“For today I remember your smile, for today, you weighed a fish. For today I remember your smile.”
At the recent Houhora one base; A huge “Houhora” thanks to the 93 teams (up on last year), the Club Volunteers, Far North Radio, the Sponsors for sharing the love for the club, and special thanks to competition organizer Deb and her team who are as you read this, already planning for One Base 2017. The event tally; Albacore x 2, Blue Marlin x 3, Broadbill x 1, Hammerhead x 1 t/r, Kingfish x 2, Mahimahi x 2, Mako Shark x 6 t/r, Shortbill x 1, Snapper x 6, Striped Marlin x 67 (50 t/r), Yellowfin Tuna x 24. Too bad about the 10 fish that missed final cut off. All in all, a great Far North event with Far North hospitality. Some special comments from participants;• Great trip up at Houhora. Three boats at camp, Dark Horse, Shell We and Big OO. We all caught two fish each, great effort. Thanks to Houhora Big Game Fishing Club for having us again. FUN TIMES• Firstly, I would like to thank the organisers and sponsors, the event was for us by far the best yet. Accommodation, food, radio, fishing rules, atmosphere and prizes, the whole lot was awesome. Highly recommended, even for beginner crews, which was what we had on board this year. One crew member had a total of 3 days trolling experience and the other a few days each year – this would prove to be quite a challenge when the chips were down, but indeed we did come away with a fish of a lifetime!
AHIPARA Winners of the RADZ – Muriwai – Ahipara Invitational held over the weekend of 5th and 6th of March. A total of 18 Striped Marlin were caught. Heaviest Striped Marlin weighed by angler Ginty Morrogh of 131kg, off the boat Wildcat. Which was one of a double, the other tagged by team mate James Tattersall. Next heaviest was Richard Kimber on Reel Addikt with 126.5kg. Third was Codey Burke on Time Out with 125.5kg. Ahipara tagged 3 others, Equity tagged 2 by Chris Jones and Chance Brown, with
Auckland anniversary weekend & Warkworth Game Fish Club; – Stunning weather and unprecedented numbers of gamefish. Combine that with a massive prize pool and a bunch of great people and BOOM, that’s a One Base we’ll remember for a long time! 112 anglers on 30 boats with 22 Marlin tagged and released 22 and 9 marlin weighed. No one can remember a ‘Barrier tournament cracking double marlin digits, let alone over 30! The 60% T&R rate is to be commended. There was also a Spearfish, Yellowfin Tuna, and some Sharks sporting new jewelry (tags). Many hit the 155, at different times of the day. There was a distinct bite time and the radio ran hot with hookups around 11am to 12.30pm. There’s not too many of our One Bases where 20lb Snapper are not cracked, but this year most people were too busy fending hungry Marlin off. Simon Ryburn (Swansong) 4.95kg, Tony Fraser (Unreel Obsession) 4.85kg, Gary Bishop (BreakFree) 4.8kg were amongst the biggest Snapper. FIRST MARLIN CAPTURED: Steve Parkes (Game Keeper) One Base T&R Trophy. BILLFISH DIVISION (points): Violator (Logan and Brodie Campbell) 509 points and the One Base Trophy, Bloodshot 314 points second, and Lady Jade 300 points third. HEAVIEST WEIGHED MARLIN: Mark Colville on Assassin, 132kg Stripie. Mark flew half way around the world to fish this comp, so a chunk of this prize money (and the $650 Calcutta) will get him part of the way home again! Well done all anglers for surviving the event and congratulations
From the recent Whangamata Classic Game Fishing event held early February; fished just after their monstrous Nauti Gals competition some 550 anglers turned up just in case the weather cleared. Nauti Gals is the biggest female fishing extravaganza I have found in the South Pacific. Back to the Classic, some 150+ teams fished the three days, 560+ anglers went out each day to catch a winner. What could be described as the slowest in the fleet “TE RA” on the last day headed out and didn’t get past the 70m line before they hooked up to the eventual heaviest striped marlin out of the 27 competition qualified Striped Marlin, of which 17 were tagged and released. “TE RA’s” stripy weighed in at 171.5kg which is their third win in five years. Heaviest gamefish a Blue Marlin was caught by Rear Commodore of the Whangamata Ocean Sports Club, Roy Hoskin off the Devocean (not his current boat), weighing in at 226.6kg. The official tally for the Classic was; 1 Blue Marlin, 27 Striped Marlin with 17 t/r, 12 Tuna (inc albacore), 8 Kingfish, 3 Spearfish, 20 Mahimahi, 15 Snapper, 17 tagged Sharks. Heaviest Billfish was 226.6kg, S/Marlin 171.5kg, Snapper 8.97kg, Mahimahi 12.65kg, Kingfish 16.48kg, Tuna 35.8kg ironically off the boat “Bill Collector), and Spearfish went 20.6kg. Well done Whangamata Ocean Sports Club.
For the record books; These records have just been ratified as current records,
Martin King Mahimahi 18.68kg 24kg line Big Fish Fishing Club member
Hunter Scott (junior boy) Striped marlin 94.60kg 15kg line Bay of Islands Swordfish club
Hunter Scott (junior boy) Mahimahi 3.67kg 15kg line Bay of Islands Swordfish club
Lauren Adams (junior girl) Snapper 5.37kg 6kg line Warkworth Gamefish Club
Fitting last words from the Charter Vessel “PURSUIT” – If you think that the arrival of autumn signals the beginning of the end for this game season – think again! Recent catches, both quality and quantity, suggest otherwise. In fact, we may not have seen the best of a very exciting season yet! Will be most interesting to monitor the unfolding events in the Far North and I look forward to doing so first hand! Till next time Capt. Rick Pollock ‘Pursuit’
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