Christchurch man's snapper wins Far North contest

A fisherman from earthquake-ravaged Christchurch has won the top prize of more than $30,000 in Northland's biggest surfcasting contest - thanks to a tsunami alert caused by the Japanese earthquake.
On Friday Luke Boyes landed an 8.89kg snapper, the biggest of the first four days of the Ninety Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza.
But he faced a nervous 24-hour wait in case one of the 600 other competitors caught a heavier fish on the final day and beat him to the big prize - until Saturday morning's tsunami warning, which saw police and firefighters close off Ninety Mile Beach at 2am and bring the contest to a premature end.
Organisers said the irony was not lost on Mr Boyes.
"He was shattered when the last day of fishing was canned. He said 'I've gone from a bloody earthquake zone to a tsunami zone'," Kaitaia's Dave Rider said.
However, his winnings - $30,000 for the biggest snapper overall and $2000 for Friday's biggest fish - more than made up for a day's lost fishing.
"The smile was still on his face this morning. And everybody's rapt that somebody from down there won it," he said.
Mr Boyes could not be contacted yesterday as he was already on his way home.
But his mother, Ruth Cosner of Kaitaia, said he was "over the moon" and his win had given a badly needed boost to friends and family in the quake-hit city.
"He's just buzzing. It's been his dream since we moved up here 12 years ago."
The 25-year-old tyre technician had competed twice in the now defunct Snapper Classic.
At first he felt bad for winning when the last day's fishing had been cancelled, but Mrs Cosner said his fish was the fourth biggest landed in the contest's history so he won "fair and square".
While Mr Boyes' home had survived the quake his sister's had not, and his Christchurch nieces were currently staying in the Far North.
"This is a neat thing for his friends and family down in Christchurch. They're tired and weary from the aftershocks, so any little thing gives them a boost."
Honouring a promise made at the start of the contest, his nieces were treated to a big bucket of KFC last night.
Overall Snapper Bonanza results
Heaviest fish: 1 Luke Boyes, Christchurch, 8.89kg, prize $32,000; 2 Maurice Cooper, Moerewa, 7.585kg, $1000 and a custom surfcasting rod; 3 Vincent Yates, Takahue, 6.830kg, $500 and a Penn reel.
Average weight: Lloyd Searley, Tangiteroria and Mike Dowden, Whakatane, both 1.390kg (actual average 1.388kg), $10,000.
Best team: Rob Parker, Greg Cameron, Adrian Damsteegt and John Parker of Whangarei, total weight 27.189kg, $4000.
Lucky draw: Dennis Clarke, Auckland, Mitsubishi Triton 4x4 ute worth $51,000.
The total number of fish caught was 802.