Get Your Fish On

Mandy Kupenga opens up the series with a challenge on the Coromandel to target the legendary Kingfish - a fish that always brings the fight. Joining her team on this episode is Princess Wirihana as they face off against Richmond Hollis and former All Blacks player, Tanerau Latimer. With the longest fish caught being the deciding factor, who will prevail in this all action contest with the losers having to cook up dinner.

In this episode the team's fishing skills are tested to the limit as they battle it out using basic fishing equipment, in the rich waters of the Coromandel. The teams face a series of time trial challenges and begin fishing around the famous mussel barges of the area where many fish congregate to take advantage of the burly trail which appears as the mussels are harvested.

In this episode, the teams face an overnight challenge, fishing around Great Barrier Island. Glen 'Oz' Osborne, who was capped 29 times by the All Blacks,  heads up the men's team and is keen to notch a victory. The challenge the teams face is to catch the total combined length of Snapper and Kingfish with the losers having to don aprons and prepare a fishy feast.

The teams head out of Sandspit, and in this episode they are after Kahawai with the first team to catch 3 to be declared the winner.  Widespread on the New Zealand coastline, Kahawai is the traditional Maori name for these fish which when translated means "brave" or "strong" (kaha) water (wai). In Australia, they are known as Australian Salmon and are a fantastic sport fish and give a spectacular, aerial fight and it isn't long before the teams get into some action.

The teams head out from Waihu Bay and this episode its Tuna on the menu. Mandy is facing off against her Dad this week adding a little extra spice to the challenge. They are targetting skipjack and albacore tuna and after some handlining for some smaller fish, the guys start trolling and Mandy's team mate, Jo hooks into the fish of a lifetime. This is no tuna and the teams take a break from the competition to celebrate this catch.

This week the teams are fishing in the Mokohinau Islands in a 5 fish challenge where the teams have to catch 5 different edible species. On the mens team this week is New Zealand's middleweight boxing champion, Josh Bowman. Can he deliver the knockout blow or will he be consigned to the kitchen to cook up the evening feast?

This week, Mandy and her teams make an early start and head out of Tutukaka to Sugar Loaf Rock where they are after trophy sized snapper. The challenge today is to catch 20lb weight of snapper with the fewest amount of fish and this area is reknowned for big ones. The losing team will as always be cooking up the catch for an evening feast.

The teams are with Wavedancer Charters out of downtown Auckland,  and head out to the Hauraki Gulf where this week's challenge is all about Snapper. The combined total length of snapper will win the challenge with the losers heading to the kitchen. The Hauraki Gulf is a rich marine habitat and the skipper looks for natural activity such as feeding gulls, ganets and dolphins to lead him to the fish.

In this weeks episode, the competitors head out to the Ranfurly Banks, 25 miles offshore the east coast of New Zealand and a reknowned fishing spot. To win this challenge, the competitors must catch 6 deep water edible fish. Catching fish this deep down means they can't be returned but nothing will go to waste as they will be all cooked for a special feast.

Today the teams depart from Leigh and head out thirteen nautical miles to Little Barrier Island. It's a fishing hotspot that should provide plenty of action with snapper and other species around. The winning team today will need to catch the longest fish with once again the losers cooking dinner.

In this episode, Mandy and her teams face a completely different challenge. Only allowed to venture 500m from the Kerikeri shore, the teams must catch and gather the finest seafood available and then cook it for the aunties. They won't know what the other team has caught or cooked so will need to excel to win this challenge.

Its another interesting fishing and cooking challenge as the teams are provided a list of seafood ingredients that they must gather and catch to cook up the best gourmet chowder. Fishing around the rich Mercury Islands, who will provide the best chowder.

In this challenge Mandy and her teams are up against the clock. With just an hour of fishing available in the first part of the challenge, the winning team needs to catch the most snapper possible. No bait allowed so the teams will have to rely on lures to win this. The next challenge is to catch Kingfish, with 3 points available for each fish.