Northern Suburbs Fly Fishing Club

Northern Flyline Sept 2015

In this Edition Merv Editorial Pg 1,7 Recently I have been reflecting on my life Club Committee Presidents Page now (you know , sitting under a tree study- Pg2 ing my naval, so to speak.) I have spent President- Domenic Bono V-President- John smith Fly of the month most of my adult life working hard and Secretary– Pat Sheridan Pg 3 traveling a lot of the world and most of Guest of the month Treasurer– Chris Dabal Pg 4 Australia, camping and fishing but with the New member Contact- One fly day same people. I am now retired and get by Alf Chetcutti Pg5 on the pension which doesn’t give me the Editor– Merv Landy Annual Dinner required cash to do the things I used to do. Social Secretary– Anne Hearn Pg6 My mate of over fifty years since our Navy Committee Brunn Shield Team days and my Brother both of whom I have Darren Percy Pg 8 done most of my travels in Oz have had Alan Staton Wild Trout Jeremy Skuse conference. heart attacks and are not up to the riggers of bush camping any more. Non Committee Positions- Pg 9 Casting Coach- Philip Matthews Around the Casting I have never been in a club, never felt the Trip Coordinator– Pool Pg 10 need. My initial idea of a fishing club was, John Smith

a few guys sit around talking about the one Library Pg 11 that got away, went to a river at the week- CVFFC Rep- AJ Balachandra Otways Trip end, caught a feed of fish and sat around a ACF Rep- John Smith Pg 12/13 camp fire and talked about the one that got away. How wrong was I. I was given a fly rod, waders and a couple of flies a few

1 Northern Flyline Sept 2015

Presidents Page.

It’s August and the opening to the new season is just around the corner the anticipa- tion is high. Club members attended the 1 fly competition on Sunday the 23rd and we were greeted with a wonderful august day, the sun was out early and its warm touch was a blessing from the cold days past. The members were full of expectations for who would catch the biggest fish or the most. The fly lottery was held and what an array of flies on display! Teams formed, flies tied to the tippet and the swothing com- menced. Alan Staton was to catch the biggest fish which was a touch over 7 pounds and Daryl Wallis and Liam Fish were tied for most fish caught on the competition fly at 3 each. If there was a negative aspect for the day it was that the creek was dry and the top lake was unfishable due to the extent of algae. While covering the lake, even our most experienced anglers struggled to entice a take. That’s not to say that our hosts for the day did provide a great feed and tuition to those in need. As for those members whom have suggested taking a hit for the team. May I say, never was so much own by many to so few, they drank all the beer. Please note that there are some great events in the upcoming month, the opening of the season being the first. And the club is having an opening season trip to King Parrott Creek and lunch at the local pub! You will find further events and dates in the newsletter and also on the web site. All the best for the coming season. What’s On. Domenic Bono, the pres. Sept. 3 Rise Film Festival. 5 King Parrott Fishing Trip. 19-20 Otways Fishing Trip

Oct. 1 Gen Meeting 2-4 Toolondo Fishing Trip. 9/11 Lake Fyans 18 Kids Come & Try Day. 29 Film Night. 31-3 Freeburgh Family Trip. Nov. 5 Gen Meeting 12 Map Reading Course

Northern Suburbs Fly Fishing Club, PO Box 54, Yarrambat 3091, www.flyfishing.org.au

