The Stealth Adder Rock Challenge 2021 - Report

On behalf of Australian Kayak Specialists – I would like to thank all those who attended, assisted and sponsored the 2021 Stealth Adder Rock Challenge.

The Offshore kayak fishing community is alive and well.

It had been a little over three years since we hosted a Formal Adder Rock Challenge; we hosted a small social in 2019 (which was pretty fantastic in its own right); but the opportunity to get together with 80 odd kayak fishermen in an area that is truly beautiful had us chomping at the bit, especially given that our 2020 efforts had been given the COVID stamp of disapproval.

Two weeks prior to setting off to Adder for our 2020 Challenge, we put the word out that the comp had been postponed – and the response from our entrants was overwhelming. Of the 75 Entrants signed up, only a handful opted for Refunds – with the bulk opting to roll over their credit for the 2021 event.

In the end, 75 competitors joined us at the 2021 event and spirits were high; there is something about the place and the people that join us, that truly make this our favourite event.

Owing to Covid the event was shifted from March to May; something we were quietly confident about. The Social we hosted in 2019 saw some good fish come out this time of year, and the weather tends to be a bit more predictable. As we had hoped, we were greeted with some of the best conditions possible as well as some great fishing.

Without delving too far into previous years’ fishing data, I would say that whilst there were not as many fish to come out, the caliber of fish caught were far superior to previous years.

Some of the species included: Wahoo, Spanish Mackerel, Longtail Tuna, Snapper, Spangled Emperor and King fish among others, many of which earned Trophy points for their size.

The Results are as follows:

 AKS would like to Congratulate Reuben Stevens (11 Years Old) on his fishing at the event. You are a real up-and-comer in the sport. Not only did Reuben accrue the most points, but he caught the single largest fish and caught the most species.

Well done to Matthew Fisher who also managed to score very well with his Wahoo and Long Tail Tuna.

Well done to Jord Weigerink whose consistency in each session saw him place in the top 3.

Well done to all who scored fish; we were fortunate enough to have enough prizes to award anyone who recorded a fish for scoring.

In the team challenge – which is always good fun the results were as follows:

1 – Sunny Coast Sardine (115.95 pts)

2 – Gold Coast Guppies (70.35 pts)

3 - Brisbane Bream (60.3 pts)

4 – Brisbane Bonito (57.75 pts)

5 – Brisbane Barbel (50.5 pts)

6 – Sunny Coast Sand Whiting (45.65 pts)

7 – Mexican Mullets (35.3 pts)

8 – Gold Coast Goatfish (9.1 pts)

Again – I would like to thank all that participated in the event and we look forward to the next one. Thanks to all those that assisted in helping fellow paddlers when they were in need as well as those who assisted in making the comp flow a little bit smoother by helping out the AKS team.

A massive thank you to all of our Sponsors:

• Stealth Performance Products
• Lowrance
• Shimano
• Springbok Foods
• Penn
• Ugly Stik
• Liddle-e Designs
• FPV Power Batteries
• Tag Access Security
• Beachwheels Australia
• Halco Lures
• Savage Gear
• Mo Tackle
• Icom

We encourage you all to visit our Facebook page to view some of the images. Many of which were kindly taken by Jan Oosthuizen  - Simply Click here. Please be sure to tag yourself, like and share.

Until 2022 – Tight Lines and stay safe.

Dennis and Thomas Tocknell