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Whether you’re a seasoned skipper or a land angler, you’ll have the chance to snag the big one and some prizes at the Salty Dog Social Club’s fifth annual fishing competition on Saturday, February 1.
It had originally been planned for mid-January but was rescheduled due to a timing conflict with SailGP in Auckland, held on January 18 and 19.
One of the competition’s coordinators, Jez Scull, says the popularity of the contest continues to surprise, with a great turnout last year of up to 30 boats out on the water and over 130 anglers taking part.
“We’re expecting a similar number this year,” he says.
“Initially it was for the social club, but we opened it up to members of the public. The main point of it is for people to have some fun and enjoy a family-friendly day at the Salty Dog Inn afterwards, from 4pm to 6pm.
“We’ll have a big sausage sizzle, bouncy castle, games on the lawn, face painting, kids’ prizes, spot prizes and lucky contestant prize draws whether you fished or not.”
The main event is a measure-and-photograph fishing competition, with photos of each catch emailed to Scull at officetsdsc@yahoo.com.
To enter, it’s $35 per angler for social club members, $40 for non-members and $15 for juniors (aged 14 and younger), with part of the profits being donated to the Kawau Volunteer Coastguard.
Tickets, as well as competition packs, are to be collected from the Salty Dog Inn on Friday, January 31, from 5.30pm to 7pm, and the competition starts at 3am on the Saturday and finishes at 4pm.
There is no designated fishing area and anglers in the past have had just as much success dropping lines from dinghies in Kawau Bay as those using expensive rigs on launches out as far as Great Barrier Island, Scull says.
The Salty Dog Inn will host a barbecue for anglers from 6pm, with the prizegiving to be held at 6.30pm.
The major prizewinner will receive vouchers/product valued at close to $2000 for the longest snapper.
Other contest divisions, or categories, include female angler, longest snapper; junior angler, longest fish; longest trevally; longest kahawai; and mystery length snapper (minimum 40cm), which is selected at random.
There’s also the ‘best hard luck story’ division, which Scull says is a bit of fun.
“It’s about the one that got away. A couple of years ago, we had an angler get a kingfish to the boat and it jumped out of the net. We had somebody go out one year and they had forgotten their bait,” he says.
“So we ask people to email in their story, have a read and decide which is the most worthy of the prize.”
Scull says the competition, which has taken around nine months to plan, wouldn’t be possible without the support of its many sponsors, and in particular its major sponsors Mason Contractors and the Salty Dog Inn.
The Salty Dog Social Club presently has a membership of 90 people, fundraises throughout the year and provides donations to local charities.
If you would like to join, social club registration forms are available at the Salty Dog Inn or email officetsdsc@yahoo.com.
