VOLUME 32, ISSUE 3. September 2025

The wait is almost over...
 

Dates for the Diary

Monthly Meeting
8 September 2025: 7:00 PM: Freeway Hotel, 115 Reserve Road, Artarmon

Casting Practice
14 September 2025: 9:00 AM: Timbrell Park, Henley Marine Drive, Five Dock

Monthly Fly Tying
15 September 2025: 6:30 PM: Freeway Hotel, 115 Reserve Road, Artarmon

Sunday Morning Saltwater Social
21 September 2025: 9:00 AM:  Maianbar Foreshores Reserve, 67R Pacific Crescent, Maianbar

President's Report

Dear {Contact_First_Name},

I am writing this on Fathers Day – so I hope that all the fathers and grand fathers out there have had a great day.

The NSW trout season is just over a month away and I know that I am looking forward to hitting the streams in the Central West and hopefully after the wet winter the flows will be good. The heavy late season snow falls in Kosciuszko National Park should mean that we get a good snow melt. Even though we don’t have any trips to the Snowies planned (apart from the Geehi / Long Plain camping trip) don’t forget that club members have access to the Piste Haus ski lodge. If you are interested please contact our treasurer, James Weber on treasurer@sydneyflyrodders.com.au

Our club member and professional guide, Justin Duggan will be conducting the inaugural ‘Fly Fishing the Beach’ clinic this coming weekend. I realise that this event is being put on at short notice however it would be great if we could get to the maximum of 8 attendees. Depending on take up we will see if Justin is willing to conduct additional clinics.

The ‘Alexandra and Surrounds’ early season trip to Victoria trip is on at this very moment and I hope our members come back with tales of fish caught and adventures had.

Unfortunately the August salt water activity was cancelled due to poor weather - hopefully the weather gods will be kinder for us on 21 September when we fish Maianbar Foreshores Reserve for the first time. Great to see that we have 21 members attending this activity.

Regrettably we didn’t get enough interest in a trip that we were looking to do to Twizel (NZ) in December bit it is a trip that we will look at putting on next year (this time with a bit more notice).

Looking forward to seeing you at a club event soon!

All the best

David

President

From the Editor

Jason with a bass after dark on the Grose River

Fellow Flyrodders,

With the season now open in Victoria, an adventurous group of members are heading interstate to explore rivers around Alexandra. I look forward to the trip report and (hopefully) pics of some record breaking trout from the Goulburn River.

Closer to home, I will be attending the Sunday Saltwater Day on the 21st September, with a chance to wade the flats south of Sydney in search of bream, whiting and flathead. As David mention in his Presidents Report, this will be a well attended session and an opportunity for members to chase a few fish and socialise with a beer and some boerewors, courtesy of Gavin.

A passion of mine is bass fishing and I was delighted to hear Steve Peach will be sharing some of his hard earned expertise at our monthly meeting, which is sure to be an informative presentation. With the bass season now open I can't wait to get out in my canoe and cast a few surface flies.

Jason Hemens - Editor

Q&A with Life Member Alan Rogers

How did you first discover fly fishing?

I commenced my love of fishing in the early 1950s when my father took me out into the bush at the back of Casula as he collected leaf mulch from the banks of the military reserve aside the Georges River. Standard gear for those days was my grandfather’s wooden hand casting ring, 20lb gut line, rusty hook and live garden worms. Later I graduated to wading the sand flats with a cork and nylon handline and prawn on the family holiday trips to the North Entrance I found Karma. I was fortunate to be selected to James Ruse Agricultural High where every Friday they had a hobby class, naturally I selected fishing which was run by teacher Chalkie Chadwick so named as he placed a spare chalk stick between his lips when writing on the board.

Whilst most played sport on the weekend, a mate Gordon and I developed our own trips on most Saturdays catching the train from Auburn to Mt Karing-gai station and running down the track to Cowan Creek, pumping yabbies and hand-lining for bream, whiting and the occasional flathead then making it back to Apple Tree Bay for the 10pm pickup by one of our fathers.

First rod was a 7’ solid glass spin rod from Santa, later my first car added to the fishing adventures and the growing addiction of hiking to isolated fishing locations and adsorbing the true feeling of the beauty of the land, sea and to fish in a variety of fresh and salt waters.

