fishermen

At the 20th World Ice Fishing Championship, success accompanied the national team of our country. The Lithuanians, in whose ranks three Alystians also competed, overcame the harsh natural conditions and won all the prestigious medals.

“This is the first case in the history of all types of sport fishing that one team becomes the absolute winner of the championship,” said Mindaugas Leonas, a participant in the championship and head of the Dainava fishing club in Alytus.

The winning team with flying helium fish was joyfully greeted by relatives and fans at the Vilnius airport, the news of their victory was met with applause in the Seimas.

The anniversary world championship was held in Mongolia, Arkhangay province, on Lake Ugii, where 10 teams from all over the world participated.

Already on the first day, the Lithuanian national team overtook the second-placed Latvian national team and the third-placed Ukraine. The Lithuanians, who became the leaders and retained their leading positions on the second day, became world champions.

The Lithuanian national team caught 103,524 kg of fish in two days, finished the championship with only 27 penalty points and won gold medals. The second place was taken by the USA national team, far behind the Lithuanians, who caught 94.592 kg of fish (42.5 penalty points), they got silver, Ukrainian fishermen, who caught 95.886 kg of fish, but after collecting more penalty points than the Americans – 45.5, remained third and won bronze.

The Lithuanians also took the lead in the individual standings of the championship. Arūnas Koska was recognized as the best fisherman of the championship (33.624 kg of fish, 2 penalty points), second was Artūras Skvirba (30.90 kg, 3 penalty points), and third was Mindaugas Leonas (22.724 kg, 4 penalty points). Modestas Atmanavičius was 11th (26.708 kg, 7 penalty points) and Deividas Račkauskas was 25th (17.378 kg, 11 penalty points) among 54 fishermen.

Lake Ugiios is similar in size to Lake Dusias, the depth is up to 15 meters, in the places where the championship was held, 10-13 meters. The main fish of the competition was roach 100-300 g, perch and one other pike were hooked.

The Lithuanian national team consisted of Modestas Atmanavičius, Mindaugas Leonas, Artūras Skvirba, Arūnas Koska, Deividas Račkauskas, head coach Darius Jakiūnas, coach Marius Jačiauskas, assistant coach and reserve athlete Marijus Eigirdas, assistant coaches Evaldas Bernatonis, Mantas Juknevičius, Ugnius Jurevičius, Tadas Turauskas and national team manager Rolf Bitin.

“We went to Mongolia 12 days before the championship to acclimatize and get used to the climate of that country at least a little. Four days ago, before we arrived, it was 44 degrees. When we arrived, it was a bit warmer – over 30 degrees below zero. In the first days of training, it was also very cold, morning training took place at 33-35 degrees of frost, and in the afternoon it warmed up, the cold dropped by half.

The lake and the place of residence were one and a half kilometers above sea level, so the oxygen density is lower there. Drilling through 1.5 meters of ice made it difficult to breathe through the nose, so we breathed through our mouths and caught the cold air. The consequences were such that many members of the national team caught cold,” said M. Leonas about the difficult conditions of the championship.

Still, the fishermen managed to overcome a cold, which the Mongolians called the local flu, although D. Račkauskas needed medical help, and the athletes themselves set up drips at the hotel.

Mr. Leon, who participated in the world championships for the seventh time, assured that the conditions in Mongolia were the most difficult.

“In sport fishing, luck is a factor, but in championships of this level, the most important thing was the work during training. We managed to understand the behavior of Mongolian fish”, said M. Leon, who also remembered this championship for its impressive landscape – immense steppe areas with eagles and vultures flying above them.

Last year, the Lithuanian ice fishing team won the silver of the world championship in Estonia, and the year before – the gold in Lithuania. Next year’s championship will be held in the USA.