Big, little and a seagull

Press, 16 February 1978, Page 20

Big, little and a seagull

Nelson Reporter A brim (baby snapper) slightly less than Ikg in weight, won $3OO in cash and other trophies for Nelson amateur fisherman, Dennis McCauley (right in photograph). This was the prime prize in a shore-fishing contest at Nelson. On the Saturday, Mrs B. Francis, of Richmond, landed a 7kg snapper in Tasman Bay and collected $4OO in cash and other trophies, in the

boat-fishing section of the week-end contest.

The competitions, organised by the Nelson Public Relations Office and N.A.C., drew 185 boat entries (involving about 300 fishermen and 140 boats) and 186 shore entries (about 243 fishermen). Total prizes of about $l6OO were won. The heaviest fish caught were a 2m long shark weighing 28kg landed in a boat by M. Johnson (Nelson) on the Saturday, and a 32kg stingray (worth

$5O), pictured here, by Lou Franklin, fishing from Tahunanui Beach at the spit end. In contrast, the smallest fish landed (by David Knight, at left), was only 77 mm long. It brought him a seafood lunch for two in Nelson.

The hard-luck fishing story was that of a woman who hooked a

huge stingray on the backbeach, fought it for several hours and was still trying to get it off the

bottom when the contest closed at 4.30 p.m. on Sunday. The organisers had a special prize for her. The most unusual catch was probably the seagull caught at sea on Saturday, brought to the weigh-in and released unharmed after the “fisherman” collected a trophy for his catch. The competition, in aid of the public relations organisation, will probably net the organisation about $l5OO.