Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championships — Lubin Pfeiffer

COMMONWEALTH FLY FISHING CHAMPIONSHIPS

2020 NEW ZEALAND MARCH 17-22

By Lubin Pfeiffer

There is always a long lead up to international fly fishing competitions for Australian anglers. The day had finally come when the team had moved from its practice accommodation to the lodge where the 2020 Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championships were to be based. All the teams were there and everything had become very real that the championships were about to begin in a couple days time. After all of the formalities, and the draws done, it was time to get the competition underway.

First Session - Lake Rotoaria

Arriving at the lake, there was little breeze but a load of excitement as this was the first session for me in the championship. We had a great game plan as a team and while I was hopeful that I would place high in the session, all we really needed was a top four or five from each of us to put Australia in a good position early. Competitions are not won on the first day.

We had plenty of time to rig our rods and be aquatinted with our boats and fishing partners, and it was nice not to be in a rush early. I had all my spare leaders tied the night before, all wrapped on a foam board with flies attached which would ensure a speedy change if I needed too. I then set about setting my rod up and tying a fresh leader to start the session with. My rod was a 10ft 6wt Primal RAW and the leader consisted of 3 x 5 foot sections of 0.23mm Trout Hunter Fluorocarbon, with my droppers around 150mm long. This was attached to a fast intermediate line as my plan was to hit the shallows early.

I waited to tie my flies on, as I didn’t want other competitors to see the selection. Everything was then loaded in the boat before we all travelled in convoy together to the opposite end of the lake for the start of session. On arrival it was clear that almost everyone had the plan of fishing the inlet of the canal in the hopes that the fish would be schooling up in the cooler water.

My plan was to use the information given to me about fishing the shallows bays off to the side of the channel. It was kind of a tough decision but I was happier to have more water to myself than be stuck in a group like the other boats. My first fly selection was a sparkler on the top dropper, damsel on the middle dropper and a black straggle bugger on the point.

We planned to drift from as close to the edge of the lake as possible out towards the deeper water. The water looked amazing, 4-5 feet deep covered in beautiful weed beds. While I caught a couple fish early, the fishing wasn’t that productive. I could see a few fish being caught around the canal but rather than moving I decided to swap the sparkler for an orange UV blob. The results were instant as I caught a couple and also had a few fish boil at the blob.

Our drifts lengths remained the same, starting from close to the edge drifting out but slightly changing the location each time, moving along the bay. My retrieves consisted of a mix of roll poly and medium paced strips. The hang was also very important. After noticing the orange blob getting more attention, I opted out the black straggle bugger and went with a Hollywood on the point. The line was also changed to a Di3 sinking as there was a bit of wind starting to blow. It was almost like turning a switch on as the fish started smashing both flies constantly. From the first strip of the retrieve to the very last they were getting slammed. The boats at the canal had started to move around a lot and I knew they weren’t catching, but I was catching, so I was very happy with my decision to do my own thing.

At one stage I hooked and lost two 40cm fish in two casts before landing a fish two casts after that, all on the one drift. The fishing was incredible. I kept those same flies and leader on the entire session and didn’t change anything, just worked hard to keep them moving in the water. I only landed one fish on the damsel in the middle, the rest were on the blob and Hollywood. With the 3 hours drawing to a close I was very happy to win the session my session with 18 fish, the next best being the Englishman with 11.

Second session - Tongariro River

The buses arrived at the Creel Lodge in Turangi where the controllers were gathered and the anglers had a chance to eat their lunches before heading to the river.

I had mixed feelings about the Tongariro as I knew the river would be a bit peggy and you could draw an average beat. After meeting my controllers, who were absolutely lovely, they took us out to our beats. I had beat seven.

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The controller had informed me that the Englishman had caught five fish out of the beat during the morning session. As all good controllers are taught, they were instructed not to let the anglers know where in the beat they had caught fish.

As we walked down the beat towards the bottom it became very obvious that this was not a beat I could win the session on. I pointed out one good piece of holding water and said to my controller “I bet that’s where the English caught all his fish” to which she smiled and confirmed my suspicions.

The beat was mostly a fierce chute with a pool at the bottom. By the start of the session the wind had really started to howl and I was watching dust and stones fall from the river bank. As each gust blew stronger, I knew I would have my work cut out for me.

My first move was to euro nymph the pocket where the fish had been caught earlier. I hooked and lost a fish pretty early but because the wind was so strong it was impossible to keep contact with my flies. I made the change to dry and dropper and worked the bottom of the pool for no success.

My next tactic involved single nymphing some of the pockets of the heavy water on my way towards the top of the beat. Short drifts mixed with some swinging made dealing with the breeze a little more manageable but I was still yet to land a fish. As I neared the top of the big chute I targeted each of the pockets right across the river until I neared the far bank where I saw a large rainbow sipping above a willow. First swing of the nymph past the fish saw it eat and go completely nuts. I fought the fish for quite a while and almost had it under control until it bolted for the heavy water and pulled the hook.

My saviour for the session was to find some small rainbows at the top of the beat rising intermittently which I caught three using a dry and dropper rig. I spotted a couple of very large browns on the far edge once again sipping in front of a willow. After making my way across, the first one ate a single dry but I missed the take! The second ate very well and I got the hook in him but being such a large fish and right above the heavy chute it went the same way as the big rainbow. I stood no chance as it disappeared in to the raging current never to be seen again.

