Northern Flyline February 2010

Northern Suburbs Flyfishing Club

Editorial Committee Members

You know you‟re getting old when you start complaining about Glen Cox, President young people. I haven‟t started complaining about them yet, but 0438807296 I do wish they‟d think harder about disposing of their rubbish. Bill Ogilvie, Vice President Whiling away the hottest part of summer along waterways with 0415327307 friends and slabs of VB is something we‟ve all done. When bush Jeremy Skuse, Secretary camping with friends, I admit that a few beers would often end 0402091685 in a rendition of Kai San in the early hours, or a few stupid Peter Young, Treasurer pranks like throwing an aerosol can on the fire, but never did we 0417116192 leave rubbish behind. Cain Polidano, Editor For my generation (gen X), I think it‟s because littering was a 0404703296 serious „social no-no‟. We were conditioned to dispose of our [email protected] rubbish from an early age, we had the „Keep Australia Beautiful‟ Greg Roberts, Social Secretary campaign rammed down our throats. In primary school I re- 0448040400 member singing songs about litter bugs…Litter Bugs come in Peter Watson, New Member every size, every size, they‟re really monsters in disguise, in disguise, Contact 0412545216 some are … it could be me or it could be you!” If we were Jason Cooney, Flytying Coach caught littering the playground you‟d be publicly shamed in 0418915279 front of the school. Paul Milcev, Webmaster These days there is more emphasis on cleaning-up rubbish than 0404818648 preventing littering, hence, „Keep Australia Beautiful‟ has been Daryl Wallis, Casting Coach replaced with „Cleanup Australia‟ weekend and grounds people 0407822258 are employed at school to pickup rubbish. Surely this is the John Smith wrong approach because we all know that prevention is better 0437713419 than the cure. It‟s time we let gen Y know that it‟s not OK to John Kruska litter. Cain 0437713419 In this edition President’s page 1 Updating the club logo 4 Member profile 5 Jury still out on the Stevo 5 A few good fish, part I 6 Classic chalk streams of SW England 9 Move to lock-up of freshwater fisheries 11 Flytying 12 Taponga river report 13 Minutes 13

Northern Suburbs Flyfishing Club www.flyfishing.org.au Northern Flyline February 2010

President’s Page Glen Cox

Welcome back everyone and Happy New Year. I hope you all had a good Christmas and managed to have a relaxing break from the hectic routine of work. You should have all received a copy of this year‟s syllabus by now. If you have any queries or sugges- tions regarding it, please bring it up at the February meeting so we can consider them and try and get it finalised as early in the year as possible. Web Site Paul Milcev has been working hard on look web site, which we hope to have up and running in the next few months. The new site will be easier to keep up to date as more members will be able to ac- cess the „back room‟ and be able to make changes (pending committee authorisation). New photos are always welcome and help to keep the web site looking fresh. We also need some step by step fly patterns to be put up (photos and text). If you can help, please contact Jason Cooney. 0418915279 or [email protected] December General meeting Thanks to vice president Bill Ogilivie for chairing the last club meeting for 2009 and playing host to Steve Hoagland from Derek McKenzie Outfitters who was our guest speaker that night. From all ac- counts Bill did his chances of becoming our next president no harm by doing a very competent job. Thanks again Bill. Fundraiser We are holding a BBQ stall at Eltham Bunnings on Saturday 20th February. This will be our major fundraising venture for this year. If we can get enough members to help it will only involve a couple of hours of your time. It would be good to see some new faces helping out at this event, instead of leaving to the usual suspects. There are far too many members in this Club who are prepared to let others do all the work. Contact Greg Roberts on 0417 119 415 or [email protected]. FFF-CCI Pre-testing

Northern Suburbs Flyfishing Club www.flyfishing.org.au 2 Northern Flyline February 2010

