International Hobie Fishing Worlds Association is with Hobie Sweden and Love Fishing.

3 days ago

G’DAY FELIX FREY
Felix Frey – Sweden
Hobie Fishing Worlds 8 – Facebook.com/IHFWA

Felix Frey from Linköping, Östergötland in Sweden is a 23-year-old angler with a huge future ahead of him. At such a young age he has already accumulated a wealth of kayak fishing tournament accolades, including representing his country on home soil, in 2018, at the 7th Hobie Fishing World Championship (HFW7) in Amal on the shores of Lake Vanern in Sweden.

Fishing for pike and perch Frey was one of the favourites going into the event having had previous experience at the same arena and performing extremely well in tournaments leading up to the worlds. Frey won his place in HFW7 by coming second at the European Championships to another young Swede, Albin Falk, who also won a HFW7 qualifying spot. The two were set to take on the world’s best kayak anglers.

On day one of the championship, a calm, yet enthusiastic Frey pedalled off with 47 anglers from the compact harbour in Amal, to take on the pike and perch in Europe’s third largest lake, which had only just thawed after the winter ice-over.

Frey was one of 39 anglers who caught pike his 72cm and 76cm fish were just under average size for the day, with the biggest caught by the eventual day one leader, Finland’s Janne Koivisto at 106cm. Frey was unable to back up his two pike with a perch, a common scenario with only 14 anglers measuring the species, only eleven anglers getting a perch and pike double, and even more importantly only eight filling their bag with two of each species.

Day two was crucial if he was to stay in the mix and Frey, sitting in 20th place, headed straight to tried and true fishing grounds that had worked for him in the past. But after a 148cm bag on day one, his day two bag came in at a shorter 121cm, and he dropped two places on the leaderboard to 22nd.

On the final day of competition, Frey, out of contention for a podium finish, his best hope now being, making the top ten. He bagged out in pike for the third straight day, his two fish measuring 124cm. However, for the first time he came home with a full bag, of two pike and two perch, measured. His perch came in at 68cm giving him a solid day three bag of 192cm.

Frey finished in 15th place in his first world championship with an accumulated total of 461cm for 6 pike and a solitary perch. It was a great comeback, but the chance to match the winner Salah el Barbouchi from Germany on 653cm, swam away with the perch he needed in his tally.

Frey said that, “I have been fishing my entire life. It’s always been a big passion of mine to head out on the water in search of some big fish. Together with my younger brother, my father and grandparents, took me on some trips when I was very young. I guess that sent me on the path to where I’m today”.

Nowadays, Frey is one of the younger European kayak anglers competing actively in the European competition scene. But with two podium places in the last two Hobie European Championships, one in Holland 2017 and one in France in 2018, and a aim of improving his HFW7 placing, Frey is eager to do well at the upcoming Hobie Fishing Worlds in Australia.

"It will be a dream come true, to be able to travel the world and represent Sweden in this amazing event. I'm already counting off the days. I’m super excited about the format, and using the new Hobie Livewell V2 in the competition, it will be so much fun trying to catch the elusive Yellow Fin Bream”, said Frey.
“I’m truly looking forward to meeting all of the amazing anglers who are going to Australia from all over the world”.

If you would like to follow Felix’s world championship journey, watch LIVE crosses from on the water, and from the event site in Australia, go to Facebook.com/IHFWA and click LIKE under the cover photo, at the top of the page.

More information is available at hobiefishingworlds.com

#Daiwa, #Lowrance, #PowerPole, #GerberGear, #Lurefans, #Aftco, #Scotty, #RailBlaza, #SavageGear, #HobiePolarizedSunglasses, #HFW8, #HobieFishingWorlds, #HobieFishing, #HobieFishingEurope, #HobieBrasil, #HobieFishingAsiaPacific ... See MoreSee Less

International Hobie Fishing Worlds Association

4 days ago

HARRISON HEADS SOUTH FOR WINTER
Eric Harrison – United States of America
Hobie Fishing Worlds 8 – Facebook.com/IHFWA

Eric Harrison is a 56-year-old hardcore, kayak angler from Arlington in Massachusetts, USA. He has been fishing from Hobie kayaks for the last 13 years. Hobie Fishing Worlds 8 (HFW8) in Queensland, Australia, will be his second appearance at a world championship after competing in HFW6 in Louisiana in 2016. Harrison qualified for the Hobie Fishing Worlds 8 (HFW8) by winning the 2018 Striper Cup.

