It is hard to believe that I am writing this report already. Noordwijk 2023 Done and Dusted
The week has flown by. It started with a buzz and ended in a high.
Wednesday at 19:00 we started with the opening, draw of pegs, goodie bags, team photos and explanations of the rules. 3 rounds of typical Dutch fried snacks and herring were presented to the participants. Everything seemed to go down well.
55 anglers from 7 nations rearing to start.
On Thursday morning most were present for coffee and cake to celebrate Amber’s 17th birthday. At 07:00 we were down at the beach for bait distribution. All A team members called out their zone anglers. While we were waiting for the tractors everybody sang Happy Birthday for Amber.
All anglers seemed to be very happy with hopping on the back of the tractors on to the flatbeds. During the first 2 hours of the match not many fish were caught. Once most could get over the sandbar fish were coming and the whole situation changed Mainly flounders a few dabs and the odd seabass.
In A zone it was a neck in neck race between Björn Hansen and Miranda Koop. Björn was lucky to catch a fish in the last cast ended 1st in his zone with 10 fish , 205 cm. Miranda Koop 9 fish, 186 cm. 3rd was Albert Leeuwis with 7 fish totalling 138cm.
B zone wasn’t as spectacular. Hans Jürgen Gläser smashed his zone with 9 fish 215cm. Jurgen van Rijswijk trailed far behind with 4 fish 93 cm
Zone C turned out to be pretty exciting with 3 anglers having 6 fish and 3 with 5. Candido Del Signore had the advantage of larger fish. He won the zone with 5 fish, 125 cm. 2nd Haydn Cole 6 fish,117cm. 3rd place went to Paull Curtice 6 fish, 103cm.
D zone saw top angler Arjan Rijnberg end the match with 3 dubbles shots in the last 3 casts. 11 fish good for 225cm. Lamberto Cotogno was happy with 8 fish 177cm. Warren Doyle was on his tail with 7 fish 130cm
E zone also saw a cannon shoot for the stars. Andreas Burkhardt won the zone with 12 fish 329cm. Mike Flynn was 2nd with 6 fish 151cm. The weather was overcast and flat calm. Certainly not the best weather to have on this strech of beach. Top 3 after the first match Andreas Burkhard , Arjan Rijnberg and Björn Hansen
Unfortunatley the Wi-Fi dropped and our program crashed just as we were uploading the results. Clarinda and Miranda went over to Kim Bowden who was the hero of the night. By 23:00 we finally had the results posted in the managers app. This app was compiled of A and B team captains- individuals and HQ representatives. We like short lines and clarity. No mix ups with times, dates or places. Everybody gets the same info at the same time.
Day 2 the weather had changed a lot. It started off raining. The weather forecast was for thunder/ lightening storms around 13:00. During the speech Miranda gave every morning, anglers were warned about the possebility of having to end the match early. There was also a warning issued about all the bait packaging left on the beach. It is such a shame that we need to warn everybody day in day out about taking trash back with you. There was only a 50 to 100 meter walk towards all the rubbish bins on the beach. More waves and longer surf prooved very difficult for many anglers. Especially due to the fact that many left their gripleads at home. Just like Thursday it took a while before the fish started coming in. Jan van Pieterson won A zone with 6 fish 151 cm. Aldo Giannuario 2nd with 6 fish 140cm. Anonio Addotta 6 fish 131cm. In B zone it was a hit and miss all over the pegs. Arjan Rijnberg cleaned up again with 13 fish, 283cm. Andrea Burkhardt had to be happy with 8 fish 198cm. Alan Jones 5th with 5 fish 133cm. C zone was dominated by a female Ilonka Rijnberg 11 fish 209cm. Barrie Senior put up a good fight for 2nd with 8 fish 185cm. He had a 53cm seabass to run up the cm count. Pat Short, another lady came in 3rd with 5 fish 124cm.
John Marshall won D zone with 8 fish, 169cm. Albert Leeuwis also 8 fish but smaller, 134cm. Miranda Koop rd in the zone with 6 fish,128cm.
E zone won by Charles Laboure with 11 fish and 230cm. Stuart Jones ended 2nd with 7 fish 151cm. Volker Claus saw his top 3 placing dissapear with a 3rd place 5 fish 140cm.
After 2 days it was very tight at the top. Arjan Rijnberg 2 day wins 22 points , Andreas Burkhardt 21 points and John Marshall raised to 3rd 20 points. All were followed by 5 anglers with 19 points and 4 with 18 points. It really did come down to the crunch on Saturday
Day 3 Saturday morning The weather had done another 180. Very sunny with a light easterly breeze. Once again not quite the type of weather you want ona venue like Noorwijk. But is was what it was and we made the best of it.
