Claret & Mallard Journal Ballarat Fly Fishers' Club May 2015 Incorporation Number A2007 Contacts 2015 President: Alan Townsend 0408615185 Secretary: Gerry Watt 0419103836 Senior Vice President: Greg Armstrong 53341251 / 0417383216 Junior Vice President: Vacant Immediate Past President Chris Doody 0428304004 Minute Secretary: Barry Kentish 0408369882/ 53301207 Treasurer: Bruce Pipkorn 0409954643 Committee: Dale Flenley 0400072769 Andrew Borg 03 53689062 Shane Stevens 0408179927 Andrew Gardner 0409705404 Alistair Lowne 0419153526 Mick McKay 53458124 Gary McKay 0353315927 Anna Taylor 0458385410 Terry Simmons 03 5335848 Newsletter Editor Barry Kentish 0408369882 Website Manager Brett Cirulis 042044668 Ian Hare 0428217909 Kitchen Manager Andrew Borg 03 53689062 Bar Manager Robert Haines 53388175/0407670207 Delegate - Aquatic Association: Royce Baxter 53359353 Fly tying Instructors Sean Purcell 0408501133 Delegates - BDAA Chris Doody 0428304004 VrFish Anthony McGrath 0408542694 Delegate - VCF: Mark Cuthbert 0425739443 Club Librarian: Steve Lock 53323835 Clubrooms - Keymen Alistair Lowne 0419153526 Shane Stevens 0408179927 Casting Instructors Barry Whelan 0408677745 John Close 03 53321688 Clubrooms - Maintenance Dale Flenley 0400072769 Russell Eldridge 53451127 Peter Voterakis 53333842 Clubrooms - Cleaning Roger McNeight 53324321 Club Historians Barry Kentish 0408369882 Keith Ridsdale 0409327113 Steve Lock 53323835 All correspondence should be addressed to: The Secretary Ballarat Fly Fishers’ Club PO Box 1138 Ballarat Mail Centre BALLARAT. VICTORIA 3354 Cover Photo - Jim Bambridge showing his commitment to a unique auctioning style!! Reminders………….. May 14th to 30th New Zealand trip 2015 What’s happening in Len Walker trophy— every Sunday from 5th April to 27th September. Lake Wendouree— midday to 4.00pm. May? May 2nd Annual Dinner Wanted April 9th —6.30 pm This journal needs May 3rd—Brunn Shield ed Round 1—Lake Wen- your fishing story. If you’ve been fishing douree—9.30 am May 4th—Committee meeting—7.30 pm May 14th—Monthly meeting 8.00pm— speaker Taylor Hunt— Wild Trout Fisheries Program Casting Practise—every Sunday—9.30am at casting jetty recently and have a tale to be told contact Barry Kentish [barrykentish@gmail. com]. Your fishing photos are always welcome. Minutes of the Ballarat Flyfishers’ Club Inc Members’ Monthly Meeting, Thursday 9th April 2015 Opening President Allan Townsend opened the meeting at 8:10 PM welcomed members and guests. Attendees T Adams, G Armstrong, D Bandy, R Baxter, F Bluch, A Borg, G Cook, I Crook, V Denham, C Doody, D Eason, D Faulkner, R Fisher, D Flenley, D Forde, A Gardner, R Haines, I Hare, K Howard, B Johnson, B Kentish, D Kimberley, J Laverty, S Lock, A Lowne, A McGrath, G McKay, A McKinley, B Muller, Brian Nygaard, I Penberthy, N Phillips, B Pipkorn, J Porteous, O Porteous, K Ridsdale, B Rivett, T Simmonds, A Taylor, A Townsend, G Watt, B Whelan, R Wilson, S Xanhoulakis, P. Jasek Apologies J Bambridge, B Bennetts, J Cowen, J Cuscadden, H Landman, C McKay, M McKay, C McKnight, R McKnight, Barry Nygaard, G Richmond, J Roath, G Sandman, S Stevens, J Stewart, G Watts. Visitors David Werda, Trevor Crawford Minutes Minutes (as circulated in the April journal) of the meeting held on Thursday 12th March 2015 were tabled . A motion to approve the minutes was moved by K Ridsdale and seconded by D Flenley Carried Business Arising from Minutes mayfly09.blogspot.com Correspondence Inward Invitation to the President or his representative to the Annual Dinner of the Sunshine Casters Club on 23rd May. Copy of the book “Trout Waters of Tasmania” by Greg French was received from our member Loch Forsyth. Outward Note thanking Loch Forsyth for the donation of the book “Trout Waters of Tasmania” by Greg French. Journals Received Various paper and electronic journals had been received. Inward correspondence was received and outward correspondence approved, on the motion from D Bandy and seconded by B Rivett. Carried Business Arising from Correspondence. None Reports Fishing reports - Royce Baxter and Steve lock have been fishing lake Eucumbene. This fishing trip was dominated by few larger fish. Fish were over 5 pound. The best flies during the fishing trip were Woolly Bugger patterns, Bitch, and Magoo. Royce’s mudeye pattern was particularly successful. Fish were seen up to 10lb. Steve reported that there were a number of Rainbow trout to about 2 pound. The lake was dropping and conditions were good. Gary McKay and friends have been fishing both Wartook and Fyans but not seen any fish. Bruce Pipkorn and Ian Penberthy reported that there were a number of duns hatching on lake Wendouree. Keith Ridsdale has been fishing at Yambuck with bream to 36 cm. VRfish – Anthony McGrath reported on the successful state conference held at the Ballarat Flyfishers club. The conference