David
Pickering (12/07/1944)
With over forty years
fly fishing experience and nearly twenty of those
living in the Goulburn Valley, David is a streamcraft
expert with an intimate understanding of the rivers
around Thornton.
In his earlier year's,
day and weekend trips to waters within driving
distance of Melbourne helped him to hone his skills
and get a real appreciation of what fly fishing
in Victoria had to offer. The culmination of all
this experience was a walk out on the corporate
world and a new life as a full time fly fishing
guide in Thornton.
His move to the country
came in 1989 and he has been a local fixture on
the rivers around his home town ever since. David
is 'fish-mad' and every spare moment, dollar and
thought is devoted to fly fishing for trout. A
passion that has never waned and frequently annoys
his business partners!
Starting Goulburn
Valley Fly Fishing Centre in 1994 with Geoff Hall
was the beginning of a new life. Since then David
has taught thousands of people to fish with a
fly rod or simply guided them down the Goulburn
or Swampy Plain Rivers on a raft trip. More recently
he has been leading week long trips in search
of trout on New Zealand's South Island as well
as producing several instructional/feature DVDs
on the sport.
David is a patient
and knowledgeable guide who is always out there
on the rivers that he loves so much. He is a talented
and experienced fly fisher but more importantly
he has that special quality of being able to impart
his knowledge to others with ease and dexterity.
Member
of the PFIGA
Remote Area
First Aid
Swiftwater Rescue Technician 1
Geoff
Hall (21/08/1943)
Geoff
has been a fly fisher all of his life. He has
extensive experience across Victoria, NSW, Tasmania
and New Zealand and has been a full time trout
guide for the past eleven years.
He is a highly trained
rafting guide with experience on the Goulburn
and Swampy Plains rivers. He and David Pickering
were the first to run a fly fishing drift boat
down the Goulburn river and are responsible for
developing and refining many techniques which
are now considered mandatory for fishing this
river.
Geoff is an experienced
fly tier and innovator and his background in education
makes him a first class instructor and patient,
understanding teacher. He has taught many generations
of fly fishers over the course of his life, starting
over 40 years ago.
He jointly owns Goulburn
Valley Fly Fishing Centre, Victoria's only destination
Fly Shop and guiding service, with David Pickering
and Antony Boliancu.
Geoff contributes
widely to the fishing industry's social, economic
and political agenda.
Above all, Geoff
is a fanatical fly fisher, whose dedication and
love affair with the sport has not waned since
first picking up a fly rod in his early teenage
years.
Member
of the PFIGA
Remote Area
First Aid
Swiftwater
Rescue Technician 1
Antony
Boliancu (19/07/1972)
Antony has lived
in Thornton since 1996 and has been guiding since
the day he made the move from Melbourne. Having
fished and been involved in competitive sport
his whole life he has flourished in his role at
GVFFC. He is responsible for the IT side of the
business and regularly organises trips and film
shoots to New Zealand's South Island.
Antony is a qualified
drift boat guide with many thousands of hours
on the oars to his name. His specialties are fly
tying, Goulburn River hatches and backwater sight
fishing as well as fly fishing in NZ. Locally
his favourite river is the Goulburn and it is
here that he spends much of his free time getting
to know it more and more on each visit.
His other interests
include surfing, soccer and running.
James Galloway (19/07/1972)
James started kicking around the shop in the summer of 2001 and we have been grooming him as a guide ever since. At that time he was a university student and fishing local rivers about four days a week. Now, with no further study obligations he has made the commitment to full time guiding.
James is extremely enthusiastic and patient with a demeanour that belies his youth. He is personable and easy going, traits that are needed to be a good instructor /guide.
His talents as an angler are many and varied and when he is not trout fishing he is just as likely to be chasing bream around an oyster lease or hitting the yellowbelly or cod. While a good all round fisherman, it is fishing for trout with a fly that he loves most.
After just two seasons in New Zealand with us, has become one of our most sought after guides. He has also notched up quite a few hours on the oars on the rafts and works extremely well with groups.
Michael McBrien (19/07/1972)
James started kicking around the shop in the summer of 2001 and we have been grooming him as a guide ever since. At that time he
Cameron Parker 9/07
James started kick
.
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