2008 Canadian National Fly Fishing Championship - Mont Tremblant, Quebec

2008 Canadian National Fly Fishing Championship & Conservation Symposium
by Todd Oishi

The 6th Canadian National Fly Fishing Championship & Conservation Symposium (NFFC&CS) took place in the picturesque Laurentian Mountain village of Mont-Tremblant, Quebec from September 7th to the 13th. Fly fishers from all across Canada gathered to compete at the 2008 NFFC with hopes of qualifying for a spot on Canada’s National Fly Fishing Team. The Laurentian’s lush forests of birch, maple and pine of the encompass some of Canadian Shield’s finest rivers and lakes that are renowned for possessing a great wealth of brook and brown trout. Without a doubt, this region of Quebec was the ideal location to hold this year’s NFFC.

The Venues:

This year’s championship consisted of five, three hour sessions of competition that were held on two river and three lake venues. Club Baroux Outfitters generously donated the use of three of their premier lakes and supplied twenty-four boats for the official practice and competition sessions. Two of the competition lakes (Du Cap and Vinet) possessed brook trout while the other (Renversi) had a mixture of rainbow and brook trout.

For the river venues, the organizers wisely selected a five kilometer section of the “fly fishing only” portion of the Diable River. Its French name; “La Rivière de la Diable” translates to “The Devil’s River”, which certainly lived up to its name as it not only challenged the angling skills of all sixty competitors, but its swift currents and slick boulders tested their wading abilities as well. During the competition, many competitors took a spill and/or wound up swimming in the cool waters of the Diable. It wasn’t very long before everyone came to the realization that a sturdy wading staff and quality set of footwear were essential pieces of equipment for safely traversing the Diable.


The Competition:

There were twelve teams (sixty individuals) registered for this year’s NFFC, which included three American competitors and five members of Fly Fishing Team USA. Team USA and the other Americans were eligible to win a team medal, but as this was a Canadian national championship, the individual medals were reserved for Canadian competitors only. The attendance of the Americans added an international flavour to this year’s events, and certainly raised the bar higher for the competition.

During the NFFC, the weather conditions were ideal and the fish were more than willing to chase a properly presented fly. As with any competition - the angling became more challenging and difficult as the competition progressed, as the fish grew wary from the constant smorgasbord of flies that had drifted past their noses. During the latter part of the competition the competitors that fished the less obvious lies and harder to access locations managed to entice and score a few extra fish.

With the mixture of brook and brown trout in the Diable, the effective tactics and techniques proved to be limitless. At times the trout rose freely for dries and emergers, while those that were proficient at Czech Nymph did exceptionally well in the pocket water and deeper runs. Others did amazingly well by simply swinging streamers along the edges and seams, or pulling them through the deeper pools.

The lake venues were fished using traditional loch-style tactics (casting a team of flies ahead of a free-drifting boat) with two competitors sharing a single boat. As the lakes have are frequently stocked, they fished well for the duration of the competition. The main challenge for Lac Du Cap and Renversi was locating the transient schools of brook trout and rainbows. Competitors that succeeded in locating the schools of trout did extremely well by presenting dry flies on long leaders and attractor patterns on fast sinking lines.

Vinet, a spring fed lake, was the most scenic of the competition lakes, but had proved to be the most challenging. Many competitors failed to catch a single fish within its crystal-clear, emerald-green waters. With hardly a rise to be seen, locating fish was a constant challenge, and often, the competitors simply fished blind. In attempt to find the elusive brook trout of Vinet, the competitors constantly experimented with fly patterns and employed a wide range of sinking lines to adjust the depth and retrieval rate of their presentations.

Final Results:

After the final session of competition had concluded and the score cards were tallied, some impressive statistics emerged: Nearly eleven hundred eligible trout (twenty centimeters and longer) were caught and released during the fifteen hours of competition; Every competitor had managed to catch and record fish; George Daniel of Team USA recorded the highest “fish points” with fourty-seven trout; Ivo Balinov of Team Osprey recorded an equally impressive number of fish with fourty-five trout on his score cards.

The Cinderella story at this year’s NFFC was that of Canada’s National Youth Fly Fishing Team (AKA the “Team River Tawdz”). With the mentoring and guidance of their coach Bob Sheedy, and several members of the senior teams, their performance at this year’s NFFC was an example of teamwork at its absolute finest. The River Tawdz rose to the challenge of this year’s NFFC, and against all odds overtook several seasoned teams and top ranked individuals.

Sixteen year-old Michael Lennox of the River Tawdz had an absolutely brilliant performance and won the individual gold medal. His fellow team mate seventeen year-old Simon Wells gave an equally brilliant performance to win the individual silver medal. Their combined efforts along with the contributions and stellar performances of eighteen year-old David Nonomura, seventeen year-old John Bransfield and thirteen year-old Colin Huff helped to lead their team to a silver medal victory in the team category.

Norman Maktima and Anthony Naranja of Team USA finished third and fourth respectively, in the individual category, and helped their team earn the gold medal in the team category. Team Airflo Equipe was locked in a three-way tie for third place, but broke the tie with the highest “fish points”, and took home the bronze medal. The individual bronze medal was awarded to Sorin Comsa of Team Double Hauls.


Closing Ceremonies:

Le Club des Moucheurs EnDiables of Mont Tremblant volunteered to host and organize this year’s NFFC. Jim Iredale, Denis Landreville, Bernard Dalbec, Pierre Beauregard and Alain Monast and a long list of club members did an outstanding job of making certain that things ran smoothly and to ensure that a great time was had by all. A special round of applause and heart-felt thanks went out to all of the controllers, sector judges, drivers, box lunch makers and volunteers that worked diligently to ensure that this year’s events was a success and provided everyone with an enjoyable and memorable experience.

The Grand Lodge hosted the closing ceremonies banquet, which was followed by the awards ceremonies and a live auction. The kindness and generosity of those that attended the auction helped to raise a significant amount of funds for Fly Fishing Canada’s conservation and youth fly fishing projects.

At the conclusion of the ceremonies, a trophy and a bottle of scotch was awarded to the top placing Canadian team at this year’s NFFC. This symbolic gesture honours the memory and contributions of Bob Jones, who was one of Fly Fishing Canada’s founding members and its self-proclaimed “PR Geezer”. The River Tawdz respectfully and graciously accepted and vowed to save the bottle of scotch until the day that they were all of legal age to raise their glasses in honour of Bob’s memory. The somberness of the moment was shattered for those of us that sat near the podium - as we overheard one of the members of the youth team proclaim that the bottle of scotch was actually older than the youngest member of their team.

The performance of the youth team at this year’s NFFC was a real inspiration, and to be quite honest, I have never met a more respectful, talented and disciplined group anglers… at any age. When I stop to reflect upon their accomplishments at this year’s NFFC, it gives me great pleasure, and reassurance, to know that the future of competitive fly fishing in Canada definitely has a very bright and promising future!

Conservation Symposium:

“Fish as the indicator of water quality, from the source to the Saint-Lawrence”, was the title and theme for this year’s conservation symposium. Three key biologists gave presentations in French, which were simultaneously translated and broadcast in English. The symposium addressed environmental concerns regarding habitat loss and destruction that impact and directly affect water quality, fish populations and angling opportunities within the St. Lawrence waterway and its tributaries.


Side bar:

Brook trout are native to Quebec, but contrary to what their name suggests - they are actually a member of the Char family and not actually a trout. The remarkable colouration of brook trout, truly make them one of the most beautiful and photogenic fish in the world. Their aggressive nature and willingness to chase anything that moves provides a great challenge and sport for the fly fisher.