discussions were dominated by the future of trout in Victoria. The proposal not to close some of the rivers in Southwest Victoria, as has put forward by Scott Grey, was not supported by VR fish. This matter requires further research. Anthony promoted the wild trout study in North East Victoria. Further information is available on the government webpage. Aquatic Association - No meeting. There was concern about the quantity of weed around the margins of the lake. Eucumbene Trip - Gary McKay reported on a trip to lake Eucumbene with Gerry Watt and Brian Sainty. Weather was bright and sunny and windy which made fishing difficult. Fishing in evenings was quite successful. It was a great social occasion and Brian Sainty took a 4 pound Brown and successfully landed the fish after a great fight. President Allan Townsend asked members to plan for both the November 2015 and March 2016 trips to lake Eucumbene. Stan Burt Winner - it was with great pleasure that President Allan Townsend congratulated Greg Armstrong on winning the Stan Burt 2014 - 2015 competition. Greg’s winning fish was 64 cm Brown taken from the shore of lake Wendouree with a mudeye pattern fly. Club members congratulated Greg on a tremendous effort for someone who regularly fished the Stan Burt on Monday night. Master Classes - President Allan Townsend thanked Royce for running the three masterclass sessions which were well attended by members of the club. Fly tying - Dale Flenley informed members that fly tying will be held on every Tuesday from 7 PM A motion to receive the reports was moved by G Armstrong and seconded R Baxter. www.news.com.au Membership. Trevor Crawford of Hopetoun Park was voted in as a full member of the Ballarat flyfishing club. President Allan Townsend welcomed Trevor to the club and wished him well for the future. Upcoming events New Zealand trip Robert Haines reported briefly on the progress of the New Zealand trip. Robert reported that all members had paid for the trip. He had emailed O’Keefe’s to inform them of the number of flyfishers coming to Rotorua and a request for an update on current fishing conditions. BFFC members thanked Robert for his efforts in organising this trip. Nelson trip 25th – 27th April - a list is circulating of members who are likely to go fishing at Nelson. Gary McKay is organising this trip. Annual Dinner 2nd May Tickets are now available at $40/hd. Tickets are being organised by Greg Armstrong. Oceania Fly Fishing Competition. - Royce Baxter is organising the competition and gave a brief update to members about what is required from Ballarat flyfishing club. Clubrooms - Cleanup Working Bee. 26th April -Dale Flenley promoted the importance of this pre-dinner cleanup for the clubrooms. Goldfields Trophy- this Ballarat versus Bendigo competition has been moved to 27th -28th June and will be fished at Lake Fyans. General Business. BFFC Risk Management- Alistair Lowne will purchase first aid kits for the club trailer, the Wacca McKay Lodge and Eucumbene Lodge. Alistair will also purchase a mask for the defrib. machine. Fly Fishing vending machine Anna Taylor spoke to members of the possibility of a flyfishing vending machine being established adjacent to lake Wendouree. Web cam installation proposal - Anna Taylor spoke of the idea of establishing a web cam/weather station at lake Wendouree. There was extensive discussion from members in relation to this issue. Proposed Education Bursary/Scholarship - Barry Whelan asked that discussion of this matter to be postponed until the May meeting when he will invite a speaker. Donation of cane Rod - Greg Cook donated a cane rod from Tom Kennedy to the Ballarat flyfishing club museum. Reminders Fly Tying – Tuesdays…. Fly Casting – 10.00 am Sundays – Brunn Shield starts 1st May Fines Session - there was a number of donations to the flyfishing club library from members who had some inaccuracies when measuring, there was something about mudguards, and catching black socks and members were entertained with a few Irish jokes from Danny. Some members also have problems with early morning fishing and late-night socialisation. Close The President declared the meeting closed at 9.05 p.m Social item The social item for the April meeting was a review of the lake Wendouree Two Fly by Chris Doody. Chris gave an excellent overview of the competition in 2015 and thanked those members who assisted with the organisation and management of this competition. Thanks was also given to Gavin Hurley for continued sponsorship. Chris noted that it is important for members to support these competitions and if they are not able to fish during the competition then members should support the activity by assisting with management of the competition. The future success of this competition relies on members embracing all club activities. ######################################### www.mdfrc.org.au