Tight Lines October 2016

Transcription

1 Tight Lines October 2016 The monthly newsletter for the Red Tag Fly Fishing Club. Trip Report A Day of Firsts Noojee Trout Farm and the Toorongoo River Sept 3rd 2016 The last time I cast a fly I was 16 and put a size 6 through my top lip. Then to A&E, on a Sunday morning, where I was unhooked by some smirking medics.. Fast forward many years; a new country, a rekindled interest, and a suitable sense of excitement: first day of the season, first cast in anger, and first trip with the red tag club. It s 10am and through the pouring rain I can make out the car park of the trout farm, an area bristling with rods, four wheel drives and a fetching array of headgear. Introductions are made: Barney, Marshall, Bill, Vin, Peter, Michael and Ross. We pay our $20 and make for the bottom stew pond. I made a fairly dodgy cast and caught a trout. My first ever; I couldn t believe it. And it was still raining. Would it wash away my luck? No. The trout threw themselves at us. The worse I cast the more they bit. I missed many takes but probably landed another six, thanks in part to Vin who swapped places with me. It even stopped raining. The afternoon called for a change of pace against some taxing river conditions. Peter had mapped out access points to the Latrobe and Toorongo and a small convoy took off in anticipation. I was folded into the front of his compact Nissan and we were soon off road, spotting Lyre birds, hunters with dogs and the odd caravan family. Definitely odd. Deliverance sprang to mind but I digress. Leaving Barney, Michael and Ross to ford the Latrobe, Peter and I drove to an access spot on the Toorongo. Bill said to tie on a nymph. So I did.

2 The river was high and swift, the colour of stewed tea. Waders on and some scrambling later- Eildon Big Fish Challenge 15 / 16 th October Not long to go now I hooked a tree. My first and a PB too. We tried to navigate the river further up but it was too high, so we beat a retreat back to the car where the rest of the convoy caught up with us. It was here we heard about Marshall s mighty fish from the farm. He had played it to the bank only for the hook to pull out because, it straightened my hook! What he did catch was a couple of leeches and was bleeding freely from his hand. Peter decided to move to another spot where the river conditions were slightly more forgiving and the river snaked around into more open pasture. It did the trick, after persevering in a quiet little eddy by a large gum tree, my strike indicator vanished at my feet and I landed a small wild rainbow. Peter had a decent brown on but it decided not to oblige and spat the hook. We moved around fishing under the rod tip as the afternoon wore on. The seat of my waders then survived a close shave with a broken bottle as I slid off the bank trying to free my fly from a bush. Who knew trout drank so much? There were bottles and cans strewn everywhere. In the end we ventured further upstream, looking for likely spots as the noise of the hunters rifles echoed up the valley. We tried a few spots from the bank but eventually called it a day about 5pm, leaving Marshall still fishing in a zen-like state of concentration. Overall I had a great day fishing in a nice part of the world despite the rain. I caught my first ever trout on the fly and enjoyed meeting the other guys. I would especially like to thank Peter for his generosity and patience. Plans for the future include selling a kidney to buy some decent waders and replacing lost flies. Thanks, David Honeybone for the write up Fly of the month P.T.N. Positive feedback from all on the fly of the month column, thanks, we ll keep it going. This Month fly tying Night. The good old Pheasant Tail Nymph. Originally conceived and tied by Frank Sawyer MBE in 1958, an English River Keeper, the Pheasant Tail Nymph (often abbreviated to simply PTN) is one of the oldest of modern nymphs. Frank devised the pattern for use on the chalk streams of Southern England. He designed this nymph to imitate several species of the Baetis family, generally referred to as the 'olives'; it quickly became world famous as the go to imitation for Mayfly larvae. Although with the number of variations of the PTN around today it can imitate many other naturals. Interestingly in Sawyers original version he did not use fly tying thread, instead he used copper wire, which added weight to the fly to help it dive quickly to the bottom of his local pools, but also added a subtle bit of flash to what is otherwise a pretty drab looking but devastating fly. Frank s Pheasant Tail suggests many of the skinny nymphs that flourish in various habitats, exciting riffles to alluring deep holes in the rivers bed of chalk streams or spring creeks; and in still waters of all sizes. Quite simply a must have for your fly box, and in a number of varieties and sizes. Brought to you by the second Wednesday of the month. Page 1

