Northland Sports Fishing Legend Honoured

Northland Sports Fishing Legend Honoured

Legendary Northland sports fisherman ‘Snooks’ Fuller has been internationally recognised for his long career in sports fishing in the Bay of Islands and overseas.

Snooks is to be inducted in the Legendary Captains and Crews Hall of Fame of the International Game Fishing Association at a special ceremony at the association’s Florida headquarters on February 16.

Snooks is the third member of the Bay of Islands Swordfish Club to be inducted, after Alma Baker in 2006 and John Chibnall MNZM in 2012.

Club President Trevor Woolston says: “We are extremely proud of these members and the strong history of the Bay of Islands Swordfish Club, New Zealand’s oldest fishing club.

“These inductions highlight the strong part this club has played in the development of game fishing and the conservation of the sports fishing resource. Our club has been at the forefront of protection of the recreational fishing scene in New Zealand and now works internationally with the IGFA to ensure that the world’s oceans are protected from over fishing and species depletion.”

The Fuller name is synonymous with the Bay of Islands, with Snooks’ grandfather starting the iconic New Zealand marine business in 1886 delivering mail and supplies by boat around the Bay of Islands and picking up cream from the various farms, later to become popular among tourists as the famous Cream trip.

The Fuller family involvement in the marine industry meant that a marine career was always on the card for ‘Snooks’. At age 19, he designed and built his now famous sports fishing boat Lady Doreen, using Kauri trees felled near Kaitaia and milled at a timber mill at Rangiahua. The timber was transported to Deeming Brothers boat building shed at Opua where the Lady Doreen took shape, later going on to become one of New Zealand’s best known sports fishing boats and is still in use 61 years later.

Snooks will be inducted alongside five other international sports fishing legends; Captain Jimmie Albright (USA), Captain Bob Lewis (USA), Captain Frank LoPreste (USA), Captain Gary Stuve (USA) and Captain Laurie Mitchell (USA), who fished in the Bay of Islands with famous American angler Zane Grey.

ENDS

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