In Louisiana Harrison finished in 14th position in the world. He battled the wind and tide chasing Red Fish and Speckled Trout over three days of competition. On day one he caught one legal of each species a "Red" measuring 27inches (68.58cm) and a trout for 14inches (35.56cm) with a day one total of 41inches (104.14cm).

On day two Harrison's luck ran out and his excellent day one start was all he had measured. On the final day of competition with the leaders well ahead of him Harrison had to get among the biggest "Bull Reds" on offer and jag a "super trout" as well, to be in the contest. He did well measuring a 26 inch (66.04cm) Red, but couldn't find a trout to back it up and fell short of the top ten. But he did put on a worthy performance in his first worlds, and he has hopes of improving on his 14th placing when he competes for his country once again, this time on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia in July.

Harrison has spent time fishing from every possible platform, from his local pier or even an inner tube as a kid, he graduated to boat and surf fishing as an adult. A California native, his last 17 years have been spent in a kayak learning the waters around Boston and all-over New England.

Harrison’s primary fishing target is Striped Bass, and he has built a reputation as a master of catching them on artificials - mostly big plastics. He has been a fixture at the major kayak fishing tournaments in New England and is a 6-time winner at the New England Kayak Fishing Striper Shootout, and a two-time winner at the Jamaica Bay Kayak Fishing Classic. He is a three-time Kayak Angler of the Year in On the Water Magazine’s, Striper Cup.

Harrison enjoys being immersed in the water and says that fishing from boats is fun but getting into the water is what he loves to do. Prior to kayak fishing, he spent most of his time prowling the shoreline in waders because he prefers to get into the water with the fish he chases! However, the first time he paddled a kayak through the big rips of Boston Harbour he knew he was hooked. Being able to sit in the water and be mobile expanded his horizons and provided a deeper connection with the sport.

Growing up in Southern California, Harrison fished almost every day, year-round; living in the Boston area he doesn’t fish as much, but still gets his kayak on the water every month of the year. These days most of Harrison’s fishing is in the Boston area, but he regularly travels throughout the Northeast of the United States fishing everywhere he can, in both salt and fresh water. He primarily targets Striped Bass from his Hobie Revolution 16 and focuses his fishing on big bass during the summer months.

Harrison notes that, “with tides often over ten feet (3m), Boston has quite a bit of moving water, but being able to pedal around makes me feel like I’m walking in water. In my kayak I can hang in Boston’s fishiest spots while boats go drifting past!”

It should be interesting to see how Harrison adapts to the finesse techniques needed when targeting bream during winter, spawning season, in the canals, other man-made structure, and in the natural marine environment in the Gold Coast estuary that is the HFW8 arena.

If you would like to follow Eric’s world championship journey, watch LIVE crosses from on the water, and from the event site in Australia, go to Facebook.com/IHFWA and click LIKE under the cover photo, at the top of the page.

More information is available at hobiefishingworlds.com

#Daiwa, #Lowrance, #PowerPole, #GerberGear, #Lurefans, #Aftco, #Scotty, #RailBlaza, #SavageGear, #HobiePolarizedSunglasses, #HFW8, #HobieFishingWorlds, #HobieFishing, #HobieFishingEurope, #HobieBrasil, #HobieFishingAsiaPacific ... See MoreSee Less

International Hobie Fishing Worlds Association

5 days ago

LARS IN THE LAND OF OZ
Lars Lundberg – Sweden
Hobie Fishing Worlds 8 – Facebook.com/IHFWA

Lars Lundberg is a 53-year-old angler from Vallentuna in the Stockholm County of Sweden. With Lake Mälaren on his doorstep and the Stockholm Archipelago “just around the corner”, he does a lot of fishing in both freshwater and saltwater.

Lundberg, often called “The Crazy Viking” by his friends, is a very active all-round sports fisherman. He has had the privilege of competing in two previous world championships, his first in the Netherlands (HFW4) in 2014, and in China (HFW5) in 2015.

On Vinkeveen Plassen just outside of Amsterdam at HFW4 Lundberg finished in an impressive 10th place with a total measure of 157cm while chasing, perch, pike and zander. On day one he had no luck at all and sat in 47th place along with 22 other anglers. On day two Lundberg made a massive leap up the leaderboard, with his 49cm pike and 26cm perch taking him up to 18th place. On day three of the championship he was able to net an 82cm pike to move him up into the top ten, his best worlds placing.

In China the fishing was the toughest the Worlds’ has ever seen, and only a handful of anglers landed any fish at all. Lundberg finished out of the top five alongside the rest of the international competitors.

