Organizers are looking for a local team of anglers to participate in the 16th annual National Fly Fishing Championship in Centre Wellington from June 6 to 8.
Event venues will include the Grand River, Conestogo River and the Upper Credit Trout Club.
In a telephone interview with the Advertiser, organizing committee member Ernie Kalwa said this is the second time the championships are to be hosted locally. The first was in 2006.
The 35 anglers currently registered for the Fly Fishing Canada event make up seven teams for the championship.
However, a matching offer from Scotiabank Fergus will allow up to five local anglers to create the Scotiabank “Bigs” Exhibition Team to help raise more funds for the Centre Wellington chapter of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada (BBBS).
The deadline for the Scotiabank’s Bigs exhibition team is May 18 at 5pm. Because it is an exhibition team, those anglers would not be awarded medals, but their scores would count in the ranking of the tournament.
As to why BBBS was chosen as the supported charity, Kalwa explained, “I am a Big Brother, my wife is a Big Sister … it’s one of our favourite charities of the area.”
He added that when Fly Fishing Canada asked him to coordinate the event, “I said I would only do it if we could assign BBBSCW as the charity beneficiary of the event.”
He explained that while members of the public are welcome to watch the anglers in action, the “riverbeats” will be top secret locations.
“Most of the fishing spots will not be the really super popular spots that most local anglers fish,” he said.
In addition, much of the tournament will take place outside the hours typical fly fishing times.
“We’ve coordinated the championships (to) happen during the week from a Wednesday to Friday and from 9am to 5pm – times when most anglers are not on the river,” explained Kalwa.
The event also includes a conservation symposium on June 5 at the Hampton Barn at the Belwood Lake Conservation Area from 2 to 5pm ($10 admission for the general public; free for tournament volunteers and competitors).
Kalwa said there would be three to four individuals speaking on local conservation efforts.
For those interested in joining the Scotiabank “Bigs” exhibition team, more details and rules are available by emailing nffc2018@gmail.com or visiting flyfishingcanada.net or facebook.com/2018nffc.
