Luremasters 2018

Luremasters 2018

Well, what can I say! What a great, well-organized tournament!
But more on that later.
Having a barbecue at home in the evening, my cell phone rang and my friend and teammate Andre Schmitt called.
He would have a place for me at the Luremasters 2018, with Johannes Jacobi on the boat, as his partner Katja Höver is canceled.
I didn't think about it for long and immediately said yes to Johannes over Andre!
The result was a long period of fever and tackling.

Now the day had finally come and I made my way to Hellevoetsluis, where Johannes and I had our accommodation.
We had three days to train and locate the fish before the start of the tournament.
Perch and pike were doing really well and shouldn't be a problem to catch on the tournament days, but what was going on with the zander?
They simply didn't feel like eating, which we later heard from others who also had a hard time with the zander.
Wednesday evening was registration and water draw. We drew lots for Harringvliet, Hollandse Diep and Volkerak.
Due to the adverse conditions and the strong wind, the organizer had to make a decision and cancel the second day of the tournament.
It would have been too risky for smaller boats and for safety reasons.
The organization canceled the second day of the tournament and so the Hollands Diep was canceled for all participants!
Many long faces and a murmur went through the group of 120 participants present!
Due to the conditions, the tournament days started in 2 groups with 30 boats per body of water, instead of the usual 20 boats on 3 bodies of water.

Now the time had come, the boat had slipped and the start was in half an hour. Finally it started, 1st day Haringvliet!
Starting signal… all boats slammed towards the spots at full speed.
When we arrived at our spot, things started straight away and the first perch were quickly caught.
After just under two hours we had the perch full and two out of three pike, we were in the good midfield.
Now catch zander and it would have been a great day.
No way, it was a dead end and we couldn't catch any fish for the classification.
Spot change, nothing! Next spot, no zander again!
The day was almost over and we decided to go to the spot from the morning again. Said and done.
After a few more perches with which we improved our lengths,... “Bite, shit, didn't hang. Bite again, yes, sits. Zander!!”
Finally the first zander for the rating, it brings points! Shortly afterwards, next bite, next zander. How cool!
Shortly before the end of the day we were able to land a good pike in the 90s and therefore had the rating at least for pike and perch.
Quickly checked the leaderboard, 7th place out of 60.
Great, successful first day! We were satisfied!

We used the day there was no wind to get our tackle back on track and make the plan for the decisive day at Volkerak.
One thing was clear: if we wanted to be at the top, we had to stock up on pike-perch and stock up on pike and perch. Then even top 10 would be realistic.
But this wasn't going to be easy either, as it quickly became apparent during training on the Volkerak that the pike-perch didn't want to go. Starting signal, it started again! Arrived at the spot, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, not a single bite!

Now it was time for patience and concentration!
Rod crooked, “Fish!” A big pike in the fight. 104cm were on the measuring tape in the boat and it was clear that we were doing well in the ranking with the pike, but the zander were still missing.
Short spot change, “Fish…”, is that the first zander? Drills like that. No, a really big bass! Again points, but not what we wanted.
Suddenly it was time to bite because the first zander was hanging and numbers two and three landed quickly!
“Great man, now two more and the rating is full”.
We also got the last two zander and even one more with which we could improve our little one. Our plan worked just as we had imagined.
“Really cool!!”
Since the leaderboard was closed at 12 p.m. on the last day of the tournament to build tension, we didn't know where we stood and the tension was increasing!
We just knew that we had to do well because there wasn't much going on with the other boats around us.
There was a lot of speculation and hope until the time had finally come and the award ceremony began.
It's amazing we were able to catch 885cm and fight our way forward.
Place 3!! What a success!!
With a big grin on our faces, we had to reflect on the evening and the whole tournament and toasted with a few beers!
Cheers !!