Paterson River Bass - April 28

Paterson River Bass - April 28

Trip Report left home 3.30am yeah I know, bloody early and bloody cold, drove up to twin servos to pick up Terry Kennedy, coffee time at Maccas, then up to Paterson river, webbers creek boat ramp, met the others ready to go, starting to get light, get the boat and off we go, heading up stream, fished between the bridges, flicking flies into any likely looking snag, hollows in the bank side vegetation, then Terry hooks up on his home made popper(sorry don't have a photo of the popper), hooray we are on the board, 

All the black paint came off, so he caught his bass on a white popper, we kept flicking poppers into the bank, then boof I got a fish on, wasn't even looking at my fly when the fish hit, good fight on my old 4/5wt Xstream fly rod (first fly rod I ever purchased) Rio WF4F trout line, 8lb flouro leader straight through and my double barrel frog popper, the bass had wolfed the fly down, major surgery to remove, looking at getting barbless hooks for native fishing, bbq was awesome so good to catch up with everyone who attended, thank you what a great club we have I feel so privileged to be a member.

Forster Fly Muster - 2019

Forster Fly Muster

March 15-17 2019

For those that are unaware of the what the Forster Fly Muster is, it is an event that raises money for The Fly Program through bringing together fly fishers from all over the East Coast. Monies are raised through auctions, raffles  and donations from those attending. 

The Fly Program is a charity that helps Aussie males with PTSD, depression  etc. The program takes people out into the Australian bush and teaches them to fly fish, in a non-threatening environment, where support of fellow participants is key. It's a place to discuss what is happening and sharing experiences. But it's more than just helping the individuals - it benefits their families and friends so has quite a broad reach.

That's the introduction to the what and why of the Muster, so now onto this year's event.

2019's muster saw a record number of fly fishers attend, with over 100 people registered. The weather forecast was looking a bit average so it was good to see such a big turnout. The event begins on the Friday for those that arrive early, with a meet and greet on Friday afternoon. The usual introductions and chat as well as the first chance to get the raffle tickets and shirts. 

Day 2 starts at 7am with a briefing from Brett Wilson - the man behind the FFM. he gives us all a run down on the why we are there and what the plan is for the weekend. An introduction from Matt Trippet from the Fly Program and what this event means to him and then we move onto some information about the fishing around Forster, Tuncurry. 

After the briefing it's up to each person as to what they do for the day. Some people get some casting tuition from the certified casting instructors other go for a fish on the flats and the rest get the boats on the water and away we go. 

We chose to get out and go for a fish and so far the rain had held off. We head up towards the lakes and fished some of the leases and then berleyed up for some mullet and bream. 5 minutes in we heard a huge thunder clap off in the distance and in came the rain that had been holding offshore all morning. It came down hard, so hard it felt like needles hitting your body. It was so intense that the boat starting filling with water and the bilge pump was going flat chat. We took shelter under a tree until it eased slightly and then we decided to head back to the ramp. You couldn't see very far in front of you so we followed the trail on the GPS to find our way back.

We go back to the ramp, soaked to the bone and water pouring out the bung once back on dry land. We parked up behind the cabin, threw the cover on and sought shelter inside. That was the fishing done for the morning and we then had a get together at 14:30 where the club had a small stand. We did some fly tying demos, had some flies laid out for people to look at. Calendars for people to flick through to see what the club is about. We got some great attention.

Part of the afternoon was the fly tying comp, which took the form of a people's choice. Each attendee got to give two votes for their favourite flies and there were some great prizes on offer. There were some really good flies on the viewing table and well done to the winners. 

More raffle tickets sold and the auction was run. The Auction prize was an 8 weight custom fly rod and a box of flies that were tied and donated by a number of people attending the muster. Brownie and I contributed flies to that box and overall it was an impressive collection of flies. The Auction got up to $760 all of which goes to the Fly Program. 

The afternoon finished about 4:30 and we hit the water to fish until dusk. We explored some water close to the caravan park as the wind had come up and was making the main channel more like a washing machine. It was tough going with only one small flathead caught in that time. As the sun dipped we decided to head back to the ramp and get dinner underway.

Sunday was checkout at 10. So we had packed most of our gear the night before so we could get up early and pack the car, launch the boat for a fish before the 12 noon final get together. We headed up the channel and fished a flat that we had some success on the previous year. The tide was running in fast but just about to turn. We used fast sink lines and fished the edge of the flat to see if there were any flathead around. Shayne caught the first one which was a nice fish around 40cm and then I caught a monster that was about 2 cms longer than the fly I was using. 