Northern Flyline Sept 2015

September Fly Of The Month Mayfly Cripple I was first introduced to this pattern not long after joining the club. It featured on the cover of Flylife and I first fished the Mayfly Cripple on the King Parrot Creek. The resident Browns were eager to scoff the offering. It has also worked well for me up on the Ovens too. This tie is meant represent an emerging dun that had been trapped in its shuck and is struggling to break free of the meniscus on the water’s surface. With the tail and body below the surface and the hackle and wing sitting low just above the surface the take can be very subtle so you need to keep an eye out when fishing this pattern. There are a few elements to tying the cripple, but none are too arduous. After securing a grub style hook in the vice run the thread well down the shank into the bend, catch in 6-8 pheasant tail fibres keeping the tail short. Next catch in a piece of the finest copper wire you can get your hands on, the key is to not over-weight the fly but to protect the pheasant tail and provide the illusion of a segmented body. Take the thread to a position 2/3 up the shank. Now wind the pheasant tail 2/3 of the way up the shank and lock off. Follow this with 4 turns of copper wire lock off and trim the waste. From here on be careful not to crowd the hook eye…use your thread as a gauge by winding it forward a few turns. Catch in a couple of piece of peacock hearl and wrap to form a thorax, lock off and trim the waste. Now catch in small bunch of stacked deer hair allowing the tips to extend well out over the hook eye. Be careful not to let the hair flare around the hook, you need it to stay on the top of the shank. Next catch in a hackle fibre, and wind 2-3 turns around to form a collar, lock off and trim the waste. Take the thread forward and under the deer hair to form a small ball behind the hook eye, whip finish and trim the waste. Finally trim the butts of the deer hair so they’re long enough to extend out over the hearl thorax, and there you have it, the Mayfly Cripple.

Hook – 12-16 Grub style. Thread – 8/0 Uni (black) Tail – Pheasant Tail Fibres Rib – Fine Copper Wire Thorax – Peacock Hearl

Northern Suburbs Fly Fishing Club, PO Box 54, Yarrambat 3091, www.flyfishing.org.au

3 Northern Flyline Sept 2015 Guest of the Month. This month we had the pleasure of listening to and seeing some of the fantastic pictures by Joshua Hutchins. Josh is a self confessed fly fishing addict. He started fly fishing at thirteen and has been at it ever since. He was fortunate to have a job that enabled him to fish in many countries around the world. Josh now conducts guided fishing trips from Sydney to New Zealand, South America and of cause Australia. He put a fantastic photo on screen and tell us the story about it. He also showed us a video of his wife catching her first trout. These are some of the photos shown. Hearing his stories and seeing his pictures makes me green with envy. Check out his Web site Aussie Fly Fisher. He did talk a little about his bucket list. I, too have a bucket list.

Northern Suburbs Fly Fishing Club, PO Box 54, Yarrambat 3091, www.flyfishing.org.au

Northern Flyline Sept 2015 One Fly 2015 More than twenty members ventured north to the Goulburn Valley Fly Fishing Centre (GVFFC) for the annual One Fly event. Expectations were high as bewildering array of colourful fur, feathers and synthetics were added to the draw sheet. It didn’t take long at all for Alex Gaveric to pick up where he left off last year banking the first fish yet again and from his favourite vantage point on the bank of the cabin lake.

Single fish soon began to fall to Daniel Bowman, Dave Davies and Daryl Wallis. Daryl picked probably the most difficult spot to cast from, between the trees and close to the veranda. Add the fact there were two cars parked smack in his back cast zone and the spot would be considered as unfishable by most of us. But it turned out to be a bit of a honey hole with a number of fish including a six pound beauty coming to hand.

Daryl with a 6 and a bit Pounder (Brynn Farkas Photo) Fish continued to hit the flies as the day warmed up considerably, warmed up so much that a few decided to partake of a ‘libation’ or two and provide an impromptu gillie service from the veranda!

As in years past the biggest fish came from out of the blue. Alan Staton’s offering got belted in the centre of pool and then it was on for young and old. The buckle in his rod and size of the swirls betrayed the size of the fish, and when GVFFC proprietor David goes for the net it’s a safe bet a good fish is on.

All in all the 2015 One Fly was another fun day on the rainbows of GVFFC, congratulations to Alan Daryl and Liam for taking out the days prises.

Alan’s 7 ¾ Lb Rainbow

Daryl with his 6+Lb Beauty

The Guides In Action

Alex with the Days First Catch

Northern Suburbs Fly Fishing Club, PO Box 54, Yarrambat 3091, www.flyfishing.org.au

5 Northern Flyline Sept 2015

2015 Annual Dinner & Presentation Night

A small group of club members and visi- tors enjoyed a very pleasant night at the club rooms for the Annual Dinner. Many thanks to the caterers for a magnifi- cent meal. The raffle table was full of interesting items donated by our sponsors and was a fun affair. Some people were lucky enough to win several items. I managed to win one so next year I will buy two tickets. Congratulations to all who received a trophy. Great work John Kingsford for keeping the evening rolling along. To all the organizers. Thank you for a very pleasant evening.

