Snapper takes fisherman for ride

This fish was so strong it towed the fisherman around in his kayak as he tried to reel it in.

Vitaliano Escobedo, 29, this week caught his biggest ever fish from his kayak, a 8.9kg snapper off the beach from Bayfair.

"With a fish like this when you are catching it from a kayak, it tried to run like three times and I was following it in the kayak.

"He was pulling me, he was pulling the kayak out," he said.

Mr Escobedo, from Peru, has lived in Mount Maunganui for four years. He tries to go fishing at least once a week.

This was the biggest fish he had landed.

"You can probably get those big fish from a big boat ... [but] I think it was pretty big for a kayak," he said.

When he got home after the night fishing he said he couldn't get to sleep until the early hours of the morning he was so excited just marvelling at his catch.

Every Wednesday night he goes out fishing with his canoe and kayak club. On other occasions he goes early in the morning.

"I normally get my limit in the kayak," he said.

His trick to catching the big fish lies in the stealth of the kayak.

Motor boats only scare away the catch, he said.