Thirty years later after accumulating various spin, surf and rock rods, and every Saturday venturing onto rocky headlands chasing the elusive blackfish on weed I approached the dreaded 50th birthday and wife Phyllis asked me what rod would I like to add to my collection. Looking for a new venture, I thought what about going past spin fishing and getting into fly fishing so I turned up at The Australian Flyfisherman at Rushcutters Bay and they asked what type of fly fishing I wanted to do and fitted me out with a 9’ 7wt Sage RPL and Scientific Anglers reel and line, then booked me in for the complementary casting lesson. Another customer in the store complimented me on my purchase – I did not know him at the time but later found out it was Peter Morse. Next time I visited the shop there was a handout advising on the meeting of a new fly fishing club, the Sydney Fly Rodders, so I went along and joined. Moving on 25 years later I am now the proud own of 10 fly rods and 8 reels and a very large collection of fly tying materials and thoroughly enjoy being immersed mainly in the environment of saltwater and occasionally fresh water fly fishing.

What was the first fish you caught on fly, and the last?

My first fly fishing outing was on a Sydney Harbour sand flat where I spotted, cast to, hooked and landed a 30 cm bream, after that there was no turning back to the spin gear. The last fish on fly was taken 3 weeks ago also was a bream and by chance was on the same flat. In between I have been fortunate to travel to lots of local and international fishing locations and have stalked and landed a wide range of species, the best being a1240 cm (28-29kg) barra on a self styled mullet fly, IGFA 8kg tippet, landed her after 35minutes, revived and released to breed another day. She smiles at me from the screen saver every day as I check my emails.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone starting out in fly fishing, what would it be?

  • Join a club that provides skill building and experiences for its members such as Sydney Flyrodders.

  • Before purchasing fly gear seek advice from a number of senior club members particularly in the type of fly fishing you wish to undertake, there is good and bad gear out there and sales staff tend to push the gear they have in their shop rather than what best on the market.

  • Just take care and be aware that fly fishing is so good and encompassing it becomes addictive.

If you could spend a week fly fishing anywhere in the world, where would you choose?

An isolated tropical island with extensive saltwater flats and coral areas to allow polaroiding for big bones, trevally and triggerfish etc. If someone else is paying the USD3500 per night rate plus guiding fees and drinks I would choose Teri’aroa atoll off Tahiti and I promise not to tread on Marlon Brando’s ashes.

Having said that I’d actually like to take a week in essentially every location I’ve ever fly fished such as Alaska, Florida, Colorado, Georgia (Chattahoochee River ‘Deliverance’ country), Texas, Hawaii, Fiji, Kiribati, Tahiti, New Caledonia, the north and south Islands of New Zealand and really I wouldn’t go past the Kimberley, Kakadu and the Cape York areas.

Do you have any other hobbies or interests outside of fly fishing?

Yes, I’m a golfer and fortunate to have been a member for 50 years of the Coast Golf Club which surrounds the cliff and beach area of Little Bay, La Perouse. Here even if you’re having a bad day at golf you can just look out over the cliffs at the ocean rocks and beach and dream of having a fly rod in your hand. When the time comes my ashes are to be scattered from the 14th championship tee into the waters below where I happily fished over the decades.

What are you most proud of accomplishing in life?

Being part of and raising a three generational family that aspires to Australian values.

Secondly mentoring young up and coming scientists in my profession of occupational hygiene and providing them with national training needs and sponsored international travel to develop their careers in protecting the health and safety of workers.

Tell us something your fellow club members would never guess about you.

In my younger days I was a speleo or cave explorer and by chance extended this to my profession in dust and ventilation measurement and control in underground mines – something in complete contrast to my enjoyment of fly fishing in wild, open and scenic locations. However such work allowed me to select business clients who ran mines in some of the best fishing locations such as those listed above.

What's the best part of being a member of the Sydney Flyrodders Club?

Comradery and involvement in the clubs fly fishing activities.

Last Month's Club Meeting

By Greg Wordsworth

David Major welcomed the new members and guests to the meeting. As part of the introductions, David highlighted the upcoming events and encouraged members to participate where there are spots available.

Dave Wilson provided some feedback on the recent Fly-Tying Skills development day and reiterated the purpose of the Fly-Tying sessions is to develop skills rather than teaching to tie specific patterns.

David Caddies gave a brief recount on the weekend’s Fly Casting session and pointed out that even though it rained, the casting continued. He mentioned that a couple had travelled down from Newcastle to take part in the session and commended them on their dedication.

George Nolevski presented Paul Gibson with his certificate after Paul recently achieved his Bronze Casting Certification.

Radge shared some feedback of his recent trip to Christmas Island. Fishing was reasonable but fewer fish than in the past. Fish stocks have declined due to fishing pressure from locals after the Covid Pandemic.

Robert Louis provided some insight on his experience with his insurer after his car was damaged on a recent trip to Uncle Billy’s. He cautioned against driving through floodwater as it may void insurance coverage if the insurer determines you intentionally drove through floodwaters.

Phil Burton mentioned that approximately 260 ex brood stock fish were released into TCD on 11 August, so there may be a decent chance to catch a fish or two.

