Anglers from Sweden to Charleville swamped Mount Isa on the weekend to compete at the 20th annual Lake Moondarra Fishing Classic.
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Coordinator Tiffany Waddell said numbers among spectators and competitors were up this year.
“It would have to be a thousand plus and the competitor numbers were probably 300 plus, it was looking good,” Ms Waddell said.
Fishos reeld in some monster catches during the three-day competition.
“We had some very large fish coming in this weekend,” Ms Waddell said.
“We hit the 130cm which is the longest I have seen, we did not beat the heaviest weight though, we were a couple of grams under the record.”
Mount Isa local Ben Apogremiotis caught the heaviest barramundi of the weekend at 26.54kg – just shy of Joshua Moren’s 26.7kg record.
Only three barra under a meter in length were brought in to the weigh station during the weekend.
As well as all the fishing fun there was a host of other activities such as the dragon boat racing on Saturday afternoon followed by the yabby races and then a fireworks spectacular and a live band on Saturday night.
“On Saturday afternoon those markets and the fireworks were a big drawcard for everyone,” Ms Waddell said.
"Families were coming out left, right and centre doing their Christmas shopping at the markets and grabbing a waffle and parking their seat ready for the firework spectacular.
“What a wonderful 20 year celebration we have had this weekend, I wish the weather was a little bit cooler but you can’t control that – everything else was brilliant,” she said.
Ms Waddell said there was “cash splashed everywhere” this year.
Anglers walked away with thousands of dollars in prizes, trophies and cash.
If you are keen to get involved in next year’s event, The Mount Isa Fish Stocking Group is always looking for volunteers.
Contact them through Facebook.
Stay tuned for results.