This year’s EFTTEX show in Vienna saw the official launch of a brand new global event: the World Predator Classic. 

Tournament founder Ross Honey from Angling Spirit, explained the concept:
“When we first considered the idea, the bottom had just fallen out of the financial markets and it has taken this long for the market to recover. We are now ready for a serious, professionally run, global predator fishing tournament. We’ve done a lot of research within the market for a predator tournament and know we can make this work. There are a number of crucial elements we have considered.

“First and foremost, this is not a single species event, this will become increasingly important from 2015, where the global events taking place in different countries or regions can host their own qualifying events based on the predators native to that water. It is also a catch and release event, with the length of fish being recorded to create a winning total. There is also a handicap system, so that experts in catching differing species, for example, bass pros from the USA, have the opportunity to use their expertise and still compete with zander specialists from Europe, or barramundi experts from Australia.

“Secondly, at the tournament final we will have an enormous amount of entertainment to ensure that competitors, their friends, family and audience, and everyone else involved in the tournament finals enjoys the whole experience. We’ll have exciting opening ceremony and parade, and flags from every country represented, each morning, cannons will be fired to start the Formula 1 style starting grid for the boats. During the event, there’ll be giant screens relaying the action, along with SMS, Facebook and Twitter feeds, as well as live streamed internet TV. In the evening there’ll be a huge party with rock bands and during the day we’ll have a huge angling show for all of the sponsors and other trade partners to show their products: overall, a complete angling experience.”