Hi All,

Today 1st August, the Victorian Challenge kicks off for another season!

There were some really good catches in the past season, including lots of large salmon, large squid, another 4kg snook (still not as big as my snook hehe), some good flatties and a few kingies!

The Victorian Challenge has been successfully run for many years and continues to run as one of Southern Freedivers premier comps and this will be the 19th season the VC has run.
This comp ONLY targets 10 key Vic species and the eligible fish for this comp are;

Flathead
Sweep
Snapper
Whiting
Snook
Crayfish
Kingfish
Trevally
Squid
Salmon

The heaviest fish of each species gets 10 points, second heaviest 9 points, third heaviest 8 points and so on. Maximum score = 100. For those that are wishing to compete in the VC for the first time, see leaderboards from previous seasons. You'll get the idea.

Keep in mind that even if a bigger fish may have already been submitted, you can still get points depending on the size and if others have submitted fish. For example, if someone else submits a 3kg cray and yours is 2.5kg, you have a chance to get 9 points if no one else submits a cray. Then if someone submits a cray bigger than yours, the score for your cray would only drop to 8 points.

Competitors are able to submit only 2 of each species for the duration of this comp, allowing competitors to upsize any catches once.

Minimum weights are as follows;

340gm - Whiting / Trevally
400gm - Flathead / Sweep / Squid / Australian Salmon / Snook / Snapper
1000gm - Crayfish
3000gm - Kingfish

Fish must be taken in Vic waters. Fish must be submitted within 30 days of capture. Late submissions WILL NOT be accepted. Maximum 2 of each species to be submitted. Fish must be weighed on certified club scales. This season will see a set of certified scales at every SFD club meeting and weigh points as follows.

Southern Freedivers Weigh In Locations

Brett Illingworth 0439881958 (Rye)
Bob Manning 0407506190 (Cranbourne)
Stoj Pavlovski 0400703356 (Carnegie)

Geelong Freedivers Weigh In Locations

Nam Luong 0411775259 (Maribyrnong)
Julian Kenny 0417 059 202 (Bellarine)
Luke Bellamy 0432272509 (Belmont)
Gerard Saunders 0429869776 (Grovedale)

Alternatively, you can have the fish weighed on any certified scales, as long as a picture of the scales certification sticker is submitted with each fish entry.

Preferred method to submit fish is via a PM on the forum to VictorianChallenge.
If you have any further questions regarding this comp, please approach us at a club event/meeting, send us a message on facebook or the forum, or contact Stoj on 0400703356.

Murray (Abstraction Pty Ltd) has been nice enough to continue his support of this competiton and has kindly donated some cash for prizes.

1st place getter will receive $150.
2nd place will get $75.
And best fish for the season, decided by the SFDs committee will receive $125.

Every entrant in the VC also goes into a VC prize draw at SFD presentation night. Regardless of number of fishes entered every entrant gets 1 entry in the draw.

I will be posting the updated leaderboard every month, usually in the lead up to the club meeting.

So good luck to everybody that competes this season and look forward to seeing everyone's submissions.

Dive and stay safe!

Hi All,

Just to confirm the Vic Challenge commences 1st August (today) and the last day to submit fish is on Monday 8th June, 2020 (Long weekend).

Also, any protest regarding any entry in the Vic Challenge must be made to the VC co-ordinator (Stoj) within 14 days of the posting of the result update showing that entry on the SFD Forum or Facebook page.

Happy hunting!

See attached for the entry form. Please ensure this is filled out and signed for each submission.

Hi All,

There have been no fish submitted for the Vic Challenge yet, therefore there is no leader board to post.

Although Port Phillip Bay is pretty cold, there are some good fish around you can target to get your Vic Challenge tally started.

There have been reports of large schools of salmon around (and just outside) the marinas on the Mornington Peninsula. Although they fish aren't as big as some of the fish submitted last year, there is no guarantee that the same size fish will be around this season.

On the Bellarine Peninsula there have been reports of schools of whiting in the shallows. If you've never shot one before, using a pranger might help you land your first one.

