Kiwi angler Neil Gorringe sets national record with 32.5lb (14.75kg) snapper on 8kg line.
Neil caught the monster fish during the Hauraki Gulf Sport Fishing Club's annual Summer Fishing Competition while fishing just north of Little Barrier Island. Measuring a whopping one meter long, the fish was the obvious winner of the competition.
Neil tells NZFW he was convinced he had hooked a shark; "we'd been swamped by sharks all day so when the line tightened i assumed it was another one". Regardless of this Neil persisted and after just over 30 minutes he was rewarded by the sight of the monster snapper floating to the surface.
Skipper Lance Pattullo (left) and Neil Gorringe (left)
"I was fishing with double shank hooks, but a shark had taken one of the them earlier in the day and i couldn't be bothered rigging a new one. I just dropped the single hook down with a tiny bit of squid and left it" Neil says.
The national record snapper was caught aboard Polperro skippered by Lance Pattullo.
The fish is in the process of being mounted. "I just have to convince the missus to let me hang it on the wall now" Neil jokes with us.
14.75kg is thought to be a world record for 8kg line. The process of ratification is ongoing.
Congratulations to Neil on the extraordinary catch.
