World’s best lured to our waterways
Fly fishing titles put the spotlight on a treasured pastime,
THE eyes of the world will be on Tasmania as the world’s best anglers descend on the state this week for the 2019 World Fly Fishing Championship.
Held annually, the championship is considered the Olympics of fly fishing, an angling method that uses a lightweight lure — called a fly — to catch fish.
Wild brown trout were introduced to Tasmania in 1864 and the fishery is now regarded as one of the best in the world.
This year’s championships run until Saturday across Tasmania including Penstock Lagoon, Woods
Lake, Little Pine Lagoon and the Meander River.
Teams come from 23 countries, highlighting the magnificence of Tasmania’s unrivalled natural environment and our world class wild trout fisheries in the most spectacular of settings.
More than 1000 visitors are expected, staying an average of 14 days each, which will be a major boost for businesses in regional economies.
The championship began on Saturday with an official welcome and parade in Civic Square, Launceston.
Teams from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Europe and North America will be competing.
The championship allows the host country to grant a participation “wild card” to a non-member country.
Fly Fish Australia selected Kiribati, a saltwater fishing nation from the Pacific region, to attend. I welcome the team and wish it all the best.
It is fantastic that Kiribati will be part of the championships.
The Hodgman majority Liberal Government has provided $100,000 to support the event, along with assistance from the Inland Fisheries Service, Events Tasmania and Tourism Tasmania.
We have also delivered $300,000 to build and upgrade community amenities at popular fishing locations, including at championship venues.
In any year, our world class trout fishery attracts more than 20,000 anglers, including from interstate and overseas.
Alongside underpinning local jobs and businesses, recreational fishing is a treasured part of the Tasmanian way of life.
To encourage more people to go fishing and help reduce cost of living pressures, the Government has frozen inland trout licence fees at 2017-2018 levels for four years.
To further improve anglers’ access to priority lakes and rivers, the Government has committed $200,000 to extend the Anglers Access Program in collaboration with Anglers Alliance Tasmania to sites in the state’s North-West, North-East and Derwent catchments.
The Anglers Access Program has projects covering more than 300km of rivers.
The next stage of the program has commenced with works to improve access for anglers along the Meander River being completed in time for the championships.
As a keen trout fisherman myself, I am excited to visit some of the new areas to be opened up as the program progresses.
Our inland fisheries are well managed, are one of our state’s great assets and will be the perfect arena for the championship.
I encourage all Tasmanians to take the opportunity to enjoy this year’s World Fly Fishing Championships.
Visit https://www.wffc2019.com/