15/05/16 1st Leg H.O.F.C Xuereb Installations Ltd Singles League 2016
Hooked On Fishing Club Malta
1st Leg H.O.F.C Xuereb Installations Ltd Singles League 2016. Click Here to see all photos
15/05/16 Venue : Held at Mellieha (Santa Marija Estate)
The time had finally arrived for the much anticipated Hooked on fishing club , Xuereb installations Ltd League 2016. This was held at Mellieha ‘Santa Marija’ estate on the 15th May 2016, which was quite a chilly morning and wet with it had been raining earlier. The weather conditions were far from favourable but they were within limits to proceed, it was assessed by the Committee members & deemed safe enough to go ahead.
The competition started like usual, with the participants arriving around 05:30hrs were some met at the main road in Mellieha as it was the first time they fished this venue & others just made their way down. All the participants were present with a few new members introduced to other club members which soon enough they could feel they were welcomed by everyone which has never been an issue in our club’s family. There was no time wasted as the draw of the sections & pegs commenced whilst two members of the committee started placing the pegs ready for all the Anglers taking part. At the same time the H.O.F.C Jackpot number was drawn & this was number 21 which meant if the Angler fishing at peg 21 managed to win on the day they could walk away with no less than 268 euros. The Anglers made their way to the locations slowly as this venue is quite a rocky area so ensured everyone arrived safely & started preparing the gear, tackle & ground bait. The signal was sounded as expected at 07:00hrs were the anglers started ground baiting & casting their first casts. It was not that productive at the early stage but it soon picked up a little, with a few bottom fish caught & quite some boxlip mullet. The weather conditions started deteriorating at the latter part of the competition when the WNW winds started picking up & made it difficult to control their rods & the line from tangling. There was a couple of Moray eels also caught on the day of which one of them was weighed in as the biggest fish. The Marshalls started to prep a snack for all Anglers which this time the costs were covered by Giovanni Mercieca which we would like to thank. This went down a treat with the anglers as it has now become the norm in every competition.
The Signal sounded at 11:00hrs to end the competition & the weigh in process started. You could see all the anglers quite keen as this was the first Leg of this League & everyone would of liked to start wrapping points up as early in the league as possible due to it is a very difficult one with a very good number of Anglers .
Once the weigh in process was complete it was time for the presentation of the vouchers sponsored ‘Fishin Fever tar-Rabat’ & Angler Centre. As usual every one gathered around for the presentation discussing & sharing their experiences of the day & what they could of done better whilst refreshments were mad available thanks to General Soft Drinks Malta & biscuits that Sandra Agius Darmanin brought for us. There were also raffle tickets available for a Bolognese Rod sponsored by ‘Fishin fever Tar Rabat that was won by Peter Paul Azzopardi.
The winners of this first leg were in 1st Place Josef Cassar with 2 Kilos 160 grams in 2nd place Luke Bonnici with 1 Kilo 810 grams & in Joint 3rd place Alexander Spiteri & Carmel Spiteri.
Section Wins: Raymond Farrugia, Peter Paul Azzopardi, Angelo Romano & Maverick Muliett which was nice to see him win a trophy on his debut with the Club.
Biggest Fish Alexander Spiteri : Moray Eel 660 grams.
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.