The major prize was drawn on the evening and the winning tickets were Allan Dingham, George Nolevski, Phillip Smith and Tim Ford.

The club’s guest speaker for the evening was Jo Starling. Jo shared her experience of preparing for the recent Fly-Fishing Women World Championship. Jo was part of the Australian team that went over to the USA to compete. Unfortunately, due to a late (4 days prior to the start) notification relating to insurance cover and the need to sign a waiver, the team (after legal advice) decided the risk was too high and decided to withdraw from the competition.

This was devasting for all the members of the team, but they decided to make the best of the situation and enjoy the fishing on offer in the area that they would have been competing in. Jo shared some amazing photos of the locations they visited, including Snake River, Warm River, Grey River and Hegben Lake. Jo was very happy to have caught her first cutthroat trout on the Grey River.

Some of the lessons that Jo learned while fishing in the USA included:

• Cover the water. Trust your technique – if you are not catching fish in a specific piece of water and your technique is s.ound, move to another piece of water, perhaps the fish just aren’t there

• Share tips and knowledge. Fishers in the USA are open and willing to share tips, flies and even locations. At one point she was invited to literally stand shoulder to shoulder with another fisher on a river that appeared to be heavily pressured. Both her and the fisher caught fish and celebrated each other’s success. This is in stark contrast to how some of us in Australia will not share spots, techniques or tips.

Jo also addressed how to increase the female representation in fishing clubs. She noted that all the data she has reviewed indicates that it is not isolated to just clubs where representation is about 8%, but in general females represent about 25% in the licensed fishing community. These statistics are quite similar around the world.

To improve participation in the sport and attracting female fishers to clubs she pointed out that women need to feel a sense of community, confidence and culture. Many fishers have family obligations that impact their ability to attend meetings and trips, but females tend to be most time poor in this regard. An option to address this would be to have events that also catered for family attendance. Role models in the sport are also important to highlight that there are successful female fishers in the community. Jo indicated that she would share some of her ideas with the committee to consider.
 
 

For those members unable to attend our meetings, we take videos of presentations and uploading them to our Club Members Private Video Library on YouTube. Below is a graphic showing where you can access them from the members section of our website:
 

Next Monthly Meeting

The next Monthly Meeting will be held on the 8 September at our regular venue, The Freeway Hotel, 115 Reserve Road, Artarmon, 2064 (Google maps) commencing at 7:00pm. Members will arrive from around 6pm so feel free to come early and enjoy a drink and some dinner with fellow members.

Spring is here and that means that we need to prepare ourselves to do battle with those freshwater species that have been off limits due to seasonal closures. Aussie Bass are permitted to be targeted from 1 September and as such Steve Peach will be sharing some of his hints, tips and tricks with those members attending the meeting. If you follow Steve on any of the social media platforms you may know that he has a good understanding of these very worthy targets.

So come along and enjoy another great night out with fellow members.

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.

Looking forward to catching up at the meeting.

Last Month's Casting Practice Report

By David Caddies 

It is difficult for me to say it, but this day’s casting practice was halted by rain. We didn’t cancel the day beforehand because thunderstorms were not predicted and the prospect of rain has never stopped us before. We (fourteen of us) did get an hour of dry conditions, then half an hour of rain before the real bucketing started. The session proceeded until members just drifted away in the interests of self-preservation.

Let me reiterate – there is no chance we would practice in thundery weather and nor should anybody fish in such risky conditions with a lightning-conductor in hand.

We just had time to talk about a casting accuracy pointer on which some podcasting geek had done a master’s degree thesis without us, unfortunately, being able to practise it, so we left it in concept form as they say. It was to do with the exact part of the cast where you must have your focus right on the exact target for maximum chance of success. He, the geek, researched it with many casters, many attempts and multiple cameras set up to check casting stroke and eye positions giving him over a million data points to analyse. In a nutshell – it’s the very moment you commence the forward cast that your sight needs to be target-focussed. (Just maybe, I suggest, try to keep your eyes fixed on it throughout at least the final casting cycle: the last backcast and the presentation). It also helps (said the geek) if you make the target point as precise as possible. Something like; if you have to throw a dart with the simple objective of just hitting any part of a dartboard, you should look at and aim for the bullseye, not the board as a whole or some part of it away from the centre. Your chance of hitting the board (at all) increases with the precision of focus, impliedly the exact middle of the target. Just food for thought.

Aside from members practising some of the casts for the Bronze and Silver levels, we briefly did an exercise in setting a fixed objective to visually determine success in the pick up and lay down cast. (ie the first cast in the Bronze level). If you can do that particular cast intending to make the leader lay out very straight on the presentation and that does occur, you should know that you have done many things correctly in that cast. Once you get consistent (repeat; consistent) at that, you can then effectively introduce deliberate slack into the leader in a fishing presentation. It’s all about building blocks: control the basics then you can vary and improvise.

