Rožmberk nad Vltavou, Czech Republic – 19th-25th May

The 9th FIPS-Mouche Masters World Fly Fishing Championships (for competitors aged over 50) and the 3rd FIPS-Mouche Ladies World Fly Fishing Championships took place in Rožmberk nad Vltavou, Czech Republic, from 19th-25th May 2024.

PARTICIPATING TEAMS

LADIES

Australia – Czech Republic – Finland ­– France – Netherlands – Norway – South Africa – Sweden – USA

MASTERS

Australia – Belgium – Czech Republic – England – Finland – France – Ireland – Italy – Luxembourg + Sweden – Netherlands – New Zealand – Romania – Slovakia – Spain – USA

AT Team England FF was represented by: Jay Curry, Tony Fox, Bernie Maher, Baz Reece & Mark Withyman.

RESULTS

SESSION 1

Mark Withyman won his boat session on Lipno Lake with 29 fish, while Tony Fox gained a 4th place on the Vltava Vyssi Brod with 14. Elsewhere, Baz Reece was 14th fishing from the bank at Kvetonov Lake, while Bernie Maher was 15th on the Vltava Devil’s Stones, and Jay Curry was 15th on the Vltava Rozmberk. England finished the session in 11th place, with Ireland 8th. The Netherlands were leading the team rankings with 20 placing points, with the USA 2nd with 26pts and the Czech Republic 3rd with 29pts.
In the Ladies Championship the Czech Republic got off to a good start with 12 placing points, ahead of Australia in 2nd with 21pts, and Finland 3rd, also with 21pts.

SESSION 2

In the second session Mark Withyman came 10th on the Vltava Devil’s Stones, with Baz Reece 11th in the boat session on Lipno Lake. Tony Fox came 11th on the Vltava Rozmberk, Jay Curry 12th on the bank session on Kvetonov Lake, and Bernie Maher 15th on the Vltava Vyssi Brod. England dropped to 13th place overall, the same number of placing points as Finland in 14th place, but with more fish points. The USA overtook the Netherlands to currently lead the team rankings with 46 placing points to 47pts, with Italy 3rd on 53pts. Individually, Glade Gunther of the USA was in the top spot with 3 placing points, with Valerio Santi Amantini (Italy) 2nd on 4pts, and Robert Van T Voort (Netherlands) 3rd with 6pts.
In the Ladies event Australia narrowed the gap between them and the Czech Republic. They had 36 placing points, just 4pts behind the Czechs, who remained in 1st place on 32pts, with the USA moving into 3rd place with 46pts. Maria Tuominen of Finland was the Individual leader with 3 placing points.

SESSION 3

The third session saw another good performance in the boat session on Lipno Lake, this time by Jay Curry, who landed 12 fish to come 2nd. In the bank session on Kvetonov Lake Tony Fox came 8th, while on the river sections Baz Reece came 13th on the Vltava Devil’s Stones, Mark Withyman was 13th on the Vltava Vyssi Brod, with Bernie Maher also in 13th place on the Vltava Rozmberk. England moved up one place to 12th overall, while Ireland remained in 8th place. Some strong individual performances saw Italy move into 1st place, with 63 placing points, ahead of the Netherlands 2nd with 82pts and the Czech Republic 3rd and the USA 4th, both with 88pts. Individually, Valerio Santi Amantini (Italy) overtook Glade Gunther (USA) to move into 1st on 6 placing points, with Glade 2nd on 9pts, and Francois Deloup (France) 3rd with 10pts.
There was no change in the top three teams in the Ladies event, with the Czech Republic remaining in 1st with 42 placing points, Australia 2nd with 55pts, and the USA 3rd with 64pts. A second place in her session saw Maria Tuominen (Finland) remain top Individual with 5 placing points.

SESSION 4

In the boat session on Lipno Lake Tony Fox followed Jay Curry’s good performance in the previous session with eight fish for 3rd place. Jay himself gained an 8th place on the Vltava Devil’s Stones, while Mark Withyman also came 8th on the Vltava Rozmberk. Bernie Maher came 9th in the bank session on Kvetonov Lake, with Baz Reece 12th on the Vltava Vyssi Brod. England moved up another place to 11th overall, with Ireland remaining in 8th. Italy managed to stay well ahead of the field with 87 placing points, with the Czech Republic moving up into 2nd with 112pts, and Spain now 3rd with 113pts, six ahead of France in 4th place. Valerio Santi Amantini (Italy) managed to hang onto the top spot individually, thanks to another 2nd place in his session, with Francois Deloup (France) now 2nd with 11pts and Borek Kopecky (Czech Republic) in 3rd place, one of three competitors all on 13pts.
The Ladies event saw the Czech Republic consolidate their 1st position with 55 placing points, with Australia remaining 2nd with 76pts, and the USA 3rd on 89pts. The Czech ladies also did well individually, with Katerina Svagrova moving into 1st with 7 placing points, and Markova Simunkova 2nd on 8pts, ahead of Julie Quillard (France) with 10pts.

SESSION 5

In the fifth and final session Tony Fox came 10th on the Vltava Devil’s Stones, with Baz Reece also getting 10th place on the Vltava Rozmberk. Mark Withyman came 11th in the bank session on Kvetonov Lake, while Jay Curry was 15th on the Vltava Vyssi Brod, and Bernie Maher was one of six anglers to blank in the boat session on Lipno Lake. England finished the competition in 12th place, with Ireland remaining 8th. Italy held onto their lead to become the 2024 Masters Champions with 112 placing points, with Spain moving up into silver medal position with 134pts, and the Czech Republic in bronze with 140pts. Valerio Santi Amantini (Italy) added a 5th place on Kvetonov Lake to his tally of four 2nd place session performances to take the Individual gold with 13 placing points. Borek Kopecky (Czech Republic) moved up into 2nd with 16pts, with another Czech, Marek Macka, in 3rd, also with 16pts.
The Ladies Championship saw the Czech Republic take the gold medal by a convincing margin, with 69 placing points, over the 102pts scored by France in silver, and Australia in bronze. The Individual positions were a lot closer, with Markova Simunkova (Czech Republic) the Ladies Individual Champion with 10 placing points, just one point in front of Julie Quillard (France) on 11pts, with Katerina Svagrova (Czech Republic) 3rd with 12pts.