Northern Suburbs Fly Fishing Club, PO Box 54, Yarrambat 3091, www.flyfishing.org.au

Northern Flyline Sept 2015

Cont from pg1

I knew the club was here so I joined. My first night on the casting pool was my first eye opener. I thought, how difficult can this be, waving the rod backwards and forwards and let it soar over the pool and be careful not to cast to far or it could hit someone on the other side of the pool. Dumb. I was lucky to make three metres and that was all wrong. Daryl came over and gave me some pointers. And after several weeks I slowly got a little better. I would stand with a few other and not understand a word they were saying. Leaders, tippets, wooly buggers etc. I had to learn the jargon. I went on a camp and found people getting up before the sun and not getting back to camp until after dark and with- out any fish to eat. Seemed a little over Pat building a Tapered Leader keen to me. I went out with John Kruska who taught me across and down. Don’t try and cast 100 metres, three or four was enough. He talked about reading the river, study the hatch. I stumbled and fell over several times and realized I needed to be a lot fitter than I was. I was beginning to realize this fly fishing caper was a lot different than sitting on a camp chair by a stream with a good book waiting for a fish to commit suicide. I have learnt that fly fishing is not just a pastime but a very competitive sport with every aspect of it being so, casting, fly tying, etc. I had to work out, did I want this or did I just want to sit at home and watch the grass grow. Yes I do. The lure of a mountain stream or lake still burns in my heart. To me there is noth- ing more pleasant than a camp fire by a mountain stream, the smell of food cooking over that fire, a cold beer and good company. I don’t know how many years I have left to enjoy these things but will keep going until I can’t. So what did I have to do. Get fit, I joined a gym, I have tied about one hundred flies and they are looking better, Listen to the experts. Exam- ple. A couple of weeks ago Pat gave an excellent demonstration of how to create a tapered leader from a single thread . A few minutes work and you have saved several dollars. Fly tying nights, there is always an expert to show you the way. More dollars saved. Our club has the best casters in the country and are always willing to give advice. If you can’t tie a particular knot, ask an expert. They are only to willing to show you. I have got involved in the committee and wish to see this club become a real voice in the fly

fishing world. Merv

Northern Suburbs Fly Fishing Club, PO Box 54, Yarrambat 3091, www.flyfishing.org.au 7 Northern Flyline Sept 2015

Northern Casters Consistency Secures Brunn Shield For Sixth Year Running By John Smith After being all tied up after Brunn 2, Northern Suburbs Fly Fishing Club’s casting team managed to gain a lead in the third round and went into the fourth and final round as favourites. Being favourites is OK, but an Aussie Cricket team ‘batting collapse’ is the last thing anyone needs in a grand finale. Fortunately the team bought their recent good form with them to the last round. In the dry fly Bruce Ratcliffe from Southern posted a perfect 50, however AJ’s second place 47 and Daryl’s 45 points allowed Northern to extend the lead thanks to their very consistent casting. The ICF skish is generally the team’s strong event and a favourite of the two skish disciplines for most of us. However the deteriorating weather conditions weren’t doing anyone any favours. Leff Andropof from Red Tag adapted well to the conditions and took out the skish with 98 points but Daryl Wallis was close on his heels in second place with 93 and AJ third with 88.

2015 Brunn Shield Winners NSFFC L to R John Smith, Mark Thomas, Bill Jones, AJ Balachandra, Daryl Wallis,

Brynn Farkas, John Kruska. Absent Phill Matthews, Brett Goodman.z

With the wind picking up considerably the wet fly round was always going to be difficult and it’s fair to say the team conceded points on this occasion, with Andy Scott in top spot with 45 points, AJ was again in the placings with 42 and Bruce Ratcliffe (Southern) and Mark Cuthbert (Ballarat) tied on 38 each. AJ’s consistent effort on the day saw him take out the individual medal and enough had been done to secure the shield for the NSFFC club room wall. The overall scores were; Northern on a grand total of 2554 points from Sun- shine 2446, Ballarat 2209, Red Tag 1975, Southern 1950, Lakeside 622 and Calder 94. This year has been one of consolidation with stalwarts, Daryl Wallis, AJ Balachandra, John Kruska and Brynn Farkas being very ably supported by Phill Matthews, Bill Jones (who both went into B grade from D Grade this year), Mark Thomas and the team’s newest member Brett Goodman. NSFFC casters have now won more Brunn Shields in row than any other team named on the trophy. With our name engraved on it six consecutive times, I’m sure we have the nucleus of a team to make it seven and even more.

