After one days fishing we had 12 snapper weighed in, with the heaviest at 5kg caught by Trish Ace aboard Lady Luck. Average weight is currently 3.33kg. It was reported to be a bit choppy out there but compared to recent weather conditions it is quite fishable. We will see what today brings.

About a month ago Jim Gigger of Kerikeri went fishing with John Gregory aboard Primetime. John has been targeting broadbill all season and this day found Jim a really big one! It weighed in at 404.4kg and was caught on 37kg line after an 80 minute battle. The catch has been submitted for a NZ line record and a World Record and would become a new club line record and pinfish for the season. It will also earn a 10 x 1 certificate from the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council. Congratulations to Jim and John.

You had to be there to appreciate this fish’s size, but look at the size of the angler compared to the fish!!!!

We are all looking forward to the snapper contest this weekend. The weather has calmed down just in time for the weekend so we should see some fish across the weigh-station. There are prizes to be won sponsored by Warren Hay Marine and Ken and Brenda Frear of CT Automotive in Kaeo, Kilwell Sports, Wet & Forget, Bryce Sims Electrical, Redwood’s Dental, Paper Plus in Kerikeri, Darlin Imports and Lion Red Breweries. There are rods, reels, fishing accessories and clothing to be won along with the major lucky angler draw for tyres.
See you soon !

NB. Sorry, tyres were to the value of $400 not $600 as previously stated.

We have news of a great new prize for this years snapper contest. We now have a major lucky angler draw of tyres up to the value of $600. This prize was generously sponsored by Ken and Brenda Frear of CT Automotive in Kaeo. This is a fantastic prize so for a chance to win new tyres come and join in the fun and fishing for the Snapper Contest held on 19th-20th May. Good luck !!!

Despite the bad weather, this contest is still being held, with harbour fishing and lucky draws. Kaeo is currently flooded but hopefully the road will be passable tomorrow.

On 31^st March and 1st April the Whangaroa Sport Fishing Club will be holding its Classic Boats Contest. The contest is held for anglers to fish from marine vessels 40 and more years old which this year is pre 1972. It is a great opportunity to see these old gals do their stuff on the waters and also a chance for them to take part in raising funds for the mobile clinic which is operated by Whangaroa Health Services Trust in Kaeo. The contest has been held for many years now and has always managed to make a sizeable donation towards this facility. The clinic has been in operation since 1998 and operates 2 days per week serving several communities in the Whangaroa area. The clinic provides a doctor and nurse, for services such as consultations, prescriptions and immunisations. The clinic’s operation is being reviewed in July to ensure the service continues to target those communities most at need. It is an important aspect of the health care in Whangaroa, and the Classic Boats Contest, the marina, the fishing club and the community strive to raise as much as they can annually to help fund the clinic. This year we want to do better than ever so come and join in the fun at the club, all monies raised from the contest are donated to the health trust for the clinic. You could bring your vintage boat along, or you could find someone to fish with, or just come along for the entertainment, raffles and lucky draws. There will be some old fishing paraphernalia and photos from many years ago, on display. We would be very interested if you would like to bring along any fishing memorabilia or photos you may have at home for us to have a look at too. The contest has been supplied with prizes this year from International Paints and Burnsco Marine and Leisure, along with many other donations. There are three sections to the contest; gamefishing, line-fishing and tag & release, each with their own trophy to win. There will be lots of prizes as well, and we hope to see you very soon down at the club in the Whangaroa Harbour for this classic fishing and fund-raising event. The briefing and registration night will be held at the club rooms on Friday, 30^th March at 7.30pm.

It was a beautiful day and a great forecast but Barry announced he was driving some friends to Opua to pick up a boat, so rather than sit in a hot vehicle all day I announced I was going marlin fishing by myself. That was met with disbelief, and I was told I was a stupid old biddy, it would be too hard! That’s a big challenge to me. I headed off out of the marina at 9am and set a course for the hundred metre mark off Stevies and when I arrived, set the lures. I started with towing 4 but the pattern didn’t look right so I put the 5th one out on the shotgun, figuring when the time came to clear the gear I would manage somehow. I also put the skippy lure out, which now gave me 5 lines to clear,(the 6th one would have the fish on) A skippy jumped on the bungy at 150 metres and was promptly dispatched to the tuna tubes. At least I could say I had caught something! I hung around the 120 to 130 metre mark with some of the other boats, then decided they weren’t getting hits so I started heading for the 200 metre mark. By this time I was getting up by Bergens. The water was a beautiful blue colour but the temperature only went up to 18.4 and ideally over 20 degrees is preferable for marlin fishing. I was talking on the phone to Barry and watching the lures when a marlin struck on the second lure on the port side of the boat. I told Barry I had a strike and threw the phone down and raced downstairs. I let the marlin run while still going ahead on pilot and raced round clearing the gear. The two lines on the riggers were just wound up to the leaders, I figured I could sort them later. I threw on my stand up gear, took the boat off pilot and grabbed the rod. By this time the fish had a fair bit of line out so I knew I would have my work cut out. Normally I play my fish in the chair so the stand up gear was a novelty for me. We have cockpit controls so that made it easier, I stayed on the starboard side by them the whole time and played the fish off that corner, juggling winding and the backing and maneuvering the boat at the same time. A lot like a one armed paperhanger! About half an hour of puffing and struggling the fish came up to the leader. We run windons, so I wound the leader on to the rod tip but then discovered the line was too high for me to reach at the top of the rod. (Our rods are not made for standup) I backed over to the far side of the cockpit and grabbed the tuna gaff to reach up and grab the leader, then put the rod in the rod holder. All was going good at that point except the fish kept trying to run forward so there was a fair bit of maneuvering going on as well. I finally grabbed the bill and walked it round to the back transom door. I had taken the door out just previously with much difficulty. The plan was to just slide the fish into the cockpit like our deckhand Glen Cowan does with ease. That didn’t happen quite like I planned. I was stuffed and I discovered I couldn’t lift it. It was only holding by the hook still so I grabbed a rope from beside me and tried to pass a loop over the head. That didn’t work either, so I had to let the fish go and grab the gaff. Once that was in I had another go at pulling the fish in but there was no way I could lift it any further than the head. I called on channel 62 for someone to come and help and gave my co-ordinates. The offers came from all over but the closest was a White pointer boat named Double Time with two guys on board. The sea had come up a bit by this time so it was too hard to get the boats close, so the guys dived in and swam over.. They both pulled the fish on the boat, said congratulations and swam off back to their boat. If they read this, please phone me, I owe you a big shout! I phoned Barry and told him the fish was on board. He was waiting at the weigh station along with a lot of other friends when I arrived in. The fish weighed 90.4 kg, not a big marlin, I have caught 225Kg, but by myself it wouldn’t have need to be any bigger. Probably the only time ever I have wanted a small stripey instead of a big Blue! Anyway that was my 60th marlin, so it was fitting. Been there, done that, but don’t think I will try it again!!!

After day 7 our anglers so far have achieved -
John Hough Memorial Trophy for Striped Marlin; Macksom is in 3rd place
T&R Section for Striped Marlin; Jeff Bawden is 1st with 6 tagged fish
NZ Junior Champion Angler for Mahimahi — Baily McIntyre with a fish of 8.16kg on 37kg line
NZ Junior Champion Striped Marlin Angler — jointly Baily for the club and Jessie Wright of Muriwai with 2 tagged fish each
Varta Cup Northern — club is equal 3rd with Whangarei
Varta Cup Overall — club is equal 15th
Top Team for the Club — November Rain

We still have one more day to go and things might all change!!