Fellow members Andrew Connell and Bintoro are putting together a course for anyone interested in trying to obtain their FFF-CI (Federation of Fly Fishers Certified casting instructor) certificate. The course will include all the theory and practical elements required to enable you pass the stringent test- ing procedures. The cost will be $50 for the course which will be held early this year (date TBA). To register your interest, Contact Andrew on 0418 530 073 or at [email protected]. Storage cage lock We have had problems with the combination lock on the casting equipment cage over the break. Apologies to those who hoped to get the hoops out over that time for a bit of practice. The problem has been rectified with a new lock. Casting Pool cleanout Thanks to John Kruska, Daryl Wallis, Leff Andropof, Boyd Wilson, Andrew Connell and Bintoro for doing the mucking out of the casting pool this year. The pool required urgent attention as Paul Arden from the sexy loops website and Peter Hayes asked if they could jointly hold a workshop at our pool on Saturday, January 30. Fly line raffle Chris Baty of Compleat Angler presented the Club with a GPX WF6 F fly Line as a way of thanking the Club for hosting their recent bait-casting day at our Clubrooms. We have decided to raffle it as a fundraiser for the Club. Tickets are $5 each and will be drawn on a at the first movie night in 2010 which is April 30. Guest Speaker We have Dr Richard Marchant from Museum Victoria as our guest speaker at the February General meeting on Feb 4. Richard is senior curator in entomology and is obviously an expert on all the bugs that inhabit our freshwater waterways. It should be an interesting talk to start the year. Upcoming trips The first trip in February is a day trip on Saturday 6th to the Acheron River around Buxton. The meet- ing time and place to be determined at the General meeting on Feb 4. The Rubicon and Goulburn are not far away. At the time of writing this, the weekend trip to Timberlake on 12/13/14 Feb. chasing natives is fully subscribed. Please contact Andrew Connell on 0418530073 to put your name on the reserves list. As previously mentioned Saturday 20th is the Bunnings BBQ fundraising day. The March trip is a family trip and is on the Labour Day, long weekend to Mount Beauty staying at

Northern Suburbs Flyfishing Club www.flyfishing.org.au 3 Northern Flyline February 2010

Mount Beauty Caravan Park ring (ph.5754 4396) or get on to www.holidaycentre.com.au to book. There is the Kiewa River or Mount Beauty Pondage close by, or you can easily access the Mitta River over the hill or Rocky Valley Dam at Falls Creek. So there are plenty of options. Book a site soon if you want to go on this one. So that‟s a heads up on what lies ahead over the next few months. Get involved and enjoy your Club, I reckon the more you put in, the more you get out of it.

Updating the club logo NSFFC committee

From discussions around the clubrooms or from snippets in the newsletter, you may have heard that the committee is putting in place a strategy to grow membership. As part of the strategy, there are a number of changes underway, including the development of a new resource rich website, a revamped newsletter, new and more frequent training courses, overhauled club rules, new flycasting events, the purchase of equipment and new club trips. While improving what we do will help retain members and keep the trickle of new members coming through, to substantially increase the membership base we need to make the club and flyfishing more appealing to other demographics besides middle to old-aged men. Unfortunately the history of flyfish- ing in the old country (like hunting and polo) has left an enduring popular image of flyfishers as being a bit twee, old-fashioned and elitist (if you don‟t believe me, visit a Rodd and Gunn clothing store). As we all know, this is not really what flyfishing or our club is about. Our club, like flyfishing today, is dynamic and highly innovative and that‟s the image we want to portray to the public. The launch of the new website this year and the re-designing of our club logo will support our “new” image. The purpose of our logo is to not only to increase the recognition of the club, but also to build and re-enforce an image of the club that we want to portray to the community. In the past, the image portrayed by a logo may not have been that important in attracting new members, but the internet has changed that. Each year our logo is now viewed by hundreds of visitors to our website, and when we move to our new website, this number could potentially be thousands. If you doubt the importance of the website in attracting new members, ask any new member how they found out about us and you‟ll overwhelmingly here „the website‟. To broaden our appeal to our internet visitors, the committees‟ view is that we need to modernise the current logo (which, by the way, isn‟t the original club logo) to help portray us as a dynamic, active and innovative club. At this stage, we have invited members to lodge new designs to be voted on at a general meeting. Members will have the opportunity to vote on their preferred design, including the current logo de- sign. Therefore, we will only adopt a new logo if agreed to by the majority of members. To give mem- bers more time to develop designs, we have postponed voting until the March general meeting. De- signs should be a simple fly with few tones (for printing on clothing) and portray an image of a dy- namic, active and innovative club. Your designs can be a sketch on paper or an electronically designed image. Please submit them to a committee member prior to the March general meeting.

