Trophy: Striped marlin, yellowtail kingfish, snapper.

Hunting grounds: New Zealand.

Trophy room: First kayak striped marlin in New Zealand, New Zealand Kayak Fishing Series champion.

What is a trophy catch

A trophy catch has to be something that not many others have achieved. For example, many anglers consider a 20-pound snapper a trophy. When I first started, that was definitely a prize. Now, I set my eyes on a 30-pounder.

Toughest accomplishment

I started fishing to feed my young family. When a buddy got a kayak, I scraped up every penny and bought a cheap, used kayak. On my first trip, I smashed my personal best snapper and I was hooked. After that, I started fishing every weekend.

To catch a trophy, you have to fish where they live. Long paddles through tough conditions is the price Kerry Flowers pays. | PHOTO: KERRY FLOWERS

Favorite fish story

That would have to be my striped marlin catch. The forecast was for 20-knot winds so I figured I’d stay inshore and fish for snapper. When I got to the fishing grounds, the wind wasn’t blowing so I worked my way offshore. I caught a couple skipjack and set them out as livebait. I was six miles offshore when I decided to turn and work my way back in. That’s when the line-out alarm on my reel gave a little chirp. I picked up the rod. The line was slack. I started reeling and I could feel weight. I tightened the drag and line started spewing off the reel. Then, a huge marlin jumped out of the water just off the bow. I fought it for 20 minutes and had it on the leader. Reached out and touched its sickle tail and the huge fish took off again. After another 45 minutes of give and take, the hook pulled out of the fish. The fish dragged me three miles farther offshore, and the wind kicked up, so I had to paddle 10 miles back in a headwind.

What motivates you?

I’m a gambler at heart. The chance of hooking a big fish really gets me going.

Advice to Future trophy hunters?

Don’t let initial failure put you off and never give up. I lost more big fish than I’ve caught and there have been many times during competitions that I have caught prize winning fish when most have given up and headed for shore

How do you celebrate?

I like to write stories about my achievements. I post trip reports on our local kayak fishing forum (www.kayakfishingnz.com) and Facebook. I have a computer full of fishing photos.


This article was first published in the Winter 2016 issue of Kayak Angler Magazine. Subscribe to Kayak Angler Magazine’s print and digital editions, or browse the archives.

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Ric Burnley
Kayak Angler editor Ric Burnley has been kayak fishing since the dawn of the sport. In 2007, Burnley wrote The Complete Kayak Fisherman, with chapters on how-to make a PVC rod holder and glue a fish finder transducer to the hull. In 2013, he landed his dream job as editor of Kayak Angler magazine. Burnley is a regular contributor to Salt Water Sportsman, Sport Fishing, Outdoor Life, In the Bite and other print and online publications. Burnley lives in Virginia Beach with his wife, adult daughter, daughter’s boyfriend and daughter’s two cats. Experience In 2004, Ric Burnley stole his first milk crate from behind a 7-Eleven and fashioned it into a gear crate for his Ocean Kayak Prowler 15. Many years and many milk crates later, Burnley has witnessed the rise of kayak fishing from a bastardized fringe element to a legitimate industry with millions of devotees. The journey to becoming an angler started early in Burnley’s life. His father, Eric Burnley, is a renowned outdoor writer and former fishing guide, so the boy grew up in the cockpit of a charter boat and in the pages of national magazines. After college, Burnley lost easy access to his father’s boat, but not his passion for fishing. Once he had exhausted the limits of land-based angling, Burnley decided to try out a new thing called kayak fishing. About the same time, Burnley was looking for extra work to pay for his expensive addiction. His father, editor of the Mid-Atlantic Fisherman Magazine, offered him freelance assignments for the weekly publication. That led to a position as regional editor at Salt Water Sportsman, publication of The Complete Kayak Fisherman and editorship of Kayak Angler. Meanwhile, Burnley and his partner-in-crime, “Kayak Kevin” Whitley were exploring the boundaries of kayak fishing. With the bountiful Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean as their playground, the two anglers were the first to target big red drum, cobia, trophy striped bass, monster black drum, sheepshead and many other species. Once inshore species were exhausted, Burnley loaded his kayak onto motorboats and fished for bluefin tuna, blackfin tuna, king mackerel and amberjack. All the while, Burnley shared his experiences and knowledge with anglers through print, photos, video, radio, seminars and online. Almost 20 years later, Burnley continues to fish obsessively and share the stories. His recent projects for Kayak Angler cover the latest trends in forward-facing sonar and remote-controlled electric motors. Over the past two decades, kayak fishing and Ric Burnley have come a long way from PVC rod holders and stolen milkcrates. Education ● Radford University: BA English; Virginia Teacher’s License. Highlights ● Other Interests: Mountain biking, traveling, hiking, surfing and skateboarding ● Day Job: High School English teacher at an alternative school for at-risk students Fun Fact Ric’s name is a contraction of Eric. Ric is named after his father, Eric Sr. To differentiate between the two Erics, Mrs. Burnley removed her son’s E. To this day, she writes the boy’s name ‘Ric, with an apostrophe replacing the E.

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