The weather gods are not smiling on the fly fishermen competing in the 26th World Fly fishing Championships. Up until yesterday, the 110 anglers were enjoying clear skies with temperatures rivaling a South African summer, but fair weather fishing it is not to be. Downpours have churned the Portuguese rivers into a turbid torrent, with many an angler getting washed downstream in their attempt to get to the wily trout. Despite the foreign conditions, the Sybase Proteas are holding their own and moving up the leader board. After the first day of competitive fishing they now lie 13th out of 22 teams competing this year.

The world championships is divided into five distinct fishing sessions of three hours each, with a team of five anglers tackling the rivers and lakes over the 3 allocated fishing days. As a team you are split up and given an allocated river beat with a dedicated marshal, present to measure each fish that you catch and release and ensure that you adhere to the strict rules. These border on the extreme! No barbs, hooks can only be of a certain size, no artificial weights and if with all of this handicapping you do manage to land a fish, if it’s less than 8 inches it doesn’t count.

Mark Yelland, Gary Glen Young, MC Coetzer, Pieter Van Der Westhuizen and Johan Ferriera are our Sybase Proteas flying the flag and although we might associate fly fishing with holidays and relaxation this is a pressure cooker of competition. Even if you land the biggest fish, this doesn’t count for much. It’s all about consistency and each fish, based on length counts for points, which will give you a ranking in each session. And this is where it gets really frustrating, you only carry your ranking through to the next session, so you start from scratch again in terms of fish caught!! In effect it’s 5 mini competitions within the competition.

Each individual in a set group is ranked, so your group draw can be quite important, not altogether unlike any other world cup. To give you an indication after session 1, the French were in pole position with a total of 18 fish and we were lying 15th having caught 17 fish, the difference was who caught what in which group and session. Sound confusing? Well spare a thought for the lads in green and gold who are flaying the water and taking on the Europeans in their own backyard. It might surprise you to learn that the French, Italians and Czechs dominate this world sport

All of the Sybase Proteas have managed to register some fish on the scoreboard, with Gary Glen Young  and Johan Ferriera earning a 2nd and  3rd group placing respectively and we’re well poised to make a charge for a top ten finish. You’ll be pleased to hear that we’re giving the Aussies a hiding, have left the English limping and have our sights firmly set on the Kiwis. For all the latest news and results, go to www.wildfly.co.za

Further Reading:

From the 9th to the 18th of September 22 countries will be tackling up to take on the world’s best competitive fly fishers. To some of us it might seem like a contradiction in terms…competition….fly fishing, after all the intended purpose behind this gentle art is surely to relax and de-stress from the competitive work place.

Yet for 26 years now, nations have been converging annually to pit their skills against fish and men alike, vying for the honors that a world championship brings. It would surprise many readers to learn that the Czech, French, Italians dominate this sport not the English with whom many of us might associate this sport for “titled gentry” or the Yanks who brazenly show off their fishing prowess on ESPN. It seems that fish, as a food source, is sought after all over Europe and with little to no regulations as to how you catch your dinner, from bait or spinning to nets. It therefore makes sense that the minority of Europeans who stalk these wild fish with nothing more than some fur and a few feathers have honed their skills to perfection.

So what of the South African contingent? Fly Fishing has been around since our colonial masters populated Natal streams with trout in 1890 for their private sport, but over the last decade we have discovered that you can catch any fish on fly from Barbell to Marlin. The subsequent growth in South African Fly Fishing has been explosive, with an estimated 350 000 active fly fishers thrashing our local waters. So before long, as a proud sporting nation, we were bound to challenge the foreign armies on their shores.

Although very much in it’s infancy, SA competitive fly fishing is nonetheless grueling from a qualification perspective. Each region hosts quarterly competitions to identify the potential candidates and then if you mange to make it to the nationals you are put through the mill. From aquatic entomology (what the fish feed on) and imitative fly tying, to equipment rigging and distance / accuracy casting, the wannabees soon fall by the way side. Eventually from 400 possible contenders the selectors narrow it down to 15 to 20 candidates and then after practical river craft and technique assessment and tackle inspection you are put through a harrowing 3rd degree interview before the final 5 are given the honor of representing their country.

Fortunately one of South Africa’s leading IT companies, Sybase SA has generously sponsored the fly fishers who will be flying our SA flag this year. Mark Yelland, MC Coetzer, Gary Glen Young, Pieter Van Der Westhuizen and Johan Ferriera are led by Robert Van Rensburg as the non fishing captain and Pete Roberts as the team manager in our bid to show the World that we can compete at this level.

The Sybase Proteas will be competing in Coimbra, Portugal this year and our lads will be on the water from the 13th up to and including the 15th of September. Five distinct fishing sessions are held over 3 days, each session being an intense 3 hours of fish finding. Not only are our nation’s top anglers fishing some pretty unpopulated trout streams, but the rules truly test a fisherman’s skills. No barbs on your hooks, no artificial weights, to mention but a few, it’s a wonder anyone catches anything. Every fish is measured and released by a designated marshal and based on your performance in any given session you accrue points and a ranking. Only your session ranking gets carried through in the competition, which means that you have to perform in every session. No lucky big fish is going to win you this event and whether you draw a good fishing beat is negated by the consistent performance criteria.

We look forward to our Sybase Proteas showing the seasoned campaigners that South Africans are borne competitors and have the spirit to hold our heads high in any arena.