Next Meeting Wednesday 26th March
At Waiuku Cossie Club
Meeting starts at 7.30pm Nationals Debrief and Prize Draw
The Waiuku Cossie Club has generously donated a $500 bar & dinner voucher. If you caught fish in the 2025 Nationals, you’ll get one entry into the draw for every 100 points you earned.
You do not need to be a Cossie Club member to attend. All CSFC members and guests welcome. Why not come early and take advantage of the great food on offer at the Cossie Club.
Important Note: if you intend to have a meal before the meeting it would pay to book to avoid disappointment as the restaurant is very popular and often full.
ShuntersRestaurantPhone 092359131ext5
Counties Sport Fishing Club
We are a family friendly West coast club based in Waiuku, just south of Auckland. With around 1000 members, trailer boats make up the majority of our fleet. Celebrating fishing of all kinds, from the humble Gurnard to the mighty Broadbill. Club waters span from Raglan north head to Kaipara south head and include the Manukau harbour and Waikato river.
To join the club click HERE
COUNTIES
Bits & Bobs
Youth Nationals 2025
There will be a briefing meeting at the Cossie Club on the 9th April at 6pm. Please come along if you are entering the youth nationals this year.
Disqualified Fish
We would like to remind you that all our major competitions are fished under IGFA rules, and any fish that are not caught under those rules will be disqualified. During our recent competitions several fish, including potential winning fish, were disqualified due to rule infringements. Please make sure you know the rules and check your fishing gear is legal to avoid possible disappointment. The rules are available from NZSFC just click on the yearbook photo to go to them online. We will also be running a monthly feature, starting this month, in the newsletter and social media highlighting some of the rules.
Smoking at the Green Shed
Smoking and Vaping are not allowed inside the green shed. We will be adding additional signage to the shed to highlight this. If you want to smoke or vape at a prizegiving event please move well away from the green shed to do so, thank you.
Alcohol at Events
When there is an event that has a bar it is strictly forbidden to bring any alcohol into the event. This is a condition of our licence and anyone bringing alcohol into the event risks us losing the ability to have a bar facility at future events. Disappointingly someone was caught at a recent event bringing their own alcohol on to site. This person was removed from the event and the committee has taken the decision to ban them from any Counties events for the next 12 months. We take this extremely seriously and will not tolerate anyone breaking these rules.
In case you haven't seen it yet, Shane Jones has released a 71-page proposal to reform the Fisheries Act. This so-called “reform” is a blatant scam – if it goes through, it will mean weaker environmental protections, more wasted fish, and fewer fish for everyday Kiwis – all while handing more power to corporate quota holders and reducing regulatory oversight.
Here's what's happening:
Commercial fishers could turn off cameras whenever it suits them, hiding what's happening at sea. We already know that just 30% of boats with cameras revealed a 700% increase in dolphin bycatch reports, 46% more fish dumped than previously reported, and 900+ times more kingfish discards reported. What else is there to hide?
Under the new proposals, commercial operators would be allowed to toss even more fish overboard. That means more dumping, more high-grading (where only the best fish are kept, and the rest are discarded), and more damage to our fisheries.
The Minister wants the power to increase commercial catch limits for up to 5 years without public consultation. That means more bulk harvest, more damage, and no way for the public to push back.
This is the final step in privatising New Zealand's fish – locking them up in the hands of a few quota owners while Kiwis get squeezed out. More trawling, more bycatch, and fewer fresh fish on Kiwi tables.
MAKE A SUBMISSION
Huge win at the Kubota Classic
Counties and Tauranga Sport Fishing Club (Inc.) members joined forces and made history, taking out the heaviest billfish of the Kubota Classic! A oncein-a-million fish llanded by an epic team—Graham, Myles, Andy, John, Dean, and Tracey.
Graham put in an incredible five-hour fight to land this massive 320kg Broadbill, followed by a four-hour journey to get it back for the night for weigh-in .
Previous Newsletters
Newsletters, back to January 2018, are available online here. They have been uploaded in higher resolution then the old pdf versions were emailed out in, so the pictures especially should be better quality.
Something for the Newsletter?
We’re always looking for items to include, so if you have a fishing report, some photos, or just a good story to tell please drop me an email on kevin@nzsteele.com
Counties Classic Results
TheweatherforthisyearsClassicwasunbelievablygood,withallthreedays beinggoodenoughtofishoverthebar. Therewerealsosomegreatfishcaught intheharbourtoo. Herearetheoverallresults.
