Ninety Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza: Locals lead the way early in fishing contest

The five top fish landed at the Ninety Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza on Wednesday, with Kaitāia’s Nadine Boynton (right) showing off the heaviest one of the day at 7.435kg. The annual competition finishes on Saturday.

Local knowledge has proved the difference on the first two days of the Ninety Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza with the four heaviest fish all caught by Kaitāia fishers.

Kaitāia’s Zane Kaaka is leading the competition after two days – and in prime position to claim the $30,000 top prize – with an 8.225kg fish he landed on the first day’s fishing on Tuesday.

All three top fish on Tuesday were caught by people from Kaitāia, with an 8kg fish from Quintin Collings in second place and a 7.955kg snapper from Barry Sides coming in third.

And on Wednesday it was Nadine Boynton, from Kaitāia, who landed the heaviest snapper of the day with a 7.435kg fish. While not heavy enough to challenge the previous day’s leading fish, Boynton won $2500 for top catch of the day and another $500 as the heaviest snapper caught by a female on the day.

The second heaviest fish on Wednesday – 6.98kg – was landed by Kerikeri’s Ty Rolston and won $1500. Third place, and $750, went to Kane Wrigglesworth, from Napier with a 6.83kg snapper.

Kaitāia’s Zane Kaaka is leading the Ninety Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza with this 8.225kg fish he landed on the first day’s fishing on Tuesday.

The Snack-a-changis team from Kerikeri, led by Jeremy Rolston, won the team award for the day, and $500, with a combined 29.985kg of snapper.

After 481 fish were weighed in on a huge first day’s fishing on Tuesday, there were a further 84 on Wednesday.

The Ninety Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza is famous across New Zealand and the wider Pacific, bringing 1000 keen fishers every year to the region. They all hit the famous Northland beach looking to catch the big one and reel in some serious prize money.

The single-species fishing competition runs for five days until Saturday and the cash pool is more than $72,000. The biggest cash offering goes to the largest snapper of the week, a whopping $30,000.

Event organiser John Stewart said the generosity of the fishers was always amazing, and so far dozens of fish have been donated to be auctioned off on Saturday to raise money for the Kaitāia Volunteer Fire Brigade.

The auction is a major fundraiser for the brigade and will be held at the Kaitāia Markets from 8.30am.

Darin Maxwell holds the record for the heaviest snapper recorded in the competition’s history. In 2012, the Te Puke fisherman reeled in a snapper that weighed 12.03kg.