Slow going in ideal conditions
In otherwise decent conditions, the number of fish reeled in on the west coast during a 90 Mile Beach Surfcasting Club contest at the end of October left some feeling underwhelmed.
A large turnout of 37 club members and four visitors fishing in ideal conditions with the Keith Smith and Blue Worthy trophies up for grabs on Sunday, October 28, “only” managed to bring 14 snapper, 29 kahawai and 13 trevally to the weigh in station, event spokesman Jack Rogers said.
Heaviest snapper and first prize went to visitor Grant Foster for an impressive 7.41kg snapper, another snapper along with a decent sized trevally, while runner up prize for the heaviest trevally was won by Stephen Beckett with a 5.50g. Claiming third prize with heaviest kahawai was Rogers himself for his 2.10kg fish.
The other top placegetters were, Dan Lloyd 6.91kg snapper 4 (4th), Kelly Strong 3.80kg trevally 5, Milton Arnold 1.68kg kahawai 6, Matt Becker 6.38kg snapper 7, Shaun Williams 3.21kg trevally 8, (junior) Arli Hokai 1.67kg kahawai 9, Ben Waaka 3.54kg snapper 10.
“Unfortunately for Grant Foster, not being a member of the 90 Mile Beach Surfcasting Club denied him the glory of winning the Blue Worthy Trophy which was instead presented to Dan Lloyd with his 6.91kg snapper while Rogers claimed the Keith Smith Memorial Trophy with his 2.10kg kahawai.
Elsewhere, Waaka also took out the haggle for a 3.05kg snapper with his fish, while the most active member on the day was Matt Becker who reeled in five snapper of impressive weights.
On the points board, the hotly contested King and Queen and Junior trophies are also in contention with only three more field days left in the year. The three top contenders vying for King Trophy are Gareth McKenzie with 5498 points, Matt Becker 4992 and Dan Lloyd 4334; for the Queen Trophy, Jo Arthur 1013, Keri Hokai 952 and Ursula Williams 677, while leading the Junior Trophy standings are Mekhi Heka 1591, Oscar Parlour 1293 and Daithi Parlour 1033.
“All this can easily change with some other fisherperson coming in,” Rogers emphasised.
The club’s next event is the Mr Plumba Plumba — Rogers and Rogers Plumbers Field Day this Sunday (November 11). The event will be fished from 9am to 4pm fishing over a 12.27 high tide, followed by barbecue and prize giving. Contact Jack Rogers during working hours at (09)408-2660.