Whangaroa light tackle kingfish

Over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, the Whangaroa Sport Fishing Club held its popular light tackle contest which this year was sponsored by Reel Rods from Cape Karikari in conjunction with Shimano, and the Kingfish Lodge Resort at the heads of the Whangaroa Harbour. The maximum line weight allowed was 10kg and the main target is always kingfish, but some very good snapper were found as well.

For once at this time of year the weather was practically perfect for fishing – what a treat! It was cold, but dry and sunny after the mist had burnt off, with just a gentle rolling swell out to sea. We were lucky though as the three-day competition just finished as the bad weather was approaching the area. On day one practically all the anglers headed for the Cavallis after loading up the bait tanks with blue koheru which by all accounts were almost too big for use as live baits! Fishing produced 23 kingfish ranging in weight from 6.5 to 23.5 kilos, with the biggest fish landed by well practiced kingfish angler Anna Smith from Helensville, with a fish of 23.76kg caught on 6kg line from KC.

There were also several snapper weighed in with the bar set high from the offset by Auckland angler Tony Gyde presenting a fish of 9.32kg to the weighstation, caught on 6kg line from the vessel Poseidon at the Cavallis. The fishing on day two saw another 18 kingfish caught but with no heavier fish than on day one, however team tallies mounted as they competed for the honour of winning the Diomedea Cup for the team with the most points from weighed kingfish. The boat Sabra II, skippered by Glen Cowan with a crew from Half Moon Bay in Auckland, and local angler Ron Barker found themselves streets ahead in the race for this trophy with a lead of around 1800 points after day two. One of their anglers from Auckland was Bernie Sloane, who at the venerable age of 84 was very pleased to have hooked himself a kingfish of 19.14kg on 6kg line, taking 25 minutes to boat it.

Day three and the fishing produced some more kingfish, snapper and a couple of kahawai expertly played and landed on 1kg line by Paul Piper and Alwin Haagner from the Big Fish Club, fishing from Poseidon at Stephenson’s Island. The snapper were not bigger than the first day’s big fish, but a heavier kingfish was landed by Mitch Anderson from Whitianga who was fishing at the Cavallis from Saltiga. He played his fish for over 1.5 hours on 6kg line and was rewarded by a fish of 25.02kg.

In the team awards, kingfish were landed from several boats and second to 11th places consequently changed, but Sabra II held onto the lead and won the Diomedea Cup. The Kingfish Lodge Trophy, along with a prize of an accommodation voucher, was awarded to Mitch for the heaviest kingfish by resort owner Jeremy Donald. All the prize winners received various Shimano bags and packs, filled with fishing accessories such as release tools, jigs, scales, lures and line, supplied by Reel Rods. The club thanks all the sponsors and competition support team for another successful contest.

The club’s next contest is actually the first of the new fishing season which starts July 1. The Kingfish Contest will be held on July 6-7. We would love to see you come along to the club and enjoy some fishing fun and competition between the Whangaroa and Tutukaka fishing clubs!

Full results and photos can be viewed on the club web-site: http://www.whangaroasportfishingclub.co.nz.