West Lakes’ Delfin Island flooded with fishers in support of teens in viral Adelaide video
A quiet pond in West Lakes at the heart of a viral video controversy has become the number one destination in town for Adelaide’s anglers. See the pictures.
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Adelaide’s fishing community has rallied with rods and reels in a quiet show of solidarity following a viral video sparked outrage over a group of adults upset at teenagers for dropping a line in a West Lakes pond.
On Saturday morning, crowds of people went fishing around the Delfin Island, with anglers arriving in the early morning and staying out well past midday.
The gathering came in support of a group of 13-year-old boys who were subject of a viral video that saw them become the target of a group of local adults; frustration as they fished in the area this week.
The incident – which was captured on camera by one child and shared on social media by a parent – quickly sparked outrage, and a surge of support for the boys, including from former Crows star turned fishing show host Ned McHenry.
Among the procession of anglers on Saturday was one of the boys, Emilio Visentin, and his father Matthew.
Mr Visentin said he found the now-viral footage difficult to watch.
“I came down to check on him that day,” Mr Visentin said.
“Emilio and six of his mates were just around the lake, they were playing the crows match on the radio. It was all good, no worries … I went home.
“Then fast forward an hour later and I get a call from my son telling me (the adults) were throwing their stuff around and yelling.
“I told him to call the police and race down their immediately … and when I got here I thought we got it sorted.
“But it wasn’t until after I saw the video that I realised how bad the confrontation actually was … just unnecessarily aggressive.”
However, Mr Visentin said he was pleased the incident had now become a positive.
He said Emilio and his mates had been overwhelmed with support from the fishing and local community and RecFish SA – they’ve even been gifted brand new rods.
It was a successful outing for another of the boys too.
Bailey Garland said seeing the support from the community helped him overcome his fear of coming back here – and he caught a good fish too.
“It was pretty unacceptable behaviour from the locals here, like if they don’t like us fishing here, they can call the police to come and handle it,” Bailey said.
“But instead, they tried to handle it themselves and they didn’t do it very well.
“We were pretty scared for a bit to comeback but now that we’ve had everyone come here – we’re pretty happy.”
Bailey’s father Tony Garland said he changed flights for his work trip to make sure he could attend the event this morning.
Adults filmed in the video that sparked today’s rebel fishing festival have since apologised for their behaviour, saying their had been growing frustration with behaviour and damage around the Delfin Island duck pond, which had sparked calls for Charles Sturt council to step in.
However, local MP and SA Treasurer Stephen Mullighan, who also visited the pond on Saturday, urged against a “heavy-handed” approach from council.
“The council controls the bylaws in the area and they’ll consider whether there needs to be change” he said.
“But I think the changes should be about making sure that fishing can happen in a way which works well with the local environment, not necessarily taking a heavy-handed approach.”
Long term resident Janine – who asked to keep her surname private – said locals did not oppose fishing but claimed teenagers in the area had caused damage.
“The problem is the fact that the kids cause environmental damage and threaten wildlife,” she said. “They’ve cutaway palms trees and they won’t recover, they’ve damaged reeds, and they’ve built a land bridge across to an island which is supposed to be a refuge for wild birds and tortoises.
“Putting a land bridge there means that foxes and cats are now able to get to the island and the wildlife.”
She said her complaints have been raised with the local council.
Janine was not involved in the altercation on video and said she did not support the behaviour.
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Originally published as West Lakes’ Delfin Island flooded with fishers in support of teens in viral Adelaide video
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