13 fished landed in comp

The Lion Red fishing competition was run on Saturday in almost ideal fishing conditions.

Nineteen club fishermen registered, with eight boats successfully managing to land one or more fish. This was an improvement from the previous Saturday when only four boats out of 13 weighed in fish.

However, the total weight of 172.8kg of fish caught was again somewhat disappointing and considerably less than in previous years.

Maimai and wahoo were the most popular fish caught and we noted that only two small yellow fin tuna were weighed-in an indication that this species is becoming scarcer in our waters.

The heaviest fish was an 18.8kg wahoo caught by Don Beer aboard Trader Don.

Second place in the category went to Roly with an 18kg wahoo caught from Delano.

Maru Ben took the prize for third heaviest fish with a 13.6kg black trevally on board Koiti.

In the aggregate weight division Teariki Buckley won the main prize with a total haul of 29.8kg of fish, and Paku Poila claimed second place with a total of 27kg of fish.

Kevin Reichardt on Seafari brought back 18.4kg of fish to win third place in the aggregate division.

The prizegiving was held in the evening with representatives from The Bond Store attending to give away the Lion Red sponsors products.

The executive and fishermen again wish to thank The Bond Store for its continuing efforts to support game fishing in Rarotonga. A live band followed the presentation.