Hawke's Bay Sports Fishing Club bring back Megafish monster catch

Napier man Dean Young landed a marlin weighing 136.6 kg in the 2016 MegaFish comp which earned him and his crew a brand new Isuzu ute. Photo / File

The Hawke's Bay Sports Fishing Club are bringing back the chance to fish for prizes. Your Solutions MegaFish will be hosted on Waitangi Day, Wednesday, February 6.

This year the tournament will run for four days with "a massive prize table", including lucky draws and a major prize of $10,000 cash.

The cash top prize is a must go, and will be won by the crew catching the highest scoring fish in any of the six species using the MegaFish formula.

This means any boat from a launch to a dinghy can take away the top prize by catching either snapper, kingfish, albacore, skipjack, tuna or billfish.

The major sponsor of the region's biggest fishing competition, Your Solutions, has come on board for four years.

Director, Adam Satherley, a keen fisherman himself, will be fishing the tournament in the hope of encountering a monster fish. "Our aim has always been to get this tournament back up to the scale that it was back in its heyday, big fish, huge prizes and lots of fishing yarns!"

Organisers said water temperatures are starting to get warmer, with snapper fishing outstanding in recent months, and tuna already being caught in the Bay. Tournament organiser Joe Bicknell is hoping that this will continue into the game fishing season and "we see some great catches this year.

"A big part of why I do this is to get more people out there game fishing in Hawke's Bay.
"People may think we are too far south, but the handful of people who regularly go game fishing here know that there are usually big fish like marlin here every year, and they are usually hanging around off Cape Kidnappers not too far out.

"It's all about putting in the time and effort to get your shot and making sure your hooks are sharp, and your gear is good to make the most of that chance you may get."

In 2016, the MegaFish was won by Napier man Dean Young with a striped marlin weighing 136.6kg which was caught east of Cape Kidnappers in about 120m. Young and his crew took away a new Isuzu ute.

The event will be open to the public for the four days with music, food, drinks and an opportunity to see some big fish being weighed.

Bring the family down for the afternoon for the festivities. There will be a huge prize giving on the last day, Saturday, February 9, then followed by a lot of fishing tales while the band Mix Tape get the night going.

This is also open to the public, and tickets can be purchased for $10 from the door.
It's an open competition with more than $50,000 in prizes including a major prize of $10,000 cash which any boat can win.

Register at the Hawke's Bay Sports Fishing Club, Hunting and Fishing Napier, and Firmans Marine. All early bird entries receive a MegaFish T-shirt and got in to the draw for a Shimano Tiagra 80W goldy rod and reel combo. Club member fee is $70, $85 for non-members and $30 for juniors.