3 Next club trip : Taggerty Social Weekend at Taggerty Holiday Park The annual Taggerty trip for Red Tag members, their families and friends is on again. Get your camping gear out of mothballs. It is time to call Taggerty Holiday Park and book some accommodation. The Rapids area is the usual camping site and has been allocated for Red Tag but you will need to book your camp site with Taggerty Holiday Park. There are plenty of camping sites but if anyone requires cabins don t delay as they are in short supply. Annual Dinner - Postponed The club has been unable to book the usual venue at the Studley Park Boathouse. Other available dates clash with planned club fishing trips and Melbourne Cup. The committee has decided to postpone the Annual Dinner to a more suitable time perhaps in the off season. Further information will be advised to members in due course. The area offers a wide scope of fly-fishing opportunities including the Goulburn, Acheron, Little, Rubicon, Stevenson and Taggerty Rivers and Eildon Pondage and Lake Eildon. What: Family Weekend Where: BIG 4 Taggerty Holiday Park Phone: (03) When: 11, 12, & 13 November If you are interested in attending, please advise trip coordinator, Vin McCaughey Alternatively, register online via the Red Tag website: Fly Tying Night - Oct 12th at 7:30pm It s business as usual for all of you lovers of fly tying. and for everyone who is new to fly tying. Moving forward the club will ask a small fee of $2 per person attending fly tying night to cover materials. All equipment is provided, come along get some fur and feather stuck in your teeth. Conference topics include: Spawning results from 12 key rivers Summer trout movement in the Delatite River Climate change and trout Angler river restoration program In-stream habitat improvements\ Stocking contribution in the Howqua and Goulburn rivers Size limits for Victorian trout Keynote speaker, Ms. April Vokey. When: Saturday 5 November 2016, from 9.30am until 4.30pm. Where: Mansfield Performing Arts Centre, 15 View Street. Registration: Visit to reserve a free seat. Registering helps us plan seating and catering, which will include lunch and refreshments. Click this link for more information. goo.gl/r4mbzd Page 2

4 On the Web One of my main vices is sitting in front of a fly tying vice. To say I have an active interest in fly tying is an understatement. I tie 3-4 times a week during a slow week. The more I tie the better I am getting and the more I become obsessed with ensuring the flies I am tying are the specific artificial versions of the natural insects that inhabit our local waters. Local being the key word. I ve found so much material on flies for Northern England streams, the US Midwest and a million other locations around the globe but limited information for our Australian streams. I ve come to learn that many flies are the same regardless of the continent you are fishing, but the local Australian fly patterns are the ones that have really captured my attention. I ve found a couple of great reference books on Australian insects which have helped, but mainly I refer to websites. The two best ones I ve found are; Arguably the best Australian content fly site around, with a wealth of information published by competitive fly fisher and guide Stephen Chatterton. There is a small subscription fee to access the site, but I reckon I ve learnt more from this site on local flies than any other source. The other I refer to regularly is Goulburn Valley Fly Fishing Centre web site. There are two pages in particular whats_happening.htm This is a more traditional multi-step photo on tying some specific flies, great clear photos but I find the descriptions vary in quality. The other page I visit regularly is which links off the main page. This is an online fly store, BUT the images and variety of local insects are amazing. Check out the Bead Head Antchovy fly, one of my personal favourites. It looks good, it works (I caught my first rainbow on one), and I love that the name is misspelt!, Cheers, Jon Gaden Trout Hatchery News Jindabyne NSW Just 24.7 mm of rain fell at the hatchery during August, leaving the river low and very clear, which makes trapping very slow. Cormorant and pelican activity has increased. At the end of August 180,500 Atlantic Salmon eyed ova/fry and 200,000 Brook Trout fry were on hand. Brown Trout trapping continued through August have been trapped 542,500 ova are laid down at Gaden and 280,000 green ova were sent to Dutton. Eildon Trout Farm in Victoria has expressed interest in purchasing 3000 brown trout eyed ova. Very few Rainbow Trout have been trapped so far this season - just 29 by the end of August 665,000 ova have been laid down at Gaden. August saw a solid month of tours through the hatchery and plenty of people using the picnic area. The clear water coming into the hatchery ponds from the Thredbo River, along with the hatching room being in full swing gave tourists a great insight into all facets of fish production. At the end of September, a meeting is planned between Hatchery managers, Fisheries NSW management, NSW DPI Property Services branch, National Parks and Snowy River Shire staff in relation to the proposed shared bushwalking/mountain bike trail and the proposed bridge that will cross the Thredbo River from the national park into the hatchery grounds. From -- NSW Council of Freshwater Anglers 2016 ~ Thanks to Geoffrey Newman for the article Favourite Fly Fishing Quotes : Fly fishing is one of those infinity pastimes you. You don t quite know how or why it works you just know it does. Tom Gleisner Fish on!! - Jeremy Wade Page 3

