NC Fly Fishing Team Member in the News

There is a nifty quote on CentreDaily.com about NC Fly Fishing Team co-founder, Chris Lee. The quote comes from their article about the United States Fly Fishing Championships that were held recently.

These are skilled anglers,” Ford said. “These are the best in the country.”
They qualified at open tryouts held in different states, including Montana, North Carolina, Colorado, Oregon and Michigan. Even when they came up empty-handed Sunday, their prowess was apparent. Sampsell liked how Chris Lee, from North Carolina, quickly freed his line with a flick of his wrist.
“You notice these guys: They don’t get hung up,” Sampsell said. “These guys are good.”

Here is a link to the results from the US event.

Ever wonder?

What you have to do to become a member of Fly Fishing Team USA and represent our fair land at the 2010 world championships in Poland? Here is an excerpt from an email that explains it step by step:

Team selection for the Poland championships will be as follows: Two individuals from this year's World Championships qualified by their individual finish in Scotland. Those two are Pete Erickson and Mike Sexton. The top 3 Point System individuals since the last National Championship will be going to Poland. Finally, the 2009 individual National Champion will have a spot on this team. Once we have those spots filled, we will determine the starting lineup and the alternate. The 3 point system qualifiers will be determined from the accumulated points achieved since the 2007 National Fly Fishing Championships through the qualifiers at the end of July. We are doing this to be able to send this team to Poland 1 year prior to the championships to get prepared for the 2010 World event. So the only individual we will not know will be the 2010 National Champion which will be crowned in Oct.

The events that qualify for the point system to determine the Poland Team are as follows:

2007 National Championships - Boulder, CO
2008 World Fly Fishing Championships - New Zealand
2008 Pagosa Springs, CO
2008 Salt Lake City, UT
2008 America Cup - Frisco, CO
2008 Canadian National Championship - Mont Tremblant, CA
2009 Santa Fe, NM
2009 Michigan
2009 Bend, OR
2009 World Fly Fishing Championships - Scotland

The following events will also be included for the point total to make the roster for Team USA. Team USA will be selected at this year's National Championships by the Top 15 accumulated points from the 2007 National Championships to the 2009 National Championships.

*2009 SE qualifier
*2009 Bozeman, MT
*2009 America Cup
*2009 Canadian National Championship - BC
*2009 Boise, ID
*2009 US National Championship

Points are achieved through any of these events by finishing in the top 30% of the total competitors at any of these events. For example, at any regional qualifier, there has typically been 24 competitors. In order to get into the points one must finish in the the top 8 out of the 24 competitors. Obviously, the higher the finish the more points accumulated. In this example:

1st place = 2400 points
2nd place = 1200 points
3rd place = 800 points
4th place = 600 points
5th place = 480 points
6th place = 400 points
7th place = 343 points
8th place = 300 points

Competitions that are considered International (excluding the World Championships) have a mulitiplier of 3. World Championships have a multiplier of 5. Thus the harder the competition the more points it is worth to finish in the top 30%. Also the more the competitor numbers the more points available.These selection criteria as well as the Point system will be posted on the Team USA website. Updates to the website will be occurring on a consistent basis.

Just remember to sign your scorecards before you get back to the clubhouse.

FIPS Mouche: It's on like Donkey Kong

It's that time of the year again when Team USA takes part in the World Fly Fishing Championships being held this year in Scotland June 5th -12th. Via the Stirling Observer in the United Kingdom.

Drymen will play host to the official opening ceremony tonight (Friday) at 5.30pm with many of the participants staying in the area.
Among the nations taking part are Japan, Australia, USA, Sweden, Canada, Italy and Spain and at the opening ceremony, children from Drymen Primary School will be carrying the teams’ national flags in the opening ceremony procession.
The championship itself will see anglers fishing in rivers and lochs in Argyll and Perthshire as well as locally at the Lake of Menteith and Carron Valley Reservoir.

