Kubota Fishing Tournament 2025
The Kubota Classic was bigger than ever this year, with over 470 boats competing in the Whitianga-based tournament. And what would the tournament be without their shot gun start? An epic way to kick off four fantastic days’ fishing. I can only describe the feeling of sitting among 470 odd other boats idle waiting for the countdown to begin as exciting and a little bit airy. As soon as founder Tom Maxwell called the start on the radio, it was hammers-down for all boats as we ran full-throttle to the fishing grounds.
We headed out wide. We had heard reports that the marlin fishing out of Whitianga wasn’t great at the time but the swordfishing was picking up, so we had prepared the boat for both swording and trolling. Day one of the tournament, we didn’t see much outside of catching a couple of albacore tuna. Whilst out, our sounder started failing... Not the news Barns wanted on day one of the Kubota that’s for sure! Fishing till dark, we ran back into Whitianga to pick up the parts that had been SUB60’ed from Auckland and anchored in Cooks Beach for the night while Barns repaired the sounder.
Day Two, we headed back out before first light, thankfully with a working sounder, and had the lures in the water by daybreak. Although many of the boats in the tournament headed to the fishing area called The Footprint, we carried on out wide, fishing near the Colville Knoll in hopes of catching a decent roaming blue marlin. And that we did! Just as I was about to serve lunch, the ‘ZIP!’ of one of the lines went off and it was all hands on-deck to get the gear cleared so we could back up on the fish. It was about 1.30pm when we landed the beautiful blue and started guessing her weight. The most common guesses were around the 190–200kg mark. We fished in the same area for a couple more hours, getting one more bite that didn’t stick before we had to head to the weigh station.
Coming into Whitianga at sunset, the crowds at the weigh station were amazing. It was so cool to have the support of so many locals, old and young, who came out to see our blue marlin get weighed. The anticipation was high within the crowd, and our crew as we waited for the number to be called...
282kgs!
The shock of the crew and guests made this moment even more special as we all congratulated each other before getting our photo taken, handing the fish off to the local smoker and heading back out to go night swordfishing. Morale was high as we revelled in the shock of how big she weighed. We won the daily jackpot that day and were on the edge of our seats to hear what the sword being weighed the next morning was going to be.
Overnight we drifted for swordfish, with both the crew and guests taking shifts. That morning, the crew on Wild Bill weighed in their swordfish at 320kgs; an awesome feat for them! This did push us out of the running for the Heaviest Billfish prize, but we were still in second place for points overall. No avail on the overnight sword, so we headed back out to the Colville Knoll, trolling for a marlin. That afternoon we did tag a striped marlin, our first marlin of the competition.
Day Four... anticipation was high on board for the final day! We started still in second place for points, and as the day went on, kept a keen eye on the Kubota Classic Facebook page for updates, knowing we were just one tagged fish away from potentially securing the second points prize. The boys were all on the edge of their seats; to be honest, I don’t think the lures and teasers have ever been stared at so much! As the hours ticked on, we saw little to no action and were pushed from second place to third, ending up in fourth place at stop fishing at 3pm. One last run from the knoll to Whitianga to get our tag card and rod checked to qualify our tagged fish and the tournament drew to a close.
At prizegiving the guests took home $37,800 for their Day Two daily jackpot and we left with a newfound determination to return the following year! Rafted up on what was dubbed by somebody ‘battleship row’, we returned to Ata Rangi for a great evening of well-deserved celebration alongside three of NZ’s other great game fishing boats. The Kubota has become a highlight of the fishing season for us all, thanks to the healthy dose of competitive spirit we all hold but also the fantastic community Tom Maxwell the founder has created around the event. I, for one, am definitely looking forward to next year!
