A wild weather forecast couldn't put off over 1500 keen anglers - mainly from Otago and Southland - turning out for this year's annual Stabicraft Te Anau Manapouri Fishing Classic, held at Labour weekend (26-27 Oct).

Now in its 17th year, the Te Anau based event is reputed to have the biggest prize pool of any fishing competition in New Zealand, with this year's top prize being a Stabicraft 1850 Fisher with a 115hp Yamaha outboard package - valued at over $90,000.

The fishing competition is run over Lakes Te Anau and Manapouri, as well as the Upper Waiau River.

Lance Gill with his 65.5cm winning 'fish for length'. Photo: Glory Photo

Competition organiser Don McFarlane said he was pretty happy with the weekend and especially rapt with the weather and turned out on Sunday.

"It was a good crowd and everybody was pretty happy."

McFarlane said while entries were down, the actual fish caught was on a par with last year.

The catch and release app was also getting better and better with more people using it all the time, he said.

One of the surprise moments was when both mother (Donna Kelly) and daughter (Lauren James) were called to the stage for the major prize draw, he said.

Kelly, from Waianiwa, went on to win the $90,000 boat package.

Major prize winner Donna Kelly with her daughter Lauren James. Photo: Wade Parkinson

Fish and Game's Bill Jarvie said the high point for him had been the Take a Kid Fishing event at McGregors Pond, with kids rugging up, keeping on fishing and enjoying themselves.

This was despite fears for the junior competition earlier in the week, after flood waters from a swollen Whitestone River had back-flowed into the pond, potentially providing an escape route for some of the 600 newly released salmon, he said.

"As it turned out, fish were getting caught and then caught quite regularly through the first three quarters of the day."

Jarvie said that over the 17-years the competition had been going he hadn't seen any reduction in lake fish numbers.

"I think it's an important factor that New Zealanders - Kiwis - can get out and get some sustainably sourced food from the wild"

"The quality of the fish is just superb for down here [and] the condition is great," he said.

Max Cracknell and Nellie Lawson with their catch at McGregors Pond. Photo: Bill Jarvie

McFarlane said they were now working towards the competition's 20-year milestone and hoped it might include an even bigger major prize.

"There's a bit of an attraction now to get to the [twenty] years so Stocky and I [are] both pretty keen to hang in there."

"We've said we're retiring after the 20 years. We'll see what happens," McFarlane said.

McFarlane, along with fellow locals Stephen (Stocky) Stock and Te Anau Events manager Shevaun Taberner are the only members of the original fishing committee still involved in the competition.

2024 Stabicraft Te Anau Manapouri Fishing Classic Results

Total entries for both 2024 competitions

1569 (1758 last year).

Entries into the Stabicraft 2024 Te Anau Manapouri Fishing Classic

• Men: 905 (1090 last year)
• Female: 307 (381 last year)
• Junior: 138 (153 last year)
• Child: 228 (297 last year)
• Total 1426 (1578 last year)

Total fish weighed in – 760 (867 last year)

516 entrants registered their catch on the Catch & Release App

Entries into the 2024 Cruise Milford Take a Kid Fishing competition

• Total: 143 (180 last year)

Total fish weighed in at McGregor Pond - 57 (32 last year)

Total Number of Fish weighed in:

Te Anau 557

Manapouri 117

Upper Waiau 86

Main comp total 760

McGregor Pond 57

Anglers were from:

Overseas 6

North Island 18

Westland 2

Canterbury/Nelson 23

Otago 599

Southland 673

Fiordland 248

Competition Results

Cruise Milford Take a Kid Fishing competition

Ranked in order of condition factor (a formula of weight & length)

BEST CONDITION FACTOR FISH CAUGHT AT MCGREGOR POND

• 1st Lochie Young
• 2nd Austin Moynihan
• 3rd Harry Fletcher
• 4th Ernie Haugh
• 5th Sefton Kinsey
• 6th Max O’Sullivan
• 7th Max Moynihan
• 8th Finlay Kincaid
• 9th Marcel Brun
• 10th Kayla Henderson

Kids Colouring Competition

• 4 & Under: Izzy Hunter (3)
• 5 – 7 years: Violet Moore (7)
• 8 & Over: Ana Hodson (9)

Furthest travelled was Charles Hay

Heaviest Perch – Gary Buchanan (1.170)

Heaviest Salmon – no salmon caught this year

Catch & Release App results

(longest fish entered via App)

Child

• 1st: Clare Wilson (55.5cm)
• 2nd: George Borges (53cm)

Junior

• 1st: Radek King (64cm)
• 2nd: Mali Vivian (60cm)

Female

• 1st: Catharina Jefferson (58cm)
• 2nd: Jeanette MacDonald (57.5cm)

Male

• 1st: Lance Gill (65.5cm)
• 2nd: Ethan McPherson (61.5cm)

Weigh in winners

Ranking is by condition factor (a formula of fish weight & length) – NOT by heaviest fish.

• Child Lake
• 1st: Elsie Gray (44.11)
• 2nd: Sophie Mitchell (40.47 CF)
• 3rd: Wren Wallis (40.23 CF)

Men

• 1st: Cody Molloy (41.04CF)
• 2nd: Seth Affleck (40.52CF)
• 3rd: Amelia McKay (40.46CF)

Women

• 1st: Nihara Huck (43.75CF)
• 2nd: Leanne Sutherland (42.97CF)
• 3rd: Marion Dawson (41.43CF)

Junior

• 1st: Greg Cockburn (48.39CF)
• 2nd: Quinton Jones (48.03CF)
• 3rd: Kieran Anderson (45.43CF)

Shoot Out

5 names are drawn out of the barrel from the adults that weighed in a fish

• 5th Bryce Fieten
• 4th Lauren James
• 3rd Peter Hogg
• 2nd Myah Popham
• 1st and winner of the Stabicraft Boat Winner: Donna Kelly from Waianiwa