September 10th – The 8th Hobie Fishing European Championship powered by OKUMA have begun. At 7:00AM this morning, 68 anglers pedalled through the Power-Pole starting line and threw their lures at Lago di Bolsena. Within minutes, the first catch was uploaded to the TourneyX live leaderboard.
When the competitors arrived at the launch beach this morning, the full moon slowly disappeared behind the hills, and the sun worked its way up the sky. Anglers were finishing their preparation of the kayaks and tackle before being pulled in for the briefing and key tag allocation, before taking the water. When all anglers arrived at the starting line, the Italian national anthem was played prior to the countdown and start of the Hobie Fishing Euros Competition Day 1!
A promise was made that Lago di Bolsena would deliver fish. And lots of it. All we can say there is that the Lake delivered. And how!!!! The first hour and a half, more than 100 fish got scored and there is still more coming in a regular base. By 10:30 AM we are right at the 200 fish mark.
As the day progressed, the temperatures rose and the the pace slowed down. Giving the judges some time to catch their breath again. From 2:00PM the first anglers returned to the beach whilst some others gave it their final push just around HQ. With a minute to spare, all anglers returned in time and the fishing of HFE2022 Competition Day 1 is over.
After a day full of fish, 394 were being uploaded, almost everyone recorded as least one fish, and the competition is still wide open. 2019 Hobie Fishing European Champion Frédéric Portner (FR) is currently in the lead with 195cm of Black Bass. Followed by Tomaso Sbrana (IT), Nicola Panaero (IT) and Luca Santenini (IT) all having 181 cm. Ties are broken by biggest caught fish. Jonas Michelberger completes the top 5 with 180 cm.
Check out the leaderboard here.
Everybody will have dinner tonight in the trattoria of Blu International Camping to lay a good foundation for the final day of HFE2022.
The 8th Hobie Fishing European Championship powered by OKUMA would not be possible without the extensive help of our sponsors and partners. A big thanks to: Okuma, Power-Pole, Lowrance, Rapala, Sufix, VMC, Hobie Eyewear, BerleyPro, Rebel Cell and our Hobie kayak dealer in Bolsena, Bolsena Yachting.
HFE2022 – COMP DAY 1 GALLERY