History of BFFC [part 2] —By Rod Stapleton Well known and respected Life Member of BFFC wrote a history of your Club in 1994. It is with great respect and honour that this history is published in the BFFC Claret and Mallard Journal. This is a continuation of article as published in the April 2015 journal. The editor wishes to thank Terry Simmons for his assistance with digitally copying and editing Rod’s original transcript. An essay of the club’s history 1919 to 1994 He welded together a team which, during the 1960s and 1970s could well claim to have been the premier casting team in the State, if not nationally. During this period the team won many State and National casting titles and it all resulted in John Close, with the Club’s assistance, going to compete in the International Casting competition in Switzerland in 1968. But prior to this, of course Artie led, also, a team to New Zealand in both 1965 and 1966 where they competed with significant success. At the passing of time some members of the team went on to other things, some just went fishing. Artie retired as coach but Fred Eva, John McKay and several others members carried on enthusiastically. However, the club was not able to emulate the achievements of the early years. Now the banner had been passed a new coach Roger McKnight (if one may call him new-he has been a coach since 1986) under whose stewardship the Club has continued to be well represented with varying degrees of success in this competitive branch of our activities. With the institution of the Ballarat Championship Tournament in 1988 at Roger’s instigation, and its continuance as a lead-up to the Bruhn Shield series, our future, as a participant in this sport, seems assured although it is a facet of our activities, support for which does fluctuate considerably. At times members appear more interested in ‘goin’ fishing ‘. Towards the end of the 1960s decade the site of Artie’s casting ‘University’ -the original McArthur Street Jetty -was condemned by the City Council and, because of budgetary problems, the Council did not look likely to replace it. As this would have caused a serious problem for the casting aspect of our activities the Club decided, in negotiations with the Council, to provide the labour and build a new jetty-to our design requirements-with the Council providing the materials. Jim Jones was our successful negotiator and also oversaw the resulting construction project which, on 30 March 1974, saw the commissioning of a ‘valuable casting facility for the club and a major asset to the city at the same time.’ (quote from the Mayor of the City at that time). The rise of prominence of the casting team, under Artie’s influence, led, also, to an influx of new-the younger-members who, unlike their predecessors, having little to do with fisheries management activities of former years-other than to maintain a watching brief because of the Fisheries Department taking over the responsibility altogether,-turned their attention to other activities, in addition a competitive casting. Whereas, in the period prior to World War II, Club fishing trips were a rarity-the members of that time period prefer fishing individually or in small groups-they now became a prominent feature of Club life and there have been many minor weekend trips to places such as the Camperdown lakes, Teddington, Fyans, Konong Wootong, Wartook, Toolondo, Rocklands and others. In addition there have been several major trips to Tasmania and New Zealand. Space here does not permit a detailed account of each. Suffice it to say that they all been successful, even though on occasion, the fishing results have not reflected that success. They are now a continuing feature of the Club curriculum. One regular trip stands out however. In 1967 a group of 20 members undertook a weekend trip to Lake Eucumbene. From this developed a well-looked-forward-to annual event which is a feature of the Club calendar. Even though fishing has been like the water level over the years-up and down-the patronage of the trip, by members has been consistently good and, after 27 years there appears no sign of that interest abating. Out of all this fishing activity arose on three projects. First, we established a small fleet of three fishing boats, on Lake Wendouree, housed in a shed, rented from the City Council. This project was initiated by Jim Jones in 1974 and later, led to us obtaining a more permanent shed-‘the George Davenport shed’-through the generosity of our popular former member George Davenport who donated his share of a jointly owned shed. This, however, was only a progression towards better things to come; more of which later. Next the club equipped itself with a well set up camping outfit and, thirdly in a tremendous effort, the club established a well-founded fishing lodge at the camp of