Leeman 2006 will last for many years in organiser Bob Peterson’s memories. He found a school of dhufish and put back as many as he took. We had no rain. One person fished every day. John James came up to fish only one day and caught his limit. The only downside was that winds were quite strong on several days.

Five boats made the trip to Leeman this year and after a leisurely trip up on the Saturday four were ready to fish on the Sunday. Bob Litster opened his account with a good dhuie and most boats returned with several. Monday was windy and Bob Peterson decided to fish the elevens and quickly had his limit. Trevor Collings and Norm Beurteaux arrived and we had five boats on Tuesday. Again Bob Peterson and Bill Webb showed the way, catching their limit. Coralie managed to catch her first dhufish at Leeman.

The first competition was on Wednesday which ironically was the only day where Bob and Bill did not fish well. Norm won with just two species; dhufish and breaksea cod. Others were not finding it so easy and many commented on the lack of other species boated.

Thursday was seriously windy and all skippers decided on a lay day. However by 3 o’clock Trevor was eager to try out the sheltered waters inshore so Bob Litster and Norm joined him. Conditions were calm so they tried for squid and although most were small they did catch a good one. Norm wanted to try his magic snook technique and they ended up with some good snook. The restaurant meal that evening gave a welcome change for the cooks and cleaners.

Friday was the second competition day and Trevor and Norm were keen to chase species with some success and Trevor’s sambo, beaksea cod, pink snapper and dhufish were enough to win the day which, when combined with the first competition scores, won him the Away Competition Champion. Lindsay and Merv, together with Matt and Tony, launched at Gumtree and tried their luck in different waters.

The fishing conditions on Saturday were excellent and Bob Peterson will long remember finding a school of dhufish and returning to the ramp by 8:30. Although catching fish for the freezer is not the aim of the away competition he had to keep a close check on the weight of his fillets.

Leeman 2006 was memorable for different reasons for those who took part but it must go down as one of the best yet. Bookings have been made for 24th March to the 1st April 2007 so mark your calendar.

Seafood barbeque 2006

In a break from recent tradition the Seafood Barbeque 2006 was held at the house of Vice Captain Ed Tabb and his wife Marie. A great team of helpers on the Saturday morning made light of the logistics of setting up and preparation.
The fish had earlier been caught by Eric Kerr and Bob Peterson and the herring for Alan Moore’s smoking were provided by Gran Hickling and Bob and Coralie Litster. Norm Beurteaux yet again provided the seafood soup as a starter and our cooks John Smirke and Arthur John managed the different setting without a problem. Bob Peterson salads and Coralie’s potato bake disappeared but the 30 members and guests, having already sampled Anne John’s magnificent sponges, could hardly make a dent in the array of sweets provided by Maureen Levar.

The Sunday morning restoring of the venue was over in 40 minutes thanks mainly to the magnificent efforts of the host, Edd and Marie Tabb, beforehand. Our thoughts now are focussed on our next major calendar event, the Away Competition at Leeman.