The Brisbane Fishing Online team is comprised of local Brisbane fishermen Angus Gorrie and John Petrie, together with a small admin team and web team including a data clerk, part-time office admin, graphic designer, and web developer, and not to mention the hard-working Forum Moderators.

A Brief History of Brisbane Fishing Online:

Keen Brisbane anglers Angus Gorrie and John Petrie often mused over the lack of respect the Brisbane River had as a first class fishery. Most Brisbane based anglers and recreational fishermen alike will happily travel to the either North or South Coast for a days fishing, but often don't take a second glance at the Brisbane River right on their doorstep. Angus however, regular fishers of the Brisbane River and its tributaries knew from first hand experience that the Brisbane River held a veritable wealth of prized fish species. It was with this knowledge in mind he decided to make an attempt at promoting the river as a viable fishery.

A decision was made to hold a fishing competition. This competition would be called 'The Brisbane River Classic' and was held in April 2006. The objective of this competition was simply to both meet like-minded Brisbane based anglers and form some sort of fishing community. In order to register teams and promote the competition as a whole, a simple website was created. The website consisted primarily of competition information, a list of registered teams, Brisbane River information and a small photo gallery aimed to excite those unfamiliar with what the river had to offer.

Overall the first competition was much more successful than anticipated. Numerous anglers of all ages came out of the woodwork and a total of 26 teams competed. A fantastic array of fish was captured and weighed in including a 9kg Threadfin Salmon. Prizes at this stage of the game were a little basic with all category winners walking away with a carton of beer. Aside from being proud of sharing with a larger demographic what the river truly had to offer, the competition also proved to Angus that there was a niche group of anglers in South-East Queensland that were looking for a medium through which to make contacts, share information and discuss fishing in general. This revelation lead to the next phase in the evolution of the website.

A decision was made to incorporate a forum into the website. Thus www.brisbanefishing.com.au was born. This forum would be provided for free for anglers from all over South-East Queensland to exchange information and network generally. The forum was a huge success with the membership on the site doubling in a very short time. But Angus and John had greater plans for the site yet. Over the next few months a huge amount of information was added to the site including: weather, tide times, moon charts, extensive photo galleries, general interest articles, hints and tips, and many more features aimed at being as informative as possible to the local fishing community. With this exchange of information came many interesting and exciting revelations. Photos of fish once only dreamed of in the Brisbane River became a regularity, new techniques were learnt and the information exchange became staggering. Thanks to occurrences like these, the membership base began to grow greatly.

Due to the unexpected success of the Brisbane River Classic Fishing Competition, a decision was also made to host a first 'official' competition to be held in December 2006. This was actively publicised on the website and featured coverage in the media and press such as Nova 106.9, 4BC, Brisbane Extra and Bush & Beach. The competition was a great success with close to 100 anglers competing. With the help of the event's sponsors, including John Crawford Marine, Tackleworld and Sports Tuition, the prizes for the competition included fishing rods, reels, tackle, merchandise, guided fishing tours and trophies. Trophies and prizes were awarded for a number of categories and some truly amazing fish were weighed-in throughout the competition. Due to the success of the Brisbane River Classic over the last few years, the team at Brisbane Fishing Online still have grand plans for this annual competition and hope to grow in both size and quality, as well as get more Brisbane families and anglers involved in the great sport of fishing.

Due to phenomenal support and encouragement from members, Brisbane Fishiing Online intends to continue their dedication to the site and the fishing community as a whole. There are many exciting changes in store for www.brisbanefishing.com.au and of course the annual Brisbane River Classic to look forward to. With new members joining and contributing to the site every day BFO are confident that www.brisbanefishing.com.au will become the Premier fishing site in Queensland.

If you have any question regarding either www.brisbanefishing.com.au or the annual Brisbane River Classic Fishing Competition or any of the other competitions BFO run please don't hesitate to contact:

- Angus Gorrie: angus@brisbanefishing.com.au

Good fishing!

The Brisbane Fishing Online team