Judgment day Saturday at Napier’s Megafish, with marlin caught in big numbers

Angler Mark Barnett at the Hawke's Bay Sports Fishing Club weigh-station in Ahuriri, with over 100kg of big-eye tuna on the second day of Megafish 2024 on Thursday.

Dozens of catches, including blue marlin, striped marlin and the colossus of a 104.8kg big-eye tuna have been made during the four-day Hawke’s Bay Sports Fishing Club’s Megafish 2024, which started on Wednesday and ends on Saturday.

The tuna was boated by angler Mark Barnett, fishing from Dave Smith’s First Edition, on Thursday.

It wasn’t the biggest catch, an honour that rested with angler Nathan Dunn, who weighed a 156.2kg blue marlin, also on Thursday, fishing from skipper Luke Moss’s Blue Moon.

But it’s not necessarily the biggest catch that wins the major prize, which is worth over $20,000 and is decided on a weight points-per-species basis, but it comes in a season with an unusually high number of marlin being caught.

More than 500 rods were registered and over 100 boats have been on the water.

The competition ends with weigh-in closing at 4pm at the headquarters on Nelson Quay, Ahuriri, on Saturday, followed by prizegiving.