Mount Gambier’s Georgia Barrett was recently awarded the Game Fishing Association of Australia South Australian Junior Female Capture and Tag and Release Awards.
Barrett fishes for the Port MacDonnell Offshore Angling Club and the awards were presented at the fishing association presentation dinner in Brisbane.
“The tag and release is throughout the year, when you are fishing you do not keep the fish, you poke a little tag, take the measurements and pop them back in,” Barrett said.
“The second one is the most points scoring for the Junior Female, which is all your captures for the year that you put through the system which gives you the amount of points.
“The bigger the fish on the lightest line gives you the best points.”
Barrett’s award-winning fish was caught on a 3kg line class and weighed in at 10.74kg, which took her an hour and a half to reel in.
Another local angling club member, Sam Whan, claimed the South Australian Junior Boy’s Tag and Release and Capture Awards.
Adelaide’s 11-year-old Buddy Cock, who is also a member of the angling club, received the John and Anne Brooker award for the most Southern Bluefin Tuna caught by any angler throughout the season.
This marks the fifth-consecutive year Whan and Barrett have secured the awards and Barrett said being recognised with the awards was exciting.
“I never go out to win something, I always go out there for the fun of it, so it is good to see that something shows up,” Barrett said.
“It does not matter if you’re going for it specifically, it is just if you work hard enough I suppose.
“The award in itself just means there is an achievement there … something that I can always look back on and use it as a memory.”
Barrett said her love of fishing stemmed from when she was two or three years old as her father would often take her down to the Port MacDonnell jetty.
“Going out in the water and it does not have to be catching fish, just the general aesthetic of being out on the water is pretty calming and relaxing,” she said.
Barrett said she was also a competitive person who enjoyed the adrenaline rush of reeling in a fish.
Barrett will now progress from the Juniors to Seniors and she is now known as the South Australian Junior Ambassador, which will involve encouraging more young people to join in.
“It does not have to be competitive, it can be just going out in the boat and having some fun,” she said.
Barrett was also accepted into the Maritime and Fisheries Academy in Adelaide through a course at school and aspires to be a fisheries officer when she completes her schooling.
Barrett said a big thank you to the angling club, encouraged others to join and said the club planned to hold kids competitions over the Christmas School Holidays.
People interested in joining can contact the Port MacDonnell Offshore Angling Club on 0419 866 670.
