Kurt Lunjevich, from Whakapara, with his nephew Luca Philips, from Rotorua, with fish caught at the 90 Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza on the first day of fishing on Tuesday. Kurt caught the fish Luca is holding, while the one he has was caught by Nadine Boynton
Kurt Lunjevich, from Whakapara, with his nephew Luca Philips, from Rotorua, with fish caught at the 90 Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza on the first day of fishing on Tuesday. Kurt caught the fish Luca is holding, while the one he has was caught by Nadine Boynton
The sea was rough, like ‘‘standing in the sea with a river running below you’’ and fishing wasn’t the best, but that didn’t stop 1200 fishers from chasing the $30,000 top prize at the 90 Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza.
The bonanza, one of the Far North’s biggest events, started on Tuesday and runs to Saturday, with more than $200,000 of prizes on offer.
The day’s fishing wasn’t the best in the competition’s history, co-organiser Dave Collard said, with fewer than normal numbers of fish caught. But it was still an excellent day on the beach, Collard said, with fishers all keen to land the big one. He said fishing is expected to be at its best on Friday and Saturday.
1200 fishers are taking part in this year’s 90 Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza
Peter Earle, from Rotorua, is at his fifth Snapper Bonanza and said the fishing was ‘‘pretty rough out there.’’
‘‘It’s like standing in the sea with a river running below you. It was so rough out there. I was a bit worried, but then I got this (a 4.5kg snapper), my first fish of the day, with my last cast of the day. It won’t challenge the heaviest fish.’’
Peter Earle, from Rotorua, is at his fifth 90 Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza, and despite a ‘‘poor day for fishing’’ he landed this 4.5kg fish with his last cast of the day
Kayla Parker, from Kaitāia, only decided to take part last minute, but on her first ever Snapper Bonanza she landed a 4.112kg fish, that she was really proud of.
‘‘It was my last cast of the day. I cracked open some pipi and put them on my squid, and caught this,’’ Parker said.
Kaitāia’s Kayla Parker was at her first Snapper Bonanza, after only deciding to take part last minute, but this 4.11kg fish landed at the end of Tuesday’s fishing, was caught after she ‘‘cracked a few pipi and put them on my squid’’
The Snapper Bonanza brings fishers and supporters from throughout the country to Te-Oneroa-a-Tohe Ninety Mile Beach and puts several million dollars into the local economy as they battle it out over five days on the wild, west coast beach.
The Snapper Bonanza is in its 14th year after replacing the Snapper Classic, which ended in 2009 after 27 years, and since then it has gone from strength to strength as the country’s largest surfcasting competition.
Dan Green, from Karaka, was delighted to catch this snapper on Tuesday. While not in the running for the biggest fish of the day, he was hoping it may get close to the average weight prize
In a sign of how popular it is, all 1200 tickets were sold out within three hours of going on sale on June 30. About a third are sold to Far North folk, with the rest from elsewhere in the country and a few from overseas. Competitor numbers were increased from 1000 two years ago, given the huge interest.
While about a third of competitors are from the Far North, that local knowledge didn’t necessarily equate to success, with only two of the previous 13 winners from the Far North, including last year’s winner Zane Kaaka, from Te Kao, who landed an 8.225kg whopper.
Rough seas marked the first day of the 90 Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza, but that didn’t deter the fishers on the beach
The Snapper Bonanza headquarters is at Waipapakauri, in West Coast Rd at the southern end of the beach - where the weigh-in and prizegiving will take place - with fishing taking place across two zones of the beach, which may change daily depending on the beach and surf conditions.
Another important aspect of the competition was its contribution to local groups, with fish caught auctioned off at the end of the competition and proceeds going to a local good cause.
Fish from the Snapper Bonanza will be auctioned off on Saturday with Paparore School benefiting this year. Here Darlene Yates, Johnny-Joelene Yates, aged seven, from the school, and Wayne Fisher from the bonanza team put fish into a freezer ahead of the auction