Congratulations guys, very well done in deed.

Northern Suburbs Fly Fishing Club, PO Box 54, Yarrambat 3091, www.flyfishing.org.au

Northern Flyline Sept 2015

Anglers invited to wild trout conference Anglers can learn more about Victoria’s wild trout fisheries at a free one day conference on 21 November in Mans- field. The conference will share the findings of research conducted on riverine trout populations over the past 12 months. Topics will range from spawning success in 12 wild trout rivers to trout movement in the Delatite River from acoustic tracking. A key note address from Dr Dan Dauwalter of Trout Unlimited is also scheduled. The Mansfield & District Fly Fishers Club will also host a Film Festival about trout fishing on the Saturday evening. For more information about the conference visit www.vic.gov.au/talkwildtrout

Goulburn Fishing Festival 2015* Come and celebrate the opening of the trout season in rivers at the Goulburn Fishing Festival on Saturday 5 Septem- ber, 2015. Based at the Eildon Community Centre, the free Festival is on from 10am until 5pm. Activities include: talk to experts about fishing for trout, natives and redfin trade and tackle displays Dave ‘the barefoot fisherman’ Hodge casting demonstrations trout delights from a chef

children’s activities, including a jumping castle fireworks over the Eildon Pondag f free guided tours of the Snobs Creek fish hatchery fishing clinics at the Eildon Pondage help stock live trout try fly fishing For a full schedule of events on the day visit www.vic.gov.au/fishfest

Ovens and Little Snowy habitat restoration Anglers can look forward to healthier fisheries in the Ovens River and Little Snowy Creek once in-stream fish habitat restoration and bankside revegetation works are complete. The improvements will be funded by the State Government’s Target One Million plan for recreational fishing, which aims to get more Victorians fishing more often. The North East Catchment Management Authority, with support from the Greenwells Fly Fishing Club, identified the need for action given both waters have been impacted by historic gold dredging, channel straightening and de-snagging. Boulder fields and snags will be installed to create variable flows, scouring for deep refuge pools and sections of bro- ken rapids for aeration. Other bankside restoration works, such as revegetation, will involve consultation with local angling groups and com- plement in-stream habitat works and angler access points.

