NOEL JETSON

1933–2016

Noel Jetson joined the Northern Tasmanian Fisheries Association (NTFA) in the early 1960s and became Vice-President for two years and then President in the period 1977–78. He was made a life member of the NTFA in 1979. Jetson was active in passing his angling knowledge to anglers through courses and classes. For over 20 years, he instructed many anglers in the art of fly-tying through Adult Education courses held in northern Tasmania from 1970. In 1973, Jetson opened his Jetfly tackle store in Cressy and a year later he became the first professional trout guide in Australia. He later recognised the need for a professional trout guiding peak body and was instrumental in forming the Tasmanian Professional Trout Guides Association (now the Trout Guides and Lodges Tasmania) in 1979. He was the association’s inaugural President and was made a life member in 1994. During his time at the helm of the association, he was a strong advocate for the sound management of the Tasmanian trout fishery, instituting service and safety standards for trout guides and their clients respectively. In 1981, Jetson continued to teach and tutor anglers by conducting the Bronte Fly-Fishing School at which he conducted numerous classes with over 290 participants until 1991. Jetson is a master fly-tyer, introducing and adapting many legendary local fly patterns, such as the Noel’s Nobby and Black Spinner (Jetson), to the Tasmanian flyfisher. He helped change the dependence on English patterns that had been the case since the introduction of fly-fishing to Tasmania. Jetson’s name is, and always will be, synonymous with fly-fishing and fly-tying in Tasmania.