Top kahawai reeled in at Spirits Bay
Pawarenga angler Sean Herbert showcased his surfcasting skills by taking out first and third places in the Kahawai Bonanza on Sunday.
Herbert weighed in fish at 2.23kg and 2.160kg respectively, both caught at Spirits Bay, with the runner-up spot going to Rocky Manihera with a 2.165kg kahawai.
Event spokesman Jack Rogers noted the 125 tickets sold in the 90 Mile Beach Surfcasting Club event allowed organisers to consider the event a reasonable success in the face of poor weather forecast in the days beforehand.
“Most of the fishing was done on the 90 Mile but the significant fish were caught on the east coast,” Rogers noted, adding the difference separating seventh and eighth placegetters — Josh Bates and Hine Le Lievre respectively — in producing equal-sized kahawai at 1.960kg was decided simply enough: by who was first in to the weigh station.
The shaded outdoor area at the Waipapakauri Hotel provided a great atmosphere for the prizegiving, and organisers were already planning next year’s Kahawai Bonanza to again run over Queen’s Birthday Weekend.
More from this year’s contest will feature next week.
Sean Herbert (right) is presented with first and third place prizes in the Kahawai Bonanza at Waipapakauri on Sunday afternoon by 90 Mile Beach Surfcasting Club president Steve Maisey.