This event is a unique, biggest fish wins event that is based more on promoting the chase for the biggest fish rather than the chase for numbers of fish.
The AYC Copeton Cod Classic has been a valuable tool for Wilson Fishing to introduce some of our products to the market. The first year saw Wilson introduce the Venom 6kg and 8kg 7′ baitcasters, rods to the cod anglers. Designed for barramundi these rods are ideal for large impoundment cod fishing as well.
2016 saw the official release of the Venom Swimbait rod, a rod that was designed to allow anglers to easily cast the large lures big cod anglers favour. Both of these products have been a great success and this competition has been a vital part of the release strategy.
2017 saw 80 teams line up to pit their skills against the cod of Copeton and, with the pressure this lake now feels, just about every angler had the opinion that the fishing for the big fish would be challenging.
And the fish did prove challenging with 55 legal fish landed over the competition hours and only 17 of the 80 teams managing to catch multiple fish. In total 6 magical metre-plus fish were landed, making the dreams of these anglers come true. Overall 32 teams managed to log a fish in for the competition for an average length of around 83cm – and in Copeton that fish is about 12-14kg, a great fish in anyone’s language.
Compared to previous years, the big thing this year was the use of swimbaits. Lures from many different manufacturers that all essentially swim slowly below the surface were used and all caught fish.
Some anglers trolled their swimbaits unweighted at super slow speeds, while others trolled slowly with weighted swimbaits. Some trolled shallow water and others sought water out to 40 feet. While still others cast their swimbaits until their arms fell off. This is the diversity of fishing ideas that I love seeing in a tournament because it really does give everyone a chance to learn something new or at least to try something new.
The biggest realisation we found was that the Mustad Fastach Football weights were the ‘go-to’ trolling weight as the anglers could adjust the weight needed for every situation with a flick of the wrist.
Results
The story I heard was that the second placed fish, a monster of 122cm to Team Outlaws, was taken in the first hour of the competition. This fish was beaten on the last morning of the comp by Team Whip It Out, who managed to troll up a beast at 123cm.
Team Wilson managed to land a couple of fish, which were never in the frame to win, but kept us interested.
This competition is popular for several reasons; the first being the location. Who doesn’t want to fish Copeton for really big cod?
The next reason is the way the tournament is run. All of the prizes you can win are up for grabs in a raffle or a random draw. This means that even if you don’t catch a fish, you can and likely will walk away with some amazing prizes.
The winners receive one of the best trophies in fishing – a custom made Mick Molnar cod on a board plus their names on the perpetual trophy held at the Kiosk.
We like this competition because it gives us a chance to release or show our new and old products to serious cod fishers who know what they want. They give us direct feedback, both good and bad, and it allows us to go back to head office and discuss the feedback to improve our offerings.
It’s this kind of direct contact that helps us develop products to a standard that Aussie anglers want.
And I can say there are some very interesting trains of through happening in head office after the feedback this year so look out for what’s to come.
We look forward to next year’s AYC Copeton Cod Classic and look forward to seeing all the anglers again and hopefully coming face to face with a Copeton monster.
Contact
AYC Fishing
W: www.aycfishingtournaments.com
