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When Waipukurau man Kurt Mackie and his mates were hauling in a big yellowfin tuna their adrenaline kicked in.
But, sadly, their cameras didn’t.
Because as they tried to haul in the huge fish, they suddenly found themselves up against three orca fighting for the very same prize.
Mackie said the believe-it-when-you-see-it encounter was during the first day of the Four Kings Crutching / Elgin Angus three-day fishing competition that ran from February 13 to 15 off the coast of Pōrangahau.
Mackie, George Coleman, and Henry Wilder were fishing on the boat No Limit in around 40 metres of water about 1pm on Thursday when they hooked on to a yellowfin tuna.
George Coleman (left), Kurt Mackie, and Henry Wilder caught a marlin after they battled against orca for a yellowfin tuna.
“Out of nowhere we had three killer whales breach near the boat, and come out of the water and were trying to get the yellowfin.”
Mackie said the one large orca and two smaller orca never hit their boat, but were pretty close to doing so, as the waves from them submerging shook their boat.
“All I was thinking was don’t steal my fish and don’t roll my boat,” Mackie said.
He said in the moment he had looked around to see if any other boats had seen what happened in case it went badly.
“It was sort of exciting but scary at the same time ... we had the adrenaline going anyway with the fish on.”
Mackie said they continued to reel the fish in despite the orcas and came close to getting it on to the boat.
“The fish ended up trying to hide beside the boat so it wouldn’t get eaten.”
The fishermen managed to get a gaff into the fish as the orca tried, yet again, to take it from them.
“It [the fish] broke the line and took the gaff and everything.”
He said they had sighted the orca earlier in the day and suspected they had sensed the fish in distress while it was being reeled in.
Mackie said later in the day they hooked on to a marlin, and although it was not part of the competition, were happy with the catch.
He said he had fished in the competition for 20 years and the fish caught this year was some of the best he had seen.
Pōrangahau Fishing Club captain Sam Christiansen (left) with club president Ben Wilson and 2025 top boat winners Guy Stoddart, Marcus Schaw, Clayton Stoddart and Joe Schaw.
Marine technical adviser for the Department of Conservation Hannah Hendriks said orca had an extremely diverse diet, which did include fish like tuna.
“This behaviour of ‘stealing’ a catch is well known and has been seen across the world.”
She said orca were highly intelligent, and typically seen in family groups or pods which hunt in a co-ordinated manner.
“Some have clearly learned that fishing lines can equate to an easy meal.”
Hendriks said to remain safe a vessel should not be within 50m of the orca, and boats should be operated slowly and quietly at ‘no wake’ speed when within 300m of the orca.
“It is important to avoid sudden noises that could startle the animals, and never circle them, obstruct their path or cut through any group.”
Pōrangahau Fishing Club president Ben Wilson said he had heard of the fishermen’s experience with the orca. It was just one of the exciting moments in the competition with 33 boats and 130 anglers.
The anglers had targeted groper and bass, king fish, snapper, tarakihi, blue cod, tuna, kahawai, trumpeter, and gurnard.
“There were a lot of spectacular fish caught this year, really good weights.”
Wilson said the top boat of the competition was named Omega 3, and operated by Marcus Schaw, Guy Stoddart, Clayton Stoddart, and Joe Schaw.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings newsroom. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and loves sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
