VOLUME 29, ISSUE 05. November 2022
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Our monthly Fly Tying event offers an excellent opportunity for inexperienced through to experienced fly tyers to pick up many new fly tying skills and also exposure to different tools and materials that will enhance the enjoyment factor on this journey. It's also an ideal opportunity for potential fly tyers to come along and see if it's the right activity for them before they decide either way on whether to commence with tying flies or not. Plus your learn from the many experienced fly tyers that we have in our club. |
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Featured content
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"If people concentrated on the really important things of life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles". ~ by Doug Larson ~ |
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Next Members Monthly Meeting
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Our next Members Monthly Meeting will be held at The Freeway Hotel. The meeting will kick off at 7:00pm on Monday, 7th November 2022. It's a week early to avoid clashing with the Geehi/Long Plain trip.
Our guest speaker will be Jason Garrett, Tasmanian Guide and owner of Rainbow Lodge Tasmania and the Great Lake Hotel. Jason will be guiding for members on the Trip to Tasmania in February 2023.
Please view further down the Flyrodder for the details. |
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Next Members Monthly Fly Tying
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The Next Monthly Fly Tying Meeting will held on Monday, 21st November 2022 at our usual venue in the Green Room of the Henley Community Centre, kicking off at 7:00pm.
See further details below under the Monthly Fly Tying segment. |
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Denis Hill with a 6lb brown from Thompsons Creek Dam in late October 2022.
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Dear {Contact_First_Name},
Firstly a reminder, our Club meeting is a week earlier than normal this month, it’s on next Monday, the 7th November. It’s a week early because our regular second Monday of the month clashes with the annual Geehi/Long Plain trip. As the Geehi/Long Plain trip is a camping trip there is no deadline or restriction for joining the Event so if you find you now have the time available, come join us, all the details are under the event on our Website. Also coming up is our Christmas party, this one you do have to book for and there is a deadline, so if you haven’t already please go onto our website and book – it’s always a great night. Now at the risk of causing some divorces the Committee would like to announce some additional Club events:
- The Sunday before our Christmas Party (11th Dec) Brian Henderson will be holding a half day casting clinic.
- A one week Jindabyne trip 5th to 12th Feb 2023
- A Saltwater Primer weekend at Smith Lake with Brian Henderson. This is a great event for those who haven’t done saltwater fly and for those who would like to refine their rod setup, casting and approach to Saltwater Fly Fishing. This will be on 4th and 5th March.
- And finally ! we are reintroducing the regular Club weekends. Our Club weekend will be on the last weekend every month except December. Our plan is to provide the opportunity for those who can’t get away for the longer Club trips to be able to plan and regularly get away for one or two nights. The destinations for these weekends will mainly be the Oberon and Wallerawang areas, but we may include other close venues later. As I have mentioned in recent reports these areas are fishing really well and with their proximity to Sydney you can you get worthwhile time on the water with only one or two nights away or even as a long day trip.
The first three of these events will go up on the website in the next couple of weeks and I will send out a email regarding the Club Weekends once we have sorted out a few remaining details.
While you wait for the details of these new events to be published don’t forget all the details for the Big River trip and the Mitta Mitta trip are up on the website and we are taking bookings.
This is going to be a great fishing season and its off to a great start – in my photo this month that’s a 6LB brown from TCD.
Tight Lines
Denis Hill
President
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Gavin at Swansea fishing the Salmon Classic in August 2022.
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During October some of us members attended the Gone Fishing Day that was put on by the Central Acclimatisation Society at Lake Wallace near Wallerawang. There is an event report further down in this edition of the Flyrodder.
Summer is nearly upon us and many trips are ramping up, both locally and further afield. Please check out our website Events section for all the details, and look forward to seeing you on some or all of them.
There is a section on the December Monthly meeting and Dinner night further down the Flyrdder. Further details will be provided, but you'll need to make a booking to attend for catering purposes.
There are still a number of spots available on the Big River trip in March and the Mitta Mitta trip in late April.
Hope to see you at some of our many events that we have planned for the coming 12 months.