Once the tide changed we moved out into the channel and drifted with the fast sink lines. A few takes but no hookups and we noticed a huge school of mullet actively feeding around one of the racks. I flicked the electric motor into anchor mode and started the berley trail. The fish were onto it straight away and we were on first cast. A good mix of mullet and bream hit the boat and some of them were tanks.Double and triple hookups made life interesting when it came to trying to avoid tangles, but it was a fun morning. We headed back to the ramp about 11:20 - hooked the boat up and got the car and boat ready for the trip home. 

At 12 the whole crew got together to hear the total raised over the weekend and also the raffle draw. The total raised for the weekend was over $7000 which is enough to get about 11 people through the program. There were plenty of raffle prizes and Bob Beamish was lucky enough to score a prize. 

A weekend like this takes a lot of organising and Brett WIlson, Shannon Kitchener, Brett Clarke and Cherie Forbes did an awesome job. Brett Clarke and Cherie organised some amazing prizes for the event, the value of which exceeded $9500 so there were plenty of prizes to go around. Thanks to Terry, Scott, Trent, Bob B, Steve B, Brownie, Shayne, Tim and Leon for representing the club. 

Off The Beach - January 2019

Off the Beach

by Steve Tizard

Perfect conditions on Pelican Beach just north of The Entrance.  Light southerly blowing and plenty of cloud cover. Large channels close to the sure (ideal for casting flies) and plenty of white water.

"Perfect conditions"....so we thought. 

The southerly on the previous night had brought in mountains of sea weed which made it nearly impossible to fish flies.  But 10 of us had a go anyway.  About 1.5 ks of the beach was fished up to the rocks on the northern end for, you guessed it, nothing. Zilch!   

We were after salmon, tailor, bream, dart, flathead and whiting and tried every fly possible. not even one strike. In hindsight, burley would have been wise as one club member returned the next day , burlied up and caught 4 fish in similar wind and wave conditions.

At least the traditional club bbq and chat put a good note on the mornings activities and all agreed it would be worth another try. Next Time.

Lake Macquarie Flats - November 2018

Lake Macquarie Flats - 18 November 2018

This was an outing that many members had asked for during the recent survey - flats sly fishing. Wading the shallows in search of bream, whiting, flathead etc. The area around Swansea has a vast flats area between the bridge and the drop off into the lake itself, so that was the destination. 

On this occasion we had 7 members fish the flats on the run out tide, which is usually ideal conditions for flathead and whiting as they come off the flats into deeper water. 

Numerous large whiting were sited but unfortunately they couldn't be convinced to take a fly. Poppers, crazy charlies and shrimp fly were all tried but to no avail. 

The fishing was disappointing in a strong Nor-Easter, but still good fun for all that attended.

The location itself is definitely worth another try as many club members have caught many good flathead, bream and whiting in the gutters and holes around these flats. 

Whilst there weren't any fish caught, we had a pleasant BBQ afterwards thanks to Murray!

Also thank you to Jeff for preparing the pre-outing information that was shared at the last meeting. 

“A Change of plans” - The Entrance,

“A Change of plans”

The Entrance,

Our plans to fish Pittwater and the Hawkesbury river were thwarted thanks to a dramatic change for the worst in the weather forecast.

New plans were hatched as wind n swell predictions were poor and an open water outing was not an option.

Dave had put forward a change of venue , “The Entrance” it was the safe and sensible option and all candidates agreed.

Climbing out of bed early Sunday we were greeted with strong winds , and with the poor forecast things were not ideal , we knew we would have a tough day ahead but we all agreed to make the effort, pulling up to the entrance ramp a touch after 6 am we were greeted with an angry Lake ,strong wind gusts , short chop , with pelicans and all types of seabirds struggling to make headway into the wind whilst trying to keep up with a small school of skittish baitfish that were in turn trying to find some form of cover across the sand flats opposite the ramp.

The cold weather was something we certainly had not expected. This feeling of a cold winter morning brought back thoughts of a recent Blue mountains lake expedition and certainly not our initial thoughts of the coming summer , bare feet , shorts and tees.

There had been massive change overnight , the wind was up and temps were down .

On leaving the boat ramp we were fortunate to capture some of the suns rays beaming out over North Entrance beach sand dunes, these border the northern mouth of Tuggerah lake , and as we poked the nose of the Renegade up the channel the suns rays enveloped us with a burst of much needed warmth and childhood memories of a mothers arms keeping you warm on those cold winter mornings came flooding back .