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Member Profile Ian Mitchell

Occupation: IT Project Manager

Year joined the club: 2007 What music do you listen to/favourite artist/album: Johnny Cash (is on my mp3 player atm) Favourite movie: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Favourite book/ DVD: The Lord of the Rings

Other hobbies/interests/sports besides flyfishing: Fly tying, Poker, Travelling Favourite saying: Colder than a witches teat

Where you learnt to fish: Yarra River

Fondest or most forgettable fishing experience: Catching a 9lb Brown Trout in Lake Roto- rua one night. It was the best fish on the night and put the boot in on the trans Tasman trophy that year . Tally for the night Aus 8, NZ 1. At one stage I had four fish in four casts. Most exotic place you’ve fished: Bosnia , Ribnik river

Where you’ve always wanted to fish: Iceland and Patagonia

Jury still out on the Stevo Leon Wilson

Had a friend‟s relative from Scotland over who is a keen fly fisherman and was anxious to get an Aus- sie trout. Gave Goulburn Valley FFC a ring on a report on the Stevenson at Buxton/Marysville and told me don‟t bother as yet as still in recovery mode. Thought I would ring Buxton Tackle shop for their opinion and he told me the opposite – its been good for six months. Thought we had better find out ourselves. Fished downstream from the bridge (about ½ way between towns) and started down near the house (no longer there) where the owner previously didn‟t appreciate your presence. The level was great with a tinge of colour but looked promising. Fished some great runs for not a sniff, but when I caught up with Allan (the Scot) he was very chuffed that he had landed his first Aussie trout (about ½ pound) on a pheasant tail. Nothing for another hour so it was up to the Rubicon where I caught a nice brown on a stimulator and then lost another before the Scot told me he was beginning to melt (time around 1:30) so we will have to finish our day at the pub. Treated him to a Buxton Bur- ger on the way home of which he was astounded with. Home by 5:30 – had told the good wife about 11 – but hadn‟t planned the meltdown. Northern Suburbs Flyfishing Club www.flyfishing.org.au 5 Northern Flyline February 2010

A few good fish, part 1 Glen Cox

I must admit that I contemplated not writing this article, not because “You can‟t handle the truth”, but rather, I didn‟t particularly want to admit the truth. In the end, I decided that the process of writ- ing may be cathartic. As you know, myself along with fellow members John Kruska, Daryl Wallis and an old mate of mine Leigh Edsall, ventured to the northern part of the South Island of New Zealand for 16 days of piscatorial bliss, however this was not to be, as the weather, lack of access, didymo and the fish all conspired against us. The omens were there from the start. We didn‟t arrive in Christ- church until after midnight on the Sunday night so our rental car was left at the airport long term car park for us to pick-up, sim- ple, well no. We followed the instructions provided to the letter, but could not find our vehicle anywhere. We searched for 30mins in the middle of the night, until Leigh decided to try the short term car park and there it was. We had pre-booked a cabin at a near to the airport holiday park. It was now approaching 1am and on arrival the key was in the envelope taped to the office door as promised, but on entering our cabin we found it was made up for 2 guests not 4, two of us had to sleep on a bare mattress with no Glen with a 4.25lb Waitahu River Brown blankets for the night! The next day dawned and as you can imagine we did not hang around long. We were keen to get on the road to Reefton which was to be our base for the next 3 nights. After a scenic but otherwise un- eventful drive we found our accommodation (excellent) and soon unpacked and did what we came here to do, go fishing. We found a spot on the Inanga- hua River which is a large river in itself but is merely a WARM WADERS tributary of the Buller River. That afternoon / evening NeoS Waders made to measure Daryl got 4 fish all about 3 or 4 lbs with John losing 2. Leigh and I didn‟t fish for long as we found our way Wetsuit boots, gloves, and blocked by an ever deepening river and no other access Jett heated-vests points nearby. So we went scoreless that day. Repair and service of all brands The next day was delightful with clear blue skies so we decided to try the famous trophy water Awarau River Pressurised leak detection better known as Larry‟s Creek/River (depends which map you look at). Larry‟s is a tributary of the Inangahua. John and I teamed up and were dropped off just above OCEANSUITS the main road while Daryl and Leigh went further up - 3/101 Wedgewood Rd, Hallam stream. We had a sensational day polaroiding some very big fish in very clear water, not one of which we could Phone: 9702 4993 tempt to actually take any of our flies. Some showed a www.oceansuits.com.au bit of interest, some just „froze‟ the first time a one of our flies went near them. Even though no fish were