Gavin van der Wagen Editor. gavin@vit.com.au |
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Last Monthly Meeting and Guest Speaker Report |
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Our Members, Steve Peach (on the mike) and Jared Klein were our Guest Speakers |
At our October Members Monthly Meeting Steve Peach and Jared Klein presented on their recent adventure at a NSW State Competition which was Loch Style on lake Eucumbene.
Steve has fished a number of NSW Comps this year but this was Jared's first crack at competition fishing. By all accounts it was tough going but they still managed to have a great time and learn much about competition fishing which puts a completely different approach to your normal fly fishing trips.
It sounds like a wonderful way to improve your fly fishing skills and their advice is to give it a go as it's well worth the effort; even if you don't have a boat for the lake comps as you will be randomly paired with other anglers who have boats. Else you can fish from the banks.
You can view this video and indeed all the previous presentations on our Members Private Video Library on YouTube. To view them please Login to our Sydney Fly Rodders Website; click on Members and select YOUTUBE CHANNEL, as per the picture below.
We have many wonderful videos in our Private Members Video Library, in fact they're all wonderful and informative, plus you can view them at your leisure!
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Some photos of the meeting follow; David Major kicked off and ran the meeting. |
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Next Monthly Meeting and Guest Speaker |
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Our November 2022 Members Monthly Meeting will be held "Live" on Monday, 7th November at The Freeway Hotel up in the mezzanine one level up, in our own private room. (It's a week earlier than usual to avoid clashing with the Geehi/Long Plain trip which is attended by many of our members who normally attend the monthly meeting).
Our guest speaker this month is Tasmanian fishing guide Jason Garrett. For those booked on our Tasmanian trip next year, this is a great opportunity to prepare for your trip. For everyone else it’s a great opportunity to deepen your knowledge of Tassie fishing and if you haven’t fished Tassie, this presentation will set you up and inspire you to plan your own trip. Jason’s Bio is shown below.
First started fly fishing in Papua New Guinea in 1976;
• Learned my lake and river craft bank fishing the shores of London Lakes and the Bronte chain from 1978 to 1985 including some guiding roles;
• Recreational flyfishing in Australia and New Zealand up until the early 2000’s; and more recently having fly-fished in Europe, North America and Africa;
• Started competition fishing in 2004 and first represented Australia in 2008 – owe all my expertise to being in the competition scene;
The meeting will kick off as usual at 7:00pm with general matters then around half an hour later the guest speaker segment will kick off.
For those unable to attend the meeting we will be recording the presentation and then uploading it to our Club Members Private Video Library on YouTube.
You will also be able to view all the previous meeting presentations that we have recorded, and view at your leisure.
Many of our attendees arrive a bit earlier and have dinner either before, else the bar staff will deliver your meal order to our meeting room and you can enjoy your meal, and or drink, whilst the meeting is underway. The food is good value for money and the company is priceless!! So come along and have a relaxing and entertaining meeting where you can meet other members and pick up on useful snippets information that is shared amongst the group.
Our Meeting is normally held on the 2nd Monday of each month, unless it is a public holiday; in which case it will be delayed a week.
There is ample parking in the parking garage under the Freeway Hotel, which is accessed from Dickson Avenue (at the back), just off Reserve Road, in Artarmon.
The address is 115 Reserve Road, Artarmon 2064 (for for GPS), on the corner of Dickson Avenue.
Looking forward to catching up at the meeting. |
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We had five new members join the club in October 2022.
We welcome Anthony Carle, Haydn Lynch, Pete West, Rob Willis and Richard Ziff to our Club.
We encourage new members to join in on the many activities that we run as this is a good way to meet other club members and also to improve your fly fishing skills and most importantly to have a great time.
Looking forward to meeting you at our Monthly Members Meetings and at events throughout the coming year. |
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Last Months Casting Practice Report |
SFRC CASTING PRACTICE 2 October 2022
There was a good roll up once again for the October session. We continued the current theme of trying to find good form, so we can set and forget while fishing. Good form? What’s that?
