The 44th FIPS-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championships took place in the South and West Bohemia, Czech Republic, from the 25th to the 31st May 2025.

PARTICIPATING TEAMS

Australia – Belgium – Bosnia – Canada – Czech Republic – England – Finland – France – Germany – Hungary – India – Ireland – Italy – Japan – Latvia – Lithuania – Luxembourg – Mongolia – Netherlands – New Zealand – Norway – Poland – Portugal – Romania – Scotland – Slovakia – Slovenia – South Africa – Spain – Sweden – USA – Wales

AT TEFF was represented by: Howard Croston (captain/manager), James Atkinson, Sean Brooks, Brian Lillie, Scott Nellins & Del Spry (reserve).

RESULTS

ENGLAND FINISH 6TH

Session 1
England got off to a good start with Sean Brooks coming 2nd on Lipno 2, the boat sector, with 23 fish, and James Atkinson also getting a 2nd place with 25 fish on Vltava 28 Vyssi Brod, while Howard Croston was 3rd with 32 fish on Vltava 29 Devil’s Stones. Elsewhere, Brian Lillie was 18th on Otava 5,6,7 Susice, and Scott Nellins 26th on Vltava 27 Rozmberk. England were in 3rd place with 50 placing points, behind Slovakia 2nd on 47pts, and the USA 1st with 33pts. Wales were lying 15th, with Ireland 24th and Scotland 27th.

Session 2
England put in another good performance with James Atkinson 5th on Vltava 27 Rozmberk, Brian Lillie 7th on Lipno 2, the boat sector, Howard Croston 8th on Vltava 28 Vyssi Brod, and Sean Brooks 9th on Vltava 29 Devil’s Stones. Scott Nellins was 26th on Otava 5,6,7 Susice. England dropped one place to 4th with 103 placing points, behind Poland who moved up into 3rd with 89pts, and France 2nd with 88pts. The USA remained in 1st place with 74pts. Ireland moved up into 12th, one ahead of Scotland in 13th place, while Wales dropped to 26th. Pierre Kuntz (France) was the Individual leader with one 1st and one 2nd place.

Session 3
England kept up the pressure with another good day, which saw Howard Croston get a 2nd place on the Vltava 27 Rozmberk, and Sean Brooks also coming 2nd on Vltava 28 Vyssi Brod. On Vltava 29 Devil’s Stones Brian Lillie came 11th, with Scott Nellins 13th on Lipno 2, the boat sector. Otava 5,6,7 Susice again proved tricky, with James Atkinson finishing in 29th place. England moved up into 2nd with 160 placing points, one ahead of France in 3rd, and behind Poland who moved up into 1st place with 140pts. With a 3rd place performance Pierre Kuntz (France) remained the Individual leader with 6 placing points, although Howard Croston and Sean Brooks were 6th and 7th, both with 13pts. Ireland dropped three places to 15th, with Scotland 13th and Wales 28th.

Session 4
England had a mixed day in the 4th session. On Lipno 2, the boat sector, James Atkinson came 7th with 6 fish, but the team found it tough on the river sections, with Scott Nellins coming 22nd on Vltava 29 Devil’s Stones, Sean Brooks 23rd on Vltava 27 Rozmberk, and Brian Lillie 26th on Vltava 28 Vyssi Brod, while Howard Croston was one of 15 anglers to blank on Otava 5,6,7 Susice. England slipped down to 8th place with 266 placing points, while Scotland were 11th, Ireland 15th, and Wales 26th. France moved up into 1st place with 175pts, with Poland dropping to 2nd with 188pts, and the USA moving back up to 3rd with 213pts. Individually, another session win put Pierre Kuntz (France), already the World Champion in 2023 and 2024, on 7pts, and with a good chance of retaining his title for 2025.

Session 5
In the final session Howard Croston gained a 2nd place on Lipno 2, the boat sector, with 9 fish, with Scott Nellins 13th on Vltava 28 Vyssi Brod, Brian Lillie 16th on Vltava 27 Rozmberk, Sean Brooks 18th on Otava 5,6,7 Susice, James Atkinson 20th on Vltava 29 Devil’s Stones. England finished in 6th place, with Ireland 10th, Scotland 17th and Wales 25th. France are the 2025 World Champions with 220 placing points, with Poland 2nd on 251pts and the USA 3rd with 260pts. Individually, Pierre Kuntz (France), added another 1st place to his tally of two 1sts, a 2nd, and 3rd, to become the individual World Champion for 2025, making it a hat-trick with his 2023 and 2024 titles. Gregoire Juglaret (France) was 2nd with 15pts, and Michael Bradley (USA) 3rd with 18pts. Howard Croston was England’s top performer, finishing 11th, with Sean Brooks 28th, James Atkinson 38th, Brian Lillie 71st and Scott Nellins 108th.