Northern Suburbs Flyfishing Club www.flyfishing.org.au 6 Northern Flyline February 2010 caught we all agreed that we had experienced a great days fishing to some well educated fish, except maybe Daryl, who broke his rod earlier in the day. The bad start to this trip continues. That evening we fished the bigger river with catching one and losing another „monster‟ at the net in the dark. Leigh and John also dropped fish. The day after we fished another tributary stream of the Inangahua called the Waitahu. I was lucky enough to pick up a couple of fish up to 4.25lb. That night we went back to the Inangahua but no ac- tion. By now it was Thursday which meant we had to move up to Murchison which turned out to be quite a nice if very small town. Our accommodation here was also excellent and we were given two rooms for the price of one, basically because the man- ager couldn‟t be bothered moving a bed from one unit to the one next door. After moving in we went out for a fish with Daryl and John teaming up and heading up stream while Leigh and I headed down. Daryl once again showed the way picking up 4 fish and losing an- other big one. That evening I stayed back at the ranch and did a load of washing while the others went out to see if they could find an evening rise. John went for a bit of a walkabout while Daryl and Leigh fished together on the Buller, and indeed found Daryl with 5lb Brown from Buller River an excellent rise happening right on dark. Leigh man- aged to pick up a fish on a bean-bag emerger. The next river we tried was the Maruia. We stopped at several places looking for decent access that could accommodate 4 and ended up driving quite a long way that day. After we finally settled on a spot I fished with John and after crossing the river headed downstream along a nice well defined track to find some sensational looking water. As good looking as the water was we just couldn‟t raise a fish. I was just about to give up and sit on the bank and maybe take up smoking, when I spotted a very large fish actively feeding just downstream from a dead tree which had fallen in the water. I cast to this fish for about 40mins which continued taking nymphs and occasionally something off the surface. Trouble was the cast had to be spot on to land just below the tree but in front of the fish a distance of about 20cms. Unfortunately the fish eventually realised something was not right with his world and swam to the depths. John and I arrived back at the car at the appointed time to find that Leigh and Daryl had not arrived. In fact it was sometime later that they did appear absolutely exhausted after getting boxed in on the river and having to scale some blackberry strewn near ver- tical cliffs to get out. Leigh could still manage a smile through his exhaustion after landing a 5lb brown. John with fat 8lb Brown from Matakitaki River By now it was our fifth full day (Saturday 28 Nov) and a pattern was beginning to emerge. That is we seemed to be only picking up one or two fish at most between the four us in each session which is rather unusual compared to previous trips. Back in Murchison, John and Daryl fished the „island‟ while Leigh and I drove up to a small creek up the road a bit. Un- fortunately, there was already about 4 cars in the car park when we got there, so we changed our plans

Northern Suburbs Flyfishing Club www.flyfishing.org.au 7 Northern Flyline February 2010 and drove upstream on the Buller, but alas no joy once again. For John and Daryl it was a different story, with Daryl picking up a couple of smallish fish (1.5-2lb) and John a couple of small ones also plus a magnificent 8 lb brown caught on a streamer pattern. At least the pattern of the trip was broken for two of our party. That night we all headed to the island to try our luck again. John caught another smallish one while Daryl hooked into a 5lber which made his night. We awoke on Sunday morning to the sound of steady rain. When you are on a fishing trip you just have to keep on fishing in all conditions at least until they become to- tally unfishable. Anyway John and Daryl asked to be dropped off at their new favourite bit of water while Leigh and I tried to get on to the creek again. This time there were no cars at the car park so we had it all to our- selves. We fished our way up through some great looking water to find nothing. This continued for some time until we arrived at a bend pool which just had to hold fish. Mind you this was about the tenth time we had said this Leigh with whirlpool 6lber to no avail. However as we scanned the water a fish of about 4lbs swam up out of it‟s hidey hole up into the deep water. As we followed it into the depths we could see two more fish equally as large in the pool down deep. Try as we may we could just not tempt these fish to give our flies a second look. We continued upstream but the rain just got heavier and heavier so we decided to head back to the car. By the time we reached the car the rain had eased off slightly. It was still early in the afternoon so we de- cided to head to the main river which could be seen in the distance across the paddocks. We walked across and bush bashed our way downstream through a willow thicket to emerge at the river which was considerably higher than last time we saw it, just a few days ago. As we surveyed the scene our eyes were drawn to a slight movement at our feet. There, not more than four feet below us was a huge fish of at least 10 lb finning quietly away blissfully unaware of our presence. The problem was how to catch it. It was holding in a reverse current with willow fronds just in front of it‟s nose making a cast that would get the fly down the a depth of 4 feet impossible. As we pondered the conundrum of how to catch this fel- low, Leigh suddenly said “Have a look out there”. Out there, was a huge whirlpool about 15 metres across which would shift around depending on how much of the river‟s current would accumulate in it at various times. In the whirlpool was one of the best sights I have ever seen in my fishing life. There were 3 fish which we estimated to be about 3lbs patrolling the edge of the whirlpool taking insects off the top which were trapped in the vortex. Leigh stayed where he was while I moved about 10 metres further downstream to where I could actually get

