WE ARE BACK in business: Season 8 of Europe's most popular bank fishing tournament is on! 28 anglers from 9 nations are taking part, but only 4 will make it to the final — and this year the final will again take place at a venue we'll reveal when the time comes. 😼 In this article you'll find all the key information on participants, rules and the scheduled broadcast dates!
Here is the official YPC BANK 2025 trailer:
The Participants
28 anglers are competing this year! You can find all their go-to lures and much of the tackle and accessories they use right here in our shop!
Group A
Toon Van Ham (Westin): Westin's former youngster has long since grown into a superstar of the European fishing scene, and after two titles (2022 & 2024) and a silver medal (2023) he goes into the tournament as your clear favourite! In the all-time YPC rankings, the Belgian is currently tied at the top with Dustin Schöne — but with Dustin taking a break from competition in 2025, Toon could seize the crown outright at his fifth appearance!
Markus Eule (Zeck): Since 2022, Markus has competed in every YPC format (BANK, BOAT, BASS & FANS) and is an absolute crowd favourite thanks to his straight-talking, honest personality. When he's not fishing tournaments, this expat from the Palatinate is living the sweetest of lives in Italy — building boats, looking after his pet raven and running the successful YouTube channel 'Mr. Waller'! In 2024 he put in an outstanding group-stage performance (second-highest score behind Toon Van Ham), only to be eliminated in the semi-final. Can he go one better this time? FLY HIGH! 🦉
Sami Mouhib (Finntrail): This multi-talented content creator is a superb bank angler who knows his way around the Netherlands from Maastricht to Groningen. In 2024 he finally proved he can catch not just lots of fish, but big fish too — and was duly rewarded with a well-deserved silver medal. In Season 8 the Belgian lines up under new colours with one clear goal: to back up that strong showing from last year!
Roman Giacuzzo (FishXplorer): His debut last year ended in the semi-final against Dustin Schöne — a result that was frustrating for both sides. On his second attempt, the Potsdam-based guide, videographer and fly-fishing instructor wants to go at least one round further. On paper it looks a tall order, but judged on his local knowledge, attention to detail, angling ability and sheer determination, Roman has a genuine shot at making it through even from the so-called 'Group of Death'!
Birger Domeyer (Fisch & Fang): Birger originally studied sports science, but fairly quickly found his way into the editorial team of the Parey publishing titles 'Fisch & Fang' and 'Der Raubfisch'. Incredibly knowledgeable, eloquent and dry-witted — after a tough preparation last year due to illness, which led to a tricky BANK debut, the angler from Koblenz wants to show his best game this time round!
David van Maanen (Shimano): The Dutchman fishes his home waters from both the bank and the boat, is comfortable in front of a camera, can point to a monstrous 103 cm zander as his personal best and has competed in several high-profile tournaments. There's every reason to think Shimano's BeNeLux Marketing Manager could be a very wise choice!
Tim Kunst (FRAPP): The young Latvian lure brand FRAPP have fittingly gone for a genuine youngster — but despite being only 21, Tim is already an accredited street-fishing specialist with titles and medals at world championships in Italy and his home country. Anglingwise, the Dutchman should find his feet here quickly!
Photo Group A (left to right): Mouhib, Giacuzzo, Eule🦉, Van Ham, Domeyer, van Maanen, Kunst
Group B
Patrick Marrable (Fox Rage): Ever since a fearless chub threw itself at his spinner more than 30 years ago, Patrick has rarely put down his spinning rod, travelling far and wide to expand his technical repertoire. On more than one occasion in the past, the title has slipped through his fingers by the narrowest of margins — and plenty of people fancy him to go all the way this year!
Frédéric Jullian (Livingston Lures): Fréd developed a deep passion for the outdoors from a very early age. Hunting was never really an option — not enough catch and release — so he simply became the first angler in his family! Since then he has been wonderfully flexible about which waters he fishes (and which sponsors he works with): how and where matter less than finding the fish that are feeding today.
Markus von Euw (Bullseye): Markus, a.k.a. 'Vonso', has been fishing since early childhood and is now firmly established among Europe's competitive lure anglers. The Swiss angler fishes both fresh and salt water, is technically versatile and adds fly fishing to his extensive lure fishing armoury. Despite often performing well at the YPC, luck has so far eluded him — perhaps this time the stars will align for the Swiss contender!
