10/10/2026
Sussex Inlet Fishing Stories!!
MIA'S ONCE-A-YEAR FISHING TRIP TURNS INTO A STORY TO REMEMBER!
Meet Mia!
A sporty young local, known for playing footy and even refereeing a few local games. And when she's not busy with all that, she manages to squeeze in a bit of fishing. Well, about once a year anyway!
And this year's annual fishing adventure turned out to be one none of us will forget in a hurry!
Mia was taking part in the Sussex Inlet Fishing Club's Kids Holiday Fishing Competition, having a flick off the wharf in the canals, out the front of where Mum and Dad work.
Her weapon of choice? An old Squidgy soft plastic Dad had given her years ago. Not just any Squidgy either. This one had been sitting in a packet with a few different coloured plastics for so long that the colours had blended together to create a rather unique colour of its own!
Apparently, the flathead didn't mind!
Mia was happily casting away when she thought she'd snagged a bit of w**d. So, as you do, she gave the rod a couple of sharp flicks to try and rip the lure free.
And then the w**d took off!
Suddenly, Mia realised she was connected to something a whole lot bigger than a clump of w**d!
With nobody immediately there to help, Mia started calling out for Mum and Dad.
The commotion soon caught the attention of some neighbours across the canal, who came out to see what all the excitement was about.
Realising Mia needed a hand, they asked for her mum's phone number.
So there was Mia, hooked up to a monster fish, trying to hang on while shouting Mum's phone number across the canal!
The neighbours rang Mum, but Mum wasn't going to be much help holding a fishing rod over the phone, so she got hold of Dad, and the rescue mission was underway!
Meanwhile, Mia was still hanging on to this fish, which clearly had no intention of making things easy for her.
After around 20 minutes, Dad was finally there to help bring the fish in.
And what a fish!
An absolutely magnificent 81 cm dusky flathead!
After all the excitement, a few well-deserved photos were taken before this beautiful fish was released to swim another day.
But the story doesn't end there!
Not only did Mia's magnificent flathead take out the Biggest Flathead prize in the Sussex Inlet Fishing Club's Kids Holiday Fishing Competition, it also earned her a pretty special piece of local fishing history.
The biggest flathead ever caught off the Mounties Wharf!
And that's no small achievement! With the number of locals and visitors who have wet a line off that wharf over the years, that's some serious bragging rights for a young girl who only fishes once a year!
Congratulations, Mia! What an incredible fish and an even better story!
A big shout-out to the neighbours who answered Mia's calls for help and played their part in getting this beautiful fish landed.
