Columnists & Staff

Dr John Hockings

John started flyfishing salt waters nearly twenty years ago and over that time has fished in South Africa, many of the Kiribati Islands, Los Roques, Florida, Samoa, Fiji, the north eastern States of USA, as well as from Western Australia to Queensland, and the bottom of Australia to the Torres Straits islands. He’s an avid painter and writer.

His short stories in Fly Angler are yarns about these far flung destinations, with oil paintings created especially for each issue. To purchase a print, contact John at johnhockings@hotmail.com.

 

Ron Pearson

Ron is recognised as one of the pioneers of saltwater fly fishing in Australia. With a passion for experimenting with new ideas and species to challenge him, Ron is as highly respected for his efforts with ultra light outfits for southern bream as he is for his tropical expertise on big barramundi. His 40 years in the Kimberley’s provided him with a classroom for understanding of fish habits that few others have enjoyed. An educator and communicator, Ron’s lifelong role of teaching generations of Kimberley children has taught him how to distil the essential elements of a concept and present them in a manner that captivates our imaginations.

Peter Morse

Columnist and field editor, Peter is one of Australia’s foremost fly fishing personalities. He is a well known television presenter (Wildfish, Fishing DVD) and a prolific author of several books and hundreds of magazine articles. His photography is some of the finest in Australia. Peter’s desire to communicate his wealth of knowledge and experience has benefited many fly anglers around the globe.

Dr Julian Pepperell

Julian is acknowledged as a world authority on the biology of pelagic fisheries. A keen historian of the angling, his cutting edge research puts him at the forefront of fisheries management in Australia. His passion for promotion and management of sustainable fisheries across the world is reflected in his column.

Jon Makim

Jon has been tying flies commercially for almost a decade and before that worked in a fly shop for a few years - all part of his decision to turn his vacation into his vocation. Passionate about fly tying, Jon focuses on tying flies that are both functional and good looking - a bit like him he seems to think... Jon is known for experimenting and putting new twists on old concepts, in part due to the diversity of species he chases.

Shaun Ash

Shaun started tying flies long before picking up a fly rod after reading an article on trolling flies behind deep diving lures. Then one day someone asked him what weight rod he used. Once he found out what that meant he never looked back. Since then, Shaun has fished with some of Australia’s top fly anglers, travelled extensively and demonstrated fly tying at numerous locations.

Alex Langley

Alex, our sub-editor, spends most of his time working as an Principal Consultant for an environmental firm. His work takes him to all sorts of interesting places and of course the ‘delicate scientific equipment’ always goes along, just in case. Based in Tasmania, Alex is just as comfortable throwing tight loops under snags for bream as he is lobbing 10 inch bait fish patterns at southern blue fin tuna.

Len Olyott

Len, our sub-editor, has a background in fisheries management, starting with his MSc in fisheries science. He has worked for Queensland Fisheries and is currently CEO of Recfish Australia. Passionate about fly fishing, Len has fished extensively in many countries, including sailing Arab dhows to camp on the beaches of islands off Mozambique.

Field Editor Craig "Noddy" Radford is one of Australia's most experienced saltwater flyfishers. Based in Western Australia, Noddy has fished with every type of gear imaginable, helping him hone his skills and reputation as one of the planets best exponents of chasing big fish on fly rods, especially large tuna, samsonfish and GTs. A straight shooter, Noddy is the first to offer advice when questions are asked. Noddy fishes as if his next capture is going to be a record, and as such his attention to detail and tackle is second to none.