Ask any serious lure angler about Mallacoota and you’ll get a knowing nod. Most coastal towns build their identity around surfing.
Mallacoota built its around fishing, and for one weekend in October it becomes the centre of it all.
Last year the Mallacoota Flatty Classic sold out in six days. The first event drew 35 teams and 107 anglers to the lake, left more than 25 teams stranded on the waitlist, and clocked over 200,000 views on the event’s Instagram in the weeks around the comp. The official event videos have since passed 70,000 views. Not bad for a first crack.
The classic returns 23 to 25 October, and this is the week that matters. Teams from the 2025 event could gain priority access from 6pm, Monday July 13. Public entries open at 6pm next Monday, July 20.
If last year is any guide, they won’t last long. Anyone wanting a spot in the public round can join the waitlist now at fishingclassics.com.au to be ready the moment entries open.
“Last year we sold out in six days and the waitlist was longer than some comps’ entire field,” event organiser Mitch King said.
“This year the whole thing runs online. Returning teams get first crack from Monday night, then it’s first in, best dressed when public entries open on the 20th. If you want to fish it, get on the waitlist now.”
Never fished a comp before? You’re exactly who it’s built for. Teams of two to four anglers, and first-casters are as welcome as the salty veterans who’ll fish every one of these.
Never measured a flatty on a brag mat in your life? You’ll get walked through it at the briefing before anyone touches the water. Ninety per cent of entry fees go straight back to competitors as prizes, and last year that meant the Rowdy Floyds driving home with a $5,000 cheque for a bag of ten flathead averaging 73.6cm, and a story they’ll be embellishing for years.
A SHOT IN THE ARM FOR THE TOWN
The comp weekend lands in the October shoulder season, when Mallacoota’s accommodation and hospitality trade would otherwise be catching its breath before summer.
Instead, more than a hundred visiting anglers, plus the partners, kids and mates who tag along, book out beds, fill the ramp car park before sunrise, and eat and drink locally across three days.
“That weekend the town is flat out, Grant “Gutsy” Shorland, owner of Scallywags Mallacoota, the host venue, said.
“Every bed is booked, boats are launching before sunrise, and the bar is full of anglers talking rubbish about the ones that got away. For Mallacoota, a hundred-plus visitors in the shoulder season is a serious boost.”
BUILT IN EAST GIPPSLAND, FOR EAST GIPPSLAND
The website behind the comp was designed and built right here in the region, and it does things you won’t find on other fishing comp sites in the country.
It hands the organisers their weekend back. Registrations, payments and waivers all sort themselves out online, so instead of chasing paperwork and entry fees, the crew running the comp can actually run the comp.
“Signing up takes a couple of minutes on your phone. Pick your team, pay, sign the waiver, done.
No forms at the pub, no printing anything off. Then over the weekend you can follow the leaderboard live from the bank, the boat or the bar. You don’t need someone in Melbourne to build this stuff anymore,” Matt Rowlands, owner of Your Mate Agency, said.
2025 BY THE NUMBERS
– 35 teams, 107 anglers, sold out in six days
– 25+ teams waitlisted
– 200,000+ Instagram profile views around the event
– 70,000+ views across the official event videos
– 90% of entry fees returned as prizes
– Winning bag: ten flathead averaging 73.6cm, worth a $5000 cheque
