KEY POINTS:
It took Tauranga surfcaster Vaughan Craven about 20 minutes on Saturday to land the heaviest snapper ever caught in 27 years of competition in the Lion Red Snapper Fishing Classic on 90 Mile Beach.
Mr Craven weighed in a 9.315kg snapper on the last day of the five-day contest to win a $50,000 cash prize for overall heaviest fish, plus a $3000 daily first prize.
His four-man team were also overall team event winners of $4500 and laptop computers. The annual Far North event is the biggest beach surfcasting contest of its kind in the world.