Images: Český rybářský svaz

The Angling Trust reports: ‘What might have been’ was probably the overriding thought of the England Men’s Fly Fishing squad after returning from this year’s World Championships in the Czech Republic with sixth place under their belts.
Sitting in second place after the third day of action, a poor day four saw medal chances take a severe blow and despite rallying in the final match, there was a little too much damage to repair. Their total score of 335 placing points left them 75 adrift of a bronze medal and 115 behind champions France.
Fielding a squad of skipper Howard Croston, Scott Nellins, James Atkinson, Brian Lille, Sean Brooks, reserve Del Spry and Manager Mark Withyman, England got off to a fine start, ending day one in third spot with 49 points.
Day two saw them slip a couple of places down to fourth, but a much better draw on day three saw England roar back into second spot, firmly eyeing up a medal. However, fishing can be cruel and by day four, it was obvious which beats on the rivers Vltava and Octava were good and which weren’t. England didn’t get the best draw and despite battling away, they slipped down to eighth spot.
Even so, a medal was still a possibility going into the final day and a much better performance saw the team climb the table once again. Sadly, it wasn’t enough to get in the medals. Individually, England’s best performer was skipper Howard with 11th spot on 47 placing points, Frenchman Pierre Kuntz ensuring a win double for France with the gold medal.
“The team was capable of winning a medal as our practice and techniques proved, but in the end, we were within touching distance but not close enough,” reflected Manager Mark. “Thanks go to our sponsors Fly Fish North, Unique Flies, Smart designs SD and Hardy Fly Fishing and also our guides Vojtech Ungr and Katka Svagrova. Here’s to the next World Championships in the USA in 2026!”

PROGRAMME

Sunday 25th May
12:00 Registration of teams, check-in and lunch at Wellness hotel, Frymburk
14:00 Captains’ meeting at hotel
17:00 Dinner at hotel
19:00 Opening ceremony at Lipno nad Vltavou
20:00 Opening banquet at Wellness hotel, Frymburki

Monday 26th May: First competition session
08:00 – 11:00 Session in Sectors III and IV
09:00 – 12:00 Session in Sectors I and II
10:00 – 13:00 Session in Sector V
18:00 Dinner at hotel

Tuesday 27th May: Second competition session
08:00 – 11:00 Session in Sectors III and IV
09:00 – 12:00 Session in Sectors I and II
10:00 – 13:00 Session in Sector V
18:00 Dinner at hotel

Wednesday 28th May: Third competition session
08:00 – 11:00 Session in Sectors III and IV
09:00 – 12:00 Session in Sectors I and II
10:00 – 13:00 Session in Sector V
18:00 Dinner at hotel
20:00 Symposium at Wellness hotel, Frymburk

Thursday 29th May: Fourth competition session
08:00 – 11:00 Session in Sectors III and IV
09:00 – 12:00 Session in Sectors I and II
10:00 – 13:00 Session in Sector V
18:00 Dinner at hotel

Friday 30th May: Fifth competition session
08:00 – 11:00 Session in Sectors III and IV
09:00 – 12:00 Session in Sectors I and II
10:00 – 13:00 Session in Sector V
17:00 Dinner at hotel
19:00 Medal Ceremony, Vyšší Brod
20:30 Closing Banquet at Wellness hotel, Frymburk

Saturday 31st May
10:00 Departure from hotel

VENUE & SECTORS

Milan Hladík and Jiří Pejchar, international organisers: ‘We hope competitors enjoy fishing in diverse sectors which will test all their fly fishing skills. Three sectors will be marked on the Vltava River (Loučovice Devil stones, Vyšší Brod, Rožmberk), the next sector will be a boat competiton on the Lipno II reservoir in Vyšší Brod. We are very happy that we have reached an agreement with the West Bohemian Board of the ČRS and Rybářství Klatovy s.r.o. and we will also organize one sector on the Otava River. We will provide the competitors with another interesting experience and challenge, the center of the sector will be the Otava 6 trophy section. We will also enable the involvement of members of the surrounding local organizations in the course of the Championship in the role of controllers. The Květoňov reservoir and the Volyňka river will be reserve sectors in case of high water.’

Sector 1 · Lipno II reservoir, boat fishing
Fishing from drifting boats, drogue is not allowed, the boat will be driven by a boatman.
Lipno II Reservoir is an equalizing reservoir below Lipno I reservoir with relatively cold and very clear water. Reservoir hosts wild brown trout and coarse fish and it is regularly stocked with rainbow trout, however, the reservoir is mainly used as carp water. The last time, fly fishing competitions took place on this reservoir in 2014, and the fishing here was very successful. Around 3,000 rainbow trout of various sizes will be stocked before the competition.

