Ninety Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza fishing comp may sell out

The snapper bonanza is the Far North's biggest event.

Next month's Durapanel Ninety Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza is likely to be a sell-out.

And that has the organisers a little concerned.

"At the moment we have 120 tickets left," John Stewart said on Thursday, "and we can expect to get 150 or 200 walk-ups over the weekend before the competition. A lot of those people, maybe all of them the way we're going, will be disappointed."

He hoped that none of those who had to be turned away would be travelling any significant distance, expecting that there would be room for them.

"We've never been in this position before," he added, "but we believe there's a simple explanation. Thanks to the loyalty of our sponsors, after nine years, people finally seem confident that the competition will go ahead.

"The last couple of Snapper Classics [which preceded the Bonanza] didn't happen, and some people were understandably a bit wary about paying an entry fee for an event that they feared might be cancelled."

The high ratio of last-minute ticket sales could also partly be explained by the fact that some potential contestants waited to see the weather forecast for the five days.

There was no prospect of simply printing more tickets - there were 1000 competition caps, which must be worn at the daily weigh-in and prize-giving, and there would be no more.

The probable sell-out was not a bad problem to have, Mr Stewart said however.

"This is the Far North's biggest event by far," he said, "and it's great news for everyone, not just us, that this year's will be the biggest it's ever been."

The competition begins on Tuesday, March 20.