ABOUT US
 The Nelson/Marlborough district in New Zealand’s South Island will once
again host the annual One Fly event – a celebration of Fly-fishing
from March 08th-11th 2011.
Anglers from around the world gather for three days and four nights of fly-fishing
and sheer enjoyment indulging in their favourite pastime – sport fly-fishing.
 Your goal is to catch, measure and release as many fish as you care to fish for
over a six hour fishing period, finishing at 5pm each day.
At the start of each fishing day you must select a single fly for that particular
day and river. If you loose your fly – that’s tough luck, several
anglers do, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy your day.
You can continue fishing, though any fish you catch will not be added to
that day’s score – but there’s always the next day.
Once you have selected your one fly for that day, you must use that fly
for scoring points. However, if you are confronted with a fish that will
not accept your fly, or that of your partner, simply hand your chosen fly
to your guide and continue to fish with whatever pattern you like. Should
you catch the fish – well done, you may have learned something about
feeding habits or food chain in that area. This is very useful information
for your team, but the fish caught are not counted in the team score. You
may then return to your ‘one fly’ for that day.
In his book “Bright Waters, Bright Fish”. Roderick
Haig-Brown wrote:
“The true sportsman,
wether hunter or fisher, has always had a certain sense of intimacy andidentification with his quarry. There is an obligation to know and understand
the animals on the water or land, to understand their needs and respect
them, to respect their breeding season, to respect and admire their strength
and endurance and persistence of the animals in their migrations and in
their will to survive”.
These are prerequisites of understanding sport fishing.
“The word sport,
in any connotation, implies a sense of generosity towards the opponent,
a desire to meet and test honourably under conditions fair enough to ensure
the outcome is uncertain.
If these implications are lost or destroyed, the meaning of sport disappears.”
The very basis of the One Fly is contained
in these quotes. Most anglers understand the ethic, with others converted
at the conclusion of the event.
 The
One Fly is a friendly competition where winning is secondary to camaraderie
and conviviality. The real contest is between anglers and the wild Nelson Brown Trout.
The area is a fly-fisher’s paradise, with an incredible variety of
freestone streams and rivers, spring creeks and lakes. Here the Brown Trout
is king.
The freshwater browns average three pounds with plenty bigger. They use
the turbulent nature of their environment to advantage. Typically wary and
selective, they will eventually take your dry fly or nymph. When hooked
they fight hard making heady runs, often interspersed with spectacular leaps.
All this with only “One Fly” where all the fish caught are measured
and released to fight another day.
In his “Essays on Fly-fishing” penned in 1919 E.C.Powell wrote:
“Angling has a
pronounced tendency to lead us to better sportsmanship, which means many things;
two of the most important, perhaps, are good fellowship and unselfishness.
You grow to find great pleasure in being of assistance to another angler
with perhaps less angling knowledge than yourself by giving him your time
and attention even though another angler of rival ability may be piling
up a score against you. Perhaps no other sport has developed so much good
fellowship and as many traits of unselfishness as this most “gentle”
of all outdoor sports,
the art of angling”.
In the final chapter of his book “Another
Lousy Day in Paradise” author John Gierach wrote:
“ I’m a fly
fisherman, and that comes with its own political agenda. My position is,
we should have a clean, healthy, diverse natural environment so I can
go fishing. Because fishing makes me happy”.
This is your invitation participate in this unique event as an individual and form a two man team with a fellow angler, possibly someone you have never met before.
Alternatively encourage your fishing buddy to join you in three days of fun fishing. Each pair fish a different river over the three days
of fishing.
 There are many variables to be considered
if anglers are to catch fish from these waters, using only ‘one fly’
apart from the principal consideration of course, which fly?
Anglers should consider the various techniques – dry fly, nymph or wet fly.
Though the fishing is restricted to six hours finishing no later than 5pm each
day, anglers should consider ‘which part of the day’ on that river
would be best?
The One Fly concept is not wholly about fly-fishing,
nor competitive fishing, but more about friendship, good humour and good times
– you should try it!
Jim Butler – Editor of Fly Rod & Reel
magazine wrote:
“What a fine time I had
at the One Fly, I’ve rarely had so much fun over a few days of fishing”.
In his book “Confessions of a Fly fishing
Addict”, Nick Lyons wrote:
“Give me one good friend,
with whom I can share notes and an ethic, from whom I can learn, whom I can
watch; let us not talk too much, though, and let our words imp the happy rhythms
of our fishing, slip between time casting or watching water… noiselessly.
That’s one of the greatest pleasures on the water… being with a
good friend”.
We look forward to meeting you.
Terry Duval & Janice
Williams.
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