For the first time in its history Malta, through the NFSAM, will be represented in the Sports Fishing World Championships which are due to be held in Tuscany Italy, between the 28 August and 4 September.
The National Federation has accepted an invitation by FIPS-MER the governing body to participate in these Championships.
No less than 66 nations have applied to take part, with a total of 5,100 participants. This through various disciplines ranging from, fresh water, sea water, fly fishing and distance casting; these are further subdivided into some 24 different categories.
Malta will be represented by 11 athletes, two teams of five and one reserve, and will be taking part in the discipline known as Fishing with Float from Harbour Installation.
This a very specialist category and it involves fishing with what is called a Bolognese rod.
This is a type of rod varying in length between 5 to 8m, with guides and a reel seat. When one mentions fishing with a rod and reel usually one associates this with beach ledgering, but in this case a fixed or running float is used, where one is still able to cast a notable distance with a mere 2g float as an example.
Very fine lines are used, usually a .14mm line in the reel and between .08 and .12mm for the terminal rig. These would typically have a breaking strength of between .400g to a kilogram, so great care has to be taken when playing a fish, here is where the angler’s ability hits home actually, while reeling in a 2kg mullet on a .5kg breaking strength line.
Every angler will be distributed with the same type of bait and ground bait, but may opt for any line, float or hook he wishes, although the hook cannot be smaller than a size 10.
The Maltese teams will be pitted with the likes of France, Italy, Portugal and Spain, who in total will be fielding 11 teams.
Team Malta will be in Grosseto on Saturday 27 August and the next day will travel to Florence to take part in the official opening ceremony. The following Monday will be a day dedicated to training with all competition rules in attendance.
The competition matches will be held on 30 and 31 August respectively between 10am and 2pm at Porto Santo Stefano Via Lungomare dei Navigatori. A presentation will follow during a Gala Night on the evening of 31 August.
The Maltese anglers were chosen according to last season’s standings of the National Federation league. One cannot fail to mention the dedication and determination to succeed of these anglers who opted to take part in this world class event by volunteering to pay for all the expenses from their pockets, as otherwise Malta`s participation would not have been possible.
The Federation also thanked FIPS-MER who, by extending an invitation to the Malta Federation, waivered an 850 euro membership fee for this year only.
The Federation also thanked its sponsors, Mister Fish who gave the teams great discounts on the fishing gear, Riviera della Marina Ristorante Caffe Bar who sponsored a night’s accommodation and last but certainly not least, the kit sponsors, who wish to remain anonymous, but just requested the teams to display Puttinu Cares logo on the shirts, to raise awareness towards Puttinu, something which the teams gladly did.