King’s Birthday Honours 2025: Peter Carty made officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit

For newly minted officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit Peter Carty, flyfishing is not about the catch.

“I don’t eat fish,” Carty told the Herald.

“I release them. Occasionally, I’ll keep one for a friend.”

For Carty, the sport is about learning, laughing and enjoying the experience.

“There’s something about standing still in moving water,” Carty said.

“It’s therapeutic. When the world seems to be against you, flyfishing can bring you back to reality.”

And reality, for Carty, is something to marvel at.

“Flyfishing takes you to the most beautiful places in the world. I’ve got the great Tongariro five minutes from home.

“How good it is to be out there on the water.”

Carty first learned to flyfish at age 12.

Peter Hardy Ballantyne Carty has been named an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the King's Birthday Honours 2025.

“My cousin and I used to fish together all the time off the wharf, catch eels, whatever.

“One day, one of us said we wanted to go trout fishing.”

The closest river to Carty’s Nelson home at the time had one rule: Flyfishing only.

“We both spent time in the winter making our own rods out of garden canes.”

Then Carty fell in love with the art of a good fly cast.

“The one thing that’s different from flyfishing to other types of fishing is the casting.

“I just love casting. I’ll go out to one of the local parks and just stand there and cast.”

To this day, Carty says a good cast “feels like I’m having a good day”.

Carty has since shared his love for flyfishing and its life lessons with countless others.

He was at the forefront of New Zealand’s professional tourist trout fishing guiding industry for 30 years, helping New Zealand become a popular international flyfishing destination.

Now retired from guiding, Carty teaches people of all ages how to cast.

“I just love seeing people evolve.”

Peter Carty and his wife Sherrie Freickert-Carty supported breast cancer survivors through the Casting for Recovery initiative.

When his wife Sherrie Feickert-Carty brought the initiative Casting for Recovery to New Zealand, Carty became a champion for the cause.

The initiative helped women recovering from breast cancer by teaching them the rudiments of fly-casting and fly fishing.

In the Casting for Recovery community, Carty was a teacher and guide.

Carty said seeing the look on his students’ faces when they “got it” always felt like “a win”.

“Seeing these ladies get out in the stream, laugh, have a great time - it’s not about catching fish.”

He also tied all the flies used in Casting for Recovery sessions.

Considered a master fly-tier, Carty’s patterns are used in New Zealand, the United States, Australia, Europe and Asia.

He has been named one of the top five fly-tiers worldwide.

“With fly-tying, there’s no rules.”

When he first got the email informing him he was a King’s Birthday Honour recipient, Carty didn’t do anything about it.

“To be perfectly honest, I thought it was a friend of mine taking a mickey. Then I got a phone call.”

Carty said he was still getting used to the idea of the award, slowly.

“It was a very, very big surprise.”

Carty said his main embarrassment at receiving a King’s Birthday honour was that his wife didn’t get one first.

Maryana Garcia is a Hamilton-based reporter covering breaking news in Waikato. She previously wrote for the Rotorua Daily Post and Bay of Plenty Times.