Four days of continuous fishing begins next week with the start of the Tauranga Game Fishing Club's One Base competition on Wednesday.
Entries were looking like being down a bit this year, but club manager Grant Holley says reports of marlin in the Bay this week has prompted a flurry of late entries.

The charted competition ground.

'It's going off at the moment,” says Grant.
The rules have been changed this year to remove mandatory daily reporting. It means trailer boat owners can launch at Te Kaha or Waihau Bay.
'They don't have to race back and forth every day to register,” says Grant. 'They can fish anywhere.”
The fishing ground is chart 54, which includes the Bay of Plenty Coastline from the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula to past East Cape.
This week Grant had about 120-130 boats entered, and thinks he might get 180 boats if the rush continues.
'The economic times are quite tough for some people,” says Grant. 'A lot of guys are saying they can't get crew, they can't afford to take the time off work.
'I guess it's just not easy to tell the boss you are taking five days off to go fishing. But the other side of it is so many businesses are running so lean, the boss is not able to take so much time off either.”