Northern Suburbs Flyfishing Club www.flyfishing.org.au 8 Northern Flyline February 2010 a decent backcast. From my new position I had an even better view of the whirlpool and it‟s trout. These guys were in an absolute feeding frenzy and would take something off the top every ten sec- onds or so. At one time a trout came to about 3m from where I was and looked me in eye and still took something off the top. These guys were going to be sitters! I had a nymph about 30cm below a dry and began casting to the closest one. This was not as easy as I thought as the shifting currents were very tricky and would pull the fly line away from the fish just as it was approaching. I was casting to these guys for about 15 minutes all the while listening to Leigh utter expletives each time his back- cast caught in the willows behind him. The air was turning fairly blue from ten metres away when I had a huge hit on my line. The fish had taken the nymph and seemed to be well hooked when the line went slack, the hook just coming out. It was now my turn to let rip with a few expletives of my own. Story of my trip! I was checking my flies while listening to Leigh try to clear his line out of those willows once again. About a minute later in a surprising calm voice Leigh simply said “Got one”. Knowing where Leigh was, I knew that landing that fish was not going to be easy, so I dropped my rod and pushed my way through the bushes. There was no way Leigh could land it on his own as the bank was too high so I jumped in to the water to net it for him. As I lifted the net that 3lb fish turned out to be 6lb. Leigh had a smile on his face about as wide as the fish was long. Walking back to the car we didn‟t even no- tice the rain was again pelting down. part 2 next month

Classic Chalk Streams of South West England Ian Mitchell

Being over in the UK has given me the opportunity to fish waters that I had only read about. The Itchen and Test are two chalk streams that I have always wanted to fish, since I first caught the fishing bug. The very first books and magazines I read were from England and talked of the Test and Itchen in glowing terms. These were the very waters that the likes of Halford, Skues, Sawyer and Walton roamed. Even modern English magazines still write posi- tively about them. The Itchen and the Test are very different from our waters at home. The crystal clear water flows smoothly over white chalk beds, festooned with verdant weed that waves lazily in the current. The banks are well manicured, with the occa- sional bench to rest, foot bridges for keeping your feet dry, and rudimentary sheds for taking your lunch. To me they seem more public parks than piscatorial paradise. Going back hundreds of years, these lowland chalk streams, with their abundant supply of clean cold clear water, were used to irrigate and fertilise the lowlands. Over the years the rivers have been split off into feeder branches and modified with the addition of a system weirs and gates. This was to enable the water to be di- rected across the valley to flood the pastures and deliver water and nutrients to improve the grazing land. In England, the landowners also own the rivers that flow through them, hence as well as hunt- ing; they were also able to enjoy fishing on their lands. Some employed weir keepers to maintain the river banks, and beds to ensure the optimum habitat for the wild brown trout and salmon. Nowadays

Northern Suburbs Flyfishing Club www.flyfishing.org.au 9 Northern Flyline February 2010 the landowners still employ weir keepers to maintain the rivers, and game fish population, but the fishing is mostly now for paying clients, rather than the landowners and their guests. During the warmer months of the trout season, when the may- flies and other insects hatch in abundance, and the trout rise freely, the anglers of England are drawn to these chalk streams. However a day ticket in this time can cost up to £400, so it is not for the com- mon man. A day ticket will buy a beat for the day, possibly shared with an angler of two, often com- prising of a few hundred metres of a single bank. The fishing is often dry fly only, and there is still an expectation that your ticket will allow you to take your bag of fish. So whilst there are wild fish in the streams, most of the landowners supplement the fish numbers by stocking during the season with mature fish readily up to 3lb. Come autumn, when the trout season is at an end, and the dry fly all but useless on most days, these chalk streams remain open for Grayling fishing, which is more affordable at £30 -£40 a day. Grayling are another native species (although there is some debate whether they were bought here in pre-roman times), of UK and Europe. Once maligned by the weir keepers, who would actively kill them as they would the predatory pike, the Grayling will rise and take a dry fly just as readily as a brown trout, and are just as worthy as quarry. It is only during the Grayling season that I have been fortunate enough to fish both the Test and the Itchen, generally sharing the beats with friends or fellow club members. It is enjoyable to spend the cool days, under the golden leaves of autumn, or nude branches of early spring, wandering the mani- cured banks, looking for a fish or two. Polaroids are useful but not necessary. With the clear spring fed water and the light gravel beds, the fish are easy to spot; the trout are solitary brown smudges, whereas the grayling school up like silvery ghosts. During this time the browns are out of season, but are often caught as a by catch, especially from the darker deeper pools or faster runs where they can‟t properly be seen. I love fishing for the Grayling and they readily take the fly. They are much quicker on the take than their distant cousins, especially on the dry fly. In the middle of these short days there are often brief hatches of tiny olives, and the grayling will not rise to your fly unless it is correctly placed on their nose. However as much as I enjoy fishing here, these rivers are a far cry from the wildness I enjoyed at home. Somehow there is an underlying hint of fakery and illusion in the comfortable garden like surrounds that detracts from the whole experience, leaving me feeling a little empty inside. It is easy to forget that we are quite spoiled in Australia, having access to wild fisheries; Victoria and NSW have rivers and mountain streams, Tasmania has wilderness rivers and lakes, and fat wild brown trout.

