What is the Kingfish Cup?
The Kingfish Cup is about spearing a kingfish, over one weekend in Sydney’s prime Kingfish season, traditionally this is late October through November.
Where is it held?
“Greater Sydney” is the area entrants may enter. It stretches from Bird Island in the Central Coast to Bass Point in the South covering just over 250 kilometres of coastline. Weigh in Stations are at Adreno Sydney itself, Little Manly in Sydney Harbour, and Terrigal, on the Central Coast.
Who enters the KFC?
Such a wide-ranging demographic of both age, sex, and area. Going on recent years we are expecting over 200 spearfishers entering including sub juniors from 14 years of age right up to Grand Masters (over 65’s), Ladies entries have been strong (9 ladies competed last year). Divers come from as far as Queensland to fish the event. Those who are not competitively focused also fish the Kingfish Cup. We also get relative newcomers fish the Kingfish Cup some of which spearing their first kingfish in the event.
How does it work?
The USFA runs the event, Adreno Spearfishing and its partners are a big part of the Cup and sponsor the Cup, and we work with the Adreno Sydney team to make it the success this community event has become. Prior to the Cup, some 8 days before, we host a “get together” at Adreno – putting on some great food – one of our members creates amazing paella, we explain the simple rules, we have guest speakers (spearfishing gurus) that discuss kingfish habits and hunting tips, and this year we have some great scientific data being divulged on Kingfish by a team that is tracking fish via satellite. A great social night that includes several prizes being given out, for the attendees, and for the early bird registers, including one major prize (to be announced).
Since the running of the inaugural event in 2019 we have seen healthy registration numbers from 170 to well over 200 entrants, thus it requires a lot of organising from an efficient team. Entrants register online, they are given details of the event and how to “sign on” and “sign off” (any times between 0800 and 1600 you may fish multiple times on a day) on each day – (some entrants fish only one day) this lets organisers know who is in the water and importantly when they are back out – safety is paramount. On safety, the organisers also make the decision on postponing the days fishing if the weather is decided to be inclement.
The fish are weighed in at the weigh stations, we try to keep the weights discreet to build some atmosphere for the presentation night the Thursday following the event.
The event is ethical! Sustainable too!
Kingfish are in healthy numbers along Australia’s east coast. Take 2023, when we held the Cup over two days, we had 235 divers in the water for approximately 1343 hours, of the fish that were caught it worked out to over 83.9 hours of effort per fish, with an average weight of 9.5 kilograms per fish. Spearfishing is amazing.
Dates to remember!!
- 1 – The information night –
To kick off the biggest event on Sydney’s spearfishing seasonal calendar we host a social & information night to bring the community together under one roof to set the scene for the following weekends event.
This Kingfish cup was born out of necessity, a competition built to bring our communities together in a sustainable and ethically focused competition with divers from all around Australia participating. A competition driven by inclusion, from the most experienced to aspiring greenhorn learning the ropes and piecing it together. This is what spearfishing is all about. Mateship, adventure, respect for the fishery and healthy competition.
A Q&A panel with kingfish gurus such as Aaron Puckeridge, Derrick Cruz, Matt Poulton, Josh Ward, Artie Mensdorff along with past champion’s the night’s goal is to share experiences and knowledge around Sydney Spearfishing with a focus on the Kingfish species. Feedback from you has been requested on the science of this fishery, and we are giving this to you on the night, we have a very dedicated team who have been satellite tracking large Yellowtail Kingfish off our coastline and they are excited to be sharing their findings with us on the evening. An evening meal catered by the Paella King Rico, throw in some sensational door prizes for those in attendance on the night, and to those who early bird register for the Cup, the night is shaping up to be a ripper.
This social event will be bigger than the Cup itself!
- 2 – Adreno Sydney Kingfish Cup – the main event! Held over two days on the second weekend of November
- 3 – The Presentation – held the following Thursday after the Cup is held
Another fantastic social evening, where many of the entrants gather, again at Adreno Sydney Superstore, mingle and talk about the one that got away while enjoying some quality food while anticipating the results. Sponsors for the event are amazing and the 2023 event saw over $15 000 of prizes given out.
We look forward to greeting you at the next Kingfish Cup!
You must be logged in to post a comment.