Surfcasting: Ideal conditions for 90 Mile Beach overnight fishing comp

Making the prizelist in the Craig/ Sexton 24 Hour Field Day on 90 Mile Beach earlier this month were Garth McKenzie, Skarn Hokai, Keri Hokai, Dan Lloyd, Daithi Parlour, Rachelle Craig, Oscar Parlour and Dave Hallet.

Perfect weather and sea conditions made for ideal conditions for the 90 Mile Beach Surfcasting Club's final overnight fishing comp for the year.

The Craig/ Sexton 24 Hour Field Day attracted 41 members and four visitors who fished from 7am Saturday to 9am Sunday, November 24-25, over a 3.6m 11am high tide. A total of 41 snapper, eight trevally and 32 kahawai were weighed in.

Heaviest snapper and first prize overall went to female angler Keri Hokai who produced an impressive 8.63kg snapper, caught while fishing south of Motupia after high tide on Saturday night.

Second prize for the heaviest trevally to junior angler Oscar Parlour with his 3.31kg specimen, while third with heaviest kahawai was Dave Hallett 3.02kg. Other prizewinners were, Skarn Hokai 6.81kg snapper 4, junior angler Daithi Parlour 3.30kg trevally 5, Steve Maisey 2.72kg kahawai 6, Gareth Mckenzie 6.42kg snapper 7, junior angler Rachael Craig 2.79kg trevally 8, Jack Rogers 2.44kg kahawai 9, Dan Lloyd 5.82kg snapper 10.

McKenzie took out the haggle of a 3.50kg snapper with a 3.25kg fish.

One notable aspect of the event was having a 5.82kg snapper only managing to take out 10th place, an indication of how good the fishing was. Also, prolific anglers were Shaun Veza and junior Kaiden Craig weighing in four snapper and a kahawai each.

Organisers reserved special praise for the Craig and Sexton whānau for sponsoring the field day. This included putting on a bacon-and-egg breakfast with barista coffee and hot chocolate, along with mystery prizes for the Sunday morning prizegiving.

■ The club's next field day is the final for the year and will be this Sunday December 2 from 8am to 1pm, fishing over a low tide at midday.

This is the club's Picnic Day with all the prizes except the haggle being Christmas hams, followed by a spit cooked lamb and salads. Fishing is open to members only but all family members are welcome at the picnic.

■For further information, contact Jack Rogers, working hours (09) 408-2660.