5 Lake Fyans Fly in Merchandise It s that time of year again.. Red Tag stubby holders are on sale at the general meetings for a bargain price of $3 for paid up members and $5 for non-financial members. In light of limited stocks, preference will go to fully paid members. Do not miss out! CLUB FLY FISHING TRIP KING PARROT CREEK FLOWERDALE What: Instruction Stream Craft Where: Flowerdale When: 22 nd or 23 rd October (to be confirmed) Full details to follow stay tuned. Registration forms can be - - We ve included the registration forms as a separate attachment in the newsletter . Need an extra form - - Download one from - Pick one up from the club rooms, - We can mail one out to you by request See you there! ACTIVITY MEETING WEDNESDAY 5th OCTOBER Where: Red Tag Casting Pool, Yarra Bend Park What for: Social BBQ & Casting When: 6.30 pm onwards If the weather is favourable, we will gather at the Yarra Bend Pool in order to assist members to brush up their casting skills. Please bring the necessary equipment with you and you will be welcome to try other rods. Food will be available as there will be a sausage sizzle at the casting pool. We will commence at 6.30 pm and there will be sausages and cold drinks available for a gold coin donation. A brief formal meeting will be held to deal with any business requiring general meeting approval. Page 4

6 Silver Creek Beechworth 16 th Sept A fly fishing Lesson for me... or small pools rule the day I had an opportunity recently to take a long weekend and get away camping with my wife in Beechworth. I was planning for at least one trip to Bright to pay a visit to the Ovens and Buckland rivers two of my favourites. We all know how much it rained during that time, and this weekend in Beechworth / Bright area was no exception. what was supposed to be time spent in fly fishing paradise wading these two beautiful north eastern rivers turned into a solemn faced 44 y.o standing on a river bank watching a massive torrent of water brown and muddy flowing as fast as the Moet on Melbourne Cup Day! The pool was so small to fish literally landed on the creek bank at my feet and spat the hook and flipped back into the river and took off. Damn it Just around the next little creek bend, all of 15 m from the first is what looked like another pool - this one maybe 2m in length. PTN under a NZ wool indicator this time and literally on the first cast at the second pool, a small brown took my fly and it wasn t long before I had it landed. After releasing the fish, I stood there stunned, I didn t realise how torrentially it was raining first of all, and second I was dumbfounded that trout would be laid up in two such small pools on such a small creek. I m still a beginner, I didn t know where to start with the river like that, so after checking out the local tackle shop and having a chat to the locals, I decided to head back to the camp and Beechworth. For those of you that know Lake Sambell Caravan Park at Beechworth you ll know Silver Creek flows alongside it and is usually a slow, meandering creek, 3 meters wide at its widest. But driving back into the park, I noticed it was high and flowing fast but it was also gin clear. The lesson for me if the pool looks fishy, it might well be give it a go regardless of how big (or small) it is and you never know what you might be at the bottom. Jon Gamble I wondered along the bank and saw what looked like pool only about a 2m in length, if that, from start to finish but it looked deep, no way there would be a trout in there bugger it why not how a go? No long casts required here. I tied on one of my own Copper Johns and let it drift through the pool on the second drift the surface of the pool exploded in a golden brown flash as a beautiful brown trout jumped out of the pool my fly in its mouth. CLUB FLY FISHING TRIP Gerry Bolt Trophy Newlyn District Red Tag v Southern v Yarra Valley Saturday 26 November 2016 The club outing is the Tri-Clubs competition that includes the Gerry Bolt Trophy on Saturday 26 th November Further details to follow on the venue. Page 5

