Úlfar Eysteinsson félagi í EFSA Íslandi (European Federation of Sea Anglers – Section Iceland) lést miðvikudaginn 10. október 2018 í Reykjavík eftir erfið veikindi.

Úlli eins og hann var að jafnaði kallaður af sjóstangaveiðifélögum hans var einn af tíu félögum EFSA Íslands sem endurreisti félagið í janúar 1998. Hann var fyrsti gjaldkeri félagsins og voru stjórnarfundir fystu árin að jafnan haldnir á heimili hans við Bakkabraut í Kópavogi. Seinni árin allt fram á þennan dag lánaði Úlfar undir starfsemi félagsins húsnæði sitt á 2. hæð við Baldurgötu 14 Reykjavík þar sem á fyrstu hæð er veitingarstaðurinn Þrír frakkar.

Úlfar tók þátt í fjölmörgum sjóstangaveiðikeppnum á vegum félagins þar sem hann var hrókur alls fagnaðar og var unun að vera með honum um borð. Kímnin, glaðværðin og vinahót var ætíð í fyrirrúmi hjá honum og var hann ekki tapsár þótt næsti veiðimaður fengi stærri eða fleiri fiska en hann í það skiptið, mestu máli skipti að hafa gaman að veiðiskapnum og una sér í hópi góðra félaga. Minnisstætt er Íslandsmeistarmótið í sjóstangaveiði í byrjun apríl árið 2005. Siglt var frá Kópavogshöfn á bátnum Jóni forseta ásamt öðrum báti þar sem höfuðáherslan var lögð á að veiða steinbít enda bann við þorskveiði vegna hrygningar í byrjun apríl. Báturinn Jón forseti var gamall trébátur í eigu Úlfar og gekk einungis sjö sjómílur að hámarki. Úlfar var skipstjórinn á bátnum og píndi hann vél bátsins sem frekast hann gat enda ætlaði hann ekki að verða langt á eftir hinum bátunum á steinbítsmiðin á miðjum Faxaflóa. Mikill og svartur reykur steig upp frá strompi bátsins og svo mikill var reykurinn að veiðimönnum stóð ekki á sama enda kom hinn báturinn upp að Jóni forseta til að aðgæta hvort kviknað væri í bátunum. Svo reyndist ekki vera en Úlfar sló af ferðinni og kom öllum um borð heilum í höfn á ný eftir ánægjulegan veiðidag.

Úlfar og fyrrum sambýliskona hans skipulögðu fyrstu meiriháttar ferð félaga í EFSA Íslandi á mjög fjölmennt Evrópumót í sjóstangaveiði sem haldið var á Írlandi í september árið 2001. Margur félaginn fór þar í sína fyrstu Evrópukeppni sem við minnumst enn með hlýhug.

Úlfars verður sárt saknað af veiðifélögum hans.

EFSA Ísland vottar börnum og fjölskyldu Úlfars Eysteinssonar dýpstu samúð og þakkar honum nú að leiðarlokum áralangt samstarf og þátttöku í fjölmörgum mótum félagsins.

Helgi Bergsson, formaður EFSA Íslands.

Þórir Sveinsson, ritari EFSA Íslands.

Skarphéðinn Ásbjörnsson, stjórnarmaður í EFSA.

The organizing work for the European Shore Championship to be held from Akureyri, North-Iceland 1^st May to 4^th May 2019 is going well.

Information

Entry fee and closing date of entry: The entry fee is €250 and €125 for juniors. Date of closing for registration is 28^th February 2019. Entry forms will be issued in the coming weeks and may only be sent to the Organizers by your Section´s Secretary.

Accommodation: The HQ hotel for the venue will be Hotel Kjarnalundur about 3.5 km. from Akureyri´s town center. Book your accommodation on info@kjarnalundur and quote EFSA2019.

The fishing spots: We will be fishing from three different shores/spots: Nearby the center of Akureyri, from the piers in Akureyri and from a nearby village of Hjalteyri. Information which spot we will be fishing will be announced at the registration or at the start of each fishing day.

Venue brochure: The venue brochure is not yet ready and will be issued only in a PDF-format and sent out in the coming weeks.

Fishing rules: See the venue brochure for fishing rules.

The point system and fishing: The Championship is a Shore Championship with unlimited amount of fish to counts for points. See for the point system and minimum sizes, fishing gear and fishing technique in the venue brochure (Championship Rules, Things to know).

Fish to catch: Cod, Coalfish, Haddock, Dab, Catfish (Wolf fish) and Whiting. We expect to fish few Ling, Shorthorn Sculpin (Scorpion fish), Rough Dab, Flounder, Halibut and Plaice and maybe some Starry Ray, Redfish and Pollock.

The fishing: All the good size fish has to be killed by bleeding. You will be provided with a bucket for your fish. The shore Stewards will measure and write your fish down on the Scorecard. After that they will put the fish into the common box. If you got a record fish or if it is your personal record you can tag it and bring it in for measuring.

Bait: We have not yet decided the bait but most likely we will use Mackerel or Bluey.

