Troy Notton with his $30,000 fish, caught on the last day. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Troy Notton with his $30,000 fish, caught on the last day. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Troy Notton caught only one fish in five days of surfcasting off Ninety Mile Beach " but it was the fish that mattered.
The 24-year-old from Kaitaia, now living in Kamo, hooked an 8.315kg snapper on the final day of the 2015 Snapper Bonanza.
That was just big enough - by 70g - to edge out the fisherman who had been in front since Tuesday morning and deliver Mr Notton the trophy for heaviest fish of the tournament and $32,000 in cash.
He hooked the snapper just south of Little Bluff about 10am, weighed it in at 11am, then had a nerve-wracking five-hour wait to see if anyone would bring in a bigger fish.
"I didn't want to get my hopes up. It was my first and only fish all week."
It was the keen angler's third time contesting the Bonanza. He had yet to decide how to spend his winnings of $30,000 for the week's top fish plus $2000 for biggest fish of the day.
The Snapper Bonanza, said to be the world's biggest surfcasting contest, ran from Tuesday to Saturday with the winners announced at the event's Waipapakauri Ramp headquarters, about 20km north of Kaitaia, on Saturday evening.
The fisherman who had held the lead since Tuesday morning, Mike Dowden of Whakatane, was philosophical. He said earlier he didn't expect to win overall and was pleased with his $2000 for the biggest fish of day one. The major prize draw - a Mitsubishi Triton ute worth $50,000 - went to Waipapakauri sharemilker Greg Mellar.
Farm commitments meant he had only been able to compete for six hours and hadn't caught a single fish.
It is only the second time that Northlanders have claimed the Bonanza's two top prizes. Last year Kaitaia mill worker Neil Sides hooked the biggest fish and Ngataki forestry worker Simon Job won the ute.
Troy Notton with the 2015 Snapper Bonanza trophy and his $30,000 fish.
Other fishers who won big this year included the Rogers whanau, who own an automotive workshop in Kaitaia and have competed since the early 1980s. It is the only week each year they close the workshop.
Ten family members competed this year with another 10 or so tagging along on Saturday.
Moira Rogers won $1000 for the ladies' average weight while Thomas Rogers won a half share of the $10,000 prize for the fish closest to average weight overall.
"We all love fishing but we all love being together too," Mr Rogers said.
The prize money would give his three daughters a well-deserved holiday in Brisbane, a reward for their hard work after school every day helping with the family's pig-rearing business.
Kaitaia publican and councillor Dave Collard, who organises the contest with printer John Stewart, said he was "bloody pleased" Cyclone Pam had waited until after the competition to make its presence felt. Last year a cyclone passed through a day before the contest started.
About 700 fishers took part with 589 snapper weighed in overall - 321 on the first day, dipping to 46 on Friday and rising to 101 on the final day.