Arnie and Josie Crowe at Cobrabald Bay, Eucumbene. The lodge was named ‘the Fred Eva Lodge’ in tribute to our former popular and enthusiastic member Fred, and although the future of the Lodge, at its present location, is somewhat uncertain, the members of the Club are well-placed and equipped to pursue their fishing in considerable style and comfort. This club does not, by choice of its members, take part in competitive angling nor does it compete, internally, for trophies except for three competitions each year which are memorials to past prominent members. Of these the most important is the Wastell trophy competition. Back in 1936, Victor Wastell saw and felt there was a need to have a fly fishermen get together for their mutual benefit. Accordingly, he was responsible for the inauguration of a fishing competition aimed not so much at the catching of fish, but at the fulfilment of that need. The inaugural contest took place, on Lake Wendouree, in 1937 between the Victorian Flyfishers, the Red Tag Flyfishers, the Ballarat Anglers’ Club and this club-as host. The host Club won the fishing but all the participants in the event were winners at the social tea which followed was held at the Lake View hotel. The competition then became an Annual event known as the ‘Wastell trophy Competition’ . The actual trophy which was designed by another of the early Ballarat members, Mr. V Greenhalgh, and cast in bronze in Italy. This competition was much looked forward to by flyfishermen, and, at first Lake Wendouree and Newlyn Reservoir were the venues at which the competition was fished; Newlyn being particularly popularr, mainly it seems because of the hospitality dispensed by Mr. Haintz, licensee of the Newlyn Hotel, at the conclusion of each competition ensued the get together Mr. Wastell intended. The competition still is fished each year with the same ideal in mind,-Ballarat always being the host club. This is the festive 57 th year of the competition and, over the years it has been fished at a number of locations, but, of the latter years, because the competition has expanded into a weekend get together, it is being conducted at Cairn Curran, where good camping facilities exist to allow for such an event. Right from its exception inception this event has been popular among fly fishermen, and, for many years was unique in that it was the only interclub competition in the State fished with fly only. From our point of view, it is the premier event of the year, in angling Another important facet of the club’s educational activities, which always has engaged actively the involvement of members, is fly tying. While this subject has been a prominent activity of the club’s agenda, it has, in recent years, been afforded increased emphasis, due to the club, at the instigation of David Martin, during his Presidency, commencing the conduct of a series classes each winter, with the evenings been devoted solely to fly tying methods and instruction. Although the fly tying school has been conducted for about 22 years, and has had its ups and downs as regards patronage, it still is seen to be a necessary part of the club’s curriculum. There have been many members during those years who have gained the ability to tie their own flies; to participate in a craft which is a totally enjoyable pastime in its own right, and also adds to the satisfaction members obtain from their fishing by actually catching fish on flies of their own making, or, if they like to experiment, creation. During the latter part of the 1960s, the club also expanded its activities by creating a more family orientated atmosphere within the club, and, as a result, there are been many family days events conducted over the ensuing years-including the popular Christmas picnic, held mainly at Learmonth and Waubra, and the long running Cricket Test, held annually against Red Tag. There are been many social evenings held at various venues around the city, and at various members homes. While most of these outings was simply days or evenings of getting together by the members and their families, some were held with an eye to making profit as we had, by then, the need to accumulate funds. But more of this later. Perhaps some of the most successful of our social ventures were evenings held at the Rowing club, for which we self-catered. A great deal of success of those evenings was due, in very large measure, to the manner in which the wives of members bucked in and helped with the arrangements. Actually, they did all the supper arrangements with us as the message boys. They not only worked in the Rowing Club events, but others as well, and their contribution to our social efforts was great and well appreciated. Out of all the social activity was spawned the idea which grew into a very successful family touring-fishing trip to New Zealand in 1977 -a