MANGALURU: Angling activity on the west coast is all set to get a boost with the launch of Angling Championship at northern breakwaters near New Mangalore Port (NMP) on Sunday.“We will hold an international tournament at a bigger scale next year,” said Y R Belegal, traffic manager, New Mangalore Port Trust (NMPT), after inaugurating the carnival. Former trustee of NMPT Praveen Kumar observed that beaches were being developed in the past many years.
Owing to the beautification of beaches, there was an increase in the number of visitors to beaches in the past seven to eight years.“Panambur breakwaters should be known as Anglers heaven,” Panambur Beach Tourist Project Chief Executive Officer Yatish Baikampady declared. “What we did for surfing should be done for angling too,” he added.
“Northern breakwater was a restricted area for the past eight to nine years. We are encouraging angling. It helps in connecting the community,” said Dock Master. Deputy commandant of CISF Shreyansh encouraged people to enjoy the carnival and ‘get hooked’. Mangaluru turned heaven for anglers who arrived from far and wide. “48 participants registered. One of them is from Malaysia, one from Oman and another from Dubai. Many hail from Kerala, Gujarat and Bengaluru,” said Anup Kanchan from Gifted India that is organising the event.
A mega catch from the first batch, in the morning was 11.1kg ‘Queenfish’, caught by Mohammed Asif from Udupi, said Avil from Mangalore Anglers Club. “This is the lighter one. There are monsters residing in this place. We are expecting a monster by tomorrow evening,” Anup smiles.