IF YOU love fishing, you’re going to love the Stonka’ Fishing Challenge!
Happening this weekend, the fishing challenge is now in its third year and there will be a whopping $150,000 in prizes, thanks to generous sponsors.
The 2025 event will be held from August 7 to 10, 2025, at Cape Gloucester Resort, and nominations for the challenge are still open.
The Stonka Fishing Challenge is all about giving back.
The first two events each raised $15,000 for the Leukaemia Foundation Freemason’s Village. The goal this year is $20,000.
It all started when Stephen Cresswell thought he had nearly lost wife Stacey, after she was rushed to Townsville Hospital, in 2019, in severe pain.
It turned out Stacey had Hodgkin’s Lymphoma with a football size tumour in her chest.
The diagnosis sent shockwaves through the family and it has been a long, hard road for the couple.
But, far from setting them back, they turned their heartache into an event that has so far raised $30,000 for infrastructure upgrades for the Leukaemia House, in Townsville.
The Stonka’ Fishing Challenge started as a small event to give back to those who had helped Stephen and Stacey through their ordeal.
It has grown enormously and is now officially endorsed by the Leukaemia Foundation.
“We just wanted to give back,” Stephen, who owns Bah Bait and Tackle in Moranbah, said.
“We bought a boat, in the hope it would be successful, and in the first year [2023] we had 600 registered competitors and 3,500 people attended.
“We started with just my boat and now we have boats coming from all over Australia.”
The follow-up event, in 2024, had 924 registered competitors and attracted more than 5,000 people throughout the whole weekend.
Visit Home | The Stonka Fishing Challenge for more information including registration, categories, species information and special guests at the event.
