Although some anglers still balk at the concept of competitive fly fishing, these strictly catch-and-release events provide a focal point that brings fly fishers together from throughout Canada and the world, not only to exchange technical information about their sport, but also to address problems concerning conservation, water quality, habitat loss, and other environmental problems. Through these exchanges, many of the problems that plague freshwater fisheries in several countries may someday be beaten, or at least controlled in a meaningful manner.

10th NFFC Update #1
Fly Fishing Canada’s chairman of national competitions (Todd Oishi) is pleased to announce that Calgary, Alberta, has made a successful bid to host the 10th FFC National Fly Fishing Championships and Conservation Symposium, which will be held Monday, August 28th to Friday, August 31st, 2012. 

The five, three-hour sessions of competition will be held over a period of three days, on 3 river venues that possess healthy populations of mountain whitefish, rainbow, cutthroat and brown trout, and on 2 lake venues that possess stocked rainbow trout that will fished with traditional loch-style fly fishing methods. The competition venues will be announced in the next update…
 
Preliminary schedule of events:
Tuesday, August 28th: Opening Ceremonies, barbeque, controllers and captains’ meetings 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Wednesday, August 29th: sessions 1 and 2: 9:00 am - 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm,
Thursday, August 30th: sessions 3 and 4: 9:00 am - 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm,
Friday, August 31st: session 5: 9:00 am - 12:00 pm.
Friday, August 31st: Conservation Symposium: 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm 
Friday, August 31st: Awards ceremonies, banquet and auction: 5:00 pm to 11:00 pm

FFC has reserved a blocked-section and special rate for competitors at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites, South Calgary. You can contact them by phone at:1-403-225-3000. You must mention that you’re a competitor for the Canadian National Fly Fishing Championships in order to secure this special rate. Here’s a link to the hotel’s website for directions and the contact information: http://www.hiexpress.com/hotels/us/en/calgary/yycmt/hoteldetail 
 
We would ask that everyone registers at the front desk of the Holiday Inn Express Hotel when they arrive in Calgary, so we have the contact information for everyone while they are staying in Calgary, and in the event that there is any changes to the schedule. 


33rd FIPS-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championship & Conservation Symposium – August 12-18, 2013, Mosjoen, Norway

Fly Fishing Canada is seeking applicants for the Canadian team that will be participating in the 33rd  FIPS-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championship and Conservation Symposium to be held in Norway from August 12–18, 2013.  To be eligible to apply for this team, you must have at least competed in a FFC National Championship and Conservation Symposium.   As usual, team selections will be made by an FFC committee consisting of at least five FFC directors/officers from across the country, and will be based primarily on taking an applicant’s performance at recent national and international competitions.  FFC’s scoring system rewards good finishes at past national and international events over the last five years - generally speaking, the better you have placed at these events over the last five years, the better your chances of being selected for the team.  However, in addition to past results, other (more subjective) criteria may be taken into account by the committee, such as whether a particular applicant:  

- has a “team first” orientation;
- possesses specific skills suited to certain venues; and
- generally makes for a good ambassador for Canada and FFC at these international events. 

Six anglers may be selected for the team.  As only five anglers can fish in any given session at any of these championships, selected anglers should be aware that there is no guarantee that any selected angler will get to fish in all or any sessions.  No alternate will be designated in advance, nor will any promises be made to any selected anglers that they will not be an alternate for any session(s).  Rather, at the championship, the team captain will select the five anglers to fish in any particular session.
 
If you would like to apply for this team, please contact me by e-mail or mail:

Randy Taylor
president@flyfishingcanada.net
515 Legget Drive, Suite 800
Kanata, ON K2K 3G4

Applicants are reminded that they are responsible for paying their registration, travel and other expenses in attending the event.  Selected members of are generally expected to arrive at the venue together at least one week in advance of commencement of official practice, which results in the trip being over two weeks in duration.   If you are unable to make this kind of time commitment, then you should not apply for a World team.  Selected members are expected to openly share helpful information concerning the venue and associated fishing tactics at all times leading up to the competition. 

The cut-off date for applications is May 31, 2012.