Great fishing, weather and turnout for contest

A 10kg snapper was the stand-out catch at the 18th annual Castlepoint Community Fishing Competition held last week.

The contest attracted 130 land based fishermen and 120 boat based competitors, and the children's competition attracted between 30 and 45 competitors on each of the two days.

"They all got prizes and were pretty happy," said competition chairman Graeme "Jolly" McConaghty.

He said the weather for the competition was beautiful and it was a highly successful weekend. "It's the first year for many years that we've been able to run a two full-day competition," he said.

"I think everyone was pretty pleased with it. There were huge amounts of fish caught."

Among the species of fish were five snapper, a species whose numbers at Castlepoint have increased slightly in the last few years, and five john dory.

The winning 10.3kg snapper was caught by Masterton's Dave Wilton off the rocks near the lighthouse.

The competition had also changed from it's usual Saturday/Sunday slot after feedback from the participants, according Mr McConaghty.

It was held on Friday and Saturday instead.

Winners

- Whakataki Hotel Snapper Challenge ($1000) Dave Wilton, 10.3kg

- Carly Harris Heaviest King Fish ($1000) Mike Falloon, 13.06kg

- Castlepoint Holiday Park & Motels Heaviest Kahawai 3.5kg & over ($1000) No winner

- Wayne Jones Memorial Cup for Average Weight Kahawai ($200 and book) David Skellon, 1.84kg