What better present for two mad-keen fishing mates than a new boat and motor along with some fishing tackle.

Just before Christmas, good buddies Austin O’Toole and Oliver Robertson of Westport, heard the good news that they were getting a new boat for Christmas, courtesy of the Mercury Take a Kid Fishing (TAKF) competition run through the magazine over the calendar year. Naturally, the boys were ecstatic, and then began the long wait for its arrival.

Getting the prize boat, motor and trailer to the South Island winners proved a bit of a logistical challenge. But thanks to Voyager Trailers who flat-packed their part of the prize, and principal sponsors Mercury who are no strangers to shipping such large items, we got the prize to Grant Blanchard at the Stihl Shop and Marine Richmond.

He and his team put the trailer together and set the prize boat and motor up before presenting it to Austin and Oliver the week before Christmas, which was much appreciated. Since then the boys have spent time running the Mercury motor in, and have been on several fishing missions targeting kahawai.

Part of the prize included a set of RFD lifejackets and a new Kilwell rod, reel and some tackle.

Each year around 150 young anglers feature in the Mercury TAKF pages. One lucky winner has their name drawn from all the entries, and wins a Mercury rigid hull inflatable boat, Mercury 8HP outboard – all on a custom Voyager trailer – along with RFD lifejackets and a Kilwell rod, reel and tackle selection.

The competition is for anglers under the age of 16 at the time of publication. If you’re keen to enter, send a hi-res image and a few details such as who, what, where and when to [email protected].

NZ Fishing News would like to acknowledge Mercury Marine, Voyager Trailers, Kilwell Sports and Survivortech for their ongoing support, along with Grant from the Richmond Stihl Shop for his help with the 2019 prize.