Northern Suburbs Flyfishing Club www.flyfishing.org.au 10 Northern Flyline February 2010

Given the choice , I‟d take casting to the wild ruby spotted browns of a Victorian mountain stream over a stocked and manicured chalk stream in south west England every time.

Move to lock-up of freshwater fisheries VRFish website, 21 December 2009

Recent calls from a scientist to introduce freshwater closures and lock up important inland fishing lo- cations has failed to identify that anglers are enjoying some of the best fishing opportunities for dec- ades, especially for species such as the iconic Murray Cod. The Victorian Recreational Fishing Peak Body, VRFish, continues to receive reports from recreational fishers of an ongoing resurgence in Murray Cod numbers across the Murray Darling Basin, especially the Murray River and its states tributaries. Anglers have also noted countless numbers of under-size Murray Cod are being carefully returned to the water. Locking up sections of rivers or wetlands is unrealistic as fishing regulations including size, catch and possession limits are an essential part of the regulatory regime. Closed seasons to protect spawning Murray Cod are also in place to ensure natural recruitment opportunities. A National Recreational and Indigenous Fishing Survey funded by the FRDC found anglers were ac- tually returning 77% of caught Murray Cod back to the water. Another recent scientific survey con- ducted with a cross section of Donald Angling Club members demonstrated that angler caught and released Murray Cod had an exceptional survival rate. The Chairman of VRFish Geoff Cramer said: "Recreational fishers are certainly not the problem! Most anglers are conservationists and are carefully releasing the larger fish and complying with fishing regulations to provide sustainable What’s on in February fishery management outcomes. The major problems in recent years have Thurs 4 General meeting: Dr Richard Marchant been the poor management of water Sat 6 Acheron River day trip flows during the hot summer Thurs 11 Flytying months where thousands of Murray Sat-Sun 13-14 Native Trip to Timberlake Cod, including an unacceptable Thurs 18 Committee meeting number of large brood fish unneces- Sat 20 Bunnings sarily perished in several riverine systems." Thurs 25 Flytying "It is clearly evident that our impor- tant native fish species can survive during times of low water flows and seasonal variability provided we all acknowledge the needs of good water management during the spring and summer months. Poor water management decisions can have disastrous effects on recruitment and survival of icon species like Murray Cod. Recent management initiatives by DPI, Fisheries Victoria, that include a new native fish hatchery to- gether with an increased stocking regime of native fish species, clearly indicates recreational fishers can look forward to a continued resurgence of native fish species. Closing or locking up freshwater fishing locations to prevent angling is not needed, unwarranted and scientifically unjustified." Chair- man Geoff concluded. Christopher Collins 03 9686 7077 or 0409 104 710

Northern Suburbs Flyfishing Club www.flyfishing.org.au 11 Northern Flyline February 2010

Flytying Jason Cooney

The Black and Peacock Spider is as old as the hills and a classic wet fly pattern. It is suggestive rather than a specific imitation that can be used successfully all year on all kinds of trout waters. The silver Corixa or water boatman is mainly found in still waters and the silver belly imitates the air bubble it traps on its underside to breathe from. The carpenter ant is a quick and buoyant fly made by forming body segments and the legs with deer hair. Ants are sometimes over looked as a fly pattern but they form a large part of a trout‟s diet in the warmer months. Pauls Polar fibre minnow was originated by Paul Van Reenan and it‟s a fantastic profile fly that is easy to cast. It‟s tied with three 3 layers of Polar Fibre and marked up with water proof pen. Self adhesive eyes and a coat of epoxy make this fly al- most bullet proof. I like to use teased out acrylic yarn instead of Polar fibre as it is a lot cheaper and I can make much longer flies in a myriad of colours. Black & Peacock Spider Hook: Size 10-18 Thread: Black 6/0 Body: Peacock herl Hackle: Black hen

