A report from Linda Gorlei

A few issues back in this publication , Cheryl Heyns, President of the South African Fly Fishing Association (SAFFA) at the time, announced the exciting news that SA would be hosting the 5 th Fips-Mouche World Masters Fly Fishing Championship in Dullstroom. This first for South Africa and Africa was extra special because the event was also included as part of the World Angling Games.

So it was in early February, that a good number of the world’s best competitive flyfishers in the 50’s plus age group, gathered in Dullstroom to compete in the Fips-Mouche World Masters Fly Fishing Championship. This is a relatively new category in the world flyfishing calendar, however, the fairly small number of teams entered, (seven in all from countries such as Australia, Ireland, Italy, Spain, the USA, and of course South Africa) underrepresented the skill levels which were outstanding. Wit h t h e dra w oversee n b y Fip s representative Stefan Allacker, Competitors were drawn into one of four fishing groups. Each group only fished four sessions as opposed to the usual five. These sessions took place at the Dullstroom Town Dam, the Lochs, Nooitgedacht Trout Lodge Dam and Rivendell on the Spekboom river. A colourful parade through the town kicked off the event. A pipe band led the parade which helped spectators and competitors get into the groove of what was an amazing few days of competition, fishing fellowship an d fun . Th e ceremonia l procession was followed by the business of the captains’ meeting and draw. The draw is very important as it is only then that anglers learn who they will be fishing against This is when the competition starts in earnest.

A team’s overall placing points determine its position on the competition scoreboard. However, teams only compete one on one with other teams fishing in the same group. Sessions last three hours and fish are scored by length as well as points per fish. Anglers fish two sessions a day, one in the morning and another in the afternoon. o, the first step in doing well overall is to ensure that your team does well in each session. It’s a case of do your best and help each other – work as a team to minimize placing points in each group.

So how was the fishing? Day one produced some great scores on the Spekboom river, especially in session one where Jeff Currier (USA) caught 29 fish followed by 18 from the Spaniard, Javier Alvarez. Nooitgedacht Dam, whic h was fished using drift boats, also produced a top score of 18 fish. However, Dullstroom Town Dam and The Lochs proved to be a bit more challenging.

Richard Gorlei (SA Men and the eventual individual winner) and Beth Grobbelaar (SA Ladies) both got off to a good start winning their sectors with 5 fish each. As is usually the case in these events, the fish count drop as the sessions progress. Conditions change and fishing pressure becomes a factor. The end of day one, saw four teams closely competing for top spot, namely the USA, Spain, Italy and the SA Men’s team.

Session three got underway after a rest day with some rather gnarly weather conditions adversely affecting some sectors. Heavy overnight rain caused the Spekboom

river to rise and become slightly discolored by the last afternoon session. However, this is sort of change is normal in competition flyfishing. Tactics, som e of which w ere highl y innovative, were adapted to meet the changing conditions.

Competitive fly anglers live by the adage; “it’s not over till the fat lady sings”. Our fat lady is a hooter and depending how the fishing goes, her honk may be music to your ears or spell doom to your hopes and ambitions. If a venue like Dullstroom Town Dam did not produce on the day, a single fish in the last minutes could turn a low score into a high position, as was the case for Australian angler Jason Garrat. Cold, wet and windy conditions with mist and poor visibility resulted in many blanks being recorded for the day. This is not to say that the Dullstroom Town Dam was a bad venue and despite low overall numbers it, nonetheless produced the biggest fish of the tournament, 72cm a bus caught by Javier Alvarez during session 3.

Followers of Trout Talk and other social platforms will know that South Africa’s Richard Gorlei took individual top honours. However,

he would be the first to tell you the focus is on the team in competition fly fishing. Thus, it was with real jubilation that the Spaniards graciously acknowledged their title as world champions. This was a well-deserved win by a team that includes some former individual world champions in its ranks.

The Americans, took silver, and Italy Bronze in the team championship. The SA Men’s team was placed 4 th overall and the SA ladies team achieved a 7 th overall position. The strength of completive women’s flyfishing

in South Africa is underscored by this result with Beth Grobbelaar’s phenomenal 5 th overall position in the individual rankings. SAFFA was praised by the Fips-Mouche representatives for their organization of what was the first world ranked fly fishing event to be held in Africa. Please visit www.flyfishsouthafrica.co.za for all the results and the SAFFA facebook page for more incredible pictures that capture the spirit of this World Masters Competition.