The Highlights of the “Olympics in the Fishing World”! Feel the Charm of the 39th FIPS-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championship

The 39th World Fly Fishing Championship, which returned to Australia 20 years later, ended perfectly on December 8, 2019. This Olympic-level event is specially created for the world's top professional fly fishing players from 23 national teams and devoted to providing them with an excellent platform for communication and competition.

This world-class event also created a legend. The contestants competed in cold and snowy weather for the first time but achieved good results, which became the ficus of this event, showing the super-high level of the contestants.

 

The FIPS-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championship started on April 23, 1989 and is part of the CIPS International Fly Fishing Federation, which was established in Rome in 1952. The event is dedicated to promoting the development of fly fishing all over the world, friendship among nations and a healthy lifestyle.

Like the Olympic Games, many countries and regions apply for the right to host the WFFC event every year. Tasmania, Australia, won the bid to hold this event three years ago. After two years of meticulous preparation, Tasmania is ready to present a  wonderful fishing event for fishing masters and fishing enthusiasts all over the world.

Fly fishing is considered a sport of the nobility, commonly known as "water golf". It is the fishing method with the largest amount of exercise and the most beautiful posture. People who try this method are required to hold the fishing line initially and then throw it out vigorously, and the fishing line is much longer than the average.

 

They come from Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kiribati, Luxembourg, Malta, Mongolia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Scotland, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, the United States and Wales.

Each contestant is an expert of fly fishing because only the champions of national fly fishing championship are eligible to participate in this world competition. Therefore, it is really rare to see such a gathering of so many fishing masters in Australia.

 

The venue for the competition will be situated in the five classic fly fishing rivers in Tasmania, namely Penstock Lagoon, Meander River, Woods Lake, Mersey River and Little Pine Lagoon. The players will take turns to compete in different rivers by drawing lots.

The Tasmanian river basin is famous for producing small wild trout. However, in some Tasmanian rivers, large trout is likely to emerge. Lubin Pfieffer is one of those who has targeted the big trout.

This 5-day event was broadcast live by the official media Flylife worldwide. And the Australian National Radio and Television Station (ABC) and Tasmanian TV 7 reported on this splendid event.

 

 

In order to bring a better experience for the contestants, the organizers made sufficient preparations before the competition, such as the careful survey of the competition venues and relevant work to ensure the quality of water and fish.

The organizer and the members of the competition organization inspected the competition venues.

Before the official start, the organizers held a grand opening ceremony and welcome dinner, in which hundreds of world top fly fishing players gathered together.

Each player also received a full set of fly fishing clothes and a backpack provided by the major sponsor of the event, iWader.

During the five days of the competition, the players fully experienced the changeable weather in Australia. Although it was summer in the southern hemisphere, it began to snow on the first day of the competition. The fishing line was difficult to control, and the wind and waves were so strong that contestants felt as if they had been in the sea instead of inland rivers. However, at the same time, at another competition venue, the sun was shining and the breeze was blowing softly.

 

 

The contestants said that although the competition became more difficult due to such weather, it was unexpectedly interesting. After all, not many people had fished in snowy weather or on a surging river. You know, this is the first official fishing competition ever held in a snowy day!

On the third day of the competition, the weather in Tasmania finally improved, but the wind and waves were still too strong. Many players reported that it was difficult to see the targets, and this led them to miss several fish and their results were affected.

But this is exactly the interesting thing about the FIPS-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championship-the performance of any day cannot determine the final ranking, because you never know what kind of weather you or your opponents will meet the next day

In the following days, the weather favored the players. The sparkling rivers, the soaring black swans, and the little kangaroos watching the competition on the riverbank, all of these made this competition a kind of enjoyment.

 

 

 

In the end, the individual champion was Croston Howard from the United Kingdom, who caught 41 fish, the longest of which reached 50.2cm, with a total of 32,980 points.

 

The second place was awarded to Spanish player Garcia David, with 38 fish, the longest 53.8cm, and accumulated 29,740 points. The third place was Slovakian Sveda Kristian, 40 fish, the longest 51.0cm, and accumulated 30,820 points.

 

Australia's best performance in the individual competition was made by the Stagg Jonothan, who ranked 12th, with 39 fish, the longest 48.5cm and 32,420 points.

In the team competition, the French team won the championship. They caught a total of 144 fish in the five-day competition, with a maximum length of 57.6cm, and the team's total points were 109,420 points.

The Czech republic and Spain ranked second and third respectively.

 The Australian team ends up in the seventh place in the team competition.

Tasmanian government officials, the organizer, the members of the competition organization and all contestants took group photos.

At the Gala dinner on the last day, the organizers held an award ceremony for all sponsors to appreciate their full cooperation over the past few days. The 39th FIPS-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championship ended successfully.

 

 

One of the major sponsor of this event is iWader, a brand specializing in manufacturing fishing waders. They sponsored a full set of fly fishing clothes for contestants from 23 countries and regions. The wader included is the world's first elastic professional fly fishing wader, which was pioneered by iWader in 2015 and was highly praised by the contestants of this event.

 

The stretch fabric with patent technology satisfies all the required characteristics of fly fishing: high elasticity, highly breathable, very flexible to wear, high durability, and 100% waterproof. Compared with some first-line fishing wader brands, iWader has the same quality but its price is quite competitive.

The 39th FIPS-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championship has come to an end. But you can still enjoy fishing in Australia. In order to promote recreational fisheries, the Victorian government has invested 27 million Australian dollars to launch "Target 1 Million Plan", aiming at increasing the number recreational anglers and making Victoria a second to none fishing resort.

Next week we will welcome the Commonwealth Fly Fishing Competition, which is held every three years. The venue of this competition is set in New Zealand. Iwader is honored to be one of the sponsors of this competition. Let’s look forward to the wonderful performances of the players!