Star of the show

The crowd admire the 70kg mako shark caught by Luke Ross of Napier.

A 70kg mako shark was the star of the show as Hawke's Bay's biggest fishing competition came to a close yesterday.

However, unfortunately for the angler, the shark came in 30kg under the minimum qualifying weight for the Your Solutions MegaFish Hawke's Bay fishing competition.

It was caught by 23-year-old Taradale diesel mechanic apprentice Luke Ross.
He said there was no prize for the closest.

"It was a bit disappointing, but that's fishing."

The shark was the first of the weekend to be landed and the last fish to be weighed - just 15 minutes before cut off.

Mr Ross said he fought the fish for about 40 minutes before finally landing it.

It was the first time the experienced fisherman has caught one of the ocean's appex predators.

"My Dad has been shark fishing all his life so he's caught plenty, but this was a first for me."

He said the experienced crew helped ease his nerves while reeling in the beast. "We saw a few blues (sharks) around us, too."

Dean Young was the big winner on day one, landing an absolute monster of a marlin.

The 47-year-old hauled in the 136.6kg fish, winning him an Isuzu ute for the biggest marlin over 125kg.

Mr Young said he was absolutely "stoked" with his prize.

Local Graeme Bee snagged a 13.2kg albacore, which was the biggest of that species on opening day. Weighmaster Don Kinder said it was the biggest of more than 30 albacore weighed on the opening day, while the most notable of other species was a 17.2kg kingfish.

The tournament has attracted 225 anglers, fishing from 68 boats.

Mr Kilder said things had quietened down on day three with the majority of boats deciding against a third trip in rough conditions.