Gabe Johnson, 64, thought he had used up all his luck winning more than $200,000 in Lotto, twice.
However, at the 16th Stabicraft Te Anau Manapouri Fishing Classic last weekend, he won a fishing boat when his name was drawn out of nearly 2000 entries.
Mr Johnson said every time he won something his mates would say "oh Tinny you lucky bastard" and so he had decided to name his boat "Tinny" because it meant good luck for him.
Mr Johnson said winning the boat was unreal and life changing for him and his family.
He was looking forward to taking family, friends and his six grandchildren — who all loved to fish — out on it.
Mr Johnson said he had been fishing all his life.
"Fishing runs in my blood, I’m from the islands and that’s all we do."
He caught a brown trout that weighed in at 3.5 pounds and was 47cm long.
He said he wanted to thank the organisers for the opportunity to win the boat after a fun weekend fishing with family and friends.
The event was run by Te Anau Community Events Charitable Trust and with the support of Stabicraft, and had the biggest prize pool of any fishing event in New Zealand.
The event was run on lakes Te Anau and Manapouri and the Upper Waiau River
with 867 fish caught over the weekend.
