Kaitāia’s Zane Kaaka with the 8.225kg snapper that won him a total of $32,500 as the heaviest fish caught at the annual Ninety Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza. Pictured with him are bonanza organisers Dave Collard and John Stewart.
Kaitāia’s Zane Kaaka with the 8.225kg snapper that won him a total of $32,500 as the heaviest fish caught at the annual Ninety Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza. Pictured with him are bonanza organisers Dave Collard and John Stewart.
Kaaka caught his 8.225kgsnapper on Tuesday - earning him $2500 as the heaviest fish of that day - then spent the next five days trying to beat it, while also hoping nobody else did.
And at the end of Saturday’s weigh-in, nobody had managed to knock him from his perch and Kaaka also walked away with the $30,000 top prize for the heaviest fish caught.
Organiser John Stewart said it was an amazing competition this year, and probably the best yet.
“That’s the biggest amount we’ve ever raised for the Kaitāia Volunteer Fire Brigade from the auction. This year, it was the size of the fish donated that was impressive, with the average weight of the donated fish 3.5kg.”
A swag of fish caught at the Ninety Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza were auctioned off on Saturday, raising $17,450 for the Kaitāia Volunteer Fire Brigade.
He said it was another Far North local - Anaru Murray - who won the draw for a brand-new Mitsubishi Triton on Saturday.
"It’s nice that the two top prizes went to locals," Stewart said.
However, the teams competition was won by the Bounty Hunters, from Wairoa, who won $5000 for their combined weight of 82.52kg.
Stewart said as well as raising funds for the Kaitāia Volunteer Fire Brigade, the Snapper Bonanza also pours several million dollars into the Far North community from the competitors and their families and supporters.
“There’s always a good bunch of fishers coming here. For many, it’s their annual holiday, and they come up here for the week with their whānau and they love it. Many come back year after year from all around the country.”
The event has become a must-do competition on the fishing calendar and the 1000 tickets available always sell out.
“The tickets [for next year’s event] go on sale on June 1, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they sold out the same day,” he said.
Stewart said the one of the highlights of the event for him was the karakia by Fran and Rapiata Hokianga that closed the competition on Saturday afternoon.
Far North man Anaru Murray won the Mitsubishi Triton draw at the Ninety Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza.
"That was very, very powerful. To have the whole crowd taking part and really getting into the karakia was powerful and a great way to finish another successful week."
The single-species fishing competition runs for five days and the cash pool is more than $72,000.
Darin Maxwell holds the record for the heaviest snapper recorded in the competition’s history. In 2012, the Te Puke fisherman reeled in a massive snapper that weighed in at 12.03kg.
