'THE BARBLESS HOOK' - 19 February 2012
THE BARBLESS HOOK
Welcome to our first newsletter for 2012
It’s been a hectic season on the competition front with us sending a total of five teams offshore to compete.
Despite our best endeavours the Australians took out the Oceania competition, now we have two teams competing in the Commonwealth Championships in Tasmania which have just finished. Congratulations to Nigel Juby who finished 6thindividual and Tim McClew who finished 8th.
(A full list of results can be found at http://flyfishaustralia.com.au/cms/)
The team to represent us at the World’s is also busily preparing for their competition which is fast approaching. The team will be leaving from NZ on the 23rd of May and are going to Slovakia for practice on Grayling fishing before going on to Slovenia for the World Champs
Conduct
We now have a large number of competitors out their representing our country which is fantastic. Please remember though that you are ambassadors for both our country and our organisation, not only while you are overseas but also when practising in NZ. Please make sure you show other anglers respect and abide by all the rules. Many of you are now readily recognisable amongst the angling community and we have had a couple of minor complaints about the conduct of some of our members.
Sponsorship
Attracting sponsors is not easy in this environment and it is important for all members to respect and support our sponsors wherever possible, so that hopefully they will be prepared to continue their support.
Some of our main sponsors this year include: the Park Travellers Lodge, Rod and Reel, Mitsubishi, Manic Tackle Project and nzfishing.com. If you need something they sell or supply it would be great if you could give them a try.
SFFNZ 2012 Nationals
Dates have now been finalised for the Nationals. The competition this year will be based over one weekend due to the busy schedule of International and Regional competitions. Next year we may revert back to two separate competitions. This year’s National’s will be based at the Park Traveller’s Lodge in National Park and will be held on the 23rdto 25th March. The intention is to fish two lake sessions on Lake Kuratu on the Friday, two river sessions on the Whanganui River on Saturday and one river session on the Whanganui River on the Sunday.
The Whanganui River will be closed to all competitors between the confluence with the Whakapapa River and the confluence with the Ongarue River from midnight on the 2ndMarch.
Lake Kuratau will also be closed to competitors from midnight on the 2ndMarch.
World Team Clinics
The World team have run three clinics so far, all of which have been extremely successful. The final clinic was full and was held on the Tukituki at Waipukurau. The focus of the clinic was river fishing with a particular emphasis on dry fly fishing, the weather made it tough but everyone got fish and a few were caught on dries. |
Regional Competitions
In addition to the Pairs competition won by Rob Vaz, we had 7 other Regional’s planned this season starting in September. All competitions consist of 3x3 hour sessions held over 1 ½ days, finishing mid day on the Sunday. This enables competitors and controllers to get home safely and provides some consistency amongst the competitions. Only the Hawkes Bay regional remains so anyone who has not yet qualified for the Nationals will need to get their entries in. Congratulations to all of those that have competed so far and particularly the winners.
Key dates and winners were:
10/11 September Auckland Regional Ohinemuri River - Winner Brad Pepping
29/30 October Rotorua Regional Lake Aniwhenua – Winner Dan Comer
26/27 November Wellington Regional Wainuiomata River – Winner Paul Baker
10/11 December Taupo Regional Lake Kuratau – Winner Des Armstrong
14/15 January 2012 Waikato Regional Waihou River – Winner Tim McClew
28/29 January 2012 Manawatu Regional - Winner Steve Brown
3/4 March 2012 Hawkes Bay Regional Tukituki River contact strutherslcvm@xtra.co.nz
For full results and points to date visit SFFNZ- Results
New Rules
The new FIPS 2011 rule for hooks reads 28.7. All flies must be dressed on hooks which are barbless.
The SFFNZ board has interpreted this rule as meaning flies must be tied on hooks that are either
- Manufactured barbless
- Or hooks that have the barb completely removed (i.e. filed off)
Therefore for the 2012-2013 session we will be implementing this rule, hooks that have the bard squashed down will not be able to be used.
For the national champs this year you can squash the barb down but they must pass the "fleece test"
If anyone has any contributions they wish to make or questions arising from items covered in this newsletter they can contact Tony.Houpt@xtra.co.nzor p.dewar@clear.net.nz
Sports Fly Fishing NZ (Inc)
PO Box 745
Wellington
New Zealand
20 2015