About Us

Purposes

The purposes of the society are:

• to promote sports fly fishing in NZ;
• to organize and run a NZ National Championship annually;
• to promote regional competitions between the members of the society;
• to select teams to represent NZ at the World Fly Fishing Championships which are currently held annually;
• to raise the funds necessary to cover the costs of sending teams to this event through fund raising functions and sponsorship
• to participate in the Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championships which are held bi-annually
• to encourage young men and women to learn the sport of fly fishing and participate in competitions at local, regional and national levels.
• to hold, as the opportunity presents itself, the World Championships in NZ so as to promote NZ to the world fly fishing community as a destination for excellent fly fishing.

The NZ Sport Fly Fishing Regional Championships will be held throughout the regions throughout the year. The New Zealand Championships will be in March / April with finalists competing for places in the Worlds, Commonwealths and Oceania Teams.

History

Sports Fly Fishing New Zealand Incorporated (SFFNZ) was founded in 1986 by a small group of enthusiastic, sports anglers after they were invited to send a team to represent New Zealand at the World Fly Fishing Championships.  

Trials were held to select a NZ team, which competed in the championships in England in 1987.  

Sports or competitive fishing is organized on a world wide basis by the International Angling Confederation, CIPS (in French, this stands for the Confederation Internationale de la Peche Sportive).

Within CIPS there are four international federations:

• Fresh Water Angling - FIPS-ED,
• Fly Fishing - FIPS-MOUCHE,
• Sea Fishing - FIPS-MER
• Casting - F.I.S.L. 

Sports Fly Fishing New Zealand is the official New Zealand member of CIPS through its membership of FIPS-MOUCHE who organize the World Fly Fishing Championships and the various regional championships in Oceania, Europe and North America

At the same time NZ were invited to join the Commonwealth Fly Fishing Association, which holds competitions every alternate year following the World Championship. Teams representing the various Commonwealth countries compete on an informal and friendly basis in the commonwealth country nearest to the location of the country hosting the World event.
SFFNZ is registered as a charitable, not-for-profit corporation and donations are tax deductible within the limits set by the Internal Revenue

New Zealand has sent teams to the World Championships where up to 26 countries compete since 1987 and has placed as high as 3^rd overseas and won the event when it was hosted here in New Zealand in 1991. Currently due to funding SFFNZ only sends a team to the worlds every second year, during the other year the Oceania champs are held against Australia, this was a competition set up to give both countries more competition without the expense of travelling to Europe. Canada and Japan have also competed in this competition which is held alternatively in Australia or New Zealand

SFFNZ Inc. Board Members

Life Members of SFFNZ

• Tony Entwistle
• Hugh McDowell (deceased)
• Dave McLellan
• Mike Oliver
• Terry Duval
• Strato Cotsilinis
• Doug Rankin (deceased)
• Paul Dewar
• Peter Scott
• Neil Hirtzel

CONSTITUTION

Click here to view the constitution.