Hi All,

Now that we are allowed to travel more than 25km, Southern Freedivers is starting the Victorian Challenge for another season!

The competition starts tomorrow (Friday the 13th) and is the first day that fish can be taken for submission into the Vic Challenge. The last day to take/submit fish will be on 13th June 2021.

With the water temperatures increasing, crayfish open season starting this coming Monday (16th) and some of the popular species like squid and trevally being around the timing works well for the start of this competition.

There were some really good catches in the past season including a squid equaling the existing state record, a new state and pending national record bluespot flathead, snapper over 3kg, multiple kingfish and many tasty crayfish.

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 20th 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.

When visiting a weigh in location, please ensure you wear a mask for both yours and the weigh masters safety.

Preferred method to submit fish is via a private message on the forum to VictorianChallenge, or a private message to Stoj Pavlovski on Facebook.
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.

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.
There is also a prize for the best fish for the season, decided by the SFDs committee.
The actual prizes are to be confirmed and we will post what they are at a later date.

I will be posting the updated leaderboard every month, usually in the lead up to the club meeting (last tuesday of every month).

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

Dive and stay safe!

Hi All,

The first group of fish have been submitted for the 2020 - 2021 Victorian Challenge and the first was a good size Squid from Mitch. 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, Stoj has kicked off his tally with 29 points with a Sea sweep, Salmon and a Squid.
Mitch with his 10 point Squid is not too far behind for now.

With cray season open, this is the perfect time to target the tasty species and with Christmas around the corner, they will be a perfect addition to the menu for any Christmas lunch.
There are reports of good size whiting being caught by line fisherman and as a tough species to target on spear, any good size capture could help win the competition at the end of the season.
Snapper are also being caught in good numbers on rod and reel, so now is the best time of the year to try and get one on spear.

The water is also warming up and although it isn't quite there for kings locally, some smaller ones have been caught by line fisherman in western vic.

See attached for the leader board.

We're looking forward to seeing more fish weighed in over the next month and remember to always have a float and flag when diving.

Hi All,

Please note that with each submission for the Vic Challenge, you will need to fill in the submission form (attached) for each fish. You will also need to submit a photo of the fish on certified scales. The weigh points (contacts) listed in this thread all have certified scales. If you are getting fish weighed at a butchers or supermarket, please ensure their scales are certified and you submit a photo of the certification label.

Hi All,

Since the last Vic Challenge update in December, a few divers have been getting out and targeting the tasty species that are on the list of Vic Challenge fish. Brett got a 1835gm squid in the 1st Southern Freedivers aggregate comp and submitted it for the Vic Challenge too, getting 9 points. Bob went out for a dive and bagged a nice 1640gm squid, earning him 8 points. Brendon weighed in a 660gm flatty getting him 10 points for the fish, being the only flatty being submitted so far. Kim also opened his account with a 1396gm squid that equates to 7 points. Mitch submitted a 2845gm crayfish early and had the 10 points, but 2 other crays have been summitted since making Mitch's cray score 8 points. Stoj got a 3096gm cray from day 1 of the Western Districts comp, giving him 9 points for that species for now. Watto has had a bumper summer of diving and has submitted 6 fish, including a 3.9kg cray that got him the 10 points for that species. He is top scoring for 4 of his 6 fish at the moment and has set the bar really high for the sweep, crayfish and trevally entries. With these fish submitted, Watto has gone straight to the top of the leaderboard and 20 points above the next competitor. We look forward to seeing if he can extend his lead, or if other competitors will catch up.

There are plenty of opportunities at the moment for most of the 10 species on the list. Snapper are still being caught in decent numbers by like fishers so its still a good time to target this species. There are good size whiting still around in both port phillip bay and western port. Numerous schools of salmon have been seen in the last month and there are kingfish of varying sizes been caught by line fishers and the odd spearo.

See attached for the updated leader board.

We're looking forward to seeing more fish weighed in over the next month and remember to always have a float and flag when diving.

Hi All,

We had a few entries submitted for the Vic Challenge over the last month. Some of the fish were taken in recent comps and some from social diving. Scott Kelly submitted his King George Whiting from the Western Districts comp and has the heaviest fish for that species so far. Kim also submitted his 610gm whiting from the Newhaven comp and along with his 1924gm salmon, he moved up to 4th place on the leaderboard. Bob weighed in a 1475gm Salmon and a 725gm Sweep, moving him up to 5th place on the leaderboard. Mitch submitted a 949gm Sweep and a 912gm Trevally and is currently maintaining 3rd place on the leaderboard.

Chris Rogers got a good size Crayfish at 3120gm for his first submission of the challenge and temporarily had the 2nd biggest cray, but Stoj upsized his cray with a 3838gm fish to maintain the 9 points for that species, being only 62 grams under Watto's 10 point cray. Watto submitted a 1013gm flatty to take the top spot for that species for now. He also upsized his Salmon with a stonker 3483gm fish which extends his lead over to 25 points over the rest of the pack. Kaylah entered her first fish for the challenge with a 815gm flatty and is currently getting 9 points for that fish.

Well done to all the competitors that submitted fish in the past month and we look forward to seeing what fish people target in the next month.

See below for the updated leaderboard.

Hi All,

We had a few good entries submitted for the Vic Challenge over the last month. Watto submitted a 475gm Whiting that increased his lead in the top spot. Spencer submitted 4 fish to open his tally and move straight up to 4th place. These submissions include a 3360gm Crayfish, an 820gm Sweep, an 510gm Snapper and an 855gm Snook. Well done Spencer! Chris weighed in a 420gm Sweep and a 915gm Snook, moving him up to 6th place on the leader board. So far Chris has submitted the heaviest Snook. Brett submitted a 1310 Flathead taking the 10 points for that fish. It will take a good size flatty to beat that.

With the Easter break coming up and the water starting to cool down, this is the perfect time and get out there and target the tasty species on this list.
Well done to all the competitors that submitted fish in the past month and we look forward to seeing what fish people target in the next month.

See below for the updated tally.

Hi All,

With the water cooling down, the Vic Challenge submissions have slowed down with only a few people submitting fish in the past month. Spencer submitted a 537gm flathead. Watto submitted a 735gm Snook to increase his score and remain in the top spot for now.

Kim submitted a nice haul of fish with a 735gm Whiting, which upsized his initial 610gm fish and he currently has the 10 points for that fish. He also upsized his Sweep with a 885gm fish. He also submitted a 1295gm Snook, 425gm Snapper, 910gm Flathead and a 3400gm Crayfish. These submissions have rocketed Kim up to 2nd place on the leader board and in close reach of the top spot.

The final day that fish can be submitted for the 2020-2021 Vic Challenge is Sunday the 13th June.

With just over a month remaining for this competition, now is the perfect time to get out there and catch those few species that will help you move up the leader board.

See below for the updated tally.

Hi All,

The Vic Challenge for the 2020 / 2021 season is now complete. No further entries will be accepted.
Thanks to all those that participated and the people of Southern Freedivers and Geelong Freedivers with scales that made themselves available to weigh competitors fish.

The winners will be announced at the Southern Freedivers presentation night.

I'm looking forward to next seasons Vic Challenge!