The Manic Team
Rene Vaz - Managing Director
The Big Boss Rene, since the age of 19 has been highly involved (obsessed!?) in the NZ fly fishing and tackle industry. Rene is a past New Zealand Fly Fishing Champion and NZ team member, he is an FFF and STANIC Fly Casting Instructor, holds a Masters Degree with Honours in Fisheries Biology and Management and has worked for and advised a number of tackle companies throughout the globe. Basically Rene lives and breathes fly fishing.
Along with his wife Susan, Rene started Manic Tackle Project in 2008 from their garage at home and after a few years of hard work, late nights, large glasses of wine and some great customers they have successfully grown the company into Australasia's largest and most respected fly fishing distributor.
On working in this industry " Who would have thought a misspent youth of playing with fishing gear in your room as a kid could turn into a career....."
BEVVY OF CHOICE: The way to this man's heart is via a nice Barossa Shiraz. Honourable mentions also go to a nice Pinot Noir or a classy scotch. Basically anything above 10% ABV and it's mission accomplished.
Susan Vaz - Director, Special Projects
Susan manages the operations side of marketing for Manic whilst also overseeing the design and production of our Simms artist program.
BEVVY OF CHOICE: Krug... Oscar Wilde once said “Only the unimaginative can fail to find a reason for drinking Champagne”, and who are we to argue with that!
Damon Scott - Sales Manager
It feels like it was only yesterday when we set the impossible task of finding a new Sales Manager…
We couldn’t believe it when we were introduced to one of the most engaging, professional, witty, and seriously talented dudes we had ever met.
Not to mention a mad keen fisho, hunter, and an absolute weapon on the water.
Sadly he got hit by a bus on his first day, so we had to hire Damon.
BEVVY OF CHOICE: Oh, yes please. Make it a double
Ben Munro - General Manager
Ben is our General Manager, which basically means he manages to keep everything running smoothly around here at Manic—generally. He’s also famous for pioneering a new fish-fighting technique for dealing with big kingfish in small vessels. Ask him to show you if you ever catch up with him.
Ben has a professional background in graphic design and project management, but a lifelong passion for all things fly fishing inevitably landed him here at Manic.
BEVVY OF CHOICE: His calm demeanour belies the fact that this man loves himself a Woody or two, but without the associated brawling and grievous bodily harm charges.
Ben Goldfinch - Australian Account Manager
Ben is the more commonly known as Warehouse Ben and now he's also 'the Aussie guy', which is quite handy as that's his job.
He tells us that he is also into boxing, we know that, that's why we have him in the warehouse. Or how about "Ben likes boxing so much he even does it in the weekends"? Either way, he's a good chap to have on your side in the warehouse or ring.
BEVVY OF CHOICE: The former private school boy in him cant go past a dash of Penfold's Grange, but in reality he wouldn't turn down a slab of VB given half a chance.
Scott Diprose – Account Manager
Covering the Upper North Island, Scott is relatively new to the fly fishing world — but don’t worry, he’s already spent far too much money on gear for his newfound addiction to salt fly, and when conditions aren’t playing ball, he reverts to his soft bait roots in the Hauraki Gulf.
Before joining the tackle trade, Scott racked up years in the apparel industry, which makes him dangerously qualified to talk at length about zips, stitching, and why your fishing shirt really matters.
BEVVY OF CHOICE: If it says "Hazy Pale ale" on the can, he’s in.
Sam Russell - South Island Account Manager
Sam’s the link between Manic and the Mainland. Based in Christchurch, Sam’s the guy keeping shops stocked, anglers stoked, and good banter flowing from Nelson to Invercargill. When he’s not fishing for spooky browns, he can be found feeding golf balls to various ponds and bushes around the South Island.
BEVVY OF CHOICE: Speight’s - God’s apology for sending him to Invercargill.
George Perry - Lower North Island Account Manager
Born and raised in Taupō, George grew up fishing the rivers of the Central Plateau — which probably explains his lifelong inability to walk past a river without wondering what’s hiding in it.
Before joining Manic, he worked his way around Spain on superyachts, picking up a few salty stories along the way, and learning that apparently “working on a boat” can mean a lot more than just fishing.
BEVVY OF CHOICE: Dark & Stormy- got to maintain the sailor aesthetics.
