2005 CD SFFNZ National Championships

Final report on the CD-Rods NZ National Fly Fishing Championship 2005

Saturday was a busy day with the three groups of anglers fishing the Waimakariri (which fished very well with up to 14 fish caught on some beats), the Waihou and the Ohinamuri. Nearly all anglers caught fish and the scoring was very close. At the end of the second day, last years champion, Aaron West was the clear leader although still assailable if he blanked on the last day.

The Sunday dawned bright and fair.

HQ was established at Gary Majors farm on the Waihou. The Waihou anglers were all back by 12.30 and then we started the long wait (until 2.00 pm) for the other anglers to get back. Those who had finished sat around and enjoyed the farm yard flies, lunched and listened to tall tales being told.

When the results of the first two beats (Waihou and Waimakariri) were in and  recorded it became apparent that Aaron West, with a another first that morning, was the winner but the second and third placings hung in the balance until the Ohinamuri results were received. It was a nail biting wait but finally competitors found that Peter Scott, having done really well and won his session, was the runner up. This pushed our only non-NZ finalist, Yoshi Nakagawa into third place. Steve Brown was pipped for a medal by two points even though he had more fish points than the silver and bronze medalists. Many of the subsequent placings were decided on a tie break (number of fish points in total) where competitors had the same number of place points.

Results of the competition are given for the top 11 anglers. The top ten NZ anglers will go forward to another competition in about 4- 6 weeks. The top scores (determined by adding together the rankings achieved in  both the first and second tournaments) will determine the new members of the CD Rods/NZ Silver Flies team.

  1. Aaron West: 7 place pts/38 fish/26,280 pts
  2. Peter Scott: 11 place pts/26 fish/18,700 pts
  3. Yoshi Nakagawa: 12 place pts/23 fish/17,140 pts
  4. Steve Brown: 13 place pts/29 fish/19,700 pts
  5. John Bell: 15 place pts/19 fish/15,540 pts
  6. Dan Comer: 15 place pts/19 fish/15,420 pts
  7. Rob Vaz: 15 place pts/19 fish/13,574 pts
  8. Neil Hertzel: 15 place pts/17 fish/12,500 pts
  9. John Pellew: 16 place pts/19 fish/12,760 pts
  10. Strato Cotsilinis: 16 place pts/15 fish/11,580 pts
  11. Craig Farrar: 17 place pts/18 fish/12,100 pts

The tournament was a great success and the depth of talent fishing in these  competitions is formidable. Many thanks are due to Dave Pirrit, the Competition Co-ordinator and his hardworking team of Ian Gibbs, Peter Scott,  Steve Brown and John Pellew. Without their dedication and hard-work in selecting and marking beats, arranging accommodation and meals, organising  boats etc., we would not be able to hold the National Championships. Special thanks too are due to Rob Vaz for all his efforts in designing the new score sheets and getting them printed in time.

Thanks too to our sponsor, CD Rods, for all their support.

Jill Mandeno
President
SFFNZ Inc.

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