Fishing fanatic Adam Samios has travelled to most of Australia's major lakes for fishing competitions, but is passionate about increasing participation of the sport in the capital.
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In what he called "one of the biggest weekends of fishing in Canberra's history," Mr Samios held three fishing competitions to prove the capital has the potential to become a fishing drawcard.
Mr Samios and his partner Sash founded the two conjoined Canberra fishing companies – Canberra on the Water and My 2 Hooks – a few years ago to boost the city's fishing community and support charities.
Sunday marked the end of three of its biggest competitions yet. The lure-only Big Burley Bash competition on Lake Burley Griffin targeted an Australian native species, golden perch. The event attracted about 50 fishermen who took part during eight weeks.
Pride of the Perch was a more family-friendly event on the same lake, enjoyed by about 80 people.
Anglers were also encouraged to send in photos of safe handling of fish to the "Care 4 UR Catch" photo competition.
Michael Kochy won the Big Burley Bash with a 43-centimetre golden perch and a 27-centimetre redfin, and Kristal Priestly won the Pride of the Perch competition with a 46-centimetre golden perch and a 33-centimetre redfin.
While not everyone reeled in a winner, Mr Samios said there were reports of participants catching up to 30 fish a day, many of which were a decent size.
"A lot of people think Canberra is just full of carp," he said.
"A lot of people caught fish and a lot of people caught good fish."
The first-place winners took home $1000 cash.
Mr Samios said Ms Priestly donated half her prizemoney to the Capital Region Fishing Alliance, which stocks and cleans the area's waterways and promotes co-operation among Canberra-Queanbeyan regional fishing clubs.
The alliance believes angling access for fishing events is under threat in the region.
It is supposedly threatened by building developments, urban infill and the closure of parks and reserves.
Developing new fisheries was vital in tackling this challenge, Mr Samios said.
"We don't push fishing in Canberra at all and I think there is a great tourism attraction here if we can get some more fishing access to spots around Canberra," he said.
The Capital Region Fishing Alliance receives $5 from each registration with Mr Samios' companies. The funds go towards fish-stocking activities, habitat restoration, educational programs and fishing events.
It is working with the government to stock more local lakes and hopes to balance the region's domination of European carp and redfin with more desirable angling species.