With only ten minutes of my session left, I ran back to the bottom of the beat where the Englishman had caught his fish and put a very heavy caddis point fly on to try and help keep contact with in the wind. I got one small rainbow pretty quickly followed by another with thirty seconds to go. Little did I know how much those fish would mean to the end result. The Scotsman in the beat above me won the session with 15, while I placed mid field.

The Australian Mens and Ladies Commonwealth Team

Guided Fly Fishing/Accommodation Tasmania

Third Session - Whanganui River

This session was a dream come true for me. Ever since the World Championships were held in 2008 on this river I’d wanted to fish a competition session on the Whanganui. As my controller’s car pulled up on beat 12, I couldn’t quite believe my eyes as I had drawn my favourite spot to fish on the river.

It was surreal feeling rigging up my gear as I knew I could easily win with this beat if I fished well. What followed was my most enjoyable river session in my 15 years of competition angling. The fish were exactly where they should be and ate the fly very well. My plan was to start in the middle of the beat and target the many pockets and small runs between the rocks. They were loaded with fish. I caught many undersize, but also ten that counted including a 515mm rainbow.

With half of my session left I headed for the bottom half of the beat. This was where the big chute was that I knew would be loaded with good fish. The next hour and a half was so much fun. I landed another 13 with five of them over 50cms.

Euro nymphing was the key the whole session and I kept the same two flies on throughout, a Martin Droz squirrel on the point and also a claret nymph on the dropper. My tippet was 0.16mm Trout Hunter fluorocarbon and I fished a Prime Zone 10’6 3wt. The only adjustment was the weight on the nymph, going from a 3.5mm point fly to a 4mm and vice versa depending on the depth of the area I was fishing. This was enough to win me the session followed by the Scotsman who had landed 19 fish.

Forth Session - Whakapapa River

I’d fished the Whakapapa quite a few times before but never the lower section which I had drawn so I was slightly anxious as to what the session would bring. The beat I had drawn was 12 which had produced some okay numbers, with the best being an Englishman who had caught 11 during his session.

The session started well because as I took the flies off the hook holder and dropped them in to the water to get ready to cast and a fish grabbed it instantly! There appeared to be a stack of undersize rainbows in the first run so I moved up to grid the next section of water above it. Again it was some of the best competition fishing I had experienced finding fish in all the spots they should be. I made a real point of gridding the river properly, and fishing every bit of water as the beat wasn’t super long. The fish were mostly sitting in slight depressions in the river. The great thing was they were mostly counters, over the 20cm limit, with some bigger fish mixed in. The Whakapapa is famously slippery and my controller and I kept count of my falls in to the river. I think the tally was about nine by the end of the session! We were both having a ball as the fishing was so good. At one point my controller paused my session so he could go back to grab another score card as the space on the current one was running out. I ended up landing 30 fish which gave me the win for the session. These were all caught Euro nymphing with the same rod, flies and tippet I used in the Whanganui session.

It was amazing to think that the last session was already here, the competition had gone so quickly. With the scores tallied over night I had the added pressure of being in the overall lead heading in to the final day. Australia was sitting in a team medal position, and I just hoped I could do my bit to keep us in that position.

Competition fishing is a hugely mental game and while I had been in this position before, I was actually incredibly calm. The lake had been fishing very well and I was happy to have drawn it for the last session. They allocated us to a boat and I was pleased of the quality of the boat we had and the fact that I was driving it. My boat partner was a South African and we both agreed that working together would provide the best result for both of us. All I wanted was a forth place or better for the session.

When steaming time began and all the boats started to head out on the lake, I was still as calm as ever. We decided on a spot we both had good intel about and the fishing got underway. The first ten minutes had passed with no action in our boat and I spotted the Scotsman and English woman catch a couple along the edge. My boat partner and I quickly agreed to move close to the edge and we started catching fish instantly. It was a lucky move as the fish only hung around for a few drifts before shutting down.

The boats moved out wide at that point and started to target the timber in the middle of the lake. There was a number of fish being caught and you knew that if you weren’t catching pretty consistently you would be out of the game. My boat partner had five fish and I was sitting on ten as we got close to the end of the session. I made the call to head back to where the fish were at the start of the session with ten minutes to go. This turned out to be hugely important as I landed three fish in the last five minutes.

Heading back in, there were quite a few anglers that landed 11 or less. I was very happy to end up with a third place for the session being beaten on size by a couple anglers that had caught some bigger ones.

The effort in the last session by the Australian team as a whole was magnificent and we were absolutely stoked to claim the silver teams medal. My efforts were enough to get me the individual gold medal and we also had Chris Medwin claim the bronze individual. The Australian Ladies also had a fantastic campaign. With my wife Casey Pfeiffer taking the individual ladies gold medal and Karen Brooks taking home the silver medal.

Above: The individual medal winners L-R Chris Medwin (AUS), Lubin Pfeiffer (AUS), Harry J Mcateer (NI) Right: Individual gold medal winners Lubin and Casey Pfeiffer

Lubin Pfieffer

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