麻豆社国产angler Clint Goyette is hoping to reel in a win at the 30th annual FIPS-Mouche World Fly Fishing Championships in Poland this June as a member of the national Canadian fly fishing team.
Even though the competition might be fierce from the Pole, Czech, Spanish, French and Italian team, Goyette said he believes Canada has a great chance to earn a podium finish.
"I know the anglers that are on the [Canadian] team and they're fantastic river fisherman and since most of the [competition areas] are on the rivers, I think we have a great chance," said Goyette, who owns and operates Valley Fishing Guides.
"But the fact that most of the teams out side of Canada and the U.S.A. get to fish those [Polish] streams or similar streams on a regular basis - we're in a bit of a disadvantage coming from here."
Goyette along with fellow British Columbian and team captain John Beaven, Albertan John Nishi, Ontarians Sorin Comsa and Tom Irvine and Quebecois Byron Shepherd are representing Canada amongst nearly 30 teams from across the globe.
Each of the five competitors fish for a few hours at a time on the Polish San River hoping to catch the most amount of point worthy fish - in this case European grayling and brown trout.
In preparation for the weeklong competition, Goyette is tying nearly 100 flies, and has purchased a few nymph and dry fly fishing rods that he anticipates will work best to capture grayling and trout.
Although Goyette has nearly 20 years of fly fishing under his belt and he's competed at the national championship for the last fours, this year marks the first time he gets to set foot on the international fly fishing circuit.
"It's an honour. It's fantastic," he said.
"I mean that's sort of why you go to the nationals, you try as hard as you can, you try and get picked for the national team which is sort of the next step."
Fly fishing appeals to Goyette because he enjoys the challenge of dealing with so many variables, like insect life, wind direction, water currents and temperatures.
"You try to put the puzzle together and finally you put the right fly on and you cast in the right place. You do the proper presentation and presto you find a fish."
He said the least enjoyable portion of the competition happens when he sees a competitor haul in a catch and he hasn't caught a thing.
"That elevates the pressure for you because now you have to catch at least one fish to at least match that person. So until you catch your first fish, it's the most nerve-wracking thing in the whole event. You just have to put a fish on the board."
Taking his passion, skills and expertise to the next level is not only exciting but also incredibly expensive he said.
"It's all on our own dime, that's the toughest part of it. It's going to cost somewhere between $4,000 and $5,000 to do it and that's just going for that one."
In hopes of raising a few extra bucks for his overseas travel expenses Goyette is planning a local fundraiser, although he hasn't finalized any of the details just yet.
