Peter Carty ONZM

Congratulations to my friend and fishing buddy, Peter Carty, who was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, in the King's Birthday Honours 2025.

Pete entered guided fishing in 1985, and was at the forefront of helping develop the modern era of professional guiding in New Zealand. His contribution to profiling New Zealand fly-tying on the international stage is unparalled. He is one of very few NZ fly tiers to gain a truly international reputation,. For many years he was the contributing writer on fly-tying in the award winning New Zealand Fish and Game magazine. His flies have also featured in several overseas publications, including The World's Best Trout Flies {1994}, ed John Roberts, and New Zealand's Best Trout Flies {2006}, Peter Scott and Peter Chan.

One of Pete's great strengths has been his very generous sharing of his knowledge and skills. He has regularly shared this knowledge with trout fishing clubs and budding fly-tiers throughout New Zealand, inspiring another generation of NZ fly tiers to push the envelope and develop their talents.

Pete's fly collections have long been sought after for fund-raising both in New Zealand and the USA, where his generosity has benefited fund-raising efforts at events such as the Jackson Hole One Fly, NZ One Fly, Casting for Recovery (both USA and NZ) and Stripping for a Cure (USA). Donations of his flies have helped raise thousands of dollars for these charities over the years. His skill level is recognised internationally, so much so that fly-fishing anglers from around the world, regularly contract Peter directly to tie custom fly orders for them.

As far as I am aware, this is the first time a contribution to fly-fishing and fly-tying has ever been recognised in the King's/Queen's Birthday Honours. We should all be immensely proud of Pete's achievement.