Kupu-John's Trophy Snapper a Potential Record

Potential junior snapper IGFA world record holder Kupu-John Amoamo (11) is no stranger to big fish, he and his keen Opotiki fishing  family make a habit of catching them.

Dad Ngawai , mum Jascoe and brother Ngawai Jnr all have big snapper to their names, with Jascoe’s 12.7kg catch having pride of place on the family’s home where the much-admired mount hangs on the wall.

Straylining barracouta baits in 10 metres of water out from Te Kaha last Labour weekend, Ngawai, Ngawai Jnr and Kupe-John found themselves hooked up on a triple strike. The hooks pulled on dad’s fish, Ngawai Jnr landed a respectable but not monster model, leaving Kupu-John to battle on.

“I knew his fish would be over the 20 (pounds) as did Kupu-John who has probably landed half-a-dozen twenty pounders," Ngawai said. “We fished this same location the weekend before and had been busted off by some good snapper, so we knew they were about.”

Ngawai describes his son as a ‘ pretty laid back young fella’ and didn’t panic, bringing the fish boatside for his brother to net after a 10-minute battle.

The first thing he asked his dad was ‘do you think it is bigger than mum’s?’ followed by ‘can I can get it mounted?’. The answer was ‘yes’, to both queries, the fish now in the hands of taxidermist Kevin Flutey.

The crew headed off to the Te Kaha Sport Fishing Club’s weigh station where the 95.0cm snapper pulled the scales down to 15.60kgs - 34.78lbs. A quick check of the record books confirmed they had potential world record on their hands.

The junior (aged 11 to 16) boys mark is currently held by another Kiwi angler Zac Cameron, who landed a 13.24kg (29.53lb) in the Bay of Islands in October 2018. Kupu-John’s effort will comfortably surpass that if ratified by the IGFA.

When targeting big snapper as opposed to just putting dinner on the table, Ngawai likes to strayline big baits down a decent berley trail. He doesn’t worry about a trace, tying his favourite 8/0 Gamakatsu straight onto 24kg mono main line. A Shimano Baitrunner 6500 is his reel of choice, set up on Daiwa VIP rods. He carries three matching sets on his boat, a Stabicraft 2050 Dark Horse.

“We haven’t done much snapper fishing since then, having caught the billfish bug.”

Not knowing much about it, Ngawai went out with one rod and a lure the first time and caught a stripey. Since then the tackle count has grown quickly and they have watched just about every ‘how to’ video and YouTube clip out there in their thirst for gamefishing knowledge. Given the effort the family puts into their fishing, you can bet this is not the last time they will be mentioned in despatches.

In the meantime Kupu-John is waiting patiently for that call from the United States confirming his world record claim.

- Grant Dixon