Something to do with efficient movement and good line control. The two don’t always happen together. If you show good line control when casting, but are nowhere near efficient, does that matter? If you can cast regularly to 75’, do you need to do more? If you can cast accurately to 40’, do you need to do more?
I think it’s worth considering. Good control achieved despite continuing inefficiency has only come at the expense of time and effort above and beyond what should be necessary. And, that stays with you as you try for greater control. For example, every increment in distance or accuracy comes harder to the inefficient caster. The caster who develops good form when learning will always learn faster to cast distance than the caster who learnt to strongarm his fly to distance. The caster who spends all his or her time on good form will be well repaid. Most of us cast effective loops, but are the loops efficient and did we make them with efficiency of movement?
Control, if you are wondering, is what is going on when the caster can make the loop travel at the speed, distance, time, direction and shape he or she chooses, from cast to cast. Just think what it would be like to have perfect control over your casts. Then you could really focus on the fishing. That’s what I think I am looking for – be able, on the water, to switch off casting brain and use only fishing brain. Like tying shoelaces – you tie a proper knot, but need give no thought to how you did it because it is automatic. Well, one can dream.
In practical terms, what we did last practice day was to break some basic casting movements into parts, to get to grips with the mechanics of hand and rod. However, the focus of the exercise was to move beyond the mechanics by adhering to a specific timing routine and to carefully watch for how the line behaved in the cast. Objective criteria for success make it easier – if you know what the line should do and you know what to do to make that happen, then you have a practice routine worth following.
Which brings me to next steps for the casting program. Next day I’ll be going through some or all of the casts in the Bronze Casting Development Program. I’d like some members to be willing to make themselves available to be evaluators. Literally, no prior experience needed at Bronze level. Except for being able to use a tape measure, you don’t even have to know how to cast a flyrod. I’ll give you a run through of what a caster should be able to do and how the rules apply to say whether a particular cast made it or didn’t make it. It’s black and white. After that, I’d like to be able to quicken the process of getting interested members through the Bronze by having a few members who can help with the assessing. If you want to see what it’s all about or maybe try out some of the casts, come along. Nobody will be asked to do anything – its voluntary only.
Here’s the web address of the Flyfishers International site which is a guide for anglers about the program. Go to the Bronze level pages and see the fishing applications for all the Bronze level casts.
https://www.flyfishersinternational.org/Portals/0/LearningCenter/FCSD/FFI_FCSD_Program_Angler_Guide.pdf
See you at the park for some practice in trusting the fly rod.
David Caddies
Our next Casting Practice will be held on Sunday, the 6th November. See the following section for further information.
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Club Monthly Casting Practice - Details and Event Schedule. |
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SFRC MONTHLY CASTING PRACTICE Sunday 6 November 2022
START TIME : 9:00am.
All members are welcome to join in the club’s usual monthly practice session. If you want to know everything about the club’s casting practice sessions, read the whole blurb in the Flyrodder magazine.
Here's the essentials:
TIME: All start at 9 am for casting basics and usual practice session (all welcome).
1. Bring your favourite rod and line, or the outfit you need to get to know better. A 5 or 6 weight 9’ rod is preferred for this session, but not essential. A tapered leader of 7’6” - 8’ is recommended, but not too light. One tapered down to 10 pounds would be ideal. (0X,1X or 2X if you speak in X’s). Definitely not longer than 9’, including tippet.
2. A brightly-coloured wool or yarn fly should be tied to the end of the leader. Wool available at the session.
3. Do not use a real fly, or a cut-down fly or anything incorporating metal when at club practice, for safety reasons.
4. Speaking of which, take the usual precaution of using proper eye protection (sunglasses).
5. Not well? Stay at home please.
WHERE:
Timbrell Park, Henley Marine Drive, Five Dock. Go to the western end of Henley Marine Drive, past the cricket pitches, baseball nets and just past LIvvi’s coffee kiosk and kids’ playground area.There is an open area opposite where Ingham Avenue intersects with Henley Marine Drive which we usually use. It is not part of the sports fields. It’s still very wet underfoot at the moment and if they haven’t cut the grass recently we will be just across the canal in the open area on the other side (where we were last time).
