[South Canty Angler]

Hi guys, never fished Comps before but are there any annual Fishing Comps in the canterbury area, iheard something about one at birdlings flat? Also when is it and how do i get in touch with someone regarding entry?

[PierMaster]

There still awhile away…
Kaikoura/Amberley/Nape Nape and Birdlings you will find out when its closer to the date

Kaikoura and Nape Nape offer the best prizes

[yellowfin]

Yeah those 4 are usually fairly close together around jan/feb from memory.

I think the kaiks one was the same date as amberley last year.

[Miliwolf]

From my experience at the kaikoura one you pay entry the morning before the event, get there quite early to get a decent spot. They do not seem to promote the events much so have to pay attention to know that they are occurring. The top three prizes are quite good, but winning one is mainly luck. Catching a fish is quite a challenge with most competitors failing to land any.

At the Kaikoura comp most people seem to use pilchard, Squid or crayfish for bait. So I try to avoid them while presenting my baits in interesting ways. First year I enter I caught two (which I foolishly released and used for bait because I thought they would be to small for prizes) while last year I lost 1 in the surf and landed one.

Piermaster always seem to catch quite a few fish so copy what he does.

Yeah, the Kai one seemed to clash with Amberly which did not make much since imo. I wonder if the organizers did not realise that people travel a fair distance to fish in the comps, or maybe communication between the groups are poor.

[South Canty Angler]

awesome, wheres the best place to find out when and where?

[Miliwolf]

I use these forums to find out the time

[yellowfin]

Yeah on here or if your travelling over summer. The Nape nape and amberley ones are signposted on State Hwy 1 near the turn off to each beach and birdlings is usually signposted a few months out from the event.

[yellowfin]

All the open competitions are January/Febuary with sometimes the Birdlings Flat one in March. The main ones worth entering are probably Kaikoura, Nape Nape and Birdlings Flat. Last year there was also a competition at South Rangitata at the start of January, not sure if it’s a yearly thing or not.

But yeah, all the information will be on the forum closer to the dates.

Also will be a fair way to travel from South Canturbury

[fishforpot]

Fished most of the comps over the years …kids have won oodles of prizes , both have won Amberly at once each , daughter won the kids section at Napenape twice
Won a few of them myself , and been robbed as well

Birdlings flat is hardly worth the effort , last time I was there they only had 2 prizes for the seniors …..biggest fish / most species caught , a cheap 3 piece rod each
You can fish anywhere as long as your at the weighin by 3pm I think it was ….

Amberly is good for the kids , and a fun day out , be sure to fish hard in the first hour , otherwise maybe top of the tide is the only time your likely to catch anything …small baits in the wash at your feet can catch kahawai ….prizes are pretty reasonable…fish are to be had , if you know your stuff

Napenape is really hit and miss …..you cant shift along the beach if nothing is biting …prizes nothing like they used to be , and not as good as amberly for the kids
Often you are TOLD where to fish ….and the beach is baron unless you get lucky with the reef , expect to catch NOTHING

Kaikora …….well …. fished it twice , took 2nd prize in the seniors both years , once each for myself and the daughter

First time , 30mins after the close , chatted to the marshal on the quadbike who assured me I was in first place basically all day , and still in first …..being north of the weigh station , I got to see ALL the fish coming from the north end of the beach , Id been jockeying for first/2nd place 2-3 time with some bloke at the north end …
After the final pass of the marshal , We returned to the weigh station and had the winning fish pointed out to us ..a conger eel about 12lbs ….funny cause my conger came in at about 16lb from memory…..at the prizegiving guess who won …my friend to the north ….go figure ….we won 7 prizes between us , so awesome day anyways

The following year , the daughter caught a nice conger , was winning all day , nothing coming close …
45min’s after the close , we once again checked out the weighin station ….awesome , her conger was the biggest by heaps
I warned her on the way to prize giving not to hold her breath for the $1000 prize …..told her to expect to get 2nd

First place , seven gill shark …..apparently the marshals never saw it because the guy who caught it “right at the start of the comp” kept it hush hush and delivered it to the station himself , AFTER we had been there …
I can only imagine the state of it , after an entire day ….assuming it was caught that day
Anyways , when the fishee stood to recieve the prize , Im like wft , he was in the pub before us …..yet weighed his fish after we left for the pub …..1 minute away
We still won some awesome prizes

The organisation leaves a lot to be desired tho …….ya start basically as soon as youve paid with no fixed start time …and when I quizzed the marshal as to which of the 3 rods the bloke beside us caught the rig on he’d just collected , the answer was “i dont know , maybe he paid 3 entry fees”

Is the competion rigged ? My experience says quite likely ……….but the fishing is AWESOME , the scenery lovely , prizes good …
Definately heading back there next year

Amberly often clashes with Kaikora …..mid-late jan
Birdlings late feb-march
Napenape late jan
Be awesome if the looked at the tides and moon phase before planning dates

[yellowfin]

Well I’ll be going to all the comps again next year. Tomorow there’s an interclub competition at wakanui so hope the conditions are good. Then next weekend the forum comp, then weekend after that there’s the thing at the Pier, then we’re into november and the fishing should be picking up.

[Author]

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