Over the past few years Lundberg has been very successful competing in Europe, and managed to finish in some top places in some of the continents biggest kayak tournaments. In 2018 he won the Swedish Game Fair Predator Open, and followed that up by winning the London International Kayak Fishing Festival in June, which won him a qualifying place in this year’s Hobie Fishing Worlds (HFW8) on Australia’s Gold Coast in Queensland.

“I started fishing at the age of 4 and began competing in both sea angling and ice fishing by the age of eleven. Competitive fishing has always been a big part of my life. I started kayak fishing seriously when I got my first Hobie Outback in 2005 and since then my interest in the kayak fishing lifestyle has constantly increased. My specialty in Sweden is perch, zander and pike fishing”.

“In 2013 I made the Euro team to compete at HFW3 in Australia, but unfortunately, I was unable to attend due to working commitments, but this time, I am more than ready, and looking very much forward to participating at HFW8”.

If you would like to follow Lars’s world championship journey, watch LIVE crosses from on the water, and from the event site in Australia, go to Facebook.com/IHFWA and click LIKE under the cover photo, at the top of the page.

More information is available at hobiefishingworlds.com

#Daiwa, #Lowrance, #PowerPole, #GerberGear, #Lurefans, #Aftco, #Scotty, #RailBlaza, #SavageGear, #HobiePolarizedSunglasses, #HFW8, #HobieFishingWorlds, #HobieFishing, #HobieFishingEurope, #HobieBrasil, #HobieFishingAsiaPacific ... See MoreSee Less

International Hobie Fishing Worlds Association

6 days ago

YOUNG BUT EXPERIENCED
Mark Young – Australia
Hobie Fishing Worlds 8 – Facebook.com/IHFWA

31 year old, family man, Mark Young is from Kincumber on the central coast of New South Wales, in Australia. He will be competing in his second world championship after an exciting time on the waters of Lake Vanern, in Sweden where he finished in a creditable 16th place.

At HFW7 in Sweden the biggest thrill for Young was catching his first pike, but his biggest surprise was the honour of being chosen as the winner of the “Angler’s Choice Award”. Singled out by his peers, for sportsmanship, camaraderie and for sharing the “Hobie Spirit”, Young won a free trip, and entry into Hobie fishing Worlds 8 (HFW8).

On day one in Amal, Sweden, in his first world championship, and fishing for pike and perch for the first time, Young showed he is a true all-round angler, catching two legal pike measuring 114cm. But he was unable to back up his metre plus pike bag with any perch, on his first day of representing his country in foreign waters.

On day two he bagged out with pike at 145cm and found what was needed to get his perch technique working, bringing 60cm into his Hobie kayak, and accumulating an excellent day two total to 205cm, the 6th longest measure of the day.

On day three he was unable to get another double-double and landed a single pike for 56cm and two perch for 61cm with 117cm in his bag, his total score climbed to 436cm. Not bad for an Aussie fishing for two new species in an unfamiliar environment.

Back on the Gold Coast in 2019 things will be quite different, as Young has fished the worlds venue on a couple of previous occasions.

He qualified and competed in the 2016 Australian Championship where he finished 37 in a field of 50 of Australia’s best kayak bream anglers, but at the time he was unfamiliar with the Queensland location.

Young followed that tournament up in 2017, in one of Australia's Hobie Kayak Bream Series rounds. Having learnt from his experience the previous year, while competing in the Australian Championship, he finished the tournament in the money, and in third place, just 90g behind the winner. Young learns quickly and now has form and success on the world’s arena, and could be a real threat come July.

“I started in the Hobie bream tournaments in 2015 competing against Australia’s best, and after two seasons of learning and qualifying for the Australian championship, I set a goal for a big season and to try and qualify for the “worlds” in Sweden”.

“When I made the Australia team I was stoked to have to have achieved my goal! After a great time in Sweden, I was even more rapt with getting the “Anglers Choice Award” and receiving entry to the world champs on the Gold Coast. I was also fortunate enough to be on the Australia team to compete at the China Open, which was an awesome experience and I came away with a place in the top ten”.

“I want to thank Hobie Asia Pacific and the International Hobie Fishing Worlds Association for these great opportunities and fantastic experiences”.

To follow Mark’s world championship journey, to watch LIVE crosses from on the water, and from the event site in Australia, click LIKE just under the cover photo, at the top of the page, at Facebook.com/IHFWA

More information is available at hobiefishingworlds.com

#Daiwa, #Lowrance, #PowerPole, #GerberGear, #Lurefans, #Aftco, #Scotty, #RailBlaza, #SavageGear, #HobiePolarizedSunglasses, #HFW8, #HobieFishingWorlds, #HobieFishing, #HobieFishingEurope, #HobieBrasil ... See MoreSee Less