Another fishing tournament

Fishing competition along marina inner wall

Porto Turistico Marina di Ragusa is a popular place for local fishermen.  There have been numerous fishing tournaments hosted here during our stay.

Most times the entire dock wall from east to west is filled with competing fishermen.  Today was a small turnout which did not fill even just the eastern wall.  




Usually there are tables filled with trophies which are handed out after the fish which have been caught are weighed and measured.  Today...no.

But all of the guys out there looked like they were enjoying themselves.   And, make no mistake, these fishermen are always guys; not a gal to be found among them.  Apparently, women do not fish in Sicily.

I am intrigued by the rigs used by these guys.  Was not familiar with these 'chairs' and all their intricacies, but then maybe this is something more common with serious lake fisherman back home and I know nothing about any type of freshwater fishing. .

A couple of those fancy fishing chairs

Each 'chair' provides a seating space and usually has arm rests.  It will have an attachment on which to mount a net basket to hang down into the water, I assume to hold caught fish.  There will be a place for the container of bait.  Beneath the seat will be a cooler which will have a separate closed top section that holds spare fishing line and bits which might be needed for spares for their rods and reels.  There often will also be a holder to accommodate several fishing rods so that they can have as many lines in the water at one time as possible.  And all this will have counter-balance weights to prevent the chair tipping over if the fisherman rises too quickly.  These things are designed and engineered quite impressively. 

These guys are fishing along the inner wall of the marina.  My last blog posting mentioned the 4 underwater fresh water springs which are located in that area.  So the water is slightly less salty than the water found elsewhere in the area.  Maybe that encourages more fish to the diluted water?  I would not think so but what the heck do I know about it.  (And do not care enough to attempt to research this topic; feel free to do so if you are so inclined.)

Wall east of the main pontoon lined with fishermen.  At far right are steps leading up to main road.  The low flat
roofed building is the Stella Marina bar and restaurant where Happy Hour is held twice weekly.  
It is operated by some very nice and very hard-working folks.  The food menu consists of only panini
 sandwiches and french fries, all at very reasonable prices.