ALMOST 2300 people from across Australia descended on Horsham for the 2014 Horsham Fishing Competition at the weekend.
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Wendouree man Allan Beer claimed first prize by the smallest of margins, his 1201-gram yellowbelly outweighing Horsham man Mark McPhee's yellowbelly by just one gram.
Mr Beer chose to take the brand new Kia Rio S as first prize, with Mr McPhee winning a BlueFin Estuary Trekker.
Mr Beer, who caught his prize-winning fish close to midday, had no hesitation in choosing the car.
"I already had a reasonably new boat, so we didn't need another one," he said.
"I am just over the moon."
He said he had not missed a competition in 32 years, and was at the front of the line to pick up his stakes.
More than 650 fish were caught in total, with 174 natives and 500 carp.
Horsham Fishing Competition committee chairman Kevin Dellar said it had been another successful event.
"We had people from Queensland, SA, NSW and I even think we had people fishing from Western Australia, so they've come a long way," he said.
"A lot come from Melbourne, a lot come from Adelaide, Ballarat, Geelong and Hamilton way."
"The weather was good, we caught more native fish this year by probably double last year, which means the fish in the river are growing and doing better."
Great Western's Jayden McCartney took out the junior competition with the heaviest catch of the day, while Horsham's Jaydah Piera won the Tiddlers' section.