Following a three month break in the competition calendar, this event was hotly contended by a strong field of 22 anglers on Lake Whakamaru.

Normally a summer venue, practice visits had suggested the fishing would be tough and that was certainly the case with more than half the field suffering at least one blank session over the two days.

The weather mixed things up to mark the arrival of meteorological Spring, with wind torrential rain and warm sunshine in equal measure over the weekend, too.

With that in mind, consistency was key, and Mark Clasper was the very model of that performing well in every session and winning by some margin, but all the other placings went right to the last, with Hydro lake specialist Tim Rich just grabbing runner-up with a terrific final session and 2023 Lakes Champion, Billy Thrupp, snatching third with a very late fish.

Suzie Foggo continued her recent good form, as the top female angler in fifth, and Tim Rich had the biggest fish with a superb 63cms brownie.

This was the first competition for Mark Clasper this year, following an injury, so he was even more delighted with the result. Mark said “it was a typical hard winter hydro comp where a high percentage of the catch is bigger brownies who often follow but don’t take the fly. I used a di3, di5 and fast sink tip at various times during the comp according to depth, light levels and then feedback from the fish. Key for me in the second session win was early feedback back that they were high in the column and amenable to quite a fast strip retrieve. Certainly, the fish seemed more lethargic in the mornings. The other key was to cast to structure if possible and just to get the basics right - straight cast, change retrieve until you get a response, vary count until you get a response, and hang at the end. Successful flies for me were a pink tadpole, orange

bead green damsel and a mirtzel (my version of a Hirtzelbugger).

I would like to thank Tim Anderson for organizing, Billy for filling in for my entry partner who had to pull out and my boat partners who were good to work with and great company, as well as Manic Tackle Project for their support.”

Organiser Tim Anderson said “It was great to see a large field of anglers contesting the competition as this event is not known for high fish numbers. While the fishing was challenging those anglers who moved around the lake fishing a variety of water depths and areas with structure present were rewarded.

It was also encouraging to see two members of the senior team development squad on the podium and another in fourth place. I would also like to mention how well two anglers fishing their first lake competitions did with Tom Johnson in sixth and Lewis Peart in eight place.