Far North man Harley Ra has won one of the biggest fishing prizes in the nation after landing a 7.665 kilogram snapper in the Ninety Mile Beach Snapper Bonanza.
By Peter de Graaf of RNZ
Ra hooked the winning fish on Saturday, the final day of the five-day surfcasting contest, earning him the $30,000 top prize for the heaviest snapper.
He also took home $2500 for heaviest fish of the day.
Ra's last-minute catch dashed the hopes of Darin Maxwell from Ōpōtiki of becoming the first person to win the competition twice.
In the end, Maxwell had to content himself with second place and cash prizes totalling $4500 for a fish weighing in at 7.25kg.
Maxwell's monster 12.03kg catch in 2012 remains the heaviest snapper caught in the competition's 15-year history.
A total of 1200 fishers registered for this year's bonanza, which has been held every March on Ninety Mile Beach, or Te Oneroa-a-Tōhe, since 2011.
Organised by Kaitāia publican Dave Collard and printer John Stewart, the event, based at Waipapakauri Ramp near the southern end of the beach, is said to be the world's biggest surfcasting contest.
The pair stepped in to rescue the contest after its predecessor, the Snapper Classic, folded amid financial difficulties in 2009.
The annual prize pool, which includes a lucky draw for a ute, totals more than $200,000.
About 120 fish caught during the contest were auctioned off at Saturday's Kaitāia Market, raising more than $14,000 for the Kaitāia Volunteer Fire Brigade.
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