Silver Corixa Hook: Size 12-14 Thread: Black 6/0 Under body: Silver sparkle braid Wing Case: Pheasant tail herl Legs: Pheasant tail herl clipped to length

Carpenter Ant Hook: Size 10-18 dry Thread: Black 6/0 Body: Black or brown Deer hair legs: Black or brown Deer hair clipped

Polar Fibre Minnow Hook: 8-3/0 Mustad 34007 or similar Thread: Clear Mono Wing: Polar fibre or acrylic yarn marked with texta Throat: Red or orange acrylic yarn Eyes: Stick on type covered with epoxy

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Taponga River report Jeremy Skuse

I recently headed up to the Taponga River to see what it was like. I‟d never fished it before, but a work col- league said it was a stream well worth the effort. The spot I fished was severely overgrown with blackberries and took about ½ hour to walk/struggle into after leaving the car. Not the easiest of rivers to wade and I had to keep on leaving the river to get around some really big pools. Not much happened until after lunch and then it was like a starter‟s gun had fired – the fishing really went off. – A selection of rainbows and browns up to 25cm taken on grey wulf, royal humpy and little copper nymphs. A great day – despite my legs being rather badly cut up by the bloody brambles.

Committee Meeting, 28th January, 2010, 8.10pm – 9.10pm Present:

Peter Young, Jason Cooney, Glen Cox, Greg Roberts, Bill Ogilvie, John Kruska, Jeremy Skuse, John Smith, Apologies:

Peter Watson Cain Polidano Minutes:

Minutes of last committee meeting accepted on a motion proposed by Greg and seconded by Jason Business Arising: Bunnings sausage sizzle on Feb 20th – Greg feels that all is set for the day. Will mention at the General Meeting Correspondence In: Held over to General Meeting

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Correspondence Out: Nil Issues discussed: Beginner’s course – We have 8 starters but the session on Feb 14th clashes with the Timberlake trip. It was decided to do the casting tuition on Thursday 11th. Darryl will call Peter Watson to sort out de- tails. The „Live in‟ beginners course was tentatively put down for the weekend of 19-21 March which is our 4WD Trip weekend which is probably one that Daryl would want to attend. This will be worked out with Darryl. Peter Hayes course – Peter Young to raise an invoice to Peter Hayes for $50 to cover use of the casting pool. Website – Justin will contact Paul to check on status. Club logo – One design has been submitted, this will be raised at General Meeting. Australian Fly Casting Championships – We need to start organising our efforts for this event. Glen will contact Parks Victoria to see if we can book an area for the distance event. We need to con- tact sponsors, get dinner quotes, investigate accommodation options and come up with suggestions for contents of competitor‟s packs. Greg will get quores from Growling Frog, Bridges, Creekers and Cielo Blue. John Kruska will get quote from Columbia for supply of weatherproof trousers to match the previous competitor‟s jackets. Club sponsorship – Glenn suggested that we need to be more creative in our efforts to seek Club sponsors. He will bring this up a the General Meeting and Jeremy will draw up a sponsor request let- ter. Term Deposits – Peter Young advised that he has rolled the term deposits as per previous corre- spondence to the committee. New Members – The committee agreed that the nominations of John & Frankie D‟Abate should be supported and that they will be welcomed to the Club at the next General Meeting. Club trips – Some members felt that there was an uneven split of Saturday and Sunday club trips. This made it difficult for them to attend due to family commitments. Justin will revise the syllabus to take this into account. Northern Lights – The night casting competition on October 2nd clashes with the next “Melbourne Conclave”. It was agreed that the Northern Lights be moved to October 16th. Fly tying courses – There is interest among members for the Club to run an intermediate course and to a lesser extent, an advanced course. The Committee will consider at next meeting.

