Bonanza winners

The four daily winners of the Snapper Bonanza surfcasting contest on Ninety Mile Beach are, from left, David Moses, of Ahipara, with his 3.83kg fish; Mark French, of Tauranga, 5.73kg; Kaitaia's Steve Doak, 3.77kg; and Jeremy Alai, of Auckland, with the 9.91kg snapper which netted him the $30,000 top fishing prize.

The four anglers each collected $2000 for catching the heaviest fish on competition days.

Alai, 26, landed his winning snapper within 10 minutes of the Snapper Bonanza starting on Tuesday and had to wait until the final weigh-in on Saturday afternoon to know no one had caught a heavier fish.

"I'm really happy," he said after receiving a cup and his big cheque for $30,000.

A total of 195 fish were weighed in over the four main competition days.

More Snapper Bonanza action - back page.