trip, those of us who took part, still have fond memories of. The frequency of our social outings has listened in recent years but we still get together in that manner occasion, keeping alive the activity During the long history of the Club, there have been very many members who have distinguished service to the club, and to angling. The pride of place must belong to Victor Wastell, at whose instigation the club was founded. He was a driving force through its early years and remained a participating member to the end of his life. Others who have given outstanding service to the club and angling, are Mr. Jim Thomas, was an active and interested member of the club for almost 70 years-surely a remarkable feat in itself, when it is considered that the total life of the club has been 75 years (what a storehouse of angling knowledge he must have accumulated in this time-he certainly had done so about Lake Wendouree). Mr. Geoff Gilbert, who during a membership 57 years, worked tirelessly to the club, and for angling-as long-term secretary of the Acclimatisation society-retaining a lively interest right up to the time of his death; Mr. Bill Sorrell gave 44 years of continuous service to, and participation in the club and was ready always with the cheery word; sometimes a ribald greeting or, when the fishing was not going well, a word of advice-mainly centred around the use of the Red Tag; Mr. Artie McAdam who served the club well during a membership of 36 years and to whom, through his efforts in the field of flycasting particular, must be it attributed the beginning of the modern era of the club. An era which has seen the club becomes strong, numerically, the yearly average membership of about 115and growing-financially sound and actively pursuing the objectives set down by its founders so many years ago. With all this history of effort in mind; with all the activity going on together with continuing growth in membership it did appear that, if our continued progress, as the club, was to be forward then there would be a need, in the future, for us to have a home of our own. Consequently, taking into consideration all these things, an idea, hatched between the then President David Martin, and the secretary, whilst one Tuesday night in 1972, they were preparing the Journal for posting, resulted in a Building Fund being launched with a goal in mind of satisfying eventually that perceived need. In the years which have followed that decision a great deal of fundraising work has been undertaken by many members, which has seen the Building Fund progress the extent that, in late 1993, a start was able to be made on our Club Building. I suppose the ‘fishing lodge’ would be a more apt term especially if we lean to the traditional. During the period, since the inception of the Building Fund, a great many members contributed to the fund raising efforts but the greatest at fillip to the fund came with the formation of the Unified Funding Organisation-a community fund raising organisation set up between several sporting organisations in the area, of which we were one, in which both Robert Haines and Brian Bennets played a considerable role on our behalf, resulting in some quite substantial dividends being added to the Building Fund. The consequence for all this effort is that we are now-after some quite protracted negotiations with the Ballarat City Council-in the course of building a very attractive fishing lodge-design by Glenn Hewitt’s father-using our own labour under the executive supervision of current President Steve lock, and under the practical supervision and expertise of Russell Eldridge The fruits of all our efforts on labours will be that, during our 75 th year, we will come to a permanent home, attractively set on the shores of our ‘spiritual home’ -Lake Wendouree-a well-equipped, asset rich club with an enthusiastic membership. The end of an Odyssey?-The basis for better things to come? Epilogue I completed this essay with a question and, I suppose, for those who have preceded us for those the more senior of us today, the answer can be ‘yes’ to the first part of the question for we have earned the right to just ‘wet a line ‘ if we wish without that nagging suspicion present that, perhaps, we should be doing more. We have, one might say, establish the basis and it is now perfectly reasonable for us to enjoy the fruits of our labours; to relive the past as we wish, not as we must. For the younger generation, and for those to come, I guess the emphasis has to be towards second part of the question for to them belongs the future; in this case the future of the Club. No club can survive by relying on tradition alone; by just standing still. Clubs, which do so, do not survive long. Time, alone, quickly passes them by so there will be much work to be done, by the oncoming members, to keep pace with the