THE FISHER queen
By Joe Novella Photos Yanni
M
ornington local, Karen Brooks, is a champion fly fisher with a list of achievements that would be the envy of any elite sportsperson in Australia. Karen has competed in many Fly Fish Australia State Championships in Victoria, NSW, and Tasmania and has represented Australia in the World Masters Fly Fishing Championships in South Africa in 2019, the Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championships in New Zealand in 2020, and the inaugural Ladies World Fly Fishing Championships in Norway in 2022.
In June 2023 Karen won gold as the top finishing lady at the Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championships in Islay, Scotland and 6th place overall in the open field of 55 men and women competitors from various Commonwealth countries. She is currently preparing to represent Australia, an honour she is extremely proud of, at the second Ladies World Fly Fishing Championships in Kamloops, Canada in late September 2023.
E ssence
14 | PENINSULA
October 2023
"I was introduced to fly fishing more than 25 years ago by my husband Peter who has been an avid fly fisher since the age of 15. Many of our weekends in those early days were spent walking up rivers exploring and enjoying our environment and catching beautiful trout. In 2015 I was invited to consider competition fly fishing by a member of the Australian Fly Fishing Team; he had recently competed in a Commonwealth Championship where other female representative teams had competed. Australia did not have a female representative team at the time and he hoped to develop one in the future." Karen says her love of fly fishing stems from her love of the outdoors. She was always an outdoorsy type even from her childhood days in Mornington, a place she has deep links to and fond memories of. "I was born at Mornington Bush Nursing Hospital. Mum and Dad, Jack and May Rippingale, owned Rip's Milk Bar on Wilsons Road. We then moved to Beleura Hill into continued page 16...