If you can’t make it this time and want some good practical instruction to guide you, check out this site: https://www.flyfishersinternational.org/Learn/Learning-Center-Resources/Fly-Casting/Casting-Instruction
So come and give it a try, as there is so much to be gained by attending these sessions. And they are Free!!!
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Last Months Fly Tying Meeting Report |
Our October fly tying meeting was once again led by our Master Fly Tyer, Dave Wilson, and the fly tied was the Chernobyl Ant, and a variation. We had 12 members in attendance and picked up some great skills on how best to tie on foam bodies with legs and sighter material.
Dave's approach is very much to teach the tying skill rather than emphasis on the fly pattern. This way you'll be better equipped to tie many different fly patterns, rather than just the one at hand.
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Dave Wilson kicks off proceedings with Kevin Kai and Steve Peach looking on. |
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Prior to trimming as per the next photo |
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Next Monthly Fly Tying Meeting |
Our next Monthly Fly Tying Meeting will be held on Monday, 21st November 2022, from 7:00pm to 9:30pm. The doors will open at 6:30pm to give you time to set up for a 7:00pm start. This meeting will be led by Mark Bransgrove as our fly tying master, Dave Wilson, will be on his annual pilgrimage up to our Northern Territory terrorising the barramundi there. We will be tying the booby fly, which is a wonderful lake fly and works so well at Thompsons Creek Dam and other similar locations. This fly works on trout, bream and other species. For those who don't have a vise, we have ample spare one's available. We particularly welcome first timers and all levels of fly tiers as you will all learn something from these wonderful sessions. If you would like to just come and observe, then please do so to see if this is for you. You'll be surprised at how "easily" you can get into tying your own flies.
The venue is the Henley Community Centre in Hunters Hill, and we meet in the Green Room on the right as you enter.
The venue address is: Crown Street, Henley, NSW 2111. As you turn into Crown Street, from Victoria Road, take the first left and drive down a bit of a bumpy road, and it's the last building about a 100 yards down the drag. There's parking off the track and walk through a small road (some do park just outside the building), but it's a short walk to the front door past a bowling green (may be a veggie patch now).
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The Booby Fly.
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Christmas Dinner and December Monthly Meeting |
Our December Members Meeting and Christmas Dinner will again be held at The Ranch Hotel in North Ryde/Epping on Monday, 12th December 2022, at 7:00pm. This was a very popular venue last year, so please come around earlier and join us for drinks in the courtyard before the meeting kicks off. There is ample parking on site. Our guest speaker will be Brian Henderson, and we will have an excellent major prize and many minor prizes. Brian always provides an interesting and wonderful presentation. The fee is subsidised by the club and will cost $55 each for a sit down 3 course meal. Please log in to our website and through events register your spot before the end of November; there will be a cutoff date to allow the correct numbers for catering. Will look forward to catching up then.
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WCAS (Wallerawang Central Acclimatisation Society) October Update by Ray Tang |
Ray Tang is the Secretary of WCAS, of which we have around 50 club members who have joined up as members of WCAS; for the princely sum of $10 per annum. Our participation is very important with regard to decisions being taken on fish habitat and fish stocking. Having such a strong membership at WCAS gives the chapter plenty of clout when influencing the NSW DPI on where and what to stock and how many. You will see from Ray's report below just how much activity is going on month by month. So it's vital that our members join up with WCAS as we have a very important role to play when securing the future and health of our fisheries for the long term sustainable future for our next generations. We also have the opportunity to get involved with the events out west and in future we will have an official club presence at these events and others that we put on ourselves. Plus it's an opportunity to fish with the other club members who are present. You can camp at Lake Wallace or stay at a number of venues in Wallerawang; plus you'll be close to the Millpond at Portland. This fishing season will be a bumper year owing to the healthy amounts of water and the stocking activity that has been carried out over the recent years. Ray's Report: So much has happen since, wow where do I start??