7 2016 Wastell Trophy Saturday 15 October Sunday 16 October Fishing Venues: Cairn Curran Reservoir- large lake, easy access to shorelines. Boating allowed Tullaroop Reservoir- medium lake, easy access to shorelines. No boating allowed Moorabool Reservoir- medium lake, easy access to shorelines. No boating allowed Dean, Newlyn & Andersons Reservoirs- small lakes, easy access to shorelines. No boating allowed Lake Wendouree, large lake, easy access to shorelines. Boating allowed Accommodation: Onsite vans and camping sites (powered/unpowered) available at Creswick. Calembeen Lake Caravan Park, 12 Cushing Avenue, Creswick. Ph Please Note:- For a 10% discount on accommodation, please indicate, when booking that you are participating in the Ballarat Fly Fishing Club s competition Entry Cost: $25 per competitor: Non-competitor Dinner cost: $20 per person Catering: Dinner on Saturday evening (8pm) included in entry cost. Breakfast available on Saturday & Sunday ($5 per day for egg & bacon brekkie. Pay on registration) Self cater all other meals. NOTE: A raffle that offers wonderful prizes is conducted after the meal on Saturday night. Competitor Registration: At Creswick Calembeen Lake Caravan Park, from 5pm on Friday 16th October Page 6

8 Sponsors AFN FISHING & OUTDOORS 20/52 Corporate Boulevard Bayswater Aussie Angler Fishing Tackle Contact Rick Dobson Sherbourne Road Greensborough 3088 aussie.angler@bigpond.com.au FlyFinz Jim Baumgurtel flyfinz@gmail.com FlyLife Salt & Freshwater Fly Fishing Rob Sloane Adrenalin Flies Supplier of quality fly fishing tackle and equipment BIG 4 Taggerty Holiday Park For reservations: Phone Michelle, Mathew or Simon (03) Maroondah Highway, Taggerty 3174 book@big4taggerty.com.au Gin-Clear Media Fly fishing DVDs and films Hurley's Fly Fishing Contact: Gavin Hurley on South Rd, Bentleigh VIC 3209 Indigenous plants from the Melbourne area Mon-Fri 9am to 4pm, Sat-Sun 12-4pm Yarra Bend Rd, Fairfield. Tel: info@vinc.net.au Contributions Swords Select Wine & Beer 348 Queens Parade, Clifton Hil We look forward to receiving contributions to the newsletter. Please don t be shy and no article is too small. To make the next edition contributions must be received by about the 20 th of the month. Send newsletter contributions, as a text document to: redtagflyfishers@gmail.com Note: Whilst every care is taken to provide accurate information, no responsibility is taken for the occasional stuffup! President LIKE Tasmanian Fishing News On Facebook Rio Fly Lines Red Tag Key Contact Details John Trioli admin@jtriolico.com.au Vice President Vince McCaughey vinandirene@gmail.com Secretary Niki Duckstein n_duckstein@hotmail.com Tight Lines Treasurer Bill Jackson Jon Gamble billjackson@bigpond.com Page 7

9 Upcoming Events October Wed 5th Activity Meeting Fri-Sat-Sun Stawell Fly In 7 th 9 th Sat - Sun Wastell Trophy + Ted Barkley 15th-16 th Wed 19th Committee Meeting Sun 23rd Australian Plug Casting Championship Yarra Bend Clubroom 7.30pm Lake Fyans Trophy Creswick 10.00am Yarra Bend Clubroom 7.30pm Gisborne Fri 28th Red Tag Annual Dinner Venue TBA 6.30pm November Tue 1st Melbourne Cup Day Wed 2nd Activity Meeting Fri-Sat-Sun Taggerty Family Weekend 11 th -13 th Wed 16th Committee Meeting December Wed 7th Activity Meeting + Social BBQ Yarra Bend Clubroom 7.30pm Taggerty Yarra Bend Clubroom 7.30pm Yarra Bend Pool 6.00pm Page 8