Reeling a ripper on the GC

•  Father and son duo, Andrew and Jonty Krushka.

By Taylor Clyne
July 20, 2022

Bridport father and son duo Andrew and Jonty Krushka have made their mark in the open waters from the confinement of a kayak competing in the Hobie Australian Fishing Championship on the Gold Coast over the weekend.

They were joined by 55 anglers from across the country who were keen to reel in a ripper over the three-day long competition and bag the highest weight yellow fin bream to win.

Andrew Krushka won the Swansea round in March this year securing his place in the competition and Jonty qualified in both the Little Swanport and Swan River rounds.

“Each angler had to qualify for the championship by participating in one of the rounds held in different states across Australia,” Andrew said.

“Covid and related travel restrictions had interrupted the competition, so this was a culmination of qualifying events for the last three years for some competitors.”

Andrew has attended previous national Hobie events, but this was the first time his son has competed. 

“In Tasmania the bream fishing is for Black Bream, generally a bigger species with different feeding habits so targeting a different species is a new challenge.”

Tournament Director Chris Purnell said the key to success was being able to navigate a kayak and offer a lot of consistency throughout the competition.

“Fishing knowledge in a kayak is a skill as the difference to being elevated and standing while fishing to be sitting in a vessel is a task,” he said.

“You’re moving a lot slower and much lower to the water while paddling fair distances.”

Throughout the three days the pair said they paddled more than 100km and at the completion of each day on the water weighing their three heaviest fish.

“The weights accumulate over the three days with all bream being released after being weighed.”

Andrew’s heaviest bag weights included a 1.79kg, 1.18kg and 1.59kg while Jonty bagged 1.29kg, 1.15kg and a whopping 2.02kg total bream.

Andrew finished the competition in 14th place and Jonty 15th with just 100 grams between them.

At home the pair enjoy social fishing at many favourite spots including Ansons Bay, Port Sorell, Little Swanport and Swansea. 

The Krushkas were the only competitors representing Tasmania in the national competition.