Johannes Gasser (LMAB): With his alter ego having moved to Fox, the freshly crowned Boat Champion now steps up to the bank for the Berlin tackle brand for the very first time! There's a degree of risk involved, as the Austrian's knowledge of Dutch bank spots is still fairly limited — but as an angler, nobody will be underestimating Johannes.
Daniel Weyers (Nays): Following his YPC debut in Sardinia (Bass 2025), the Dutchman now steps in for brand boss Dustin Schöne. Big shoes to fill — but anyone who follows Daniel will know that's probably the last thing that would faze him!
Rene Meyer (Gunki): Rene steps in for Rick Barten, who is occupied with the joys of new fatherhood, and is the complete wildcard in this group! It will be interesting to see whether the Hamburg-based angler mixes it at the top or takes more of an 'it's the taking part that counts' approach. One thing he has let slip in the build-up: he's already looking forward to hearing Jean-Claude van Damme's voice say his name!
Ihno Tamminga (LURE DROP): Some long-time Pike & Perch fans will remember him as Mr. Fishing Hacks, others as the charming host of the YPC Bank 2024 — and everyone else will get to know him in Season 8, because this time Ihno is competing! Tournament experience is thin on the ground, but the angler from Oldenburg has more than enough fishing experience to make up for it. If his nerves hold, this underdog could spring a real surprise!
Photo Group B (left to right): Jullian, von Euw, Gasser, Marrable, Tamminga, Weyers, Meyer
Group C
Enrico Di Ventura (Fox Rage): The angler from Minden — who has a past in German rap — is part of Europe's predator fishing elite, having won the WPC and Luremasters as well as the YPC Bank (2020) and YPC Boat (2025). Last season ended frustratingly in the semi-final, but he remains firmly in the mix of title contenders for this edition. Let it … ☔️
Veit Wilde (Seika Pro): Veit started fishing at the age of 8 with a coarse rod. After a few adventures with carp and eel, he gravitated towards lure fishing in his teens — first targeting pike, until a 94 cm Elbe zander finally drew him fully into the predator camp. After his A-levels, training as an environmental technician and a stint in journalism at 'Blinker', the Magdeburg-based angler has been working as a product manager and brand representative since 2017. His favourite fish remains the zander to this day.
Anton Holzleitner (Sportex): After starting out fishing in his grandmother's garden, Anton has since fished half the world from Slovenia to New Zealand! At his Bank debut in 2024 he dominated the group stage and then won the 'Bavaria derby' against Herbert Ziereis convincingly. Only in the final did things not quite go to plan — this year the versatile Sportex representative is naturally looking to go one better!
Kevin Imhof (LMAB): The German is a genuine street-fishing authority, with victories at the Open Street Amsterdam (2018), the Freestyle Live (2022) and the World Street Fishing (2022 & 2023). His debut in 2024 proved he can fish brilliantly and knows his spots — it was simply the standout fish that were missing. If he finds them on his second attempt, a semi-final place should be well within reach!
Sven Patzak (Hearty Rise): The heating engineer always has plenty of steam and shares the finest hobby in the world with, among others, his wife, with whom he has already competed in several tournaments. After multiple appearances at the YPC Boat, the Lower Saxony angler now lines up at our bank format for the very first time — and anyone who knows Sven will tell you: anything short of full throttle is simply not an option!
César Valladares (FishUs): César is one of the creative minds behind FishUs, the tackle brand founded in 1999. The Catalan is primarily responsible for visual design, but he knows how to handle lures of all kinds in practice too. After a rain-soaked Bank debut full of setbacks and misfortune, the second attempt under even worse meteorological conditions needs to go better — fingers crossed, ¡Mucha suerte!
Fabian Frenzel (Berkley): His self-declared favourite lure ('ragworm!') makes it pretty clear that Fabi doesn't quite fit the typical YPC angler profile — yet two world championship titles in surf casting offer pretty compelling evidence of his competitive credentials! We're very curious to see whether and how the Lower Saxony angler translates his skills to perch, pike and zander!