To be honest, this year's event sort of snuck up on us and we failed to make arrangements with our team insider friends for coverage but we will be rooting for Team USA and North Carolina Native and Team Captain, Josh Stephens, (pictured above) just the same.

Team Manager: Walter Ungermann

Team Captain: Josh Stephens

Competitors: George Daniel

Lance Egan

Pete Erickson

Anthony Naranja

Mike Sexton

Devin Olsen - Alternate

Coaches: Vladi Trzebunia & Jerry Arnold

If any of our readers or perhaps team members out there have the hook up to keep us updated as the competition progresses drop me a line. We can probably come up with some schwag for the inside dirt.

People: Competitive Fly Fisher Gordon Vanderpool

This might well be a picture of North Carolina's current rising star in the realm of competitive fly fishing. Fly fishing guide Gordon Vanderpool, of Turning Stones Fly Fishing, LLC and a member of the North Carolina Fly Fishing Team has been on a roll of late. Gordon finished first in the casting portion of this year's Rumble in the Rhododendron and first in the Lake Lure Olympiad Fly Fishing Masters a few weeks ago. This weekend he took top spot in the first round of what amounts to a FIPS Mouche rule equivalent of a pick up contest on the Nantahala River. Congratulations Mr. V.

***Update*** Another article on Mr. Vanderpool

NC Fly Fishing Team Website Live

The excellent anglers with the NC Fly Fishing Team have launched a new website. The site contains information about the team and their conservation and education activities as well as competition information. It is a snazzy looking site that would make a great spot for potential sponsors to show their support.

The North Carolina Fly Fishing Team is a group of Fly Fishing Enthusists that formed in 2006 as a non-profit organization dedicated to developing a competitive fly fishing team to participate in regional, national and international events. The Team also strives to participate and coordinate educational and conservation efforts aimed at teaching and preserving the valuabl e angling resources in North Carolina.

We are particularly proud to be associated with the team although we are not quite sure why a group of such excellent fishers let us tag along. Be sure to check out the photo gallery and promo video. The team has already had some success in Fips Mouche style competition so we are expecting big things in the future.

Their next big test comes this weekend at Lake Lure, North Carolina's Olympiad Fly Masters.

Pisgah Fly Masters Results

NC Fly fishing team member Chris Lee reported in from this weekend's Pisgah Fly Masters with the results.

Here is the top 10:
1 - Josh Stephens
2 - Chris Lee
3 - Brian Horner
4 - Simmons Welter
5 - Forest Marshall
6 - Ryan Harmon
7 - Michael Yelton
8 - Paul Thompson
9 -Gordon Vanderpool
10 -Eugene Shuler

Many of you may recognize some of the names on this list. Josh Stephens is a member of the current Fly Fishing Team USA. Paul Thompson is the three time winner of the Field and Stream Total Outdoors man Challenge. Shuler is the founder of the North Carolina team and Lee, Harmon, Yelton and Vanderpool are all NC Fly Fishing Team members. Don't let anyone tell you that the Carolina's don't produce some top sportsmen.

2009 Pisgah Fly Masters

If you are the competitive fly fishing type and would like to test your metal against some of the nations best fly anglers, there is still time to register for the 2009 Pisgah Fly Masters which will be held March 21st and 22nd. More details are revealed in today's Asheville Citizen times.

The event, in its second year, takes place March 21-22. The late registration fee is $75.
The Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education, a free-to-the-public learning facility operated by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission near Brevard, hosts the event. Davidson River Outfitters sponsors it.
“We’ll take registrations up until the competition starts,” said Emilie Johnson with the Pisgah Center for Wildlife Education and a tournament organizer.
The Pisgah Fly Masters challenges anglers’ casting skills off-stream on Saturday, March 21, with the 10 finalists moving on to a catch and release competition on the river on Sunday, March 22.

Our money is on the anglers from the North Carolina Fly Fishing Team.