Front row seats

Hi, we are Anger Management. You may remember us from other less elite fishing comps such as Reel It In and Vicbreams. The team is made up of Aaron Bickery, Shane Handley, Stuart Carruthers and Michael Crane. We entered last year because of a long rivalry with the Smashed Crabs and we wanted front row seats for when their comp sucked arse. Unfortunately for us and as hard as it is to admit, it was a great comp and they smashed it out of the park!

Being a cumulative event over 2.5 days, rather than a day by day total, means you are never out of it. A hot bite for an hour or two 80+cm bites can have you jump from nowhere to right up the top. Our highlights for the trip having milked all of our spots up high and having us in second place, was moving down the front after the Saturday BBQ and fueling up on some Flatty Fuel. Within the first 6 casts in the bottom lake Shane landed a 79cm and then Michael a few casts later landed an 86cm. Stuart putting on a last minute clinic catching 3 small upgrades in the dying 15mins of the comp was also some hectic joy.

Worst moment was definitely loosing to a team whose captain wears a chicken carcass on his head! When fishing 4 on a team the weekend is always filled with lots of laughs and funny banter, much of which is extremely juvenile and revolves around us laughing at Aaron casting 2 foot from the boat while trying to launch a jerkshad 80m, Shane just being an angry little gnome and spilling every Redbull, us all questioning Stuarts sexuality and wondering if silent Michael is still on the back of the boat or if he fell off 3 hours ago!

Any time you get to fish Coota is a special time and one to cherish. The place just has an aura about it and regardless of whether you are catching fish or not, it's just one of those places you just can't help but appreciate the beauty. Not surprising, but it was great to see some high quality anglers get onboard the flatty scene and realise at times the quality sized flathead can be equally as hard to tempt as a good sized bream.

Locked in for 2026. None of us boys have fished as much as other years, so we are hanging to get back together for a flick. Lack of time on water will have us pretty rusty and expectations low but that wont stop us taking it far to seriously!

Tips for beginning teams: 16-20lb leaders dont risk losing the big one. Each member use a different lure until you crack a pattern. Find the bait. Cover all depths. Fish were you have caught fish before. Good luck!

Anyone that has ever fished with Shane or has ever had the pleasure to fish with him in a comp will understand that he is a very passive and calm person (…Not)!