Thursday the 19th June the opening ceremony took place at the Deltapark, Neeeltje Jans.
The draw for boats was held after which ther was a break for nibbles which were brought round to go with the two complimentary beers. There was then an opportunity for questions from the anglers on aspects of the Championship which they were unsure of or wanted clarification on.
Competition Day 1
Anglers met at 0700 at the Binnenhaven, (marina where the boats moored), bait was given out. The bait was 250 grams of shrimp and 2 packs of ragworm. Anglers then went to their boats ready for 0730 departure. On the boats there was a welcome coffee which was appreciated, a nice start to the day. After the boats left the mooring they then had to wait for the lock to allow them to enter so they could get to the open water the other side. It was a fairly short steam to the first mark to fish.
Smoothhounds were the target species for this Championship. On the boats the port and starboard sides were treated as a “boat” for scoring purposes. The day was split into 3 periods of 100 minutes, with a move of position on the boat between each period so each angler would get chance to fish the bow and stern ends. One thing we did not realise was that each of the 3 periods was treated as a separate competition with the top score for each period getting 1 point down to 5, or if you did not score in the period you got 6 points.
Between the fishing periods the boats usually moved position to try a different area.
Most anglers managed to catch though not the numbers of Smoothhounds that were expected.
At the end of Day 1 it was Ernest Ripson of the Netherlands in first place on 3 points for winning each period. Equal second was Florus Robby and Joel Luyts both from Belgium and both on 4 points. Ash Currier from England was in a credible 4th on 5 points.
Competition Day 2
Although most anglers were on a different boat the format was the same. The weather was even hotter than Day 1 and the two days weather were amongst the best we have ever had in a Championship.
The fishing was similar to Day 1 though with one of the periods when a number of us caught no scoring fish. Of note Matt Osborne caught nine Smoothhounds in one 100 minute period, this was the highest period catch of the championship.
That evening the presentation was held at the same venue as the opening ceremony. There was a very good buffet table with plentiful selection of tasty food.
The presentation of awards took place. Top three and pin winners were Gold to Ernest Ripson with a perfect score of 6 points, that is winning each period; Silver to Brian Devijnck from Belguim and Bronze to Pim Troost from Netherlands, both equal on points but countback on fish numbers separated them.
England took National Team 3rd. Belgium were first and Netherlands second.
England Placings
6th Gary Galbraith
12th Matt Osbourne
15th Barrie Senior
16th Ashley Currier
20th Kim Bowden
22nd Kim Bowden
Gallery