progress of time and its changing emphases. To them belongs the responsibility for better things to come. In bringing this essay to a close I would offer the following observation. Participation, in the activities of an organisation, by its members, is the lifeblood of that organisation. Without that participation, by its members, there is no organisation. It will not survive. ######################################### Wild Trout Fisheries Management Plan –source http://www.depi.vic.gov.au/fishing-and-hunting/recreationalfishing/wild-trout-population-survey/wild-trout-fisheries-management- continued from Claret & Mallard April 2015 ############################################## program- Project 5. How can we reliably track changes in the angling performance of our trout fisheries? There are many angling clubs that record their catches with great diligence. If this information can be cost effectively captured for use in fisheries management, it may help Fisheries Victoria measure how each trout fishery is performing. Action: Establish a cost effective trout fisher feedback program e.g. angling club data to include catch, effort and reporting. How will this help?: A lack of standardised measures of fishery performance currently hampers fisheries managers' ability to gauge the performance of recreational fisheries in Victoria. Rather than relying on individual reports from anglers on their perceptions of the fishery, it would be more useful to garner a broader indication of performance. Anglers will benefit from this by understanding how other anglers are finding a fishery and by providing metrics on their performance compared with other anglers, groups and fisheries. Importantly, this will provide a mechanism to robustly measure changes in the performance of the fishery over time and following interventions. Project 6. Is reduced Lake Eildon trout stocking impacting river trout fisheries? The trout population relationship between Lake Eildon and the inflowing rivers is not well understood. Action: Subject to stock differentiation, assess the contribution of Lake Eildon stocked fish in river populations. How will this help?: Understanding the contribution of lake fish to the river fishery and river fish to the lake fishery will inform fisheries management practices such as the effectiveness of fish stocking in Lake Eildon and closed seasons in rivers. If we can distinguish between hatchery and wild stock fish, this will have broad implications for the future assessment and improved management of Victorian trout stocking program. Project 7. Have there been changes to bankside vegetation along our rivers? If so, and how have they affected water temperatures? River water temperature is strongly influenced by air temperature and shading. Improving shading through stream side vegetation may assist in maintaining the cooler water temperatures preferred by trout. Action: Work with CMAs to review the impact of changes in riparian shading on water temperature over time including changes to riparian vegetation e.g. bushfires and flooding, clearing and replanting. Assess the case for improving riparian habitat. How will this help?: This will assess whether changes in riparian habitat have occurred, whether they are a significant issue for wild trout fisheries and where there is scope to rehabilitate stream side vegetation. Project 8. Does trout stocking help the wild brown trout river fisheries recover? Some recreational fishers see stocking as a logical solution to improve numbers of fish in streams where there may be low numbers. However placing fish into streams where existing populations of trout are present may not be the most appropriate action, nor achieve the desired result. Action: Undertake brown trout stocking trial and evaluate (differentiate trout by fin-clipping, marking or tagging). How will this help?: Past fisheries research in Victoria on wild trout fisheries and on fisheries worldwide suggest that stocking on top of existing self-sustaining populations is an ineffective long-term strategy to enhance wild stocks as it provides a very low-return to anglers at considerable expense. However, anglers have a strong affinity with fish stocking and it can be seen as a fisheries management panacea (cure all). There is a case to reassess the effectiveness of fish stocking to enhance the wild trout fisheries in Victoria and to better communicate findings, educate stakeholders and re-examine the cost-effectiveness of this management option. Bream Fishing on "The Hopkins" - by Bill Reddick For a water close to a coastal City of around 30,000, The Hopkins River estuary continues to be a considerably productive waterway. For Fly fishers, the main target species would tend to be Bream and Estuary Perch. Australian Salmon are prevalent, often in large schools, but tend to be on the small side (up to 