Page 48 - Bush 'n Beach Fishing mag

KAYAKING
& canoeing
A shing club founded on sustainable shing, respect and camaraderie.
The Yak Hunters Kayak Fishing Series is now the biggest kayak shing competition in Australia.
YTak Hunters competition series adapts and succeeds
HIS year has what it means to be a Restrictions on group fishing zone, what to do The app also provides seen an unprec- ‘Yak Hunter’. gatherings saw an end in case of an emergency a running tally of each edented number Yak Hunters is not to group launches, and other pertinent ad- angler’s catch, the big-
of rapid changes in how only a fishing club, it briefings and weigh- ministrative and legal gest bonus species and
we run our businesses and live our lives.
is a community found- ed on the principles of ecologically sustainable fishing, mutual respect and camaraderie.
ins.
While we managed
information.
Entrants then set off
their overall bag length for the target species.
The Yak Hunters Kayak Fishing Series is now the biggest kayak fishing competition in Australia.
to squeeze in our first comp of 2020 at Para- dise Point on the Gold Coast, Round 2 had to be cancelled, and sig- nificant changes had to be made to Round 3 if we wanted it to go ahead.
to fish their chosen part of the allocated fishing zone.
The physical safety briefing was replaced with a safety video post- ed to state groups the night before comp day.
With around 25,000 members nationwide, the four competitions held throughout the year are significant ac- tivity for our member base and a large part of
As such, the comps are a significant part of our community spirit – where you can catch up with friends, make new ones and engage in just the right amount of smack talk, while vy- ing for a spot on the podium.
A few would do this solo, while others would take the opportunity to catch up with friends and fish in groups.
Launching and so- cial distancing were potential problems, so the fishing zone was expanded to anywhere along the system, ena- bling anglers to spread out more while launch- ing and not bunch up at a defined fishing space.
Almost every day we heard an announcement cancelling another event and soon realised the serious damage caused to the momen- tum of a fishing comp series.
With restrictions in place, the physical check-in was changed to a virtual registration, where anglers ‘entered’ the comp by logging into the Yakhunters Australia app.
The expansion elimi- nated almost every pos- sible instance of contact and made it easier to follow social distancing and gathering guide- lines.
The shing zone was expanded enabling anglers to spread out.
Page 48 – Bush ’n Beach Fishing, October 2020
Anglers then gathered for the group safety briefing, which would include advising of first aid procedures, the
It was time to adapt.
Here they were greet- ed with the competition code, which had to be written on the measure mat and photographed to count as an entry.
Previous competitions had been run to a for- mat of anglers register- ing with staff, where they were provided their angler ID tag and a measure mat – if it was their first comp of the year.
The app stores and logs each catch, with a moderator check- ing the location, time and length of the fish to ensure all fish were caught on the day in the correct system and were measured accu- rately.
Barring future chang- es due to COVID-19 and owing to the mas- sive success of a so- cially-distanced Round 3, we have every con- fidence that Round 4 will be as good, if not better!
Wayne Petherick www.bnb shing.com.au