The third Hobie® Fishing European Championship powered by Lowrance and GoFree isover. It has been an amazing weekend with lots of fish caught. A total of 40 out of 48 anglers managed to get on the result list.
Going into day two, Mikael Puhakka from Sweden had a small lead on the other competitors. As the conditions were a lot tougher on the second day, it really was an open competition. Lots of wind made the competitors change their tactics, but this is where the MirageDrive® kayaks got in and proved their strength again. Pedaling against the wind keeps the kayaks right on position.
When the competitors came back to the event site it was clear a lot of them managed to find fish and the tournament team went to sort out the scoring. Anglers packed everything up and went to freshen up before the award dinner at Nolhage Slott later in the evening.
After the group photo it was time to go to the award presentation. The top ten received amazing prize packages. We are very grateful to our sponsors: Lowrance, GoFree, Shimano, Rapala, Storm, VMC and Sufix.
This year the top three competitors shared two things. They were all new to the Hobie Fishing European Championships, and they are very good anglers.
Rene Winklinger came in third place. He managed to get a big pike in day one and filled up his bags with smaller pike, perch and zanders. He got a total of 349 centimeters of fish to claim his position. Besides getting third place, the 88-cm pike he got in day one took the Big Fish Award. Great job!
Second place was for the Swedish angler Mikael Puhakka. Het lead the competition after day one, but despite his better second day (224 cm of fish) he couldn’t hold the lead. He got a total of 426 cm of fish and claimed second place in the tournament. This position awards the right to compete in sixth annual Hobie Fishing Worlds. It happens to be that Mikael already was qualified for the Worlds by winning the Swedish National Kayakfishing Competition. This means Rene Winklinger from Austria is qualified for the 6th Hobie Fishing Worlds in Louisiana, USA later this year. Congratulations!
This leaves only the number one. Coming from a third place after day one, Florian Le Hetet managed to get a staggering 299 cm on his measuring board the second day, resulting in winning the Hobie Fishing European Championship title. He handled the winds better than anybody else and landed 6 legal size fish giving him the lead and the title. He received a great prize package including a Lowrance fishfinder, rod and a reel from Shimano, a Storm lure package and qualification for the 6th Hobie Fishing Worlds including an airfare ticket voucher to Louisiana, USA in December. Congratulations Florian!
For more photos, visit the Hobie Fishing Euros website.
