When the salmon were biting around Busselton during April, little Ember Jensz was in amongst it, breaking a national game fishing record in her wake.
Confirmation has recently come in that the Pre Primary student at St Mary MacKillop College now holds both the state and national Australian Small Fry Female Record for Salmon caught off a 3kg line. The Game Fishing Association of Australia and the WA Game Fishing Association have both added Ember’s name to their records for catching the 3.42kg salmon on 23 April this year.
Competing with her family in the Naturaliste Game and Sports Fishing Club’s monthly competition, Ember struggled for almost an hour to bring in her record-breaking fish because of the light line and rough weather, but parents Hayley and Damian were not allowed to help her, except to scoop it in once she got it to the side of the boat. “She was so exhausted she collapsed in my arms and didn’t move for twenty minutes,” said mum Hayley. “The line was frayed badly, and may have snapped at any moment.”
Dad would like to say her fishing prowess comes from him, but says that the whole family enjoys going fishing out on the boat, and it’s hard not to recognise how devoted Ember is. “She has so much patience for the sport given her young age.” At only five years old, Ember still has seven more years in the ‘Small Fry’ category.