Huge congratulations to Matthew Torpey, fishing on Beefeater, who was the lastmanstandingandwonthetopprizeofatriptoHawaiitogogamefishing withHighFlierGamefishingforhimandhismates.
CSFC
27THAPRIL2025
IGFA Rules
Counties Sport Fishing Club are affiliated to the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council (NZSFC) and they are affiliated to the International Game Fishing Association (IGFA). The IGFA are an international body who set the rules for gamefishing around the world, and any fish has to be caught under these rules to be eligible for a world record. We also fish all our major competitions under IGFA rules, so you must abide by these rules for any fish you catch to be eligible in our competitions. We’ll be highlighting some of these rules each month in the newsletter and on our social media.
This month we are looking at leader lengths, as this caused several people to be disqualified in our recent competitions. There are three important measurements that you need to check. The length of the double on your mainline, the length of the leader on your lure and the overall combined length.
IMPORTANT NOTE
It is possible to have a legal double length and a legal leader length, but still have an illegal overall length.
It is important that you check all combinations of your gear to make sure that you do not exceed the overall length. If you have different lengths of wind on leaders on rods and different leader lengths on lures it can be very easy to put a combination together while rigging at sea that exceeds the maximum overall length. You need to check before heading out as it is virtually impossible to check the length on the boat.
It’s a great idea to mark out the lengths somewhere at home, in the garage or on the drive and then you can easily check all combinations. If you cannot do this at home there is a length measure marked in the concrete next to the weigh shed at Te Toro that you can use.
Whenever you buy a new lure always check the leader length before using it. Depending on your double and wind-on leader length it may be necessary to shorten the leader on the lure to keep it legal.
Here’s a handy quick guide to make sure you stay legal
NZSFC Podcast
HERE to listen to the podcasts
Pod and Reel: The NZSFC Podcast
Welcome to the Pod and Reel podcast, presented by the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council, a national body with over 50 affiliated clubs across New Zealand, and over 37,000 members. Since 1957, NZSFC has focussed on setting standards for responsible fishing practices, collating records, organising events like the Nationals, and supporting its affiliated fishing clubs. This podcast dives deep into the history, the people, and the clubs that make up our fishing community. We’ll explore the highs and lows of fishing and learn from mistakes made, striving to be better, safer, and smarter when we interact with the water. With 15,000 kilometres of coastline, New Zealand’s fishing history is rich with stories of the tussle between us and the sea.
Join us as we delve into these topics and more on the Pod and Reel podcast, your gateway to the world of all things fishing in New Zealand.
President Matthew Douglas
Secretary Barbara Prescott
027 5757411 fishdougie@hotmail.com
027 6938431 15bjpre@gmail.com
Treasurer Nick King 021 02887606 csfcoffice@gmail.com
Vice President Stephen Harper 021 373334 sharperuku@gmail.com
Committee Bob Hilton 027 4880563 Bob.hilton9@gmail.com
Mike Oldfield
020 41079843 biffnmell@gmail.com
Patrick Egan 021 2710533 patrick@eganbricklayers.co.nz
Shane Johnston 027 4889073 shanej@envirowater.co.nz
Bruce Sloane 2357729 027 4061581 bruzasloane@yahoo.co.nz
Phil Nicklin 027 2207775 philandces@gmail.com
Nick Murdoch 02102696635 Nick@apscivil.co.nz
Social Media Polly Eyre 0210 527 604 maizienz@hotmail.com
Fish ‘n Chicks Claire Hull
027 2043151 clairehull1316@gmail.com
Newsletters Kevin Steele 021 2301917 kevin@nzsteele.com
Head Weighmaster Stephen Watts 2352002 021 0335145 teressawatts@slingshot.co.nz
Non Committee
Weighmasters Scott Warrender
021 626076
Pete Sellers 0210 412 943 phsellers@outlook.com
Sarah Parkinson 2356494 021 669944 Sparks.s@xtra.co.nz
Charlie Norton
021 1640300
Michael Parker 021654741
Colin Marriner 0274523991
NZFC Reps Stephen Harper 021 373334 sharperuku@gmail.com
Darin Burns 2356456 027 2224538 Darin.laura@hotmail.com
Merchandise Alvin Pacey 021 544276 allynpace@hotmail.com
Leader Board
Leader Board
LENGTH RECORDS we need a clear photo of the fish on the approved measure, which are available for $25. The photo must be of the whole fish lying on its side with the mouth touching the head of the measure. We will need details of where it was caught and the name of the angler.
