28/01/18 Another Trout Experience HOFC 27-28 January 2018
Another Hooked On Fishing Club Malta great trip to Sicily for Trout fishing commenced on Saturday the 27th January 2018 when we all gathered at the Virtu Ferries catamaran terminal. It was an early start to make our way to Sicily, we all met at 3:30 for a 5:00 departure and arrived to Pozallo port at around 7:15.
Weather was favorable which made it a pleasant trip. Arrived in Sicily and made our way over to the city of Ragusa where everyone started settling in their rooms.
As this was a friends & family trip a visit to La Messerie shopping complex was the way to start the day. This went down well with all present as we all know us Maltese love a good bargain. Later in the afternoon we also visited a local fishing tackle shop where some other good bargains were up for grabs.
We all met up again in the evening to go over for a Giro Pizza at one of the city’s best restaurant ‘Vecchia Ragusa’ , which was very satisfying & enjoyable apart from the various tasty types of pizza we also had continuous flowing wine , great service by the staff & most of all in company of a great family as always.
The next morning kicked off with a continental breakfast at the hotel were everyone was up quite sharp and ready to go & experience a trout fishing session. The venue was quite a distance away from the city centre to Palazzolo .We all enjoyed magnificent views driving through the countryside of which you could see abundant amounts of different species of birds & various other animals feeding off the grass in the fields.
Upon the arrival at the venue everyone started to pick out their gear to make their way to the venue. This was a mesmerizing view for all to see such a well-kept and perfect set up for such an organized event. The place just drawn everyone in and the tranquility was unbelievably a relaxing one. Everyone started to rig up their tackle to start casting the first casts of which you could see some anglers excited especially ones that never experienced fresh water fishing not knowing what to expect. The fishing session started and you could see the anglers concentrating on any movements of their floats for any indication that there is fish attracted to their bait. After a good quarter of an hour patiently waiting there was a few hook ups of trout. That was the only thing needed to get the anglers adrenaline pumping. Apart from various sized Trout there was also Roach & Carp caught which had to be immediately released to ensure conservation of these species. This was a three hour session with a break in between, unfortunately these felt a quick three hours as everyone was lost in their own world during the match. It was time to call the end of the session & commenced weighing the fish.
The outcome for the first place was quite a tight one as 2 anglers had 8 fish which ended up in waiting for the numbers on the scales to prove the winner and the result was as follows in first place Joseph Farrugia , second place Joseph Magri , third place Christopher Magri & fourth place Jonathan Farrugia. Section wins were Ninu Zhara & Adrian Nelson. All the gear was packed away to make our way to the ‘Ristorante La Trota’ which the ambience was very welcoming and different as it was set up in one of the manmade caves in this great venue. Again another abundant lunch was served and trophies presented to the winners.
That was the trip coming to an end as we had to make our way to the quay of ‘Pozzallo’ to make our way home to Malta. On behalf of all that attended this trip would like to thank the club for such an organised event which takes a lot of time and dedication to organise especially the President Peter Paul Azzopardi for most of the organisation. Also thanks to all that attended as it was a pleasant couple of days well spent with family & friends.