Having the average weight set at 7.44kg was evidence of the good fishing enjoyed in the latest Doubtless Bay Line and Rod Fishing Club contest.
The eventual winner of the Knuckle Point trophy up for grabs at the event on August 22 was Stephen Berridge with a personal best 11.65kg snapper, while Julie Scott weighed in an excellent 10.15kg fish to claim the ladies' title.
However, Julie's fish, as grand as it was, proved no match for that caught by her 10-year-old daughter Jessica who bettered her own personal best with a massive 11.24kg (as seen in last Thursday's Age) which gave the youngster her second New Zealand junior female angler's record (pending), along with the event's junior section title.
A report from the annual Doubtless Bay Pharmacy tournament noted that all of the above-mentioned catches were made from the shore, as was Trevor Davidson's 8.45kg snapper, the second heaviest men's catch, and Jean Nears' 8.95kg fish, the second heaviest in the ladies' section. At the weigh-in, Scott had remarked that if Nears' fish been caught the previous month, the gals would have taken out the guys in the annual battle of the sexes between the club's men and women.
In addition, Neill Bainbridge claimed the average weight prize with a 7.55kg fish. It was noted the event was one of the club's four 'two-fish' comps held each year; i.e. to promote conservation, members can only weigh in one fish to be eligible for a prize/ trophy at most events but four times a year they can weigh in two.
