Redefine The Game Mar 2018 - May 2018 | Page 6

The Rocky Barra Bounty has a long history linked very closely with research and catch and release. It was one of the first events to be catch, tag and release on the calendar and this remains a strong priority for the competition. 2017 saw the competition numbers expanded to 80 teams, of which we had two teams involved. The first team was Team Wilson consisting of Troy Dixon and Nick Whyte. Our other team was Team Zerek consisting of Lochie Reed and Aaron Gibbs. The competition was held in the recently declared Net Free Zone and every angler was interested to see just how much improved the fishing would be for rec anglers. The talk out of the competition was that the fishing had improved beyond expectations with results from this tournament clearly showing a marked improvement in fish numbers and, equally as important, fish size. Being visiting teams makes this a tough tournament as you need to find fish and then work out how to catch them, but our teams did a great job with Team Zerek finishing up in 5th place in the visiting teams category and Team Wilson coming in at 9th place. Our boys had trouble getting onto the barra with any consistency. Dicko was the shining light finishing up in 36th place overall. With 160 competitors, that was a great effort by Troy. 6