General Meeting, 3rd December 2009, 8.05–8.40pm Apologies:

Glen Cox, Daryl Wallis, John Kruska, Mark Dickens, Trif. Visitors:

AJ & Zoran

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Nominations:

Chris Dabal General Meeting Minutes:

The minutes of last month‟s general meeting were accepted on a motion from John Kingsford and seconded by Iain Lowe Business Arising: Northern Lights casting comp – John Kruska won with perfect score in the wet comp. Cuthberfrom Red Tag was overall winner. Good night & lights worked well. Approx 24 casters. Committee Meeting: Business Arising: Peter has got some designs and has asked Stokes to quote on the year button to slot in. Treasurers Report:

Balance $4661. Peter moved to be accepted, Bruce seconded, accepted. Correspondence In:

Newsletters from Greenwells and VFFA Nillumbik Foodhandlers course and Responsible serving of alcohol course in Feb/March 2010 Compliance information from Nillumbik for joint management cttee Flylife Bendigo bank statement Correspondence Out:

Email to YVFF re change of joint trip in Sept from Goulburn to Purrumbete Fishing reports:

Bruce went fishing again after his lay-off. Caught a carp and a couple of rainbows on a hot dot fly Aiden caught a real big rainbow at Millbrook. Pat went to Jindabyne for 4 days, really hot and no-one caught a heap of fish. Accommodation is really cheap in off season and would be a great venue for a trip. 8 person unit at $20 pp per night. Cttee to look at putting in the syllabus in 2010. Zoran averaged 4 fish/day on Eucumbene on midges – really good trip. Pat fished at Warburton – good until rain Alex fished lakes around Rotorua – great time General business:

Syllabus, not sent to members – will talk about at next Cttee meeting

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Paid members – receive a CD, see Peter if you haven‟t got them. Can also get in hard copy if required. GRX line raffle donated by Compleat Flyfisher - $5/ticket Goulburn area trip this weekend and also Corryong. Iain is staying at Colac Colac caravan park. Welcome Steve Hoagland from Derek McKenzie Outfitters

Committee Meeting, 10th December, 2009, 8.00pm – 10.10pm

Present:

Peter Young, Cain Polidano, Jason Cooney, Glen Cox, Greg Roberts, Bill Ogilvie, John Kruska, Jeremy Skuse Apologies:

John Smith, Peter Watson Minutes:

Minutes of last committee meeting accepted on a motion proposed by Greg and seconded by Jason Business Arising: Bunnings date 20th February, need to move the King River trip Hose request to go in newsletter Correspondence In: Subs from John Waters Newsletters from Yarra Valley and Southerm Letter from Yarrambat Horse & Pony Club – Dates of interest – 28th March, 28th & 29th August Letter from Bunnings confirming date Letter from an Occ Therapist who would like to take a chap fishing but needs WC access. If in a chair, would need access to WC in the clubrooms. Not keen to allow access, Glenn will suggest Golf Club facilities as will need to get Archery Club agreement and will take some time. Jeremy to contact and suggest above. Correspondence Out: Nil Issues discussed: Video camera – need one which will accept polarised lenses and a mike. Use existing council money ($500) and look for a good one which fits our needs – up to $2k. Syllabus Annual dinner – move to 21st August January trip, 23 – 26th January – to Eucumbene. Glen will contact Gary to see if the house is available Timberlake trip approx $130

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King River trip move to 26th – 28th Feb Need to confirm accom with the Eildon Lions club for Big River beginners trip on 19th – 21st March or maybe better venue – Yarra River Saltwater trip on 24 – 26th April to Barwon Heads – need names early to book. Change the trip on 29th, 30th May from Anglesea to a Saturday trip to Noojee on 29th of May ProAngler challenge on 11th July should be at Yarra Bend pool Book the Goulburn one fly trip on 25th July – Jeremy to do Cancel the trip on 7th ugust and replace with a Hamilton Lake trip Anglesea trip Remove the Compleat Angler day on 22nd August Need confirmation from YVFFC to make 11th Sept trip to Purrumbete Make 23rd 24th October a Goulburn trip Northern Lights on 2nd October Move the Upper Yarra trip to the Sat 13th November Colac Colac (Nariel) trip also will be on from the 3rd October to give choice as the Upper Goulburn trip will be on for those who prefer to fish closer to home Put trips on website so people can register their names Badges update Peter to ask Stokes to see if they can design a fish type badge Australian casting championships arrangements Form a subcommittee quickly as the package needs to go out in February. Glen to contact Danny Spelic. Greg to see if Golf Club can cater for a dinner on June 12th for 40-60 people. Check with council to see if can use the trotting track or school as a backup. Other Paul feels that the website will be complete in late Jan 2010 Cain to change format for newsletter to publisher and put in a section on Club merchandise Have had some entries for the logo – present at Feb mtg Jason to print up membership cards. Jeremy to buy card holders. New member nominations AJ and Zoran – committee recommends their membership. Cain to send copies of Come n Try day handouts to Fisheries Victoria

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