There have been captures of squid (both shot and on line) recently in the usual hot spots and it won't be long till the lager units start getting caught.
With some good species around, we look forward to see which fish get the leaderboard kicked off in the next month!

If you do have some fish to weigh in, come down to the club meeting tonight. There will be scales for you to weigh your fish on!

Happy spearing!

Hi All,

The first group of fish have been submitted for the 2019 - 2020 Victorian Challenge and the first was a stonker Sqiud from Kim. The squid have been laying eggs and this is the perfect time to get out there and target them in all the usual spots.

Weighing in 3 fish, Kim has kicked off his tally with 30 points and the only other entrant at the moment being Brendan with a healthy score and not too far behind for now.
See attached for the leader board.



The Salmon are around in decent numbers and there are some Trevally amongst the schools towards the bottom of the bay. There have been good numbers of whiting catches recently by line fisherman so its worth having a crack at landing one (or more).

The water in the bay was at its coldest and we should see the water temperature start to rise in the next few weeks, so this is the perfect time to make sure your gear is maintained/repaired and start hitting your favourite spots.

Look forwards to seeing more fish weighed in over the next month and remember to always have a float and flag when diving.

Hi All,

With the weather starting to get better and the water warming up, there have been a few more people targeting the Vic Challenge fish. Andrew's 635gm Trevally came from the first aggregate comp and few others missed out on getting one from the decent sized school that was around. Majority of the fish this month have been taken on social dives.

Nathan opened his account for the challenge with 3 good fish including a 9 point Squid a 9 point Salmon and an 8 point Flathead, taking him straight to 2nd spot on the leader board. Mitch opened his account with a Salmon and a squid and Jordan's first fish being an awesome sized Snapper, weighing in at 3.045kg. Bob weighed in his first fish with a 1.205kg Trevally, giving him 10 points for that fish and a good size Salmon too. Kim retains the top spot for the moment and look forward to seeing if anyone can get a bigger squid than his this season.

See below for the Vic Challenge leader board to date.



Currently there are some big squid around with some 3kg+ units around with no signs of slowing down as yet. The Salmon being weighed in are starting to get bigger and are still around the bottom end of the bay, but no sign of the larger class of fish that were around last year. There are a few good schools of Trevally around and they are not as flighty has they have been in previous years.

Surprisingly no whiting have been weighed in, considering the previous month has been a cracker for line fisherman especially in Port Phillip Bay. The numbers of Snook being seen on the eastern side of the bay is increasing with a few elusive bigger units around.

We are also a few weeks away from the opening of Cray season, so make sure you have your new tags and get out there from 16th November to snag an early cray.

The Geelong Freedivers have been nice enough to make their weigh-in points available to our club members that are wanting to weigh in and enter fish for the Victorian Challenge. We are also extending the welcome for their club members to weigh in any fish at our weigh points for their competitions.

Southern Freedivers Weigh In Locations

Brett Illingworth 0439881958 (Rye)
Bob Manning 0407506190 (Cranbourne)
Stoj Pavlovski 0400703356 (Carnegie)

Geelong Freedivers Weigh In Locations

Nam Luong 0411775259 (Maribyrnong)
Julian Kenny 0417 059 202 (Bellarine)
Luke Bellamy 0432272509 (Belmont)
Gerard Saunders 0429869776 (Grovedale)

Also, if you are unable to get to one of these weigh in points, you can take your fish to any butcher, fishmonger or supermarket as they have certified scales (and ask them nicely to weigh your fish). With this option, when taking photos of your fish on the scales please also get a photo of the certification sticker to show the scales certification is valid and up to date.

Look forward to seeing what captures will be submitted in the upcoming month, especially with the Sorrento Boat Comp coming up.

Hi All, Hope everyone is diving a lot in the holiday season and staying safe across Victoria.

