Geoff Thomas: Length's what counts

Fish entered into the NZ Fishing Competition online have to be photographed on the official measuring device. Photo / Martin Sykes

Nationwide fishing contest nets the net to pit anglers against each other.

The international trend towards catching and releasing fish is gaining traction in this country, and a new nationwide contest based on measuring fish by length has begun.

The NZ Fishing Competition is a new concept that allows anglers from anywhere in New Zealand to enter their catches online and compare them with others from around the country.

"There is a strong environmental aspect to the competition, and if the angler wishes to release a trophy fish it can be quickly photographed on the measure and returned to the water," says the organiser, Grant Blair.

"People are talking about their catch more in terms of length than weight," Blair said.

"Fishing is always about friendly competition and we wanted to put up the framework where people can run their own contests, or compare their catches against others'."

With this unique contest, fish to be entered are photographed using a digital camera while lying on a purpose-made official measure.

The photos are then uploaded to the NZ Fishing Competition website (www.fishingcomp.co.nz) and fish length, rather than weight, is the criteria for "who has the biggest".

A series of leaderboards display the names of the most successful anglers, with the very best catches making it into a permanent "Fishing Hall of Fame".

The contest includes the following species caught using a rod and reel, with the current leading entry: snapper (82cm), kingfish (122cm), kahawai (60cm), trevally (51cm), gurnard (46cm), tarakihi (61.5cm), john dory (53cm), blue cod (56.5cm), blue moki (vacant), hapuku/bass (117.5cm) and trout (50cm).

The type of fishing activity, such as boat, beach, rocks, kayaks and jetskis, as well as the technique used, is recorded at the time of uploading to fishingcomp.co.nz, and these are destined to become separate leaderboards over time.

Freshwater fishing for trout will have leaderboards for fly or lures.

Entry to the NZ Fishing Competition costs $29.95 + $4.95 freight (if bought online) which includes the price of the official measure. If you're fishing with a mate who already has a measure, then a registration-only option is available for just $19.95. Measures will also be made available from selected retailers - check the website for details.

"While there will be a significant drawn prize for each of the eligible species, the main aim of the competition is to recognise some great fishing achievements right throughout the year while having some friendly competition with your fishing buddies," said Blair.

The main prizes include two Bradley six-rack smokers to be drawn from the top 30 per cent of entries for the snapper and kingfish sections and a range of Fin-Nor rod and reel combo sets for both drawn and longest fish in each of the other species categories.

Fishing is often about some good-hearted, friendly rivalry between mates and the NZ Fishing Competition captures that aspect of what many New Zealanders enjoy about fishing.

The inaugural year finishes on March 31 next year.

The organisation which administers all world records, the International Game Fish Association in Florida, has recently introduced a whole new category of length records where fish must be photographed on a recognised measuring device, then released alive. It applies to the longest of each eligible species caught on any tackle in fresh or salt water.

Current length records caught in NZ waters are for snapper, which is a 68cm fish caught by Sue Tindale of Silverdale, and for kingfish - a 112cm fish caught by her husband Scott. Both fish were caught in April last year.

More fishing action can be found on Outdoors with Geoff, 5pm TV3 on Saturdays, and on the internet TV channel www.FishnHunt.Tv.