Photo Group C (left to right): Di Ventura, Wilde, Holzleitner, Patzak, Frenzel, Imhof, Valladares
Group D
Marc Ptacovsky (Illex): The angler from Hesse is one of Germany's best-known predator fishing specialists, with an impressive international reputation as a FIPSed predator world champion, WPC winner (2021) and member of the German largemouth bass national team. Within the YPC universe, 'only' a BASS victory (2022) stands to his name so far — yet the Illex representative is always among the leading contenders at our bank format too!
Luis Mendez (Monkey Lures): The Dortmund-based angler with a Mexican passport has competed in every one of our tournament formats — and done rather well! Alongside a double triumph at the YPC Fans (2023 & 2024), he can already point to two bronze medals at the YPC Bank (2022 & 2024) — but despite those impressive results, the battle cry for this year remains, of course: ARMAGEDDON! 😁
Alexander Wiltz (Rapala): Alex only really got into fishing in 2019 and was nominally the least experienced competitor in the entire field at his debut. The angler from Saarland was singularly unbothered by that and marched all the way to the semi-final, where he eventually lost a very sporting contest to the more experienced Veit Wilde. A debut that left you wanting more!
Cristina Meldau (DUO): 2024 brought the Swiss angler a crushing debut — a tough setback that would have put many people off a second attempt. Not Cristina! In fact, she was the first competitor to confirm her place in this edition. We'll be watching to see whether her determination is matched by results this time. No pressure... 🥸
Marius Schepp (Westin): Completely new to competitive fishing, the Munich-based angler has nonetheless been active in the fishing scene — both privately and professionally — for several years now. Big fish? Tick. Tackle talk on camera? Tick. And he's representing a notoriously strong competition brand to boot — there's little reason why his YPC debut shouldn't be a successful one!
Max Guder (Savage Gear): Together with his mate Willi, Max has built a successful social media channel over the years, writes regularly for various angling publications and is appearing in video formats ever more frequently. At his debut last year he caught reasonably well, but the perch were the missing piece. Second time around, that needs to change!
Alex Schmidt (Noike): At his debut back in 2023, the angler from Herford just missed out on the semi-final — and last year it was even more painful: minutes before the end, Alex hooked a 49 cm perch behind the gill cover, which under normal circumstances would comfortably have seen him through. We're curious to find out whether third time really is the charm for the event technician this year!
Photo Group D (left to right): Guder, Schmidt, Mendez, Wiltz, Meldau, Ptacovsky, Schepp
YouTube Predator Cup 2025 – Format and Rules
Location
The group stage and intermediate round will take place in the Netherlands. The tournament area will again be divided into four zones:
Anglers fish the following zones during the group stage:
- Group A: Zones 1 and 3
- Group B: Zones 1 and 3
- Group C: Zones 2 and 4
- Group D: Zones 2 and 4
The Group Stage
The 28 anglers compete in four groups of seven. The top three scorers from each group advance to the intermediate round.
As usual, fishing takes place over two days of eight hours each. Up to six qualifying fish can be submitted in total, but a full card requires at least one fish from each of the three target species — pike, perch and zander!
Full card example: 1 pike, 1 zander, 1 perch + 3 further pike
The established minimum sizes and multipliers apply:
| Species | Minimum size | Multiplier |
| Pike | 45 cm | 1 |
| Zander | 42 cm | 1.3 |
| Perch | 22 cm | 2 |
Any measurement 0.5 cm or more above a whole centimetre is rounded up (example: 50.5 cm = 51 cm), but only once the minimum size has actually been exceeded (a perch of 21.6 cm, for instance, does not count as a scoring fish). Compressing the tail fin is permitted.
The Intermediate Round
Although last year's format ('The Battles' = head-to-head duels) was welcomed by many, it clearly pushed some viewers' emotions beyond breaking point — which unfortunately led to entirely unacceptable abuse directed at individual competitors. To protect the anglers better this year, we are therefore returning to the previous intermediate round format!
The top three scorers from Groups A/B and from Groups C/D will each compete against one another in a second group stage. Fishing takes place over a single day of 9 hours. A full card in the intermediate round requires only five fish: 1 perch, 1 pike, 1 zander + two further target-species fish. Only the top two scorers from the respective Groups A/B and C/D advance to the final!
The Final
The final round will take place on new YPC territory! Exactly where? We'll announce that when the time comes! 🤫
Bonus Points, Penalty Points and Time Penalties
In the group stage, up to 30 topwater points are available — 10 points per qualifying predator. The standard minimum sizes apply for pike, perch and zander; for all other species a minimum of 40 cm has been set. This covers every species without exception: alongside asp and ide, non-predatory species such as carp also earn the bonus points, provided they were taken on a lure and hooked fairly.
