September 9th 2022 – The beach of Blu International Camping at Lago di Bolsena is the place anglers accessed the tournament arena of the 8th Hobie Fishing European Championship powered by OKUMA for the practice day. Form 8:00AM this morning competitors were allowed to head onto the Lake and start their scouting for this weekends event.
After a heavy night storm, the weather cleared up this morning and everyone could go out to fish. The weekend will bring a lot of sun with temperatures ranging between 26-28 degrees Celcius.
Target species will be Black Bass, a first for the Hobie Fishing European Championship. This got competitors really excited. A total of 68 competitors representing 12 countries made their way to the iconic Lago di Bolsena to chase the Bass. Each competition day they can upload their 5 biggest Bass to the TourneyX leaderboard. Whoever get the most length after two days of fishing wins the title, a spot in the Hobie Fishing Worlds and an amazing prize package.
Italy is well represented this year in the competitor field. Bolsena native Marco Pasquini, who won Black Bass events at this Lake before, is a guy that potentially could take it all. When asked, he humbly answers that there are many good anglers at the event and it will be a hard competition. Many of the foreign competitors have never fished for Black Bass, but adapt quickly. After a day on the water, the general reaction: ‘Yes, I have caught fish and have somewhat of an idea what I’m going to do the next couple of days. But it is still fishing and much can change overnight.’
After everyone officially registered at the camping and received the goodie bags and tournament jersey it was time to head to the ‘Castello di Bolsena’ for the official event opening and captains briefing. This definitely was the best setting we have had for the Captains briefing in all events. Right next to the Castle overlooking Lago di Bolsena with some delicious appetizers directly after.
HFE2022 competition day one will start tomorrow morning at 7:00AM. The morning briefing will take place at 6:00AM. Key tags have to be back on the board by 3:00PM in the afternoon.
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 – Pre Fish Day Gallery
