A return to good fishing condtions on Friday saw Ninety Mile Beach/Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē crowded with anglers. Photo / Snapper Bonanza
A return to good fishing condtions on Friday saw Ninety Mile Beach/Te Oneroa-a-Tōhē crowded with anglers. Photo / Snapper Bonanza
Contestants in the Ninety Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza have just one more day to bump Aucklander Craig Larson off the top of the leaderboard and claim the tournament’s $30,000 top prize.
On Friday, the competition’s second-to-last day, Stephen Foote of Waiuku claimed the $2000 prize for the biggest fish of the day with a 6.300kg snapper.
He was followed by Bradley Heath, of Hawera, with 6.060kg; Hazely Windleborn, Whangārei, 5.740kg; Zabe Liddicoat, Kaitāia, 5.505kg; and Jeff Hamer, Waiheke Island, 5.455kg.
Windleborn’s appearance on the leaderboard was a just reward for the owner of Haze Real Estate, the chief sponsor of the 2023 competition.
Event sponsor Hazely Windleborn, of Haze Real Estate, made it onto the daily leaderboard on Friday with a 5.740kg fish. Photo / Snapper Bonanza
None of Friday’s fish, however, beat Larson’s 7.160kg catch from day one of the iconic five-day competition.
A relatively modest 93 fish were weighed on Friday, well down on day one’s 257 but better than Wednesday’s 23.
The winning team were the Bounty Hunters from Wairoa, while the $1000 prize for the fish closest to the average weight (3.015kg) was claimed by Wiremu Hokai of Auckland.
The weigh station will close for the last time at 4.30pm on Saturday. The winners of the $30,000 overall prize and the Mitsubishi Triton ute lucky draw will be announced sometime after 5pm.
The daily prizegiving ceremonies take place at Bonanza headquarters, at Waipapakauri Ramp about 20km north of Kaitāia.
Thursday was a day off for the Bonanza but contestants were able to compete instead in Riders Sports Day, which ran from 7pm on Wednesday to 10.30am on Thursday.
During those hours, fishing was allowed off the beach anywhere from Shipwreck Bay/Te Kohanga on the west coast to Tokerau Beach in the east, giving anglers a chance to make up for fishing time lost to Wednesday’s massive swells on Ninety Mile Beach.
Fish landed during Riders Sports Day are, however, not eligible for the main Bonanza prizes.
Event MC James Tattersall shows he can also catch a fish. Photo / Snapper Bonanza
The Riders Sport Day winners were Liam Shadgett, Waiuku, 6.435kg; Quentin Suppers, Te Puke, 6.1kg; Elliot Hardie, Feilding, 5.46kg; Timothy Gray, Wellington, 5.005kg; and Adam Plews, Helensville, 4.49kg.
The ladies’ prize was won by Roimata-Aroha Pio of Kaitāia for a 3.88kg fish, while Steve Harris of Kaikohe took home $1500 for the fish closest to the average weight.
Former Far North mayor John Carter has volunteered all week in the weigh station. Photo / Snapper Bonanza
