A 160kg Blue Marlin landed by Sateki Ika, of the ANZ fishing team, won the top prize of the Nuku’alofa Fishing Club's first fishing competition for the season on Saturday, 14 November.

Sateki has caught Blue Marlin before, but this time they were fishing to the west of ‘Atata Island. He said it took him about 45 minutes to tire out the fish and a number of times he had to strain the line because it kept trying to dive into the deep. After battling for about 45 minutes the Blue Marlin finally gave up and Sateki brought the exhuasted fish alongside the boat.

The Club Captain of the Nuku’alofa fising Club, Roger Middleton said that nine fishing boats registered with three categories: ladies, junior and gentlemen.

Winners

Ladies:

1. Avril Cummins – 23.2kg Yellowfin tuna
2. Samantha Hunt – 8.6kg Wahoo
3. Phyllis Sullivan – 2.3kg Skipjack tuna.

Junior:

1. Mariner Tu’iemoana – 4.2kg Barracuda
2. Alex Sugar – 0.5kg Parrot fish
3. Draw Ashleigh Middleton/Soa – no fish

Gentlemen:

1. Sateki Ika – 160kg Blue Marlin
2. Cory Bond – 17.4kg Mahi Mahi
3. Draw Bernie Poort/Liam Sherman – 10.4kg Mahi Mahi

Charles Riechelmann, president of the Nuku’alofa fishing Club, was pleased with the outcome of their first outing for the season. The competition was sponsored by the Billfish Bar and Steinlager beer.

Charles said that the next fishing competition of the Nuku'alofa fishing Club will be over two-days, on 28-29 November.