This is no little whipper-snapper

 Landing a nearly 5 kilo snapper off the North Mole at Castlecliff at 1am yesterday was the catch Colin Richards will never forget.

"Well, it's pretty rare to catch a snapper this big so close to shore, because they're usually deep-water fish."

The 39-year-old has always loved fishing but is even more passionate about landing bounty from the sea this year.

He lost his job in February.

And he has nine children.

 So until he gets work again, Colin is out fishing practically day and night to build up food supplies -- to make sure there's always a good supply of tasty fillets of fish for dinner, he said.
 Because fish is good food it is healthy and good for everyone, he said.

"I always fish on the incoming tide out at the North Mole at Castlecliff. I usually catch cod and kahawai, which is a pretty good feed.''

Yesterday he had already caught 12 cod before he landed the mighty snapper, he said.
When the snapper first tugged on his line, he thought the way the line tightened he had a shark to deal with.

"But the way it kept tugging and fighting, I guessed I'd landed a snapper, and I had to yell to the other guy out there to help me out. He was great. I gave him three of my cod.''

In fact, over the past week he's managed to catch 35 cod and 11 kahawai, he said.

But the big disappointment was the Eides Sports Kawhawai-Cod Fishing Contest at the North Mole last Sunday.

"I entered and caught nothing – not a thing. Now look at this," he said patting the snapper.
Colin was going to have his prize catch mounted and hung on the wall.

"Well, it's my best catch.''

But just before teatime last night he changed his mind.

"No, we're going to eat it. It will be a wonderful dinner for our household and other members of my family as well."