A zone was very hard fishing. Reg Clough won with 5 fish 110 cm.Kim Bowden 2nd with 3 fish 50cm followed by 6 anglers with one fish. Jan van Pieterson was the lucky one with a 30cm flounder.
Zone B had more fish come in. Arjan Rijnberg had his 3rd zone win with 6 fish 100cm. Just in his shadow Alessandro Raso 4 fish 98 cm and 3rd Hans-Jürgen Gläser 5 fish 91 cm.
Haydn Cole had more fish than 2 and 3 together in C zone. 11 fish 284cm. Wilco Keur 93cm and 3rd Warren Doyle 92.
D zone was a disaster on the last day with 5 blanks. Antonio Addotta won with just 3 fish 87 cm. Andreas Burkhardt als had 3 fish but they were significantly smaller. Just 51 cm on the scorecard. Miranda Koop came in 3rd again with 2 fish 44 cm.
Zone E saw a fair share of fish on the pegs. Helgi Bergsson had a 40cm and 35cm flounder in the second cast. That got everybody enthusiastic on the beach. Volker Claus and Ilonka Rijnberg both had a lovely seabass. Helgi Bergsson started and ended very strong with 7 fish 213 cm. 2nd Volker Claus 6 fish 198cm and 3rd Mark Short 5 fish 156cm. It was going to be a tight top 8 exchange seeing the difference was only 3 points.
It was a rush to get back to the chalet to do the results. They needed to be done in time so people could check them. This time we decided to keep the 2,3, and 4 man team results a secret right up to the end. That was a great surprise for everybody. After a lovely meal we started the prize presentation thanking Peter van Dam and his crew for all that they had done.Placing the pegs , making the lunch bags , getting the tractors , keeping everybody fed at the bar. Not to mention keeping the beers coming. Miranda Spierenburg and her crew for the perfect bait supplied during our competition. Stuart Jones for helping me out with Shorecast Leads. He brought over my order from England. Kim Bowden for helping us out 3 nights and days in a row. And of course a bog thank you to Frank and Clarinda van der Zande for being my left and right hand. Amber for taking on the roll as team captain .Team member Wilco Keur for helping out where ever he could.
European Champion for the 5th time Arjan Rijnberg 33 ponits 704 cm Ladies gold Miranda Koop
Silver went to Andreas Burhardt 31 points 593 cm silver Clarinda van der Zande
Bronze pin winner Miranda Koop 28 points 443 cm bronze Ilonka Rijnberg
We’ve done it again if you ask me. Just 2 small glitches. The Wi-Fi dropped as we were uploading the results to the printer. That caused the laptop to crash and block our access to the programs. Not only couldn’t we get back into the program we also could not get into the file Frank van der Zande made with the flags and National anthems. I sincerely apologize to the winner Arjan Rijnberg who stood on the highest step for the 5th time.
Due to the changed location of the tuna shoals it has been decided to move the Championships from Simon’s Town to Hout Bay.
Please see the revised brochure below.
The week before the Championships SADSAA are holding a bottom fishing tournament to which EFSA members are welcome.
The brochure for this tournament can also be found below.
Reels: these can be any 50w (anything bigger is a waste), anglers preference for make but there seems to be a 50/50 split between Shimano Tiagra’s and Penn int. personally I would go for the Tiagra it can take a beating and is not as noisy as the Penn.
Line: most of the standard 50w spools will take about 350m of 50lbs mono, I have never been spooled on this, but I have heard of plenty others that have, my suggestion would be to put on 600m of 80lbs braid backing and then splice or use a PR Bobbin knot to attach the braid to the mono, all the other knots will also work but I’m not a fan of them!
Rods: 50lbs, 6-6.5ft rods with some bend/give in them, not broom sticks, not bent butts (Banana butts), not Marlin rods or rail rods otherwise your back will be broken after the first fish. The rod does not need to be full roller guides, a stripper guide on the bottom with SiC round guides leading up to a tip roller guide will be perfect and there will be less chance of the braid going into the rollers as there are less rollers! The Daiwa Powerlift or the Shimano Gamefish 24kg T-Curve are probably the most all round mass produced rods that can work, but again this is the anglers preference, Calstar, Connely, Seeker all have brilliant tuna rods.
Line: again this is anglers preference, obviously it needs to be IGFA rated, we do get most of the igfa rated lines here Moi Moi, Ande, Double X, Stren etc.
