Well-fed fish bypassing bait, and rough seas, made for a tough day at the Brighton Club Fishing Competition yesterday.
Competition entrant Casey Patterson said he and his crew woke at 4am yesterday to a rough sea at Brighton.
About 5.30am, the crew battled the choppy water on the boat Renegade to drop bait and catch about 50 blue cod.
‘‘Then we went looking for a groper and couldn't find one,'' Casey said.
The crew went for a spearfish and caught two moki, two greenbone and harvested a paua.
Crew member Jacob Patterson, Casey's younger brother, won the prizes for the heaviest blue cod, greenbone, Jock Stewart, moki and paua.
Casey said the secret to success was simple.
‘‘Go hard or go home.''
Club president Geoff Bright said the competition was cancelled on Saturday - keeping more than 100 fishers grounded - because the swell was too big.
About half of the entrants returned yesterday for another crack at the competition.
The fishing yesterday was ‘‘hard'' because the sea was full of food, such as krill, resulting in fish bypassing baited hooks.
‘‘The fish are not desperately hungry.''
The sea was ‘‘sloppy and rough'' yesterday, with two swells and a strong current pushing sinkers on fishing lines across the sea bed.
Despite the rough conditions, all the fishers made it home safely with bins of bounty, mostly blue cod, but also crayfish, greenbone, groper, Jock Stewart, moki and paua.
Every entrant gave the club a fish to auction and the money raised was given to local community groups, Mr Bright said.
The most fish caught in the competition was 44, by Andrew McCormack on boat Kiwi Craft.
Heaviest fish caught at Brighton Club Fishing Competition
• Blue cod: 2.86kg by Jacob Patterson.
• Crayfish: 3.4kg by Wayne McKenzie.
• Greenbone (butterfish): 1.42kg by Jacob Patterson.
• Groper: 4.62kg by Ray Beattie.
• Jock Stewart (sea perch): 1.12kg by Jacob Patterson.
• Moki: 2.9kg by Jacob Patterson.
• Paua: 0.64kg by Jacob Patterson.