Teams: It is free of charge to register into teams. Your Secretary will register your Section’s teams in due course.

Tackle shop: There is a tackle shop in Akureyri.

Clothing: It can be cold and windy in early May in Iceland. Bring with you warm cloths and boots.

The trip to Akureyri: Driving from Keflavik (Reykjavik airport) to Akureyri is about 450 km. The best way is to rent a car at the airport. There are bus connections and flight connections to Akureyri from Reykjavik (no trains in Iceland).

Spouse tour: There will be no spouse tour organized by the Organizing Committee. But there are many places near Akureyri worth visiting: Lake Myvatn, Dettifoss the largest waterfall in Europe and more.

EFSA uniform: You have to wear EFSA uniform at the Prize giving Ceremony and the Gala dinner. Price of the Gala dinner will be announced soon.

Protest Committee: Not yet appointed. Protest Committee meetings to be held at Hotel Kjarnalundur the HQ hotel.

Issued on 15^th October 2018

EFSA Iceland Organizing Committee

EFSA European Boat Championship 2018 was held from Olafsvik West-Iceland from 28th May to 1st June with 134 anglers from 15 Sections; Belgium (5), England (21), France (5), Germany (5), Gibraltar (6), Iceland (10), Ireland (24), Italy (7), Norway (10), Russia (7), Portugal (5), Scotland (16), South Africa (5), South Africa LTB (7) and Switzerland (1).

The Championship was fished to the General Rules for EFSA Boat Championships. It was a specie championship with max. 10 fish in each specie that counted for points. An angler with the most fish points on board was the boat winner with 100% score. If there were two anglers with the same number of fish points then the winner of a boat was the angler with the most species and then the most fish.

In the Championship there were 14 boats with four to six anglers on board of each boat and the skippers were all local professional fishermen or from Patreksfjordur, North-West Iceland. The Championship was planned as four days of fishing but on the second fishing day Tuesday 29th May the boats could not go out due to bad weather. Fishing hours were 5 each day in two sessions; the morning session from 07:00-13:00 and the afternoon session from 14:00 to 20:00.

The total catch for the three two days was 7.734 fish that counted and 16 species; Cod, Coalfish, Haddock, Common Dab, Redfish, Whiting, Catfish (Wolf fish), Ling, Tusk, Sculpin, Plaice, Halibut, Long Rough Dab, Flounder, Megrim and Starry Ray.

Results:

Individual overall and European Champion 2018. 1 place: Petter Skudal, Norway with 300%, 566 points, 9 species and 103 fish. 2 place: Scott Gibson, Scotland with 300%, 490 points, 7 species and 96 fish. 3 place: Andrew Smith, England with 300%, 471 points, 9 species and 71 fish.

Lady and European Champion 2018: 1 place: Katharina Schleiff, Germany with 291.38 %, 431 points, 8 species and 80 fish.

Two man team. 1 place: Lars Hellum and Petter Skudal, Norway with 586.23%, 2 place: Ray Barron and Ash Currier, England with 579.84%. 3 place: Peter Redshaw and Scott Gibson, Scotland with 575.78%.

Four man team. 1 place: Lars Hellum, Tor Arne Rygg and Jostein Lundal, Norway and Heiko Dreier, Ireland with 1133.08 %. 2 place: Peter Redshaw and Scott Gibson, Scotland and Petter Skudal and Torunn Handeland, Norway with 1122.85%. 3 place: Colin Searles, Nigel Hearn and Kenneth Smith, England and Marcus Wust, Germany with 1105.74%.

National team. 1 place: Norway A; Petter Skudal, Tor Arne Rygg, Lars Hellum, Roar Sandvoll and Torunn Handeland with 1162.75% score. 2 place: Scotland A; Scott Gibson, Alastair Forsyth, Peter Redshaw, Mark Duncan and Derek Yuille with 1122.8% score. 3 place: Germany; Katharina Schleiff, Marcus Wust, Herbert Schaffner, Hans-Jürgen Glaeser and Hans Mehlhop with 1110.44% score.

Senior. 1 place: Mario Ramos, Gibraltar 287.69%, 2 place: Alastair Forsyth, Scotland with 284.21%. 3 place: Warren Doyle, Ireland with 279.48%.

Life members. 1 place: Petter Skudal, Norway with 300%, and 566 points. 2 place: Scott Gibson, Scotland with 300% and 490 points. 3 place: Andrew Smith, England with 300% and 471 points.

Executive team. 1 place: Joseph van Huyssteen, South Africa LTB, André Machiels, Belgium, Nigel Hearn, England and Petter Skudal, Norway with 1144.72%. 2 place: Stefano Salvotti, Italy, Andrew Smith, England, Mark Duncan, Scotland and Hersir Gíslason, Iceland with 1093.88%. 3 place: Charlie Lara, Gibraltar, Andrew Brits, South Africa LTB, Matt Osbourne, England and Warren Doyle, Ireland with 1090.58%.

Single day best catch male and female. Petter Skudal, Norway with 230 points and Katharina Schleiff, Germany with 163 points.

Most fish. Petter Skudal, Norway with 103 fish.

