Napier fisherman reels in massive tuna: ‘Pretty amazing’

Alan Hay with the huge fish he caught off Mahia. Photo / HB Sports Fishing Club

Napier fisherman Alan Hay says a whopping tuna he caught off Mahia is the best catch of his life.

It took Hay two and a half hours to reel in the huge fish, weighing nearly 90 kilograms, on Tuesday, supported by three mates on board the Waimea.

The 89.8kg bigeye tuna is the largest fish to be caught this season by a member of the Hawke’s Bay Sports Fishing Club.

The club record for a bigeye tuna is 104.8kg, caught by Mark Barnett last year, and the unofficial New Zealand record is 153kg, caught near Gisborne in February.

Hay, 71, has been fishing and diving for decades and said Tuesday’s catch was his best.

“They are a harder fish to fight than marlin, so that is my number one, so far, for sure.”

The tuna has since been carved up and shared between friends and family to be enjoyed for Christmas.

Hay with the tuna on board the Waimea.

As the weather heats up, large fish such as tuna and marlin generally make their way into New Zealand waters.

Hay and his three mates, skipper Carl Fairey, Andrew Young and Bruce Moroney, headed out from Napier on Monday afternoon, having noticed good conditions for potentially landing a big one.

The crew anchored near the Rocket Lab base in Mahia on Monday night, then headed into deep waters early on Tuesday.

Hay said they had a system by which all four anglers had 15-minute turns watching the rods and, if a fish was hooked during that time, the respective angler took charge.

“We trawled for six hours, then hooked up.”

It was Hay’s turn. For the next two and a half hours, he reeled in the big fish.

“We had it right up to the boat probably five times before we actually got it.

“One particular time, it leapt right out of the water, which was pretty amazing to see a fish of that size.”

He said he was pretty shattered by the time they got the fish onto the boat, and there was no way he could have done it alone.

“It’s not an individual sport at all ... if you haven’t got all four people working together, it ain’t going to happen.”

Fresh tuna can sell for big money, but Hay said he had no interest in selling any fish he caught.

He also caught another tuna, only slightly smaller, a couple of months ago.