Captain Morgan Hook A Huge One on again....

The Captain Morgan Hook A Huge One (HAHO) competition that saw anglers and clubs from throughout the country walk away with $10,000 last seasons is on again with extended sponsorship and a new category – ripping yarns. The contest is unique in that it pits anglers from across the country against each other in five popular species – snapper, kahawai, kingfish, trout and blue cod which are prevalent throughout most of the country and while snapper may be a more popular target species in the north, the same can be said for blue cod in the south.

Clubs and organisers of fishing contests are invited to nominate one of their club events where one or more of the nominated species is on the target list to be part of the Captain Morgan HAHO programme. At the end of the contest they are asked to forward the details of the heaviest fish to the organiser. At the end of the season both the club and the angler catching the heaviest entry in each of the five species will receive $1000 respectively along with a 12-month subscription to NZ Fishing News and couple of bottles of the good captain’s finest. In the event of a tie, as was the case last year, the prize money will be split.

Sponsorship from Captain Morgan and NZ Fishing News has also been extended. This year the first 75 clubs entering will receive a sponsorship pack containing two Captain Morgan one-litre bottles of dark rum, two  Captain Morgan one-litre bottles of spiced rum, a dozen Captain Morgan RTD’s, a six-month subscription to NZ Fishing News along with a selection of material to help promote the event.

Clubs that miss out on the sponsorship packs can still register their event and be in for the overall prizes.

This year anglers are invited to produce a ‘ripping yarn’ that has come from their tournament participation which will be posted in the Captain Morgan sponsored Briney Bar on The Fishing Website. The best two yarns, as selected by the organisers, will each receive $500, two bottles of Captain Morgan rum and a 12-month subscription to NZ Fishing News.

Provided the content is suitable the winning stories will be published in the magazine which will also be running regular HAHO updates with photographs of leading catches.

Photographs of the winning fish are important. If anglers think their fish may take out a prize, please snap a shot of it (hi-resolution if using a digital camera) and submit it with the club’s results.

Last year a number of photographs submitted which were not of good enough quality to reproduce in Fishing News.

Clubs can get further information and register their event on www.hookahugeone.co.nz website. Registrations will open on September 1 and if last year is any indication the sponsorship packs will all be accounted for within a month.

There were some good fish entered to take the honours last year. Steve Wong-Kam headed the kingfish section with a great 36.5kg kingfish landed during the Clevedon Game Fishing Club’s tournament while Bernard Todd of the Manukau Cruising Club won the snapper stakes with a 10.125kg ‘mega red’. The blue cod honours were shared between Dave Boreham and Michael Dixon who landed 2.58kg fish in the Pegasus Bay Game Fishing Club and Ashley Bank Fishing Club events respectively. Trout honours went to Hayden Holmes who landed a 3.52kg fish to win the Te Awamutu Fish and Game Association’s annual Lake Arapuni contest.