Fishing
FISHING - 2021
The Tall Poppy Omokoroa Boat Club's Adult's Fishing Competition 2021
Friday 19th March 6pm saw 128 competitors head out into the harbour for the annual OBC adult’s fishing competition. Three weeks earlier the children had shown what they could do, so the pressure was on the adults to prove that with age comes fishing wisdom. However, one boat was in such a hurry to reach a favoured fishing spot that is managed to beach itself on the side of a channel and then needed an hour of incoming tide to free itself!
Most people seemed to head for the upper reaches of the harbour and radio silence was maintained by many, so little information emerged on what was being caught. Saturday morning saw the smaller craft return to the water in light winds and a spectacular sun rise. Some of those blessed with larger craft spent the night on the water, with a few, not to be named (Phil), sleeping in whilst their better half caught the early morning snapper. The best fishing seemed to be about an hour after low tide but club captain Chris Moon (having spent the night in Auckland at the Crowded House concert) only got on the water at 1.30pm and still managed to catch a decent snapper before the 4pm cut off time.
Weigh in saw probably the largest number of fish we have seen in recent years. Nicely conditioned snapper and kahawai were plentiful, and a good number of sizeable trevally too. The fish of the day though and the biggest to be landed, possibly ever, in the history of the competition was Neil Altonas kingfish weighing in at a stunning 19.24kg. It should be noted that despite using modern fishing gear, with modern drags, Neil still tried using his thumb to stop the fish on its first searing run, resulting in a nice friction burn.
A huge thank you to all our sponsors, but especially to our lead sponsor Tall Poppy and Rachel Millard. Given the amazing generosity of the local businesses this year, prize giving lasted a little longer than usual with some fantastic spot prizes being awarded as well as the main category prizes. The auction of a free crown from Omokoroa Dental raised $1100 for St John ambulance, which was a great result. Finally, thank you to the committee members involved, and to Fee our club manager for organizing this great community event.
Tight lines!
Tim Raeburn
OBC Committe
2021 Tall Poppy Omokoroa Boat Club Kids Fishing Competition
Saturday 27th February saw a flotilla of craft head out into Tauranga harbour for the Omokoroa Boat Clubs Kids’ fishing competition in search of the ‘big one’ that would bring them fame and glory. Most of the 96 entrants were keen to have their lines in the water at the 6am start time, but others were more leisurely heading out only just before midday. Once again the weather gods played ball and the conditions were perfect early on, with good catches of all species except the elusive kingfish. Position in the harbour seemed to be key with some boats separated by only 100m being the difference between catching and just fishing.
Hannah Cooney snagged a very good snapper only for half of it to be snagged back by a bronze whaler shark right at the side of the boat! Determined not to be outdone by the now fed shark she then landed what turned out to be the winning snapper for the girls in the 8-14 yr old division at 2.512kg.
Other prize winners of mention were Ariana Roach (heaviest snapper girls 0-7yrs) for the second year running and Quinn Evered (heaviest snapper boys 0-7yrs) for the second year running too! Keep those spots to yourselves and remember if anyone asks you where you caught your fish, just wave your arm seaward and say, ‘out in the harbour’.
A huge thank you to all our sponsors but especially Tall Poppy Real Estate for being lead sponsor. The generosity of the local businesses is what makes this great competition possible. Thank you too to the Committee Members and Fee for putting this together and to the bar staff for their great service on the day!
Finally to the Mums and Dads. Thank you for making the effort to take your sons and daughters out fishing. You may not have received thanks for tying knots, baiting hooks, or filleting the catch but the smiles on the faces of the kids at weigh in and prize giving were priceless.
Tight lines,
Tim Raeburn
Committee Member OBC
OBC KIDS FISHING COMP RESULTS 2021
Heaviest Snapper 0-7YRS GIRLS: Ariana Roach Weight: 2.904kg
2nd Heaviest Snapper 0-7YRS GIRLS: Savannah McGregor Weight: 1.626kg
Heaviest Snapper 0-7YRS BOYS: Quinn Evered Weight: 1.532kg
2nd Heaviest Snapper 0-7YRS BOYS: Samson McGregor Weight: 1.214kg
Heaviest Trevally 0-7YRS GIRLS: Anika Savage Weight: 1.338kg
Heaviest Trevally 0-7YRS BOYS: Harrison Nganeko Weight: 1.588kg
Heaviest Kahawai 0-7YRS GIRLS: Anika Savage Weight: 1.832kg
Heaviest Kahawai 0-7YRS BOYS: Jasper Savage Weight: 2.022kg
Heaviest Snapper 8-14YRS GIRLS: Hannah Cooney Weight: 2.512kg
2nd Heaviest Snapper 8-14YRS GIRLS: Hayley Evered Weight: 1.854kg
Heaviest Snapper 8-14YRS BOYS: Ethan Little Weight: 1.834kg
2nd Heaviest Snapper 8-14YRS BOYS: Austin Turner Weight: 1.688kg
Heaviest Trevally 8-14YRS GIRLS: Chelsea Turner Weight: 1.434kg
Heaviest Trevally 08-14YRS BOYS: Tylar Gibb Weight: 1.408kg
Heaviest Kahawai 8-14YRS GIRLS: Maggie Collins Weight: 1.908kg
Heaviest Kahawai 08-14YRS BOYS: Zac Weir Weight: 1.938kg
Heaviest Kingfish BOYS+GIRLS (Both Age Groups): None Caught Weight: 0.0kg
Average Kahawai BOYS+GIRLS (Both Age Groups): Bella Herd Weight: 1.162kg (Average 1.237kg)
Snapper Heaviest WOMENS: Bridie Hinton Weight: 3.098kg
Snapper Heaviest MENS: Karl Gower Weight: 3.186kg
Heaviest Kingfish (OVERALL): Neil Alton Weight: 19.24kg
Heaviest Trevally (OVERALL): Nicky Raeburn Weight: 2.862kg
Heaviest Kahawai WOMENS: Charlotte King Weight: 1.936kg
Heaviest Kahawai MENS: Todd Pelham Weight: 2.086kg
Snapper 2nd Prize WOMENS: Janet Conn Weight: 2.646kg
Snapper 2nd Prize MENS: Rene Lemon Weight: 3.116kg
Snapper AVERAGE WEIGHT: Cliff Morgan French Weight: 1.588kg
Kahawai AVERAGE WEIGHT: Aaron Sheeley Weight: 1.414kg