Sector 2 · Vltava 29 P · Loučovice, Devil’s stones
Bank fishing and wading is allowed.
A beautiful piece of water between Lipno reservoir and the equalizing reservoir of Lipno II. The flow is regulated all year round and is very stable, offering fishing for abundant native brown trout in a deep wooded valley, full of big boulders. Fly fishing here is very exciting. Although the boulders are not slippery, it is necessary to ponder every step you take.
The river width varies between 5–10 m, depth ranges between 0.50–1.5 m, but there are also pools with depths of 2 m. In the lower part of the river stretch, there is also occasionally dace, grayling, brook trout and rainbow trout, but fish stock is dominated by native brown trout. We recommend to fish with a team of nymphs and carefully fish in every piece of water as in every pocket could be a hidden trout. Dry fly is also an important method. True competitors must show great fitness here, but even less physically fit competitors will find more accessible places for fishing as individual pegs will be 200 m long.

Sector 3 · Vltava 28 P · Vyšší Brod
Bank fishing and wading is allowed.
Vltava 28 is one of the best trout waters in the Czech Republic. Strict fishing rules (fly fishing only, barbless hooks only, minimum size limit 45 cm for brown trout) helps to protect the native population of brown trout which in addition is still regularly supported by stocking. The fishery is also stocked with rainbow trout (30–60cm). In slowly flowing parts and pools you can catch also coarse fish like dace, chub, roach, perch and barbel, all fish species are eligible. The stable water flow of 8 m3/s will be maintained during the competition. The river flows through a mainly forested valley, it varies with a mixture of runs and deeper pools, the river bed also varies between sandy gravel to stony sections, often covered by water macrophytes. The width of the river varies between 20–30 m, depth between 0.5–1.5 m; banks are covered with tree vegetation.
Fish occurrence: brown trout (15–50 cm), rainbow trout (30–60 cm), dace, chub, roach, perch and barbel, sometimes grayling and brook trout. Sector will not be stocked with rainbow trout before the competition. We recommend trying all fly fishing methods to cover all the water and all fish species. The river is very popular with canoeists, we asked the major companies that operate canoeing to make their clients considerate of the competitors.

Sector 4 · Vltava 27 P · Rožmberk nad Vltavou
Bank fishing and wading is allowed.
The river is a little slower under Rožmberk nad Vltavou, and occurrence of coarse fish like dace, roach and chub is higher. This sector will be stocked with rainbow trout (30–60 cm) before the Championship, fish will be stocked from a raft and every beat will be stocked with the same number of fish. We recommend all fly fishing methods to cover the water and all fish species.
The river is very popular with canoeists, we asked the major companies that operate canoeing to make their clients considerate of the competitors.

Sector 5 · Otava 5–7 · river · Sušice
Bank fishing and wading is allowed.
The Otava River is a significant river, whose flow is is not affected by any reservoir, the character is of a natural foothill river with sequence of fast rapids and deeper slower sections with a good natural population of grayling and brown trout with complementary cyprinid fish. On the other hand, its flow cannot be regulated and it is unexpectable. That is why the Volyňka river is prepared as a reserve river, which has a different basin and also in case of rain, high flows will subside more quickly.
The centre of the competition sector will be prepared in the Otava 6 Trophy section, which is regularly stocked with rainbow trout, grayling and also tiger trout, which is a hybrid between the brown trout and the American brook trout. According to the number of registered teams, the competition sector will be extended under and up this section and fish stock will be appropriately supported by stocked rainbow trout, so that the individual sections will be as balanced as possible. To succeed it is, it is necessary to master both fine methods with nymphs and dry flies, as well as the streamer.

You will find more information on the Championship website here>> and also on their Facebook page here>>

Fulling Mill – The 2025 World Fly Fishing Championships: Preparing with Devin Olsen

Follow along with Signature Tyer Devin Olsen, owner of Tactical Fly Fisher, as he prepares for the 2025 World Fly Fishing Championships in May. This year he and Fly Fishing Team USA with be traveling to the Czech Republic to compete with 32 countries from around the world—Including Howard Croston and Team England. In this video we follow Devin as he does some practice for the event on two different rivers, where he dives into wading tactics, his rod and leader setups, and the skills he refines before an event. In this video he does a lot of micro leader euro nymphing, using both single nymph as well as dry dropper setups. A lot of the venues they’ll be fishing are heavy, pocketed rivers, which suit euro nymphing tactics well. In this video, he also dives into how he chooses the right hook to tie all his flies on, and what goes into testing different hook models for his needs at fly fishing competition he enters in.