Young fisherman Brody Kenningale is ready and raring to go for the next Riverina Fishing Classic this weekend at Darligton Point, where he hopes to secure his third win.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Brody’s keen fishing skills saw him crowned Junior Champion Angler in 2016 and 2017, and hopes to bring it home again this year.
At only 12 years of age, Body’s passion for fishing is just as deep-seated as those his senior, and has already been featured in fishing magazines.
“I like fishing because it helps me focus with school work, it calms me down for everything,” Brody says.
“When I catch a really big fish, it really gets my heart going, I just love it!”
The biggest fish he has ever caught came in at 122cm cod, and managed to also reel in a 107cm and a 100cm cod last year.
And while he wasn’t willing to give away his tricks of the trade, his father Brendan Kenningale said that patience and persistence were his strong suits.
“Tricks of the trade stay with us, of course” Mr Kenningale said.
“But it’s persistence, he just doesn’t stop. We come back for lunch and get out of the boat and into the kayak and just keep going, he is very dedicated.”
“While we are at camp having lunch he’ll be sitting on a log eating his sandwich with his rod in the water still.”
“The first year was an 87cm cod and a 64cm cod and a 49cm yellow belly. The first year he one the two biggest categories overall for the biggest fish, and won overall junior champion. Last year he weighed in one cod and nine yellow belly.”
Brody said he hopes to start doing the Scone Yellow belly Championships which is goes around a big dam, so in the next year he is looking to get involved and take some more titles.
The Riverina Fishing Classic has just begun, and organiser Shaun Roche said online registrations were up by 100 in comparison to last year.
“We have just started the entries today, but already we have more online registrations than last year, which means we should be able to beat our fundraising efforts of $20,000 last year for Motor Neuron Disease,” Mr Roche said.
RELATED:
The annual charity event proceeds will be distributed to the Griffith and Coleambally Branches of Can Assist. Some funds are used to help re-stock the Murrumbidgee River with native fingerlings securing a healthy and sustainable fishing future.
Mr Roche said this year, they are hoping to release a total of 16000 fish over the next few months.
“We have got two boats up for grabs, seven kayaks, and also our major prize is $8000, a Thermomix, and an Engel fridge, with a total prize pool of $50,000 dollars,” Mr Roche.
now in it’s fourth year, the Riverina Fishing Classic is a photo entry competition, giving anglers better flexibility on fishing hours, allowing the entry of over-sized cod to be accepted in the competition improving the survival rate of catch and release fish by reducing the amount of time the fish spends in captivity.
To check out the rules and guidelines for photographing your fish, see here on the Photo Rules page.