Trout releases
- 28th August Dutton Hatchery delivered 100 brood stock brown trout for Lake Wallace and Millpond (these brood browns I believe is an exciting first time for our area)
- 11th September we released around 22000 rainbow trout fry into the rivers
- 19th Sept Dutton Hatchery, we released around 100 brood stock rainbows into Lake Lyell
- 4th October Dutton Hatchery came down with and released around 100+ brood stock rainbows into Lake Wallace (in lieu of Gone Fishing day 2022 for the media release)
- 16th October Dutton Hatchery supplied us with around 20000 brown trout fry for the rivers
- 24th October Port Stephens Fisheries Institute delivered baby bass fry, 30000 for Lake Lyell and 10000 for Lake Wallace.
Lake Wallace and Gone Fishing Day
In summary;
We had some horrendous torrential rain the Saturday night before,
With all the preparation works leading up to the event day, Unfortunately it was a little too late to pull out of it,
We ran the comp none the less!!
The grounds ended up too wet to allow any vehicle movements on, so we had to quickly re-evaluate and review the event arrangements on the fly.
We were VERY lucky with the east coast low moving out to the coast overnight after the severe deluge, followed by a high pressure where the rain stopped and the sun came out, and tuning out to be a pretty spectacular day!
Despite both the heavy rain the night before and Bathurst race weekend on, We still managed around 200 registered participants and many visitors throughout the day!
The numbers were down for this year, but the day was still pretty amazing with all things considered.
A huge shoutout to members Hamish Murray, Phil Burton, Gavin van der Wagen, Glen and Tom Short, Nathan and Lauren Turner
As mentioned to the DPI;
We have recommended having the GFD day nominated for around early- mid November, rather than October, as the weather systems around October is nominally very unsettled.
In this Central Tablelands area, the gazetted Bathurst race weekend is a very significant event on the calendar to contend with, and recommend this race weekend to be avoided for future events
We have also had some requests from the public to enquire about holding the event over a Saturday to allow people with religious commitments to have an option to participate.
'Gone Fishing' day returns to Lake Wallace for the first time since COVID19 pandemic | Lithgow Mercury | Lithgow, NSW
Gone Fishing Day in Wallerwang successful | Lithgow Mercury | Lithgow, NSW
Some photo's follow of the event.
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The new pontoon at Lake Wallace that Ray Tang was involved with. |
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Ray Tang holds a brood stock rainbow that have recently been released in Lake Wallace |
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Gone Fishing Day registration |
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The fishing comp winner (winning fish below) with the Portland/Wallerawang Mayor and Ray Tang. |
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Some of the wonderful prizes from sponsors of the day |
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Following the Gone Fishing Day, 2 weeks later, was the STEAM Project Event held at the Millpond in Portland. Juan del Carmen, who provided casting tuition on the day, with assistance from some of our Members, including Phil Burton (2nd from the right) and Ray Tang on the right. Our President Denis Hill and Editor Gavin van der Wagen were also on hand to assist. A great day! |
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CFA Interclub Event in March 2023 |
Members,
A short while ago I put out info on the CFA Interclub event for 17-19 March 2023.
Many fishing clubs like ours, are affiliate members of the Council of Freshwater Anglers and every year, outside of CoVid, a fund raising competition and get together is held. This year, in an effort to expand and better cover all affiliates, the Central Coast Fly Rodders Club is hosting it at Glenbawn Dam. It is both a team and individual event and I hope to put together a SFRC representation. The event is much more about getting together then competition and there are BBQs and Raffles with plenty of prizes.
It’s a good weekend and a great chance to meet others.
Contact me if you want more details.
Phil Burton. (philipburton@bigpond.com)
More Information:
The NSW Council of Freshwater Anglers Interclub Meet is a social weekend for fishos to share the love of fishing and to engage as teams in friendly competition. After a pause of three years because of Covid the Interclub Meet is back on in 2023 but, in its 20 th year, there are a few changes to venue and format.
The Central Coast Fly Rodders will be hosting the Interclub Fly and Lure Fishing Meet on behalf of the NSWCFA at Lake Glenbawn on, Friday - Sunday 17-19 March 2023. Club Teams will compete in catch and release, lake and stream, fly and lure fishing and fly and lure (plug) casting in the quest for best team and the winner of the NSWCFA Club Teams perpetual trophy.
