When Te Aroha’s Hazelton family learned they had won the 2022-23 Export NZ Fishing Competition’s prize boat, they were excited on a number of fronts. 

In the past they only had a smaller 4.4m Fyran that did not allow the whole family to share a boating or fishing experience together – they had to do it in shifts.

Entering just a single fish in the measure-based contest, in this instance a trevally, saw Stuart Hazelton’s name drawn from several thousands of potential winners. His prize - a well-spec’ed Extreme 545 Sportfisher powered by a Honda 100 HP motor, fitted with Lowrance electronics and towed on a custom-built GFab alloy trailer.

From a contest host’s perspective, one of the most gratifying things is to see a winner keep the boat and use it to its potential – the Hazeltons have been doing just that.

Stuart recently gave us an update as to what he and the family had been up to, boating and fishing wise…

“Finally, I have some pictures for you from the new Export Fishing Boat Prize. I apologise for taking so long, but we have only recently been able to get out there due to kids' weekend sports and other commitments; and with a 3-year-old, we needed perfect weather for his first outings.

We shot down to Lake Rotoiti first up for a trial run and a trout fish. We were not successful in the fishing side of things, but the boat itself met more than our expectations. The kids loved the day and we had an awesome family outing which was a first as we couldn't all fit at once on our old boat.

Last weekend we went up to Waikawau to try our luck in the mussel farms. We picked a great day with glassy seas and hot sun.

We caught many fish, but only brought home 14 snapper and a kahawai. The kids were very happy. Having the livebait tank with live yellowtail swimming around created a lot of enjoyment for them as well.

The overall boat package is well put together and I am sure there will be many more adventures coming up this summer.”

Thanks to the generosity of DB Export NZ Contest and a great team of sponsors we will be giving away another Extreme boat for the 2023-24 season, the exact details of which will be announced soon.

- NZ Fishing News