Reel Outdoors NZ's Rachel went into day three of the Legends of the Coast Taranaki 2026 surfcasting comp with a cold morning, a 3 a.m. wake-up, and a remote rock platform she and her partner Paul had been saving for the right tide. The right tide turned out to be the half-hour either side of high.
The couple's three-day campaign had started promisingly enough at 3 p.m. on day one — "Lines in the water at 3:00. See you guys all at the prize-giving. Bring it on," Paul said as the surfcasters spread along an open Taranaki beach — but day one and day two only delivered eaters, small spotted sharks and a couple of "yucky" conger eels. By the second night the team had moved spots twice chasing cleaner water and were already plotting where to be when the day-three high hit.
That plan put Rachel on a remote rock platform 30 minutes after the top of the tide. Her rod loaded up, and the take didn't feel like a school fish. "Sus. You want the rod?" Paul asked as he stopped it skating into the wash.
"Yeah, I am. Like a snapper, I think."
When the swell rolled the fish over, the pair realised they were looking at something well outside their normal sized class for the area. "Oh my god, that is phenomenal," Paul said as the snapper washed up the stones. "Let it wash. Holy [expletive]. This way. This way. Grab the rod."
"I've got it," Rachel said. "That's the biggest snapper of my life."
With the tide already pushing them off, the pair were stranded on the platform until the water dropped. There was no shortage of time to enjoy the moment. "Wow. I think you won the comp, darling," Paul said. "Look at that. That's a fish. I think you are the legend of the coast."
Rachel's verdict on the early start was characteristically direct. "That 3 o'clock get out of bed was worth it."
The Reel Outdoors gear list was straight off the wall — Shimano Power Aero 14000 XSC and Ultegra 14000 surf reels on the BX425 rods, BKK 4/0 Octopus Beak and 5/0 Heavy Circle hooks, Speedmaster 6.6 kg mono and a Daiwa Shorecast 20 lb mono on the second outfit, plus Simms Flyweight wading boots with studs to keep them on the slick rocks. None of it was new, none of it was particularly clever — it was the willingness to be on a rock platform at 3:30 a.m. on day three of a long, cold comp that turned the trip into a story.
Weights from the Legends of the Coast Snapper Hunt prize-giving will sort out the official leaderboard, but the headline inside the Reel Outdoors NZ camp was already in the can by the time the tide had dropped enough for the couple to walk back to the truck. "Well done you," Paul told Rachel. "Well done us."