, Garmin, Shimano, Yeti, Samaki, Wilsons, Costa, Nomad Design, Daiwa, Major local sponsors Camerons Hardware, Trussworxs, Tomakin Sports Club, Barlings Beach Holiday Park and Tweed Bait.
"A special thank you and a massive show of appreciation has to be given to the President of the Tomakin Fishing Club Adam Martin who gave up a large amount of his time in the last 12 months to make such an event possible."
"Great to see so many so people having a good time! See you next year."
Above: The Tomakin Sports and Social Club played host to the event
Above:Junior Male Champion: Tom Cargill
Above: Hicks family, Sam, Wyatt and Amelia
Above:Al Maglashen giving away some Costa sunglasses.