Northern Suburbs Fly Fishing Club, PO Box 54, Yarrambat 3091, www.flyfishing.org.au 9 Around The Casting Pool John Smith The NSFFC casting team must have been still suffering the effects of the club Annual Dinner when we fronted up for the Turville Shield teams event held on Sunday 16 Aug 2015 at Yarra Bend Park. In the dry fly round AJ Balachandra and Phill Matthews kept the Northern flag flying with 42 points which was a three way tie for third with Peter West (Sunshine) 2nd place went to Brian Cocks (Sunshine) with 43 points behind Andy Scott also from Sunshine with a perfect score of 50. In the ACA skish AJ featured in the placings coming third on 84 points behind Andy Scott first with 92 and Ken Lu- cas (Sunshine) second with 87 points. Ken must have been using the first two events to get his eye in as he scored a perfect 100 along with Leff Andropof (Red Tag) to tie for first place in the ICF Skish. AJ again kept Northern in the hunt with 95 points for second place keeping Any Scott at bay in third place on 92. In the Wet Fly round AJ and Andy continued their close struggle both posting 40 to tie in second place. Mark Cuthbert hit his straps to post a score of 42 for first place. With Alan Hughes (Sunshine) and Ron Heath (Sunshine) locked on 38 a piece to tie for third. In the overall teams scores Red tag took out third place on 772 points, Northern were runners up with 903 and congratulations go to Sunshine winning the 2015 Turville Shield Team Trophy with 1020 points. ACF Meeting Thursday 20 Aug 15 The main points to come from the ACF meeting were; the results of the ballot on proposal to change the casting hoops and publish distances, awarding Brunn Shield badges, practice casting near public access points at Yarra Bend Park, venue for the Australian Casting Championships, date for the Australian Casting Championships and incorporating distance casting in Club Open events. The motions to amend the ACF casting rules to change the hoops and publish distances were both carried. More de- tails about the impact of the changes and practice days will be sent out shortly so please keep an eye on your email. Discussion about awarding Brunn Shield badges to team members who did not cast all four events was discussed at length. It was acknowledged as being unfortunate if a member missed a round and didn’t qualify for a badge, but the decision was made to leave the rules as they currently stand and each team member must cast all four rounds to qualify for a badge. Casters competing at Red Tag pool (Yarrabend Park) are reminded to keep an eye for members of the public when practicing or preparing gear for competition. There has been interest shown by Peter Hayes to host the Australian Casting Championships in Tasmania. Whilst a trip to Tassie to compete sounds appealing the logistics of doing so aren’t so simple. Lakeside up in NSW have also expressed interest in hosting an Australians too. Further detail on the final venue will be published well before the event. The date for holding the Australian Championships was discussed at length with sound arguments for keeping the cur- rent date or moving to later in the year put forward. It was agreed that a long weekend is best if out of state competi- tors are to have a chance of attending. The June long weekend is one of only a few that is common across most states. The decision was made to keep the dates as they are but to assess ability to move dates pending the outcome of 2016 event. The possibility of incorporating distance events into Club Open competitions was raised. All delegates agreed the plan was sound but would need to take it to the clubs to gauge support. Please let me know what you think. Other issues that were discussed were; the ap- pointment of Kevin Lawton (Lakeside) as an ACF endorsed casting instructor (carried), casting syllabus to be emailed to all registered casters (carried), delegates report from the meeting to be emailed to delegates for distribution (carried) and the address of the ACF website will be finalised and all members advised ac- cordingly. please go through the club delegate. If you need to bring anything up please email me at [email protected] or text me on 0400883022.

Northern Suburbs Fly Fishing Club, PO Box 54, Yarrambat 3091, www.flyfishing.org.au

NSFFC – Library

Hi, I got the guernsey as new club Librarian and have spent a bit of time up at the clubrooms going through the books, DVD’s and videos. To make a bit of room, I’ve ‘archived’ the video collection – if anyone wants to look at the titles, please let me know. You’ll see below a list of titles that we have, I’ve an idea that we’re missing a few DVD’s so have a look around at home and if you have a DVD or book, for that matter, drop off at the club (no late fees!) In particular, the following seem to be missing, I’ve listed them below with the last known bor- rower (not pointing fingers, you may have returned but they have subsequently gone missing!) Missing Titles Last out Who Australian fly patterns ? ? Destination Trout NZ DVD 12/09/2013 Chan Lay Essential Patterns by Oliver 6/08/2015 Alex Iv?? Fly fishing fundamentals 16/04/2015 Anne Hern Mick Hall's Flytying DVD ? ? Muz Wilson Flytying DVD 18/12/2014 Liam Fish Noel Jetson - Life & Flies ? ? NZ Trophy Fish DVD 12/09/2013 Chan Lay Short casts - Rob Sloane 21/01/2015 Phil Goslin Start to finish rod building ? ? The manic guide to fly casting 12/09/2013 Chan Lay The Seven River 6/11/2014 Phil Goslin - Returned The Source - Tasmania DVD 17/10/2013 M Thomas - Returned Watershed 25/09/2014 Chris Dabel Wet flies ? ?

I’d like to encourage members to make use of our extensive library and to let me know if you have any suggestions for new titles which would be good additions to the library – these could be instructional books or DVDs, fly fishing reminiscences, adventure fishing or even novels with a bit of fly-fishing content – “The Trout Opera” by Matthew Condon is a good example. Get in touch at [email protected] A reminder that books can be borrowed for a maximum period of 4 weeks and DVDs for 2 weeks. Both incur a $3 borrowing fee. I’ll be at the club on the first and second Thursdays of the month if you want to browse. I’ll be submitting some reviews of selected titles for the newsletter over the coming months nad would encourage others to do likewise. In meantime – here is a list of our books and DVDs sorted by title.

