Pros

Bio

Simon is a self-taught fly fisher who caught his first trout at age 8, fishing the Meander River in northern Tasmania. Within walking distance from his grandparent’s farm, his youth was spent harassing the resident population of brown trout that called the river home

Growing up and living in Tasmania has given Simon the opportunity to spend countless hours developing his skills with the fly rod. While only geographically small, the island state is an angler’s paradise, blessed with thousands of natural and man-made lakes, vast networks of rivers and streams, which are full of beautiful wild trout

A childhood hobby has become a lifelong passion, and while his youth was spent fishing the rivers and streams close to his home, during his teenage years he soon realized his true love was in the alpine lakes of the state’s Central plateau, one hour’s drive away.

A self-confessed ‘sight fishing’ addict, Simon relishes fishing for ‘tailing’ trout, polaroiding and surface feeding fish. His greatest love in fishing, is the remote wilderness fishery known as the ‘Western Lakes’. Over 3000 shallow clear-waters make up this remarkable fishery, and each water has individual characteristics which make them unique. Over the past 35 years Simon has spent countless hours hiking, fishing and developing a great knowledge and love of the area.

As well as his home of Tasmania, Simon has fished broadly for trout throughout mainland Australia. He has also fished for trout and grayling in Scotland, Poland, and the Czech Republic. He travels annually to New Zealand, and has fished extensively throughout both the North and South Islands of the country.

While trout are his passion, Simon also enjoys saltwater fly fishing, and in particular flats fishing. He regularly fishes Christmas Island, and also has spent time in destinations such as Aitutaki, Hawaii, tropical Australia, New Caledonia and the remote Yasawa Islands of Fiji, chasing fish on the fly.

Although now retired from competition fly fishing, Simon has been an active competition angler in previous years. He won numerous National and State medals, and represented Australia on four occasions internationally. Personal highlights include being the top ranking Australian angler in the 1996 World Fly Fishing Championships, being a member of the Australian gold Medal winning team in the 1999 Commonwealth Fly Fishing championships, winning the individual Silver Medal in the 1999 Commonwealth fly fishing Championships, and after finishing in 2^nd place three consecutive years (1999, 2000 and 2001), finally winning the Tasmanian Fly Fishing Championships in 2002

Through his work as a teacher, Simon embraces the opportunity to pass on his love of fly fishing and the ‘special’ places that fish live to young anglers. Coaching junior anglers, running fishing camps, fly fishing and tying courses, to pass on skills and knowledge to the next generation of anglers.

He has published articles in well-known magazines such as ‘Flylife’, and been involved with the publications of several books. Recently, he was a contributor to the book ‘Australia’s Best Trout Flies Revisited’.