‘World’s biggest fishing contest’: Boats take to Coromandel waters for Kubota Billfish Classic

Hundreds of boats took to Coromandel waters first thing this morning for the Kubota Billfish Classic. The annual event is tipped to be the largest of its kind in the world and attracts thousands of people to Whitianga.

A fishing competition described by organisers as the world’s largest billfish contest has returned to Whitianga.

Hundreds of boats were on the water for a shotgun start, just after 7am on Thursday.

The Kubota Billfish Classic, hosted by the Mercury Bay Game Fishing Club, was now in its fifth year, and attracted 420 entries, making it the biggest contest of its kind.

The boats took to the waters off Whitianga, with teams competing for a total of $2 million in prizes.

Event organiser Tom Maxwell said he “was in the thick of it” today.

He established the event after becoming frustrated that New Zealand fishing events were “not doing well”.

“I had some ideas on how they should be run; tournaments were not getting a lot of people turning up.”

As a fishing charter captain, Maxwell travelled the world early in his career, competing in several international fishing competitions.

Hundreds of boats took to Coromandel waters this morning. Photo / Peter McVinnie

With such a rich prize pool, the stakes are high.

“One of the highlights of the competition for me is the theatre of it all . . . With big prizes on the line, all fishermen are competitive. You can see it on their faces, they want to bring home one of the big prizes for their families.”

This year’s prizes include $350,000 for the heaviest billfish, a share of the jackpot and a $115,000 Kubota U48G excavator for the “last man standing”.

The winners would be announced at an awards ceremony on Saturday, March 16, at the waterfront.

The Kubota Billfish Classic has grown from a small community event into what organisers believe is the largest billfish tournament globally - based on the number of boats taking part.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Saturday, March 16. Photo / Peter McVinnie

Governed by ethical fishing practices, the contest prides itself on sustainability, with one of the main categories being “tag and release”. What was caught is identified and earmarked for scientific research before being released back into the wild.

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