Winning snapper breaks tournament record

THE BIGGEST: Rama Waipouri of Hikurangi won the Lion Red Snapper Classic at Ninety Mile Beach on Saturday with this 9.57kg snapper, the largest caught in the contest's 28-year history.

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Northland men have taken first, second and third prize at this year’s Lion Red Snapper Classic.

Rama Waipouri of Hikurangi won the five-day tournament with a 9.57kg snapper caught in a metre of water near Waipapakauri ramp on Thursday.

His fish won him $53,000 and was the heaviest caught in the history of the 28-year tournament.

Milton Arnold of Awanui was second with an 8.545kg fish caught in the northern-most fishing zone – area two – on Wednesday.

His fish was the sixth heaviest caught in 28 years.

Craig Burns of Houhora was third with a 6.01kg fish caught in area three on Saturday.

His fish was the 20th heaviest caught since the tournament was launched in 1982.

Milton Arnold’s team, which included Mike Dowden and Graeme Newlands of Whakatane and Darin Maxwell of Te Puke, was the top team of the tournament with a weight 20.315 kg.

Kaitaia anglers Norm Byrne, Dave Moses, Mike Scott and Joe Herbert were second with a team weight of 18.988 kg.

The third winning team with a weight of 10.802kg comprised Theo Huijs and Brandan Gibbs of Katikati, Les Martin of Waitara and Sandra Hodge of New Plymouth.

Tournament organiser Srecko Urlich is delighted with the results which prove that you don’t need expensive fishing gear and high-tech gadgets to catch record-weight snapper.

"He only had a basic rod, a hook and a hunk of mullet," he says of winner Rama Waipouri.

He is also pleased that – despite the economic downturn – only a handful of the 1000 tickets for the tournament remained unsold on Saturday.

- © Fairfax NZ News