There have been a mixed bag of fish submitted recently for the Vic Challenge. Mitch upgraded his squid and Jordan weighed in a 2.4kg squid, showing that there are some decent squid still around. Bob's sqiud weighing in a few grams more than Jordan's has given them 8 and 7 points respectively for the fish. Chris weighed in an awesome sized cray at a touch over 3.7kg and as the only cray submitted so far, he gets the 10 points for now. Jordan also weighed in a good size Flathead and this has helped move him up to 4th place on the leader board. Kim increased his lead on top with the only sweep weighed in so far.

See below for the updated leader board.



With cray season opened, hopefully a few more get weighed in in the coming month. There has been the odd report of kings being seen in small numbers even though the water is colder than this time in previous years and no doubt more people will be targeting them as the water starts to warm up. There are still good numbers of whiting towards the bottom of port phillip bay and the line fisherman have been doing well on the whiting recently. There have been some good size snook seen, although they have proved to be pretty flighty.

Stoj has now received the new set of club scales and is available to weigh any fish in. He is based in Carnegie and can be contacted on 0400 703 356. Please refer to the previous posts for contact information of all the weigh in points on both sides of Port Phillip bay.

Look forward to seeing everyone's catches in the coming month!

Hi All,

There have been a few submissions in the past month for the Victorian Challenge. Bob landed a cracker Snook at 3.84kg and bagged a 3.2kg cray to push him to the top of the leader board. Chris submitted a few fish including the first Vic Challenge Kingfish to be submitted at over 12kg, a good size Snook at 1.6kg and a 460gm King George Whiting. Through these fish Chris has moved from 8th overall to third place.

See attached for the updated leader board. Please note i have highlighted the 10 point fish in green to highlight the largest submitted fish for each species.



In previous years the warmest water both in the bays and ocean side has been late January to mid February. So if you want some nice comfortable diving, this is the opportunity to do it. There are still consistent catches of smaller squid around the bottom of the bay, so there is still a chance of gaining a few points there. The Kingfish have been seen in the common dive spots, but have been cagey towards some divers. There are reports of large salmon offshore and a few cracker Snook being shot recently. The snapper catches have slowed with line fisherman, but that doesn't mean they won't be around to target. Whiting are still around in good numbers and would be good to see divers having a go at this tasty species (and submit it for the Vic Challenge of course). A few big crayfish have been caught recently, so there is every chance of taking the points of getting one bigger than the current 10 pointer.

Hope this helps and with the warm water and warm weather, the boat/ski activity no the water is lager, so please dive safe and always have a high vis float with an alpha dive flag.
Look forward to seeing what fish this warm water brings us over the next month!

Hi All,

There have been a few submissions in the last month with a variety of fish. Nathan submitted 4 fish which allowed him to jump 2 places on the leader board to 2nd. He submitted a 12kg Kingfish that he got out on a shore dive and also landed a tuna on the same day. Awesome effort! He also submitted a 3.2kg Crayfish, a 970gm Snapper and a 1.15kg Trevally. Kim also submitted 4 fish, moving him to the top of the leader board with a healthy 14 point lead. Kim submitted a 10 point Whiting at 625gm and 3 x 8 point fish with a 3.35kg Crayfish, a 635gm Snapper and a 4.36kg Kingfish. Murray opened his account for the Vic Challenge with a 10 point Trevally at 1.35kg and a 9 point Crayfish at 3.5kg, showing its not too late to target some of these tasty species and possibly submitting them for the Vic Challenge. Brendon also upgraded his Flathead by 2kg exaclty with his Southern Bluespot Flathead weighing in at 3.37kg. This Bluespot Flathead is the new State record and also pending National record. Well done Brendon!

This variety of fish shows that last month was a good month for a range of fish.
See below for the updated leader board.



Although the bay and ocean temperatures have dropped a bit compared to last month, all around Port Phillp Bay the water temperature is holding around 19.5 degrees with the ocean side being a bit cooler around the 18 degree mark. This is the perfect time to maximise the warm(ish) water diving before the bay and ocean temps drop. There have been reports of Kingfish on the ocean side of Mornington Peninsula and the Bellarine Peninsula and there were some even seen off one of the piers towards the bottom of Port Phillip Bay. The reports of smaller snapper have not been as frequent in catches and some of the bigger fish still hanging around. The King George Whiting are still firing towards the bottom of Port Phillip Bay on both sides, as are the Squid.

