Hawke’s Bay Megafish tournament: 120.8kg northern bluefin tuna landed

A 120.8kg northern bluefin tuna landed by angler Ian Rouse in a two-hour sea battle on Waitangi Day was late on Friday still holding its place as the heaviest catch in Hawke’s Bay four-day Megafish tournament.

The prized catch – northern bluefin have fetched prices in the tens of thousands of dollars in the Japanese fish markets – was landed south of Cape Kidnappers on the Larouse, one of 128 boats in the annual Hawke’s Bay Sports Fishing Club tournament, which has a history dating back almost 50 years.

The tournament’s sponsors this year are Napier Hunting and Fishing, Shark Engineering and HeliAg.

Organisers are pleased with the numbers of fish being caught, with a run on yellowfin continuing and several marlin landed, although most have been tagged and released at sea without being weighed. This is aimed at protecting the fishery and researching the movement of species.

Only one marlin had been weighed, at 92.2kg, at the club’s Nelson Key Wharf on Wednesday.

Fisherman Corey Trafford – who has not entered the tournament – landed a 102kg striped marlin on a 24kg line. It was weighed at Clifton Fishing Club.

In 2023, the major prize money of $20,000 was awarded for a striped marlin weighing 122.2kg, and a year earlier a specimen of 134.2kg was landed.

But the competition’s top prize has been won by much smaller fish, using a weight-to-species scale.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 52 years of journalism experience, 42 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.