All the best, Jeremy

The full Library collection is listed in a document attached to the email which delivered

this newsletter.

Otways Trip Sept 19 / 20th

Club River Ottoway’s Rivers

Aire River, Barham River, Wild Dog Creek

Access Air River by Aire River/Wait Awhile Road (4x4)

Northern Suburbs Fly Fishing Club, PO Box 54, Yarrambat 3091, www.flyfishing.org.au

Aire River Rises in forested mountains with a high annual rainfall of 2,000 mm. Pine plantations upstream of Hopetoun Falls and native forest downstream to the Great Ocean Road. There is then farmland downstream with 9 km of estuary water. The upper reaches are 6-8 m wide consisting of predominantly shallow water with no pools.

Rubble, boulder, gravel and sand substrate. Has good habitat for macro invertebrates, small-sized fish and spawning grounds for brown trout. The middle reaches are 18-26 m wide, with pools to 160 cm deep and rock and sand substrate. There is dense riparian vegetation of Myrtle Beech, Nothofagus cunninghamii. Access is re- stricted and difficult due to distance from roads, steep gradients and dense vegetation. There are a limited number of sites for tent camping at Aire Crossing. Contains brown trout to 2 kg, with numerous large brown trout 30- 50 cm in length, estuary perch, Australian grayling, short-finned eel and river blackfish.

Also common galaxias, mountain galaxias, trout galaxias, climbing galaxias, congoli, Australian smelt, flathead gudgeon, pouch lamprey, shorthead lamprey, rainbow trout, occasional tench and Tasmanian mudfish. Platypus are abundant in the middle and lower reaches. Fly fishing and wading is possible in the upper reaches. Minnow style lures and wet flies are also successful in the pools. The estuary contains the usual species such as black bream, mullet, Australian salmon, and flounder. Access available for boat and bank fishing at the mouth and for bank fishing at the highway bridge. There is a substantial camping area around the estuary with adequate access for caravans.

Barham River, Apollo Bay A rock-ramp fishway has been constructed on the East Branch at the Paradise Gauge and two culverts on the same waterway needing fishways are being evaluated.

Small, shallow, fast-flowing creek but considered to be one of the best brown trout streams in the Otway’s. Rises in forest, then flows through farmland. The west branch flows in relatively undisturbed forest. It is 2-6 m wide with extensive shallow water mostly less than 60 cm deep. Substrate is rubble and gravel. Contains small brown trout (av. less than 140 g). The east branch is more accessible with a larger channel and deeper pools, rock and mud substrate.

Angling fish include brown trout to 700 g, short-finned eel, congoli and estuary perch. Other freshwater species present are common galaxias, flathead gudgeon, Australian smelt, trout galaxias, climbing galaxias, shorthead lamprey and eastern gambusia. The freshwater section can have low summer flows and fishing is best at higher flows. The estuary contains black bream, mullet, Australian salmon and flounder. As part of the River Health Program, work has been carried out to stabilize and revegetate the banks, 500 m of the estuary has been re- snagged to provide habitat for estuary perch and fishing platforms have been constructed. This work has been funded by Recreational Fishing Licence revenue.

Wild Dog Creek, Apollo Bay Flows from forested mountains to farmland, boulder substrate. Contains brown trout to 750 g, short-finned eel, congoli, Australian grayling, climbing galaxias, trout galaxias, common galaxias, pouch lamprey and flathead gudgeon. Considered to be a good brown trout water.

Wye River, Wye River A very small creek, flowing from forested mountains to open river flats, rock substrate. Contains small brown trout to 250 g, short-finned eel, congoli, Australian grayling, trout galaxias, common galaxias, Tasmanian mudfish and flathead gudgeon. Has a small estuary with mullet and black bream at times and a fishing platform has been constructed by the Catchment Management Authority.

We’re staying at Apollo Bay Holiday Park, 27 Cawood Street Apollo Bay Victoria 3233 03 52 377 111. Un- powered sites from 25 per night, http://www.apollobayholidaypark.com.au/

Northern Suburbs Fly Fishing Club, PO Box 54, Yarrambat 3091, www.flyfishing.org.au