Fluro: is a must, the better the quality the better your chances of getting shy fish (Japanese Fluro)! Pending the conditions both the champagne and pink fluro’s are working well, it is definitely worthwhile on spending the money and getting proper fluro. The diameter can be anything from, 0.8 to 1.2mm in diameter pending sea conditions (Clarity, wind chop etc) and how full of shit the fish are! On average the recreational’s use 0.9mm to 1.0mm the commercials 1.3mm and up. [Nick Nel] (can be purchased at the tackle shop at the venue)
Hooks: most make of j-hooks any size from 7-9 pending on make, mustard big gun, Gamagatso etc but get the hooks with a wide gape, I find that more hook pulls happen with the narrow gape hooks. If Circles are being used, obviously they must be inline, the mustard tuna circle would be high on my list also the BKK’s but all without swivels! Fish don’t eat swivels and they shy away from hooks with to much bling on them![Nick Nel] (can be purchased at the tackle shop at the venue)
Sinkers: these are generally small barrel sinkers, ¼ to ½ ounce which we hide inside the baits, we don’t fish on balloons so big sinkers and elastic bands are not necessary. ( can be purchased at the tackle shop at the venue)
Any stand up harness will do, preferably a Black Magic, Aletecnos, and the local makes here all work, we are not girls in this country our fish are all caught in stand-up gear.[Nick Nel] (supplied on boat)
Terminal tackle: tools- side cutters, longnose pliers, knives all of which should be on most of the boats but it is advisable to bring this with for tackle prep in the evenings! Definitely bring 1 or 2 large tuna bogur grips, we do not have those here and for M&R these will be essential! Also a lip gaff or two will be most handy if they are allowed! (supplied on boat)
Weather gear: we can have cold and wet days out at sea during that time of year, also working with bait all the time is messy business! I would advise anything from a Grundens, Musto, Gill pants with a suitable jacket.
It was fantastic for me to travel to Italy for the EFSA European Shore Fishing championships hosted by EFSA Italy on Sardinia. Not only could I fish in Sardinia for the first time in my life but I also took the opportunity to ride my motorbike around this beautiful island.
I have come away from there with great memories. Not so much the fishing itself for me personally but returning some day at a different time of the year sounds extremely promising.
My trip did not end there, though. Next stop was near Lucca to visit Italcanna. This was again a first for me. Italcanna have been a proud sponsor of EFSA for many years. Everyone who has ever seen EFSA’s yearbooks will know their full page adverts on the back.
After travelling across an incredible scenery in Italy I arrived in Segromigno in Monte at the foot of a mountain range.
There I met with the D’Olivo family namely Carlo, Gian Marco and Giovanni Battista.
I could not have possibly been welcomed any friendlier.
After discussing some ideas for further collaboration (watch this space!) Giovanni Battista gave me a tour of the surrounding area – including showing me his collection of motorcycles. This also included a Harley Davidson.
After that they showed me their production facility. Italcanna produce all their fishing rods from scratch in Italy. It is very rare this days and re-assuring that there is no China dependency here. All is top quality and some of the game fishing rods proudly feature the EFSA logo. Just recently Italcanna won the Long Casting World Championship 2022
in both the men’s and women’s categories, this further proof of the quality of their products.
The day finished with a dinner during which Giovanni Battista and I solved all the world’s problems over a typical Italian meal.
As president of EFSA I cannot be more proud than having our association supported by Italcanna and the committed D’Olivo family.
Thursday 6th July the registration and opening ceremony for the 2023 EFSA European Species was held at Weymouth Angling Society Clubhouse. During proceedings there was time to have a complimentary drink, and a chat with other anglers from the other Sections attending. There was a total of 53 anglers from 10 Sections fishing, besides England, Belgium, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Ireland, Norway, Portugal, South Africa and Wales were represented.
Friday 7th July and the 53 anglers boarded their boats for the first day of the two day Championship. Six boats took part and the bait for the day was squid and mackerel, though it would be squid that would be the main bait for the target species of bream.
The weather was set fair for the day, so hopes were high as the boats made for their favourite fishing spot for bream. Initially, several of the boats went different ways but all ended up at the same ground known as “Lights and 1”. Also, while most boats anchored, some found good numbers of bream on the drift.
At the end of day one all boats had good numbers of bream, though individual catches varied greatly! Of the six boat winners four were from France, with the other two English. Matt Osborne was in first place on countback. Best bream of the day was one of 45cm.
Saturday 8th July, day two, and the wind stayed light but there was a lot of rain forecast for the day, wet weather gear was the order of the day. All boats headed for the “Lights and 1” ground which proved the better option on day one. Again, some boats favoured anchoring while most started the day on the drift. The catches were similar to the first day, with most boats catching more bream. I am not sure if the reason for better catches was the skippers finding more fish or some of the chat after day one on what worked, made the anglers improve!
After the fishing, there was time for most to rest a while before the presentation which was held at The Belvedere public house function room There was a good buffet which the anglers helped themselves to before the presentation. Our England Chairman, Neil Bryant announced the results with The EFSA Chairman, Marcus Wuest, presenting the medals and prizes.