Perhaps the most notable effort of the day was the attendance of a family of new members who had driven down from Newcastle the previous evening just to come to casting practice. As if that were not sufficient dedication, they stayed the longest in the session, even through rain, just to pick up some help in their casting. Then they drove back home afterwards. Then they drove down again the following evening (and back home again that night) to attend the monthly club meeting.

Res ipsa loquitur (“what a cracking performance”).

See you in the park.

David
 
 

Club Monthly Casting Practice - Details and Event Schedule.


SFRC MONTHLY CASTING PRACTICE  9am Sunday 14 Septmeber 2025 

Reminder: Leave your 9 – 10’ trout leader with the 5X tippet at home. Bring one which is 8’ – 8’6” and terminating in 8 or 10 lb tippet. This session will suit DT or WF floating lines, for the single-handers. Two-handers, bring what you got. 

Start time is 9am:

HOWEVER: If you wish to have a go at being evaluated for any one or more of the casts in the Bronze Skills Development Program and you would like to come earlier than 9, send me a text message to that effect on 0434 671 085 and I’ll be there to set it up, from 8am. Coaching and demonstrations will be going on after 9, but with not much opportunity for individual evaluations. Early notice would be appreciated, but don’t let that stop you from a late practice on Saturday to see if you’re ready! 

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.

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. If conditions there are not suitable on the day, we will be just opposite, across the canal, or anywhere within sight that I can find. 

So come and give it a try, as there is so much to be gained by attending these sessions. And they are Free!!!

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

I don’t know if that link works for you. Google FFI flyfishing and delve around. Most stuff is open to non-members. 

2025 dates for fly casting practice

14 September / 12 October / 9 November / 14 December

Last Month's Fly Tying Night

By Dave Wilson

At our August fly tying night, we focussed on folding and applying soft hackles to ensure they sweep backwards. If you tie any of the soft hackle series of patterns, including most traditional UK wets and big Murry Cod flies, folding hackles becomes an important skill to learn.

The patterns we chose to teach the skills were a Carey’s Special and a Partridge & Orange. We also covered untwisting thread to ensure it lays flat to produce smooth bodies on the Partridge & Orange.



 

A "Carey Special" tied by David Major
 

A "Patridge & Orange" tied by Alan Baldry

Next Fly Tying Night

The next monthly fly tying night will be held on 15 September at The Freeway Hotel in Artarmon in the room we use for our Monthly Meeting from 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm.

The doors will open at 6:30 pm to give you time to set up for a 7:00 pm start. You may even like to grab a meal from the pub. (We ask that you eat downstairs beforehand or on the mezzanine level in the meeting room to avoid mixing hooks, fur, feather and occasionally lead with your food!)

The theme for the night will be tying Wooley Buggers and Boobys.

Beginners are very welcome with experienced tiers giving help.

We particularly welcome first timers and all levels of fly tiers as you will all learn something from these wonderful sessions. These sessions are for all levels of fly tying abilities.

We have all the necessary fly-tying materials for the flies being tied in the session. For those who don't have a vice, don't worry, we have many spare vices you can use.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.

Event Organiser

If you have questions, please email the event organiser, David Blackwell.

New Members

We extend a warm welcome to new members Ken Collins, Andrew Killen, James Kilpatrick and Euan Matheson.

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.
 

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. At last count it has more than one thousand followers.


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

Sydney Flyrodders Instagram Page


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.

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.


Jason Hemens

Editor, Flyrodder

jasondh1972@gmail.com

Piste Haus Ski Lodge - Jindabyne

The Fly Rodders have access to the Piste Haus Ski lodge in Jindabyne during the off season at an affordable rate:

  • Positioned in Jindabyne village walking distance to Banjo Patterson Pub and short drive to shops/restaurants/etc.
  • 8 bedrooms, mix of doubles, twins, triples and bunks
  • Sleeps 14 all up and 10 comfortably
  • $75/room/night 
  • SFRC get access from October to end May (off-season for skiing)
  • Large open plan and well-appointed shared kitchen, dining and relaxation area with log stove
  • Bring your own linen, towels, pillow, sleeping bag, blanket   
  • Parking for up to 4 or 5 cars on site and others on the street

The syndicate that owns Piste Haus has been very generous in allowing the Sydney Flyrodders access to this excellent facility at such a low price. Therefore, we encourage members to feel free to make use of this offer (either in groups or as individuals – it does not have to be an official club trip), as long as we always remember to follow the house rules and leave the place clean and tidy.

If you are interested in booking please reach out to James Webber (treasurer@sydneyflyrodders.com.au

 https://pistehaus.com.au