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Just under 100 competitors took to the waters in the Hauraki Gulf for the Hunting & Fishing 10kg tournament held on June 4 and 5.
The annual tournament is organised by the Warkworth Gamefish Club and is the longest running line weight restricted tournament in the gulf.
Club member David Adams says the average length snapper of 59.5cm (about 4kg) was again excellent and only slightly down on last year.
“In the course of our comp there would have been around 1000 snapper of three-plus kilograms successfully captured and released,” he says.
“That’s around three tonnes of prime snapper still out there doing their thing! A 1.5 to 2kg snapper is a great pan fish, so there’s no pressure to keep anything bigger than that.”
Adams says that like last year, air temperatures were mild and the sea temperature was a notch above or below 18 degrees, depending on where the boats were.
“There was a report of a 73cm kahawai from Fitzroy Harbour during the weekend, which would make it around five kilograms in average condition – that would pretty awesome to see. A look through the NZSFC line class records shows kahawai of this calibre do exist.
“There were huge trevally again in this year. NZ trevally are slow growing after about 30cm, and can reach the age of 40 and almost a metre in length.
“Another great bit of feedback during this year’s comp was the numbers and size of squid in each anchorage and some fishing spots.”
The 10kg trophy is awarded on a formula and any of the catch species (snapper, kahawai, trevally, kingfish) can win it. This year, Alby Petersen’s trevally held off the good top snappers and chunky kingfish to take the 10kg trophy.
“Petersen was a pretty enthusiastic winner because, like many of us 10kg regulars, he’s been chasing this trophy for years.”
The next events on the club calendar are the annual general meeting and the Ladies Comp on November 12. Next year’s 10kg will be held on June 4 and 5.
Results: EarlyBird ticket offer, Ken Hamilton. Junior kahawai – Luke Beesley 56cm (approx. 2.4kg) 1, Henri Buchs 53.5cm 2; junior trevally –Beesley 49.5cm 1; junior snapper – Beesley 60cm (approx. 4.1kg) 1, Buchs 49cm 2.
Senior kahawai – Vance Barratt 57cm 1, Paul Copestake 56.5cm 2, Cam Rathe 56cm 3. Senior kingfish – Barratt 107cm (around 15kg) 1, Mitch Fraser 102cm 2. Senior trevally – Alner (Alby) Petersen 77cm (almost 7.3kg) 1, Chris Ridley 69cm 2, Trevor Ridley 68cm 3. Senior snapper – Giz Clough 83.5cm (approx. 10.4kg or 23lb) 1, Kevin Barratt 80.5cm 2, Bradley Bowmar 79cm 3, Richard Grigg 78.5cm 4, Ollie Hogg 78.5cm 5, Mitch Fraser 77.5cm 6, Noah Beesley 77cm 7, Trent Stillwell 76.5cm 8, Paul Copestake 75cm 9, Cam Rathe 73cm 10, Katie Klingler 70cm 11.