The top three longest bream were caught by D P Berger 45cm, Paul Hart 43cm and Wayne Gerber with a 42cm fish.
In the National Teams event and with their three boat wins on day one and another on day two contributing to their well-earned 1st place it was the France A team of Jean Pierre Coutauchaud, David Corday, Francis Couzinet, Simon Elgrishi and Cyrille Bardin. England A were 2nd and the 4-man team of Norway in 3rd.
The Individual event was close with three anglers with the perfect score of 200%. On countback it was Didier Marest of France who was who cam eout on top tp take the gold pin, Mark Smith of England was 2ndto take the silver pin, with another French man David Corday in 3rdreceiving the bronze pin. Marcus Wuest presented the pins to the anglers.
Top boat was Flamer skippered by Luke Pettis with the greatest number of fish per angler. Luke’s usual boat is Snapper.
Full results are below.
Marcus Wuest on behalf of EFSA Germany made a short presentation on the 2024 European Species Championship to be run on 4 man boats out of Spodsbjerg, Langeland on the 6th to 11th October, fishing for flat fish. He said the final brochure and entry form should be available later this year
Allen Ford of South Africa said a few words on the EFSA Game 2024 to be run out of Simon’s Town, South Africa on 6th to 10th May.
Neil Bryant then made the closing address, firstly thanking the anglers for attending and making the event a success, The Belvedere for hosting us and the staff for doing a great job of looking after us and putting on a good buffet. The Crown Hotel, where most of the anglers stayed, looked after us well, including an early breakfast. Special thanks to the EFSA England committee who work behind the scenes in making sure the event is well run. Neil then officially closed the Championship.
The 2022 European Boat Championship was held at Helsingor, Denmark from 6th to 12th August. Fishing was over four days from Monday 8th. There were 63 anglers from 9 countries competing. The fishing grounds were in the Oresund overlooked by the impressive Kronberg Castle.
Sunday was a practice day followed by registration and the welcome reception. A chance to catch up with old friends and make some anew.
Day One
Three boats with each side being treated as a separate boat, in effect six boats, set off in breezy conditions. Supplied bait was king ragworm which was excellent. The boats mostly fished the same areas, initially for Herring and Mackerel followed by a move for mini species, mainly Goldsinney Wrasse with the occasional Corkwing and Goby. The boats then had several moves hunting for Codling, Whiting, Plaice and Dabs. Midway through the day the heavens opened and heavy cold rain, almost hail, soaked everyone.
Day Two
Had similar fishing to Day One. Other species caught were Coalfish, Ling, Gurnards and Garfish. Most of the top ten places were occupied by Scandinavian anglers, as was to be expected.
Day Three
Again, the fishing was like the previous days and Danish anglers continued in the top spots.
Day Four
More of the same but with less fish around. Vernon Allen from England had a significant boat win boat preventing Denmark’s Cees Vadar from getting his fourth boat win, which would have assured him of the gold pin.
Martin Hubert of Denmark was the gold pin winner with 396.12%. Cees Vadar of Denmark was second with 395.81% and in third place was Michael Lorenzen also of Denmark with 392.11%.
The awards ceremony took place at championship headquarters, The Marienlyst Hotel.
Denmark ‘A’ won the National Team event with Denmark ‘B’ second and England third to take the bronze medals.
Best Lady was Torunn Handeland from Norway.
Top Senior (65+) was Charles Carreras from Gibraltar.
The Gala Dinner at championship HQ was well attended later in the evening. EFSA President Marcus Wuest took the opportunity to relieve some those in attendance of some Euros towards the new EFSA ‘400 club’ fundraising initiative.
He followed with a farewell wish that everyone would have a safe journey home & that he looked forward to seeing many of them in Ireland in 2023.
For this year’s EFSA European Shore Fishing Championship we welcome you to Sardinia. It has been the second time in 4 years that our shore angling community will be traveling to Italy for this prestigious event. I have fond memories from the last time we fished in this beautiful country. One of the reasons why I joined EFSA is that anglers have the opportunity to visit places and fish venues you would normally not venture to on your own. It is always a challenge targeting different species with unusual baits.
For this I am very grateful for our hosts from EFSA Italy to come forward on short notice to host this competition.
It will also be a most welcome break from the autumn weather for most of us northern European anglers.
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Due to the changed location of the tuna shoals it has been decided to move the Championships from Simon’s Town to Hout Bay.
It was fantastic for me to travel to Italy for the EFSA European Shore Fishing championships hosted by EFSA Italy on Sardinia. Not only could I fish in Sardinia for the first time in my life but I also took the opportunity to ride my motorbike around this beautiful island.
Dear fellow EFSA anglers and friends,
