A marlin has been caught at Castlepoint for the first time in 28 years.
The rare feat was accomplished by area local Mike Meredith, who was enjoying a leisurely fishing trip on Sunday with his family and his mum, who was visiting from Australia.
Although marlin are relatively common in the waters of the northern half of the North Island during the warmer months of summer and early autumn, this is only the second catch to have been recorded at Castlepoint.
Meredith had only been out in the water for six minutes when he hooked the fish.
“It bit about three times before it got caught”.
Having spent 500 hours on his boat trying to land a marlin “all over the country”, it’s ironic that Meredith has finally succeeded so close to home.
“We weren’t planning to catch one, but it just happened. We were thrilled,” he said.
Meanwhile, down at the Wairarapa Sports Fishing Club, resident weigh master Dave Cameron was ecstatic, given “the last time a marlin was caught at Castlepoint was in 1996”.
“I got the call to say that a marlin was caught, and I thought, ‘Oh my goodness’, then realised, ‘Right, I better get my a into g’, and off I went.”
Cameron confirmed the fish clocked in at 84.14kg.