20cms). Mullet can be targeted, but have not been in my sights. Through the summer of 2014/2015 constant reports of juvenile Mulloway caught by bait fishermen, particularly around the University, has seen me fishing deeper without success to date. However the average size of Bream and particularly EP's has increased. The Equipment Rods Early advice was to fish 8 weight to control the heavier, hammerhead flies, particularly in the stronger winds that can prevail along the West Coast. Modern rods, with faster actions have the power to turn over quite large flies using lighter rods. I fish no heavier than 6 weight and could even be tempted to go 5 weight if one was in my kit. The advantage of lighter rods is obviously the ability to work harder for longer as much of the fishing is searching. The GoTo rod would be my 9 foot 6 Loop Opti 6 weight. It is a little heavier than other brands, but has some grunt to throw dense lines, heavier flies even when wind is so strong that stripped line can't land inside the boat. Lines It may seem bleeding obvious but matching line weight to rod weight is the general rule, but often this is not practical when purchasing heavier grained lines with low stretch cores. You may find you are running 7 weight over 6 weight simply because they are not available in lighter weights. It will mean you can relax a little, cast slower and more deliberately with less false casts. This is appreciated on long days. I've come to enjoy the low stretch cores of the Airflo brand,particularly on Bream as they can approach flies timidly. Feeling these soft touches allows one to apply a number of tactics attempting to convert interest to hookups. Wading on flats, floating lines can be utilised, but in general I'd begin with an intermediate, or sink tip. You can work the fly a little faster through the water and impart more action into retrieves allowing hangs and drops during pauses. These tend to be the times Bream can be tempted to to strike. Fishing from a boat I'd use a minimum of an intermediate line, although a di3 is most commonly used. This summer I have been fishing deeper aiming for depths around 4 to 5m chasing the larger resident fish with success. For these times I'd use Di5 or Di7 and count down to achieve desired fishing depths. Leaders and Tippets Generally with weighted flies, I don't find it necessary to utilise expensive leaders. Casting with sufficient momentum to have controlled loops will turn over the leader enough to cast accurately. The preference is to use fluorocarbon, maintaining the low stretch approach. To date I've not felt it necessary for shock tippets because most hookups are subtle and fish size rarely warrant extra elasticity. It is more important to keep close contact with the fly. You'll find flouro is a little more resistant to abrasions around rocky reefs etc. my preferred brand is Riverge (gold label). This summer (2014/2015) rain and wind kept water visibility a little low so I used 12.5lb all season. When clarity improves I may swap to 9.5lb, or ultimately to 6lb if refusal or follows suggest lines are visible to fish. I've only ever used 6 lb twice in the last 3 years when doing my version of shark fishing. Up until 3 years ago all I ever fished was a single fly. Today it is almost always two flies. The first fly, or dropper, is on straight flouro from the fly line about a rod length, never longer. The point fly will be about a metre (3 ft) from the dropper. I've started catching more fish using two fly setups with somewhere between 30 to 50 percent of catches on the dropper. The heavier fly is always on the point, meaning you are fishing at two levels. Bill’s article will continue in the May Claret and Mallard—more details on flies, locations and where to fish—stay tuned! Welcome to the Shannon Rise Lodge Located in the heart of Tasmania's World Class Trout Fishery. The Shannon Rise Lodge is a fully self contained lodge. Accommodation for up to 8 people in comfortable surroundings. Great rates. Overlooking the shores of Great Lake, at the township of Miena in the Central Highlands of Tasmania. Have a look at http://www.shannonriselodge.com.au/ more information Spectacular local fishing. If interested please contact Shane Stevens 0408179927 for Ballarat Fly Fishers thank the following sponsors for their continued support in 2015 Shannon Rise Lodge -0353343851 Ray’s Outdoors 03 5331 1888 Home Hardware 03 5339 5033 The Flyfisher 03 9621 1246 Aussie Angler 03 9432 1501. H. 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Web: www.innovatorrods.com Emal: [email protected] Wastell 2014—Allan Townsend (President BFFC ) congratulates Geoff Lay (Mornington Peninsular FFC) on winning the Wastell Mayfly Tackle Address: PO Box 1176, Box Hill, VIC 3128 Phone: 03 9899 0034 Fax: 03 9899 0302
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