Fish swam scared last weekend in Bourke, where locals took to the river to be fishermen for the day in the Outback Fishing Challenge. 

The competition was targeted towards catching Murray Cod and yellowbelly fish, but of course, it was the carp that came out in numbers. 

“The carp have just overwhelmed the river. They’ve got to do something soon, otherwise there’ll be nothing left,” said organiser Ernie Delany. 

While not a lot of ‘table’ fish were caught, Mr Delany estimates that two thousand fish were brought in across the day, with 297 carp brought in from one camp alone. . 

There was no shortage of participants all eager to take out the top prize. (Supplied)

The winners in this year’s Outback Fishing Challenge were:

• Longest yellowbelly – Dempsey Milgate (Men 37.5cm), Dusty Cross (Girl 37.5cm), Saddler Cross (Boy 41cm)
• Carp – Chayse Dickson (Boy 72cm), Dakota Whitbread (Girl 61.5cm), David Armstrong (Men 75cm) and Min Northy (Ladies 72com)
• Mystery carp length - Ashley Owens

The community support behind the fishing weekend was a promising sign to Mr Delany, in a landscape where he feels local sport participation is slumping. 

“It’s good to get these things out there on the river, I feel like the community has hit a bit of a wall at the moment,” he said. 

He attributes the success of the day to the committee behind it. 

“It was well organised, there was a jumping castle for the kids, a barbecue and camp oven.”

“We had a lot of donations made from various businesses around the town. Without them, the fishing comp doesn’t go ahead,” Mr Delaney said. 

Sponsorship from the day not only went to prizes for the kids and category winners, but to restocking the Darling River with yellowbelly and Murray Cod fish.