50th Pahiatua Trout Fishing Carnival celebration

Trophy winners, from back: Adrian De Waal, Connor Beales, Sam Cresswell and Malcolm Groves. Front: Bronwyn Farquharson, Heath Black and Eva Swansson.

The annual Pahiatua Trout Fishing Carnival was held from October 22 - 29, with 95 anglers registered - of which 40 weighed in a fish. The weather leading up to the carnival was wet, but during the carnival, you couldn't have wished for anything better.

All the rivers were very fishable except the Manawatū and the Tīraumea, which started out a little high and cloudy. All of the trophy-winning trout came out of the Manawatū and Mangahao rivers, with the Manawatū coming out on top, probably because it was fished more.

Not too many people fished the Mangatainoka and Makuri because of the trout length restrictions.

It was great to see so many fishermen on the river and in particular the kids, of which 48 had entered the junior and novice competitions. Weigh-ins at the Post Office Hotel saw a steady flow of anglers turning up, checking out what was happening and entering the nightly spot prizes.

Kerry Fergus cut the 50th Anniversary Cake, himself having competed in all 50 events. Assisting him is novice, Jack Blatchford.

The results showed we had more fish weighed in this year, only to be surpassed by 2013. The average cf (condition factor) for all trout weighed in was 36.80, which is the lowest on record.

The heaviest trout - a Brown Jack weighing 2.010 kilograms - was caught in the Mangahao River. There were 68 rainbow trout and 50 brown trout, plus 2 eels, weighed in over the 8 days.

Prize-giving had a different twist, with it being our 50th year. Starting with the final weigh-in, it was followed by the colouring-in and 'guess the number of chocolate fish' competitions, which were enjoyed by the kids.

During the prize-giving we had several guest speakers telling us of interesting past memories, stories, and the history of the Carnival. One of the speakers was Kerry Fergus, who'd earlier received a special certificate for being the only person to have fished in all 50 carnivals! Kerry then cut the lovely 50th celebration cake with young Jack Blatchford. A tasty spread of nibbles bought the day to a close.

Participants enjoyed excellent spot prizes, both throughout the week and at the final prize-giving. The major drawn spot prize winners were Peter Drysdale, who won the MacDougalls fly rod combo (adults), and the kids' major spot prize, a spinning rod, which went to William Highet (junior) and Emery Field (novice). For more photos and info, check out our Facebook page.

The trophy-winning trout and eels were…

Heaviest Trout Open – Adrian De Waal, 2.010kg.

Heaviest Trout Men – Adrian De Waal, 2.010kg.

Heaviest Trout Ladies – Bronwyn Farquharson,1.510 kg.

Heaviest Trout Junior – Zara Brown, 1.420kg.

Heaviest Trout Novice – Heath Black, 1.410kg.

Heaviest Eel – Rachel Lanauze, 3.910kg.

Best Conditioned Trout over 907gms/2lb – Malcolm Groves, 47.50cf.

Best Conditioned Trout Junior – Connor Beales, 49.70cf.

Best Conditioned Trout Novice – Heath Black 44.50cf.

Well done to all of those who received trophies, and to all the children who managed to catch a trout or an eel. We look forward to seeing everyone next year at our 51st Carnival.