3rd Leg H.O.F.C Angler Doubles League 2016.
This 3rd leg was held on the 28th February, the propsed Primary Venue for this Leg was Boilers Wharf Senglea but due to port procedures the permit it was not issued hence we had to go for the alternative venue which was Senglea Quay 1. Everyone started to meet up at around 05:30hrs at the meeting point & you could see the concerns of the participants as the weather were not favourable / marginal. The high winds made this Leg more difficult were the wind was blowing gusts of force 7, although we opted a sheltered area it did not matter where you fished in them conditions. I was still proving very difficult, never the less this did not stop from the competitors doing there upmost to land fish.
Once everyone managed to get to the location as usual all the pegs were being marked up whilst the draw for the assigned pegs were being called out. At the same time the H.O.F.C Jackpot number was drawn & this was number 8 which meant if the team fishing at peg 8 managed to win on the day they could walk away with no less than 180 euros. At 07:00hrs the start signal sounded were all the Anglers had managed to rig up all the gear, tackle & ground bait. Straight away you could see that this was going to be a challenging match as there was very few bites & nothing special being landed by the competitors. The bites were scarce & it seemed that only bottom fish were biting. A few species that were caught on the day were annular bream, wrasse, bouge & damsel fish. To relieve a little of the disappointment of lack of fish, it was time for the Marshalls of the day to prepare a light snack which was a ‘Ham Burger’
It was soon time to start the weigh in process which was 11:00hrs were everyone was keen to see what was caught on the day & how well they did & sharing each other’s experiences. Once all the weights were in it was time for the presentation of the vouchers from the sponsors ‘Fishing Fever tar Rabat’ & Angler Centre which is also the main sponsor of this doubles League. Biggest Fish Trophy by Tubertini Malta & refreshments by General Soft Drinks Ltd. Raffle item supplied Angler, also a thank you to Sandra Agius Darmanin for the home baked cake
The winners of this third Leg were in 1st place Josef Cassar & Miguel Grech with a weight of 1 Kilos 580 grams, in 2nd place James Gilson & Michael Godfrey with 1 Kilo 230 grams & in 3rd place Jonathan Bonnici & Joseph Ellul with 1 Kilo 190 grams.
Section Winners on the day were: Luke Bonnici & Luwk Borg / Sandro Zammit & Brian Farrugia / Paul Sammut & Brady Sammut.
Biggest Fish: Peter Paul Azzopardi ( Moray Eel)
Wish to emphasize that all the fish caught where all released were possible with the anglers ensuring minimum harm done to the fish when handling the fish. The Club practices catch and release in order to ensure sustainability and to avoid overfishing of fish from our waters.