A near record 227 fish and a strong finish have delivered another big year for the 2026 INDT Pty Ltd World Sooty Championship at Eungella Dam hosted by the Mackay Area Fish Stocking Association.
The championship is one of Queensland’s leading freshwater tournaments, centred on the Sooty Grunter. Anglers compete across multiple sessions, building a bag of their best six fish, with size and consistency across the weekend deciding the result. With no limits on fish numbers and constant upgrades needed to stay competitive, several boats landed more than a dozen Sooties, including Nick Moore with 12.
The opening session tested the field, with shifting weather and slower early catches before conditions settled and the fishing lifted across the weekend. Saturday’s two sessions produced 148 fish, before a calmer Sunday closed out the event with another 79.
At the top end, Trent Power set the pace early and held it, finishing with 10 fish for 2588 and claim the 2026 world title. Andrew Murley stayed in the fight to finish second on 2535, while Ricky Wetherall edged into third with 2468, just 3mm ahead of Brendan Pollard in fourth.
Pollard delivered one of the moments of the weekend, landing a 539mm Sooty in the final session, the largest fish recorded in the event’s 21-year history.
The junior field again showed depth, with 24 fish landed. Blake Waring claimed the 2026 Junior Champion title with a full bag of six fish totalling 2397 while in the specialty categories, Alex Petrov again took out biggest Sooty on fly with a 452mm catch and Fiona Thomson claimed the ladies division with a 439mm fish.
Across the field, 54 senior anglers and 11 juniors recorded at least one fish over 280mm. All Sooties were tagged to support ongoing monitoring of growth rates in the dam and the average fish measured 376mm.
Tim Swann, MAFSA President, was impressed to see the continued dedication of the anglers who come back to Eungella every year for the WSC.
“With fishing tourism a very hot topic in Queensland with boats and recreational fishing, it’s great to see over a dozen anglers travel from as far as Mt Isa, Murrumba Downs and Newcastle and everywhere in between.
“The WSC has been a family friendly tournament with separate prize pools for Seniors and Juniors and look forward to the day some ex-junior champions have what it takes to mix it with the Seniors and come back for a shot at the world title.
“It’s always great to see Australia’s leading tackle brands get behind MAFSA, helping us build a prize pool worth almost $38,000 again this year. It means we can reward not only the top 10 placegetters with quality gear, but also competitors who land the mystery length or take out the early bird draw after registering in January.”
The annual stocking of Eungella Dam with Sooty Grunter under the SIP scheme was also held during the weekend, giving families and kids the chance to release fingerlings into the dam and see firsthand how future tournament fish are grown. More than 30,000 fingerlings supplied by Andrew from Bass, Barra & Barcoo and Dave from Redgate Fish Farm were released this year.
Image caption: Brendan Pollard with 539mm Sooty.
