Stanton Jack, a Kamloops native, is on Team Canada for the 2023 Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championship.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Stanton Jack

Stanton Jack grew up fly fishing in lakes and rivers in Kamloops and the surrounding area, but it wasn’t until six years ago he decided he wanted to fish for Team Canada.

“I attended a fly fishing seminar and discovered I could compete on an international team and it has been my dream since then,” he said.

Now living in Vancouver, Jack will be joining Kamloops fly fisherman and long-time friend Brian Danilkiewicz when they travel to Scotland to compete for Team Canada at the 2023 Commonwealth Fly Fishing Championship next spring. 

Jack found out he had been chosen for the team in 2022 but the competition was delayed for a year for COVID related reasons.

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“This is very exciting for me,” he said. “This is a dream come true, five years in the making. I am nervous but the excitement takes over. I dreamed about one day competing for Team Canada and now the opportunity is right here.”

Jack has been fly fishing locally in smaller interior competitions practising and honing his skills for years, but he said the competition in Scotland will be a very unique challenge.

“You have people from all these countries coming in and everyone is competing in a foreign land,” he said. “There is a serious side to it, you are asking sponsors to help you go to these places, but it is ultimately about having fun and seeing how quickly you can adapt to situations on a river or lake.”

The team is made up of six fly fishers, one is a reserve, who will be competing in different groups made up of fly fishers from several other countries.

He said if the team brings home a medal he will wear his everywhere he goes for the next year.

His love for the sport started when Jack was in his teens.

“I started in the early nineties, fishing for rainbow trout in local Kamloops lakes and rivers,” he said. “I spent my summer fishing the Thompson and Clearwater rivers. I love the different lakes and rivers and place we get to go. The scenery is beautiful. There is an awesome feeling when you are casting and receiving, getting a response from nature when the fish takes that fly.”

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