Not many trout for Pahiatua carnival contest

Malcolm Groves, Kevin Groves, Robin Field, Paul Highet, Zara Brown, Lyn Hughes. Front: Chelsea Moynihan and Jorja Pickering.

The annual Pahiatua Trout Fishing Carnival was held from October 26 to November 2 with 90 anglers registered of which only a third were lucky enough to weigh in a fish.

This year the weather leading up to the carnival was not great, which possibly lowered entries but last year's entries broke all records. The rivers started out slightly high and murky but steadily improved as did the weather.

It was great to see so many fishermen on the river and in particular the kids of which 54 had entered the junior and novice competitions.

Weigh-ins at The Post Office Hotel had a steady flow of anglers turning up checking out what was happening and entering the nightly spot prizes.

The results showed that the trophy winning fish were in better condition than last year, the heaviest trout a Brown Jack 2.480 kg was caught in the Mangahao River. There were 35 rainbow and nine brown trout plus 10 eels weighed in over the eight days.

Most of the eels were later released.

The number of trout weighed in was down on previous years.

The club said their generosity ensured participants enjoyed excellent spot prizes both throughout the week and the final prize giving.

The major drawn spot prize winners were Robin Field who won the MacDougalls fly rod combo (adults), and the kids major spot prize a spinning rod went to Levi Filiata.

For more photos and info, check out the club's Facebook page.

The Trophy winning trout and eels were: Heaviest Trout Open — Zara Brown 2.480 kg. Heaviest Trout Men — Paul Highet 1.760 kg. Heaviest Trout Ladies — Lynn Hughes 1.660 kg. Heaviest Trout Junior — Zara Brown 2.480 kg. Heaviest Trout Novice — Isaac Lett 1.640 kg. Heaviest Eel — Phineas Shearman 7.120 kg. Best Conditioned Trout over 907gms/2lb — Paul Highet 50.80 cf. Best Conditioned Trout Junior — Harrison Fergus 50.00 cf. Best Conditioned Trout Novice — Jorja Pickering 54.30 cf.

The club congratulated all of those who received trophies, and to all the children who managed to catch a trout or an eel.