This is also a fund-raising activity for NSWCFA and critical to support their ongoing work to promote, support and improve freshwater angling in NSW. Entry fees will be minimal only to support event overheads, and will include a Saturday BBQ lunch and Sunday brunch.
Competitors will be responsible for their own accommodation. The Lake Glenbawn campground has plenty of camping/caravan sites but cabins on and around Lake Glenbawn are filling fast. Link: (https://bookings.reflectionsholidayparks.com.au/lakeglenbawn ). See also Lake Glenbawn Holiday Cottages: http://www.lakeglenbawncottages.com.au/. There will be small prizes awarded for individual achievements in the competitions but the main objective for competitors is to gain team points and win the Club Teams trophy.
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AFFC Request for Controllers |
Call for Controllers
Australian Fly Fishing Championships
Snowy Mountains, New South Wales
7-10 December 2022
Host Chapter FFA ACT/NSW
Fly Fish ACT/NSW are currently looking for Controllers to measure fish and enforce rules at this year’s National Championships being held at Jindabyne and surrounds. This is to be held from Wednesday 7 December to Saturday 10 December 2022 inclusive. Refer to the Competition Program for more details.
The event is a great opportunity to watch and learn from some of the best fly fishers in the country and any assistance would be greatly appreciated by all competitors.
We have Competition Sectors for River and Bank sessions that require controllers. All the training/information will be provided by FFA ACT/NSW Chapter and the Competition Organisers. You don't need to be an experienced fly fisher to be a controller.
We are encouraging both club groups and individuals to assist with the event and have two package options available:
Package 1 – Fishing Club Package
• Clubs provide own accommodation – FFA will donate to the clubs $200 per Registered Controller
• Note: Clubs will be able to nominate a Sector of preference for their members to Control. We need 14 Controllers allocated to each sector.
Package 2 – Individual Package
• Individuals who provide their own accommodation – FFA will provide a cash contribution of $200 to each individual registered as a Controller.
Every Registered Controller will also receive:
• Dinner Voucher to Presentation Dinner at Lake Jindabyne Hotel
Value $40
• FFA Cap – Value $25
• Competition Badge/Sticker – Value $10
• ONE free entry into any ACT/NSW State competition (this is a great opportunity to try your hand in a competition and develop your skills) – Value $100
If you choose to assist at this event you will need to bring the following equipment:
EQUIPMENT TO BRING
• Warm clothing
• Wet weather protection
• A broad brimmed hat
• Sun glasses
• Sun screen
• Long trousers
• Long sleeved shirt
• Sturdy shoes or boots
• Waders (personal choice - not essential as you will not be required to enter the water)
• Watch
• A back pack
• Water bottle
• Snack bar
Please also ensure you have:
Transport to/from sectors
Your own meals (except for Presentation Dinner)
If you have any questions do not hesitate to email or call me:
Bob Bartels– Competition Organiser FFA ACT/NSW, Chapter President, 0434 561 569 Or:
Shaun Gambrill FFA ACT/NSW, Chapter Secretary, 0407 079 428
If you wish to offer your assistance please fill out the below information and send to ffa.nsw.act.secretary@gmail.com
Australian Fly Fishing Championships Falls Creek, Jindabyne
7-10 December 2022
Host Chapter: FFA ACT/NSW
CONTROLLER NOMINATION FORM
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Package Preference
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Package 1 – Club Activity / Package 2 - Individual
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Fishing Club
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Personal Details:
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Title (Mr, Mrs, Ms, Dr etc)
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First Name
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Last Name
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Date of Birth
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Postal Address
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Home Phone Number
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Mobile
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Email Address
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Preferred Contact
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Email (preferred) Mobile Phone
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First aid/medical qualification
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Yes/No – Type of qual:
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Special Dietary Requirements
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Yes/No – Details:
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Mobility limitations
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Yes/No – Details:
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Transport – Preferred 4WD Motor Vehicle
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I have a 4WD available / 2WD available / need transport
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PRESENTATION DINNER TICKETS
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YES / NO / undecided at this time
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Please send form to:
ffa.nsw.act.secretary@gmail.com
Bob Bartels – Competition Organiser
FFA ACT/NSW, Chapter President: 0434 561 569 Or:
Shaun Gambrill FFA ACT/NSW, Chapter Secretary: 0407 079 428
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Big River Trip in March 2023 |
This will be our third annual trip to Big River.
