Groucho Snapper Classic June 2023

The 2023 Groucho Snapper Classic held at Club Malua this June long weekend has been run and won! And what a magnificent weekend it was. The weather was perfect, the fishing fantastic, the competition fierce and the banter a lot of bloody fun!

For those asking why it’s the ‘Groucho’ Snapper Classic, please let me explain. Our past president and great mate Steve Griffiths was known within the Club as Groucho! Steve was our latest life member who struggled with his health for many years, recently passing away. Steve was a top fisho, great leader and an even better human being. In honour of Steve and his legacy, the Snapper Classic was named after him. Three of his brothers; Mike, Mark and Brian travelled from around the State to be present and help celebrate Steve’s memory over the weekend. Great to see the boys here and hopefully there will be a Griffiths team entered in next year’s Comp.

This year saw 148 senior and junior competitors, all competing for a share of $10,000 in cash and prizes on offer over the weekend. Whilst the focus was on Snapper there were plenty of ‘bread and butter’ species such as bream, tailor and salmon on offer so no matter how you fished you were in with a great chance.

Congratulations goes out to our winners; Ian ‘Blocker’ Richardson with a Snapper of 4.294kg, Garry Art’s Snapper of 4.065kg. Junior winners; Blake Nye’s Snapper of 2.717kg and Will Liakos Snapper of 2.701kg. There were also some very noteworthy catches in particular Will’s Leatherjacket of 1.697kg, Grant Glenn’s Pearl Perch of over 3kg and our very own Kim Biddlestone’s salmon of 1.26kg. That was Kim’s first ever fish and to take out a prize was just fantastic. She was a little excited to say the least!!

Comp’s like ours just don’t happen. They take a lot of hard work and planning, as well as sponsorship from the Community. I’d like to thank our committee; Jen, Pete, Heather, Kim and Dave for all their hard work also the countless volunteers who assisted over the 3 days. Well done guys, this is why Malua Bay Fishing Club is so successful; brilliant people who love their Club and are prepared to jump in when needed.

I’d also like to thank our sponsor’s; Club Malua & the Cabra Group who generously donated the $10,000 to cover the running of this great comp. It’s also my great pleasure to announce that Club Malua has committed to sponsoring this comp for the next 10 years ensuring this event will continue into the future. Also, a great big thank you to Barz Open Fishing Charters, Badenoch Fishing Charters, Compleat Angler Batemans Bay, Haven Quality Meats Batehaven and Club Malua who generously donated raffle prizes. In tough financial times it’s great to see Community spirit is alive and well. These are great local businesses who support us and we need to support them whenever we can! To our other long time sponsors, Power & Sail Batemans Bay, Raymonds Restaurant and Malua Bay News Agency, thanks for sticking with us, we wouldn’t be here without you. Well, that wraps up the 2023 Groucho Snapper Classic, it was an absolute ball. Thank you to all our competitors, the spirit in which you competed was a credit to everyone. Thank you and hope to see you all back here next year. Cheers………..

Dave Scott

President

Malua Bay Fishing Club