Wayne Barnes - Operations Specialist
In an attempt to escape the furore of the RWC in 2007, Wayne hid away in the repairs department here at Manic. Wayne has been along time Manic Mate, having fly fished up and down the country for number of years. He's known around the river as the Trout Boss, so don't be surprised if he catches more fish than you.
BEVVY OF CHOICE: Wayne is far too concerned with healthy eating even to consider offering his opinion here.
Andrea Mattioli - Operations & Customer Experience
When it comes to euro-nymphing, we all ask Andrea. Not just because he is Italian, but also because he's the natural choice for how to do it properly. Fishing has been in his blood forever, his wife fishes and his new born bambino will probably start fishing before he is out of nappies. Oh, make sure you pronounce his name with an Italian accent, not your accent.
BEVVY OF CHOICE: We didn't ask, but a nice Chianti, sans the fava beans, probably with some form of pasta wouldn't be too wrong.
Kye Lii Chai - Warehouse & Customer Service Executive
Armed with a Master’s in Psychology, she doubles as our company’s therapist. That, combined with her sick Excel skills and love of strategy board games, there’s no workplace problems she can’t solve.
While she might not consider herself a fisher(wo)man, she’s nonetheless caught countless fish (virtually, that is).
BEVVY OF CHOICE: Anything with bubbles. (The tapioca kind.)
Mitch Blackburn - Warehouse & Customer Service Executive
Mitch spends most of his time reading up on new spots and trying to find that next hidden backcountry gem. If there’s a bit of water on a map that looks difficult to get to, chances are he’s already wondering how to get there. He’s constantly seeking out the spots most people pass up on or don’t bother making the effort to reach.
Mitch also shares his fishing adventures online, documenting the trips, the highs, the lows, and the questionable decisions that come with exploring New Zealand’s backcountry trout fisheries.
BEVVY OF CHOICE: Speight’s Summit Ultra. Because after walking all day for one trout, you’ve earned it
Chris Dore - South Island Legend & Technical King
Chris Dore is our man in the South Island and a human fly fishing encyclopaedia, or to put it in modern terms, he's basically google. You'll see Chris' fingerprints on a huge amount of Manic content, especially the instructional stuff and has been with us since day dot. In his other life he's pretty much NZ's best fly fishing guide and if you want to catch some fish and learn a thing or ten then a day or two with Chris is money very well spent, www.chrisdore.com
BEVVY OF CHOICE: Central Otago Pinot all the way, anything from Marlborough or the Wairarapa would just offend him.
Chris Hon - Graphic Design
Chris is the other Chris here at Manic. He's easy to spot as he is not the elite fisherman that Chris Dore is. What he is though is the man behind all those pretty pictures on our website, our catalogues and everywhere else we let his creative genius reign.
Considered to be one of the best graphic designers in the country... by his mother, his tools of choice are coloured pencils and crayons. But he is most famous for a smile that captures the hearts of women both old and middle aged alike.
BEVVY OF CHOICE: Coffee, it's the most important meal of the day
Sophia Deng - Financial Accounts Executive
Sophia is all things finance here at Manic and is our Financial Accounts Executive. Sophia is all things finance and loves numbers, reconciliations and basically everything that we all cant get our heads around. Hence she is perfect for the job.
BEVVY OF CHOICE: We assume it's water but most likely it's straight vodka. It's allows her to get through a full days fishing banter everyday without batting an eyelid.
Josh Power - Australian Account & Community Manager
G’day mate! Josh spent 20 years working for various fishing tackle retailers in the land down under, from there he did a stint in the circus as the world’s tallest man, that’s when we found him and gave him a new gig at Manic. When he’s not fishing, you can find him wrestling drop bears or slipping a shrimp on the barbie (BBQ).
BEVVY OF CHOICE: Cane Cutters Cordial aka Bundaberg Rum
Chris Schrueder - Content & Community Manager
Chris joins the ever growing number of Chris’s at Manic Tackle but he is possibly the second best at Wordle. He helps post big fish photos and cute cat videos to the Manic socials as well as showcasing the bling to fly shops in Victoria. He also guides for Wilderness Fly Fishing and Millbrook Lakes when he’s not repairing fences on his hobby farm that his wife’s horses keep breaking.
BEVVY OF CHOICE: Dark beers in Winter, Gin and Tonic in Summer, Spiced Rum in the Tropics.
You? Yeah, we have openings occasionally.
If working for NZ and Australia's largest fly fishing distributor interests you then keep an eye our job page here.
