Fish play ball for rewarding catch
Fine weather and big fish were all Plimmerton fishermen wanted at their annual competition on March 2 and 3, and they got it.
The biggest fish landed in Plimmerton Boating Club’s competition were Craig Simpson’s whopping 22.5 kilogram hapuka and a 19kg kingfish caught by Phil Rich.
Mr Simpson also took the overall weight prize, catching 70.735kg of fish over the weekend.
Nigel Adler hooked a 8.365kg snapper to win the Pacific cruise prize and the Trevor Freeman Memorial Snapper trophy. Runner- up was Scott Davies with a 6.06 kg snapper.
Gourmets were the other winners on the day. Most fish caught over the weekend went into a public auction, with money raised going towards teaching young people to sail, said competition organiser Jon Mayne.
This year’s event was blessed with fine weather on both days, bringing out 52 boats and over 150 competitors from as far away as Foxton. The weekend was a great success, Mr Mayne said.
‘‘Boats were queuing up from 6am on the Saturday morning eager to get out there and chase that elusive big snapper.’’
The boats ranged from four-metre tinnies to the impressive 14m launches that had entered the competition from Mana Marina, he said.