Remember it is not too late to start submitting fish for this season and getting amongst the fun!

There are 7 weigh points around Port Phillip Bay and the contact details are at the top of this post. There are also full details on the competition and how to get involved.

There is a set of certified scales at each Southenrn Freedivers and Geelong Freedivers competition. We also endeavour to have a set of scales at each Southern Freedivers Club meeting that is on the last Tuesday of every month at the Vic Game Fishing Club in Edithvale.

Hope this helps and with the warm water and warm weather, the boat/ski activity no the water is lager, so please dive safe and always have a high vis float with an alpha dive flag.
Look forward to seeing what fish this warm water brings us over the next month!

Hi all,

Due to the stage 3 restrictions, we will not be accepting any submissions of fish for the Victorian Challenge for any fish taken from 31st March until the restrictions are lifted.

Before the stage 3 restrictions came into effect, there was only 1 submission for the Vic Challenge and this was Watto's 12.05kg Kingfish, which missed out on the 10 points by 225gm. He did score 9 points for his fish and although it did not change the order of the leaderboard, it put him within 4 points of Kim Adair, who remains on top of the leader board.

See below for the updated tally.



Normally i would give an update on which species are being targeted, but for now its none.
We look forward to seeing everyone getting back into this competition when the restrictions are lifted.

I disagree with putting the VC on hold. You are allowed to swim for exercise and nowhere does it say all forms of recreational fishing are banned. Nowhere does it stipulate how far from your postcode you can travel for exercise. These fines aren't worth the paper they are written on. Many of these fines will be challenged and over turned.

Govt & VicPol have the community bluffed.

_________________
bluedevilspear@hotmail.com

what's the go here lads?? Is the VC back open and does it still finish June 8?

Is it a definite that any fish shot in the past couple of months cannot be submitted???

Can we please see an updated leaderboard?

Cheers

_________________
bluedevilspear@hotmail.com

Hi Mate,

There was a post on FB advising the Vic Challenge is reopened for entry.
Fish taken prior to the lifting of restrictions cannot be submitted. So any fish taken from 13th May onwards can be submitted. The end date will remain the same (Monday 8th June).

I'll post and updated leaderboard next week, as i usually do these at the end of the month. Not many fish submitted at the moment for this month, so i'd rather wait till then.

Refer to the prior post on this thread for the most recent leaderboard.

Hi All,

There have been a few submissions that were caught just before and after the stage 3 restrictions including a 970gm Sweep, a 3.19kg Crayfish and a 730gm Trevally from Hilly, moving him up to 3rd place on the leader board. Chris weighed in an 895gm Flathead moving him up to 4th place on the leader board.

There are 7 weigh points around Port Phillip Bay and the contact details are at the top of this post.

Even though the water is cooling down, there is still a lot of boat traffic around, so please dive safe and always have a high vis float with an alpha dive flag.

Please note the Vic Challenge for this season concludes on Monday 8th June. No entries will be accepted after this date.

Hi All,

The Victorian Challenge has come to an end for the 2019-2020 Season. No new entries will be accepted for scoring fish for this season.

There have been a few submissions in the last couple of days of the competition, making the top few spots really close.
The final results will be tallied and released at the Southern Freedivers presentation night (to be held sometime this year).

Thank you to all the competitors for participating in the comp while targeting some of Victoria's tastiest species!
Also a big thank you to all the people from Southern Freedivers and Geelong Freedivers that have made themselves available to weigh fish from competitors with their certified scales.

A final thanks to Murray Petersen (Abstraction Pty Ltd) for donating the prizes for this competition and supporting this great competition over multiple years.

I have really enjoyed assisting and reporting on this comp and I look forward to the 2020-2021 Victorian Challenge.