Once again we will be accommodated at The Blue Duck Inn, where lunch and Dinner is also available, plus at "The Willows", which is just up the road from the Blue Duck Inn in Anglers Rest.
Big River, is the Mitta Mitta River above Lake Dartmouth and above Anglers Rest.
The trip commences on Tuesday, 21st March 2023 and we are out on the following Tuesday, 28th March 2023, so 7 nights all up. Accommodation cost is $525 per person for the week.
Every attendee has their own bedroom.
The Willows is located about 8 minutes from the Blue Duck Inn, and is fully self-contained. They do breakfast and this can be pre-arranged. Else you take all your provisions. The Blue Duck Inn has a good restaurant and is open for Dinner and Lunch, and don’t open for breakfast.
Anglers Rest is some 726Kms and an 8.5 hour drive from Sydney, Forestville exactly.
It is also 30 Kms from Omeo, should you need to buy some supplies.
This event is open for booking. Just log onto our website and select the Big River event.
Gavin van der Wagen |
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The Blue Duck Inn. The 6 cabins are at top left of this photo. |
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The Cobungra River flows right past below the Blue Duck before entering Big River |
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An early morning shot taken from "The Willow" accommodation |
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Gin clear water further up Big River |
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Typical water on the Big River |
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Mitta Mitta Trip at End April 2023 |
This will be our tenth annual pilgrimage to Mitta Mitta.
It will be in on the Saturday, 29th April and out on the following Saturday, the 6th May 2023; so 7 nights all up at $385.
We will be staying at the “Pink House” which is just a stone’s throw from the Mitta Mitta Pub and Bistro; and in fact the mighty Snowy Creek; and also on a farm property just 5 minutes away. So just a short trip to quench your thirst or dine at their fabulous and reasonable Bistro.
Every attendee has their own bedroom.
You can take your own food and drinks, or you can eat at the Mitta Mitta Pub or a combination. Many members eat only at the pub.
Further up the road, about 30 K’s, there is also a good pub at Eskdale (which you pass through) and also an IGA and fuel. Mitta Mitta has a very small and limited general store and fuel.
The local dairy farmers allow us to fish on their properties, so we have access to many spots without competition!
There are many river options to fish, including the Mitta Mitta, Snowy Creek (runs right past the pub and caravan park), Lightning Creek, Wills Creek, Little Snowy Creek (near Eskdale) etc.
It’s about a 7 hour drive and 646 kilometres away. I will provide more information to the attendees as required and then prior to the trip. This event is open for booking. Just log onto our website and select the Mitta Mitta event. Gavin van der Wagen.
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A lovely stretch of water on the Mitta Mitta River |
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The pristine Snowy Creek, which is an important spawning river for the area |
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We always meet for dinner on the first night, and most other nights, in the Bistro/Pub |
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Another popular stretch of water on a farmer's property on the Mitta Mitta |
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Sydney Fly Rodders Facebook Pages |
We run two SFRC pages, one is our public page and it posts events and activities of the club. It also shares posts from other pages like CAS, DPI on things relevant to the places and areas that we fish.
I post some fly tying every now and then and share links to events I find that might be of interest to followers. This page is a little like our Web page, it showcases the club to attract members and provides details of club events. It has about 450 people following the page and any post will be seen by between 180 and 240 people.
We added another page. This is reserved for members only and cannot be seen by anyone outside of the group. You will need to send a request to join. Any member can post on this page and it is a great opportunity for members to put up a post or two about anything fly fishing. I would like to encourage members to use this page to post fishing reports or photos of flies that you tied. Being connected to other members you can ask for some casting or gear advice, or organise a short trip when you suddenly have some spare time.
