$53,000 fish hooked in 15 seconds

By TONY GEE

One cast and 15 seconds on the last day of competition was all it took for 36-year-old fisherman Henare Pako to hook a snapper worth $53,000 at Ninety Mile Beach.

The fish, weighing 8.685kg, made Mr Pako the overall $50,000 cash winner of the annual, five-day Lion Red Snapper Fishing Classic, an honour sought since last Tuesday by 1000 New Zealand and overseas anglers.

As well as the big prize on Saturday, he picked up the daily $3000 cash prize for the heaviest snapper.

Mr Pako and members of the Amigos team, all from the tiny Far North settlement of Te Kao, were casting off the beach minutes after starting time on the final day knowing a 5.816kg snapper caught three days earlier by Kaitaia man Steve Maisey was the fish to beat.

"I'd seen a tuatua bed at this spot the day before and said to my wife I thought fish would be feeding on the bed tomorrow ... " Mr Pako said yesterday.

"I cast out [with tuatua bait] and 15 seconds later, I had a fish on the hook. It took about 20 minutes to bring it in."

Mr Pako, who looks after his mother, Kiri, and father, "Clock", has fished off Ninety Mile Beach for years but this attempt was only his second in the 21-year-old contest.

Another Amigos team member, born and bred in Te Kao, although living in Auckland - Kevin Oneroa - went close to Mr Pako on Saturday when he weighed in an 8.195kg snapper to claim the daily $1000 second prize.

The big winner was not sure yesterday what he would do with the proceeds of his success.

"Maybe I'll finish the house off."

nzherald.co.nz/marine