PFIGA’s History

In the late 1980's there weren't many professional fishing guides in Australia, yet the fledgling industry was getting a bad reputation due to poor experiences some people were having with "amateur" fishing guides.

The late Mike Spry in Khancoban, along with Bill Bourke from Alexandra were the prime movers in getting together a small group of guides to form an association. Other founding members were John Killip (Honorary Life Member), Evan Mathews, and Ron Vise. One of the earliest "meetings" of the association was around a fire on the frosty banks of the Eucumbene River when the lake trout were running upstream in early winter.

Eventually, the Australian Professional Fly Fishing Instructors and Guides Association was formed in 1990 with an emphasis on fly fishing training activities. The name was changed to its present form at the 1992 Annual General Meeting when it was decided that the association would embrace all methods of recreational fishing, with guiding and instructing getting equal emphasis.

For a few years membership of the PFIGA remained very small, until Rod Barford took over as secretary and started working hard to recruit members. The numbers increased to nearly fifty before the severe drought during the late 90's and early 2000's began to affect participation in freshwater angling throughout South East Australia. As a result, a number of members dropped out of the industry, going back to their "day jobs" in many cases.

Steve Williamson joined PFIGA around 1995-96 as a guide with a reputation for developing new freshwater techniques for trolling lures and down-rigging for Trout. He felt that joining PFIGA would enable him to help and assist other fishing guides to a better future.

In 2008 Steve was elected to the position of PFIGA president, which he held until 2017. Steve devoted an enormous amount of time and effort in keeping PFIGA moving forward, keeping government and industry ministers fully aware of the needs and views of members. Steve was awarded Honorary Life Membership of PFIGA in 2017.

Now, in 2023, membership continues to grow. With an influx of members specialising in both freshwater and saltwater services, the face of the PFIGA has evolved again and PFIGA represents fee for service fishing guides and instructors from all around Australia.

PFIGA is currently a NSW recreational fishing organisation representative on the NSW DPI Recreational Fishing Freshwater Trust Expenditure Committee (RFFTEC). The RFFTEC is made up of freshwater anglers from 8 different regions from around NSW, and was formed to assist the Recreational Fishing NSW Advisory Council (RFNSW) in setting Trust expenditure priorities, by providing expertise on regional freshwater fishing issues.