Fishing family takes out three awards at the Port Hedland Game Fishing Club

A single Hedland fishing family has taken out all three major categories at the Port Hedland Game Fish Club Champion awards on Saturday, September 2. It was a clean sweep for the Edmonds family at the PHGFC award ceremony, with three members named as club champions. Husband and wife Glenn and Jessica won the male and female categories after making a whopping 802.5cm and 597cm of total fish catches respectively. Their son Rhys also won the club’s junior champion award with 741.5cm in total catches. Mr Edmonds said it was a proud moment for the family, with Jessica and Rhys having been diagnosed with autism. “One of the things Rhys likes to do is fishing, so to win this award he’s pretty proud of himself and the whole family is pretty proud of him,” he said. “My wife was recently diagnosed with autism and for her to get out in the boat with family was pretty cool. “And it’s great for me because one of my hobbies is fishing and taking the family out.” The Edmonds family joined the PHGFC in June this year, and Mr Edmonds said the club had been very supportive of the family. “We recently joined the club to get Rhys out to do a bit more targeted fishing,” he said. “It’s a really great atmosphere down at the club, I really enjoy it and the whole family enjoys it.” The PHGC club also hosted its annual general meeting on Saturday. Club treasurer Eva Bartho said the meeting and club champion awards were the culmination of a great year. “(Saturday) was a great success. We have a new committee elected with only a few changes from last year’s committee,” she said. “Our club champion competition runs for the duration of our membership year, from September 1 through to August 31. The year just gone proved to be the most successful, in terms of entries, since I began my tenure on the committee.” The PHGFC targets 12 fish species throughout the year, with members required to submit photos of their catch to show its length. The overall male, female, and junior club champions are determined by the total amount of centimetres of fish caught in a year. Additional awards are handed out for the largest catches of the individual species.