There are also hundreds of other groups; bream on fly, carp on fly, bass, trout....areas like alpine trout, Sydney Kayak Fishing....fly tying groups, buy sell swap fly gear pages and individuals like Aussie Flyfisher, Sydney Flyfishing to check out.
Phil Burton
philipburton@bigpond.com |
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Sydney Flyrodders Instagram Page |
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The Sydney Fly Rodders are now on Instagram. Many thanks to our Member Maddie Chew Lee, who offered to set us up and apply her significant experience with marketing and communications in particular within the social media space.
Please follow the site and add your comments, and lets grow this platform for the club. It will also attract new members to the club.
Below is a snapshot of the site. We aim to sync (in particular look and feel) the Instagram account with our Facebook account and also our new Website, which I talk more about in the preceding section. |
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Sydney Fly Rodders WhatsApp Group |
We have an Exclusive Group on WhatsApp for our Members, which is a great way to communicate informally and to share ideas, seek advice and also to plan and seek interest for impromptu/planned fishing trips.
I can highly recommend this to members. We have arranged a number of trips now from a weekends bass fishing through to a casual and social Sunday morning or afternoons fishing at Narrabeen Lake or Hen & Chickens Bay etc. And there could even be a BBQ thrown in for a social get together afterwards. This will happen on most if not all occasions.
Should you wish to be included in this group, then please email me to request your inclusion, quoting your mobile number which is required to link you into the Group. You will need to download the WhatsApp first if you haven't already done so.
Please contact me for inclusion.
Gavin van der Wagen Editor, Flyrodder gavin@vit.com.au |
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HOW severe are the impacts of bottom trawling? We rec fishers have largely regarded it as a devilish practice, wrecking the areas in which it’s undertaken. Many scientists, including Professor Daniel Pauly from the University of British Columbia, advocate a total ban on bottom trawling. Pauly, the world’s most cited fisheries scientist in 2020, believes that it’s impossible to improve the practice, which he argues leads to the total destruction of fishing grounds. Pauly’s been quoted as saying that if someone proposed bottom trawling as a new fishing method today, it wouldn’t be allowed. He contends the only reason it’s tolerated is because it was introduced two hundred years ago. Bit like industry-induced atmospheric pollution?
A recent CSIRO study that assessed the status of twenty-four large marine regions where trawling occurs presents a different view. Professor Ray Hilborn from the University of Washington and Dr Roland Pitcher from the CSIRO are more optimistic. In their findings they reported that when trawling is managed sustainably its impact on the life of the seabed floor is low. Of the twenty-four regions, fifteen had a “lower level of overall impact” although 1.5 per cent of the total area studied had “full modification of the pre-trawling ecological communities”. The study also identified a number of regions with large areas that have been so intensively trawled as to have their character totally changed, including the Adriatic Sea and other regions in Europe. The twenty-four regions assessed included Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Europe, North America and South America. A lack of data meant that some of the world’s most highly trawled areas were not included, as were sensitive environments such as deep-water coral reefs and cold-water sponge habitats. Study areas were mainly mud, gravel or sand. The study reported the most intensively trawled areas in Australia were in southern Queensland, including the southern Great Barrier Reef, prawn grounds in northern NSW, and fish trawling areas in the south-east.
Other researchers have described bottom trawling as “the worst fishing technique in the world”. Around 25 per cent of the fish consumed in the world are caught by bottom trawling. As well as seabed damage, the effects of both legal and illegal inshore trawling off the coast of Africa on local economies have been well documented, even causing some displaced fishermen to turn to piracy to replace lost income. Twenty percent of catches by trawlers are reported to be taken within twelve miles of shore from trawler fleets from foreign countries including China and the USA.
Between the “ban it completely” and “manage it sustainably” positions is the transition option: get the big and often illegal players out of inshore waters and transition fishing there to smaller-scale low impact methods. Maybe, with sufficient international backing, it’s the most realistic way forward. The UN has already declared 2022 the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture.
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