In the intermediate round, topwater points are capped at two fish, i.e. a maximum of 20 points.
Poor fish handling will result in significant time penalties:
Any angler who loses a fish during the fight due to a bitten-through leader receives a 30-minute time penalty; lifting a fish out of the water by the line costs 10 minutes.
Penalties are not served immediately — the time is deducted from the total fishing time.
Other Rules at a Glance:
- Every angler must hold a valid Vispas licence.
- At club waters or spots requiring an additional permit, this must be filmed by the camera operator.
- Only lures may be used — no bait fishing.
- Any number of rods may be brought, but only one lure may be in the water at a time.
- Fishing time starts for all anglers at a fixed point in time, no longer from each angler's first cast.
- Caught fish must be confirmed by the camera operator or tournament officials.
- If two anglers are fishing the same spot, the one who arrives later must keep at least 10 metres of distance.
- For moral support, each angler may bring a maximum of one person to the water. That person may NOT actively assist (carrying the landing net, building rigs, fishing alongside, etc.).
- Fish must be hooked in the mouth area (in front of the gill cover); otherwise they count as foul-hooked and are not eligible for scoring.
Commentator and Host
Charles Rettinghaus returns for the eighth time, bringing his world-class narrating voice to the tournament! Toni returns this year as tournament organiser and host.
Sponsors
The following brands and companies are supporting the YPC BANK 2025 as headline sponsors:
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- Shimano (Japanese giant)
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Hearty Rise Europe (premium rod manufacturer: Feel the difference!)
- LMAB (Berlin tackle brand: Every great story starts with a cast!)
Would you like to support the YPC as a sponsor or book advertising clips with an enormous reach? Simply send an e-mail to toni@hechtundbarsch.de.
Broadcast Schedule
Here is the provisional schedule (subject to change):
- Episode 1: 18:00 on Sunday, 27 July 2025 – Group A, Part 1
- Episode 2: 18:00 on Sunday, 3 August 2025 – Group A, Part 2
- Episode 3: 18:00 on Sunday, 10 August 2025 – Group B, Part 1
- Episode 4: 18:00 on Sunday, 17 August 2025 – Group B, Part 2
- Episode 5: 18:00 on Sunday, 24 August 2025 – Group C, Part 1
- Episode 6: 18:00 on Sunday, 31 August 2025 – Group C, Part 2
- Episode 7: 18:00 on Sunday, 7 September 2025 – Group D, Part 1
- Episode 8: 18:00 on Sunday, 14 September 2025 – Group D, Part 2
- Episode 9: 18:00 on Sunday, 21 September 2025 – Group A, Part 3
- Episode 10: 18:00 on Sunday, 28 September 2025 – Group A, Part 4
- Episode 11: 18:00 on Sunday, 5 October 2025 – Group B, Part 3
- Episode 12: 18:00 on Sunday, 12 October 2025 – Group B, Part 4
- Episode 13: 18:00 on Sunday, 19 October 2025 – Group C, Part 3
- Episode 14: 18:00 on Sunday, 26 October 2025 – Group C, Part 4
- Episode 15: 18:00 on Sunday, 2 November 2025 – Group D, Part 3
- Episode 16: 18:00 on Sunday, 9 November 2025 – Group D, Part 4
- Episode 17: 18:00 on Sunday, 16 November 2025 – Intermediate Round A/B, Part 1
- Episode 18: 18:00 on Sunday, 23 November 2025 – Intermediate Round A/B, Part 2
- Episode 19: 18:00 on Sunday, 30 November 2025 – Intermediate Round C/D, Part 1
- Episode 20: 18:00 on Sunday, 7 December 2025 – Intermediate Round C/D, Part 2
- Episode 21: 18:00 on Sunday, 14 December 2025 – Final, Part 1
- Episode 22: 18:00 on Sunday, 21 December 2025 – Final, Part 2
- Episode 23: 18:00 on Thursday, 25 December 2025 – Final, Part 3
We're grateful for your feedback, your creative ideas and your fantastic support — however you choose to get in touch!
Let's f...lipping go!
