Newsletter: August 2015

Posted on Aug 10, 2015


Message from the President

Welcome to the new Fishing Year!

After the clubs AGM I would like to introduce you to a couple of new committee members. Regina Bryon is our minutes secretary, Rusty Martin as publicity officer, Bruce Kennedy as Vice President. Welcome to the committee Scott Paul and Marty Sheather. Again the Tuross Fishing Club has a great group of people to serve on the committee and we are looking forward to working hard this coming year.

Tuross Head Fishing Club 2015-2016 Committee

The new Tuross Head Fishing Club 2015-2016 Committee

We welcome our new club Patron, David Greenhalgh who we are sure will serve the club with great honour as our retiring Patron Don Burns has done. We thank Don for the contribution he gave to the club over the past 10 years. All the best to Don as he will be moving to Merimbula soon.

The Fishing Club congratulates its newest life Member, Jill Greenhalgh.  Jill has been a club member since the early 1980s and has served many years on the clubs committee in numerous roles. We congratulate Jill on her achievement.

September Goblet Fish is TROUT, which means club members will be spending the weekend at Buckenderra. Dates being Sat. 12th Sun. 13th. Any member who is intending on going must book their own accommodation at the Buckenderra Holiday Village. Contact no. is 1800 339 461 or 64537242. Let them know you are with the Tuross Fishing Club, and please also let the club know if you are attending for catering arrangements. Thank you to Paul Brown for having the initiative to reserve the cabins for our Club.

2015 Club Presentation Night

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Presentation Night Sat. Nov. 28th is the date set… make sure you put it in your diaries!!! Theme will be HAPPY DAYS – 50s-60s ROCK & ROLL, FUN NIGHT. Tickets will go on sale soon. We would appreciate members letting the club know early if they are intending on coming so we can determine numbers for catering and seating purposes. Watch the web-site and notice board for details. Let’s make this another great fun night for members.

Our Favourite Rivals

Eden Fishing Club has invited us to visit their club, dates are Nov. 6th- Nov. 8th. Quarantine Bay Beach Cottages have been booked for members. Members who wish to attend must place their names down on the notice board or let the fishing club know. Price per person is $120. This includes two nights’ accommodation and evening meals. A deposit will be required.

Boat Ramp Closure

Tuross Lake channel works are scheduled in early September please be aware the boat ramp will be closed between 7 and 9 September, ramp under the bridge will still be opened.

The Fishing Clubs Social Calendar has been completed for the current season. All members will receive their copy via email, post or via the clubs notice board.   All Fishing Club events will be on the website calendar for members – check it out turossheadfishingclub.org/events-calendar

Club Person of the YearVoting forms are now available, we ask all members to vote for one of the people who have been nominated. Voting forms will be sent via email, post or will be available from the notice board, or you can download here. We ask you to return completed forms to the Country Club front desk which will then be placed in our post box or you can mail the forms to the Tuross Country Club Monash Ave Tuross Head. All forms must be in by the end of September.

THE CHANGE – IT’S THE LENGTH THAT MATTERS

Finally the Club is proud to announce that members voted in favour to change its Fishing Competition Rules. These changes will take effect immediately as our new fishing year has started.

After probably generations of debate, we’re delighted to have finally settled the matter… according to the membership of the Tuross Head Fishing Club; it’s all about the length!

Steve Starlo Starling and his daughter show their support for the new length measurement rules at the tuross head fishing club 2015 AGM

Steve ‘Starlo’ Starling and his daughter show their support for the new length measurement rules at the Club 2015 AGM

The dawn of Sunday 9 August signalled the last day of the Tuross Head Fishing Club’s competitive fishing year. Members hit the water in pursuit of the last monthly piece of silverware up for grabs—the Morwong Goblet. But that was only one of the many challenges post by the day, for it was time for the Annual General Meeting… and this one promised to be huge.

The back-story is one of innovation, preparation, presentation, consternation deliberation… not to mention patience, diligence and perseverance, but let’s keep this short and sweet. Some six months ago, our Competition Secretary, John Suthern proposed a new scoring concept that was inspired by the success of our popular Flathead and Bream Tournament. He developed a computer-based system that scored a fish on the merit of its size according to its species. To work, the system measures length as opposed to weight.

This shift has one enormous benefit: anglers can now score fish that are released to swim away, encouraging competitors to only take home what they intend to eat. This new scoring concept firmly supports the growing ‘catch & release’ ethos within the recreational fishing public… a long time coming!

To begin the scoring process, any legal fish measured achieves an automatic base rate. Then for every millimetre achieved above legal length, it achieves additional points. These points vary from species to species, depending on the length of what the Club membership has deemed as a “trophy” in our region for the species in question. That trophy length achieves a total of 100 points and the points per millimetre formula is determined by the difference between legal length and trophy length.

That probably all sounds complicated, but when it’s automated, it’s all very simple. The long and the short of it is that all species eligible for Tuross Head Fishing Club competitions are now on an equal footing, opening up the opportunities for greater participation, family involvement and—importantly—a sustainable fishing future.

This proposal was ground breaking. The Fishing Club immediately recognised its merit and its controversy. However, true to his instinctive leadership nature, John Suthern provided open information and education sessions, fully disclosing the process using examples and demonstrations.

The proposed rules went to the Membership for a secret ballot on Sunday and, as a Club, we are proud to announce that they were adopted with an overwhelming majority of in excess of 95 per cent!

With scores now being measured by length, cameras now take the place of scales and photographs of qualified fish can be uploaded directly to the Tuross Head Fishing Clubs new website! Of course, there are strict rules governing eligible photographs and the Club will not hesitate to disqualify any fish if the photograph does not “measure up”. All rules are clearly outlined on the website, so there can be no excuses.

There’s another benefit that this high-tech development allows: the Tuross Head Fishing Club’s eligible fishing grounds are noted in the By-Laws as extending from the Victorian border to Ulladulla. The ability to upload electronic images for points in the Club’s monthly and annual competitions now means that residents throughout those grounds can become members of the Club and participate on their home waters. The potential for growth of the Tuross Head Fishing Club is enormous and inspired by the determination of a few very progressive thinkers, led by John Suthern.

We thank John for all of his time and effort he has spent on this. These rules changes will help promote a catch and release style of fishing for members and puts the TUROSS HEAD FISHING CLUB in the forefront of fishing clubs in promoting sustainable fishing.

I hope members have checked out our new look web site, Jo Starling has done a wonderful job in redesigning our site. Thank you Jo for your great work.

All fish will be now measured at our monthly competition BBQs, not weighed. All past fishing records will stand forever and now a new set of club records will commence. John Suthern has done a massive amount of work and thought in creating these changes with a new points scoring system for all our species of fish. This should create a great deal of interest at Competition Days to see who has caught the highest scoring fish.

In closing make sure you check out the new website turossheadfishingclub.org you will find new rules, Club records, monthly results, updates and notices easy to find.

Many Thanks from your returned President, Neil Alexander.

 

 

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