Most unusual fish. Skarphéðinn Ásbjörnsson, Iceland with a Starry Ray, 40 cm long (wing span), 1.58 kg and 57 cm long (tail).

Best skipper. 1 place: Skarphéðinn Ásbjörnsson, Guðlaugur SH-62 boat no. 2, with 135.48 av. points pr. angler each day. 2 place: Ævar Þrastason, Doddi SH-222 boat no. 6, with 133.17 av. points pr. angler each day. 3 place: Einar Helgason, Kolga BA-070 boat no. 15, with 132.5 av. points pr. angler each day.

Best (longest) fish in each of 16 species:

Length Weight Girth

Angler Section Fish in cm in kg in cm

Roy Shipway Ireland Cod 118

Colm Crean Ireland Megrim 45 0.59 23

Alan Bird England Coalfish 118.2 16.2 65

Sven Hermans Belgium Catfish 102 8.89 53

Mark Duncan Scotland Haddock 80 3.8 39

Liam Kennedy Ireland Common Dab 43

Andrew Brits South Africa LTB Common Dab 43

Robert Quinn England Redfish 46

Raymond O'Sullivan Ireland Whiting 51

Alan Murphy Ireland Ling 85

Andrew Smith England Sculpin 22

Gunnar Jónsson Iceland Tusk 71

Raymond Mackay Scotland Plaice 55

Hans Mehlhop Germany Flounder 35

Skarphéðinn Ásbjörnsson Iceland Strarry Ray 40 1.58

No prize was awarded for Long Rough Dab as no measurement existed and by Icelandic law it is not allowed to bring a Halibut on shore. See for more details in the full report.

The Prize giving ceremony and the Gala-dinner was held at the Community house Klif in Olafsvik on Friday 1^st June.

EFSA Iceland likes to thank everybody that made the Championship become a reality; the anglers, the skippers, the Organizing Committee, the members of EFSA HQ, the sponsors and the municipality and the local people of Olafsvik.

Issued on 10^th June 2018

EFSA Iceland

Welcome to Olafsvik for the European Boat Championship to be held from 28^th May to 1^st June 2018 and organized by EFSA Iceland. A total of 138 anglers are fishing in the venue from 15 Sections; Belgium, England, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Russia, Portugal, Scotland, South-Africa, South-Africa LTB, Switzerland.

Information

Meetings:

The EFSA Standing Committee Meeting (SCM) will be held in the Klif Community House Sunday 27^th and starts at 09:30.

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) will follow the SCM.

The EFSA HQ meeting will be held at the Fisherman’s museum in Hellissandur Saturday 26^th May and starts at 20:00 (contact Skarphedinn Asbjörnsson EFSA Fisheries Officer tel. +354 852 6662).

The meeting for the skippers will be held in Hotel Olafsvik Saturday 26^th May and starts at 18:00.

The meeting for the Fishing Captains will be held in Hotel Olafsvik Saturday 26^th May and starts at 20:00.

The Flag Parade will start from the Fish Market Ennisbraut 34 in the town center, Sunday 27^th May at 14:00. Assemble for the parade at 13:00-13:30. We will walk to the Community House Klif where the Opening Ceremony, the Prize giving Ceremony and the Gala dinner will be held. At the Opening Ceremony EFSA Iceland will invite you all to taste the traditional Icelandic meat (lamb) soup.

The boats: We are using small boats 4 to 6 anglers on a boat with professional skippers. Most of the skippers speak English. The boats will go out from two harbours Olafsvik and Rif (6 km from Olafsvik) and there will be a bus transporting anglers between the harbours.

The boat draw: The boat draw is changed from the draw last April. See the list in the information paper which boats you are on.

The fishing: The fish has to be killed by bleeding and brought onshore. You will be provided with a bucket onboard for your fish. When the skipper has written your fish down on the Scorecard the fish is put into the common box. If you got more than 10 fish in specie, fish no. 11 is put directly into the common box. Longest fish does always count, e.g. if fish no. 11 is longer than fish no. 10 you can replace a fish. The skipper will help you bleed the fish if you want to. If you got a record fish or if it is your personal record you can tag it (you will be provided with fish tags) and bring it onshore for measuring.

Bait: We will be using Mackerel and Squid as bait. No points for bait fish or Herring.

Fishing Captain: The role of the Fishing (Angling) Captain and his main tasks, see the info in the information paper.

Teams: The 2 man and 4 man teams, see the list in the information paper.

Tackle shop: There is no tackle shop in Olafsvik but one of our members is selling limited items of tackle. Contact Kibbi (Kristbjörn Rafnsson), tel. +354 899 5634. Each angler will get free of charge two leads, 200 gr. and 400 gr.

The spouse tour: By invitation of EFSA Iceland starting from the HQ Hotel in Olafsvik at 09:00 Tuesday 29^th May, by minibus to Stykkisholmur, a “Vikingsushi” tour with sailing for about 2 1/2 hours around the islands in Breidafjordur enjoying the environment, watch whales and sea birds and eat some tasty seafood onboard.

Issued on 20^th May 2018

EFSA Iceland Organizing Committee