The unsettled weather carried on into the first 2 days of the competition with wind and rain and 2-3m swells out at sea. Despite the less than ideal conditions for the start of the contest, 52 striped marlin were caught, only 18 of which were weighed in, the rest being tagged & released. Competition points for the fish are set up to promote tag & release as you get more points for T&R rather than weighing fish in (unless you have a fish heavier than 115kg). Nine yellowfin tuna, 2 mako sharks, 3 albacore, 4 snapper and 5 yellowtail kingfish were also caught, along with Carter's Buoys and ping-pong balls. The weather was not good enough for the spotter plane to go up on day 1, but our ‘eye-in-the-sky' was aloft for the next 3 days, looking for fish and bait, and drawing lucky draws for the skippers.

Day 1 was sponsored by Kilwell Sports Ltd with a great array of day prizes which included Kilwell Sceptre, Kilwell Texalium Lime Tip and Tica Pro Weave rods, reels, lure bags, Pacific lures and gimbal belts. Prizes were also provided by St Paul's Cannery, Leigh Distributors, Reel Rods and Lion Breweries, and Carter's gave prizes for their recovered buoys. Twelve striped marlin were caught on the first day, along with 2 sharks, and albacore. Tony Blandford on ‘Sapphire' won the daily prize for the heaviest striped marlin with a fish of 101.6kg, and Tim Cadell on ‘Dilligaf' weighed in the heaviest shark, a mako of 32.6kg landed on 15kg line. The commercial boat ‘Maggie J' had a good first day, landing 2 striped marlin, and George Shaw on ‘Lady Janine' tagged and released the first striped marlin for the launch's tally. After prize-giving the club run a Calcutta-type boat auction with the auctioneer Craig Reesby encouraging everyone present to part with their money to buy the boat they thought would land the heaviest striped marlin from day 2 onwards.

Day 2 was sponsored by Lion Breweries who provided Lion Red sports bags, Lion Red cooler bags and snazzy black Lion Red shirts and hats. Other prizes were also provided by Kilwell, Kaeo Tavern, Carters, Advance Trident Ltd., Dennis (Smokey) Smith, Sands Marine and Leigh Distributors. Only one striped marlin was weighed in for the day, which was caught by Stephen Salmond on 24kg line, from the boat ‘Susan' skippered by Gary Cooper. This fish of 102.4kg won the prize for the heaviest striped marlin of the day. Five other stripeys were T&R with 2 of them falling to anglers on the launch ‘Crowded House'. A good sized yellowfin tuna of 46.2kg was landed by Chris Vernon from ‘Marlin Magic' and yellowtail kingfish were landed by Alan Sharp on ‘Day in Lew' and Tim Cadell on ‘Dilligaf'. After the prize-giving our bar manager Simon Robson was presented with a cake topped with sparklers, to mark his birthday.

Day 3 was sponsored by TICA-Kilwell with another good array of prizes which included rods, reels, Pacific lures, lure bags, gimbal belts, flying gaffs and T-shirts. Prizes were also provided by Kaeo Tavern, Carters, NZ Fishing News, Sands Marine, St Paul's Cannery, Reel Rods, Leigh Distributors and Lion Breweries. This day saw a lot of fish caught, which included 10 striped marlin T&R and 9 weighed in, also 2 yellowfin tuna, 3 yellowtail kingfish and a snapper. The heaviest striped marlin for the day weighed in at 116.2kg which was caught on 24kg line by Cam Fergus fishing from ‘Noble Princess', closely followed by Trevor Burkhart on ‘Millennium' and Robbie McIntyre on ‘Topgun' who landed stripeys of 110.8kg and 110.2kg. Mark Rayner (Monster) clocked up the second stripey for ‘Lady Janine' with a fish of 109.2kg landed on 37kg line. Also on ‘Topgun', Fidelma Ure was thrilled to have caught the heaviest yellowfin tuna for the day, with a fish that tipped the scales at 41kg. Day 3 also saw an update for our bar manager Simon, who after partying hard the evening before, woke up and proposed marriage to Angela Boyed, who accepted.

Day 4 was sponsored by the electronics wizards Advanced Trident Ltd who provided fantastic prizes which included marine and hand-held VHF radios, fish finders, spotlights, T-shirts and caps. Prizes were again provided by an array of generous sponsors which included Kilwell, Kaeo Tavern, Carters, Dennis (Smokey) Smith, Sands Marine, Hooker Lures, NZ Fishing News, St Paul's Cannery, Reel Rods and Lion Breweries. The last days fishing was action packed, with 16 stripeys being T&R or weighed in, with a good day for the Kilwell team of anglers on ‘Lady Janine' who managed to catch 3 striped marlin. The anglers on ‘Crowded House' also caught 2 stripeys and the points were close for the leading team in the Billfish Section of the contest. The heaviest marlin of the day was caught by Steve Taylor on ‘Estasi' with a fish that flashed up on the scales as 119.8kg. Five yellowfin tuna were also caught, with the heaviest fish of 57.4kg caught by Glen Campbell on ‘Violator', and a good snapper of 4.24kg was caught by Wayne Harris on the boat ‘Aloha'. The final prize-giving event rounded off the evening with the Kilwell Sports Package of a rod, reel, gimbal belt and monofilament line for the heaviest striped marlin overall, going to Steve Taylor on ‘Estasi' with his fish of 119.8kg caught on the last day. As the heaviest striped marlin, this fish also won the Calcutta prize for a very happy Nick Dupain who had bought the boat ‘Estasi' for $50. Steve also won the Pacific Harbour Lodge, Scottronic Computers One Base, and Mt. Cook trophies.

The Waiataiti Club Trophy for the game-fishing club with the highest average points per boat, was won by Manukau Sports Fishing Club with ‘Crowded House', the only boat representing the club, earning all 690 points. There was also a draw worth $2000 for a holiday arranged with Trixie Newton's World Travel in Kerikeri, which was won by Chris Vernon on the boat ‘Marlin Magic'. All ten anglers called out for the draw also received a bottle of wine from Carrington's Resort. A summary of the results are as follows:

Billfish Section:    1st - Crowded House, 2nd - Lady Janine, 3rd - Susan

Shark Section:       1st - First Affair, 2nd - Dilligaf

Tuna Section:       1st - Marlin Magic, 2nd - Violator, 3rd - Topgun

Kingfish Section: 1st - Alan Sharp (Day in Lew), 2nd - Tim Cadell (Dilligaf)

Snapper Section:  1st - Wayne Harris (Aloha), 2nd - Paul Tidswell (Delightful Lady)

A full set of results can be found at Whangaroa Big Game Fish Club

The club wishes to heartily thank our contest sponsors:

Kilwell Sports Ltd., Lion Breweries, Advance Trident Ltd., Carters, Pacific Harbour Lodge, Tesa Electronics Ltd., Keri Sportsworld, St Paul's Cannery, Seamounts, Marlin Hotel, Snooks & Lola Fuller, Reel Rods, Hair by Chris, Mangonui Hotel, Kaeo Tavern, Whangaroa Motel, Trixie Newton's World Travel, Dennis (Smokey) Smith, Sands Marine, Hooker Lures, NZ Fishing News, Leigh Distributors, and Carrington's Resort.

Also the coastguard radio operator Bryan Cookson (Cookie) for making sure you were all safe, the caterers Watt's Cooking, Andrew Hayes for manning the water taxi, and all the club members who generously donated their time and effort to help out with all the jobs that needed to be done.

Thanks also go out to all the skippers and anglers who took part and made it another successful contest; we hope we will see you again next year.