Page 18 - April - June 2023 Edition

The 2023 MFIFT REPORT UWA’s team was on flying form with a total
catch of 82.5 kgs. Flavio Wicki from
The Murchison Falls Invitational Tournament Switzerland who has been living in Uganda
is now a highly competitive fishing for 3 years managed to catch, measure,
tournament, that has drawn participants and release a 71.5Kg Nile Perch - the
from all over the globe to join and have a exact same weight as Gee’s fish the day
chance at catching the amazing Nile before. Having fished their best, teams
Perch in one of the greatest parks in Africa. handed in their score sheets for
This year sixty-five participants from across verification. While the organizers tallied
Africa, Middle East and Europe fished final results, anglers and friends enjoyed
twenty-one boats over a three-day event. the sunset over the Nile while sipping on a
The Murchison stretch of the Nile is divided cool Nile Special. They regaled the
into three competitive sectors, and equal adventures of the last three days and spun
numbers of boats fish a different sector fables of ones that got away…
each day. In this way, all teams get a fair
chance to fish each sector. In all, a whopping 1,847 kgs of fish were
caught and released during the MFIFT
Day One of the MFIFT kicked off with a 2023 Tournament. This was the highest
great day on the water and over 546 kgs total in the history of the event and shows
of fish were caught and safely released a positive growth trend in numbers and
back into the Nile River. The largest Nile sizes of fish at Murchison. A testament to
Perch of the day was caught by Joss Craig excellent protection efforts by UWA and
onboard team Sobek with a beautiful 44.1 the commitment of the Tournament to
Kg. A fluctuation of scores all over the sport fish sustainably and ethically.
board in all different sectors, it was
anybody’s game. KEEPING IT SUSTAINABLE ...
The tournament is focussed on a
It was a slow start on Day 2 for a few commitment to conservation and ethical
competitors, who had indulged in the angling, and continually revise improved
frothy waters of Nile Special the night ways in which to handle, measure and
before, claiming that in fact it was the true safely release fish. Participants in the
reward from the source. The lady anglers tournament go way beyond the
were on form. Georgie Moore caught a recommended practices of the
beautiful specimen of a Nile Perch only International Game Fishing Association
ten minutes into the day. Just before dusk (IGFA) guidelines on sustainable angling. A
as exhausted anglers returned to check in, policy of 100% catch and release of all
they were treated to the sight of UK’s Gee target species; the rules to use circle hooks
Cannon, battling a monster fish, her rod which result in little to no deep hooking
bent to the depths as she slowly tamed a and injury of valuable fish; consistent
71.5 Kg Perch to submission. One of the promotion and education on best
largest Nile Perch of the tournament. The practices for ensuring one’s fish is returned
day’s scores were tallied and found the to the river healthy and safely. The
Kenyan team Tango Samani fishing in competition runs a policy of measuring
Sector A had managed to bag a massive size fish caught as this is less traumatic
total catch of 179.4 Kg which putting than weighing them. Multiple species of
them firmly in the lead. fish have been added to the point scoring
in the tournament to reduce pressure on
The third and final day, team tactics were the prime targets such as the mighty Nile
fiercely deployed with some of the regular Perch.
fisherman pulling out their best fishing The MFIFT has diligently collected, collated
spots at an effort to take home the trophy. and saved data from all competitions,

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