After a weather-enforced extension, the Dawnbreakers Members Competition finally wrapped up at the end of April, and it was well worth the wait.
Originally scheduled for mid-April, the measure competition was extended by an extra week when the weather didn’t quite play ball. As it turned out, the extension was a blessing, giving more members the opportunity to get out on the water and enjoy some fantastic fishing.
Members spread themselves far and wide across Tasman Bay, Golden Bay, the Marlborough Sounds and D’Urville Island, chasing snapper, kahawai, gurnard, trevally, kingfish and blue cod. While there were certainly some impressive fish caught, the competition was about much more than just the leaderboard.
A large group of members headed up to D’Urville Island for a few days, making the most of some absolutely magic conditions. Calm seas, stunning sunrises, glowing sunsets and plenty of fish made for a pretty hard-to-beat weekend.
Several boats overnighted around the island, with many rafting up together at Port Hardy on the first night before moving around to Catherine Cove on the second. The days were spent fishing hard and trying to tick off as many competition species as possible, while the evenings were all about relaxing, sharing stories and enjoying good company.
Steve and Roz had five club members aboard Rozzy and enjoyed some fantastic fishing throughout the trip. Their evenings were spent enjoying a cooked lamb dinner, a wine or two and soaking up the spectacular surroundings of D’Urville Island. Boat camping at its absolute finest!
For Brent and myself, the adventure started with a 4am launch from Okiwi Bay aboard Reel Addiction. We headed straight across to the western side of D’Urville to target tarakihi, john dory and snapper before the sun came up. On the subject of john dory, although not a competition species, I was stoked with my new personal best measuring 53cm.
As daylight arrived, we worked our way through the Passage and managed some nice blue cod, although unfortunately not quite big enough to knock Trey Styles off the top spot with his competition-winning 54.5cm fish. We then headed out past Stephens Island to try our luck for groper. After plenty of drifts, countless drops and what felt like a lifetime of winding, the groper remained elusive. That’s fishing!
Not to be beaten, we switched our attention to kingfish and the elusive D’Urville trevally before finally calling it a day and heading into Port Hardy.
The following evening we made our way into Catherine Cove and joined a number of other Dawnbreakers members at the D’Urville Island Wilderness Resort. The fire was going, the drinks were cold, the food was great and, as always, the fishing stories got bigger as the night went on.
Of course, the adventure wasn’t quite over. Before calling it a night, a group of us headed into Cherry Tree Bay to try and catch a few squid for Species of the Month and score some valuable double competition points. Turns out squid are a lot harder to catch than they look, but they are certainly fun to chase!
The Booker family spent a couple of nights boat camping out from Okiwi Bay with the kids onboard, creating some incredible family memories along the way. Exploring new bays, fishing together and sleeping aboard the boat is what these trips are all about. Hayden topped off a great weekend by landing the third biggest snapper of the competition with a cracker measuring 77.5cm.
There were plenty of standout catches throughout the competition.
Club Captain Lisa Lamb landed a personal best kingfish measuring an impressive 122.5cm, taking out the longest kingfish category and also walking away with the major draw prize.
Anne Dickinson also celebrated a personal best when she landed an absolute horse of a snapper measuring 80cm while fishing aboard Steve’s boat during the final weekend of the competition. It was her first snapper over 80cm and a fish she’ll be talking about for years to come.
Trey Styles, fishing aboard Knot at Work alongside Competition Master Karl Puklowski, landed the longest blue cod of the competition at 54.5cm.
Meanwhile, Club President Gareth Nicholson proved you don’t need a big boat to catch good fish, paddling around Golden Bay in his kayak to secure the longest kahawai with a fish measuring 57.5cm. Razel Parsons, gets a well deserved honorable mention with a 109cm kingi off a kayak too.
Brad Eggers claimed the longest trevally title with a 50.5cm fish and also secured second place in the snapper section with a 78.5cm fish. Other winners included James Plunkett with the longest senior gurnard at 49.5cm.
Our junior anglers also put in some fantastic efforts, with Retief Beukes taking out the junior kahawai category with a 53cm fish, Raikkon Lamb winning the junior gurnard category with a 39.5cm fish, and Ella Bilderbeck claiming the junior snapper title with a 66.5cm fish.
Mystery length prizes were also awarded to Fred Ludik (gurnard), Corey Parsons (kahawai) and Dennis Beukes (snapper).
The celebrations wrapped up at McCashin’s Brewery Tap Room, where more than 80 members packed the venue for an afternoon of prizegiving, giveaways and plenty more fishing stories. It was fantastic to see such a great turnout and a real reminder of how much the club has grown over recent years.
A huge thank you goes to our sponsors McCashin’s Tap Room, Hunting & Fishing Nelson, Daiwa, YETI, DNA Boats, Smokai and Nelson Marine Centre for their ongoing support.
At the end of the day, competitions like this aren’t really about who catches the biggest fish. They’re about the adventures, the early starts, the raft-ups, the sunsets, the family memories and the stories that get retold every time we catch up.
Bring on next season and the 2026 Snapper Cup in November!
