Dave Rameka caught the winning fish on day one of the Snapper Bonanza last year but had to wait an agonising four more days before being confirmed as the overall winner to claim the $30,000 cash prize. Photo / Francis Malley
Having sold out for the second year in a row, the Snapper Bonanza is all set to go ahead on Te Oneroa-A-Tohe/ Ninety Mile Beach this week in spite of the threat posed by a global pandemic and a less than ideal weather forecast for the first two days of
the five-day event.
Spokesman Dave Collard expressed concerns about the coronavirus and the potential implications which could impact on the longstanding tournament — such as preventing any of the various international entries from fishing in this year's event — while Tropical Cyclone Gretel is also predicted to have some effect when it passes by today.
However, organisers were still pleased to see all 1000 tickets sold out weeks ago and hundreds of anglers will descend on the Ninety Mile from today all hoping to reel in the main prize of $30,000.
The weather forecast for the second half of this week looked much more promising, Mr Collard said, with competitors likely to be surfcasting into more moderate 1.5m swells on the final two days.
He also noted the Snapper Bonanza prize pool continued to get "bigger and better" every year. Along with a daily lucky draw which will give two anglers a chance to win a Mitsubishi Triton at the final prizegiving on Saturday evening, other major prizes up for grabs include $10,000 for the overall average weight snapper, $2000 for the ladies average overall $2000, while the prizes for first to fifth heaviest snapper each day wins $2000 down to $200.
