In the annual Trans-Tasman coarse fishing championship, fished this year in Christchurch, the home team made it seven wins on the bounce over their Australian rivals.
The popular event, now in its 35th year, is hosted alternately between the two countries and is traditionally difficult to win away from home. However, the Kiwis have not only continued their perfect record at home but have defeated the Aussies on their own patch in the last three trips away.
In Christchurch, the teams which comprised a mix of seasoned international anglers and some new up-and-coming talent, fished a three-day rotation over three lakes, with tench and perch the target species.
At the start of each day, the anglers draw for a fishing position or “peg” on their lake, and have six hours to catch as many fish as they can. The fish are retained safely in a keepnet and weighed at the end of the match before being returned unharmed to the water.
The angler with the top weight wins the lake and scores one point, second place scores two points, and so on. The team scores are totalled and divided by the number of anglers to give an average section point score, and this determines the winner.
On the first day, the Aussies were quick out of the blocks and took the Kiwis by surprise, winning the first match with an average section point score of 4.44 to 4.53. But local knowledge helped the home team fight back, and the Kiwis won the next two days and successfully retained the Trans-Tasman trophy with a final score of 4.36 to 4.74.
Individually, Nelson-based angler Dave Dixon (pictured) won his lake on all three days for a perfect 3-point score and also returned the top overall weight of 211lb 2oz. Second was teammate Nathan Morley with 8 points (120lb 15oz) and third Australian Steve Smith also on 8 points (72lb 15oz).