I must say it gave us a reassuring feeling that the first taste of summer was on its way and thoughts of lazy days down the beach and in the boat were no longer a distant memory .

I could feel it wouldn't be long before we would be making the most of our summer days.

I must say it did provide us with some form of encouragement,even though things were not that pretty in the main arm of the lake .

Our plan was to fish the main channel where the dredge had been working . Dave had a few good reports of fish being caught earlier in the week and this was our only form of inspiration.

We were greeted with a main channel that was still badly silted up around the bridge ,navigation was difficult especially in the the low light , we fished this area for an hour or so in search of a some flathead with no joy.

The conditions quickly deteriorated with very strong wind gusts forcing us to go in search of some protection . Our earlier thoughts of summer had been all but forgotten.

North Entrance channel was our choice ,we left Richard and Tom fishing the bridge and it wasn’t long before we were both in the north channel out of the wind.

We fished hard with weedless shrimp patterns and fish masks but it appeared the weather change had shut most fish down. Dave decided to berley up some mullet and bream but with no response we needed a change.

Dave suggested we fish the boat shed to get out of the wind , berley up with bread, grab the 4 weights and give that a shot, it wasn’t long before Dave had a school of mullet boiling on the surface, good call mate.

A floating bread fly and sinking dropper was the plan and whilst the  fish were difficult to hook we managed 3 or 4 each , they were quite small but did give us some form of enjoyment.

Jeff and Bunney turned up and we fished together for a while but the wind was causing havoc with our boats and berley so the boys decided to call it for the day, I must admit in the back of my mind I was thinking the same.

Bunney mentioned he had to head home as there was a black snake in his house ,we had other ideas about the type of snake it was 🤣 ,i have to say there was plenty of laughter about our humorous comments .

Now as they left I'm sure Bunney was making a call to Russell Coight for some tips on catching snakes and as he left we knew “ it was time for him to hit the road”.🤣🤣

Quick Release Expert 

I commented to Dave that the wind appeared to have dropped enough to try the channel south of the boat ramp , so we headed up there ,the weed was now an issue and getting the fly down with out weeding up was becoming quite frustrating, we persevered with our weedless offerings and were managing to get the fly to the bottom on most occasions ,unfortunately finding a flathead was proving a difficult proposition.

Finally Dave managed a nice Luderick on one of his shrimp flies it was nice work and I

Highlight of the Day - Steak and onion rolls!

'd have to say it was the fish of the day. This was a great capture considering the conditions, although i must say Dave needed some tips on handling and releasing Luderick,the laughter emanating from the boat had certainly lifted our spirits.

Dave was spiked several times as a very lively luderick kicked and squirmed until finally it bounced over the side of the boat , sadly it happened too quickly to get any footage.

We decided to call it day around 11.30 am and headed back to the ramp for a well deserved steak sandwich and a cold drink. Ken managed to land a nice tailor whilst fishing with Gary which was a great effort especially in the conditions.

Richard and Tom also had a tough day but i have to say they were not alone,so cold , so windy and shutdown fish.

Just let me say a great effort to all you guys who turned up for the outing .

Lets hope our next trip provides us with much better condition, more fish and certainly more participants and remember to Fish hard or go home.

🐠🐠🐠

Brownie

Salmon Sunday - July 2018

SSS - Swansea Salmon Sunday

I don't know what it is about the prospect of fishing for Australian Salmon, but it certainly sparks a great deal of interest and anticipation when there is a trip planned and the reports have been pretty good through the week leading up to it.

This outing was no exception to that. We had 13 keen (or mad or both) anglers fired up to hit the Swansea channel to chase that hard fighting, sometimes finicky Arripis trutta. The tide was looking good with a run in most of the morning. The weather, whilst cool was for a sunny day with light to moderate SW winds and the fishing over the past week had been pretty good by all reports.

I teamed up with the new Madam Secretary, Brownie and Luke for the morning. Our intention was not so much to fish but to help Luke with his fly fishing and to get him onto his first Aussie Salmon on the long wand and then hopefully have him hooked on fly. We arrived at the ramp at Swansea about 7ish and it was a balmy 3 degrees - warmer than expected 8^)

We launched and hit the channel to see a reasonable large flotilla already out there chasing the splashes of free jumping salmon. Things were look good, even though none of the people in the boats had bent rods. We moved into position and starting casting to some of the splashes. The tide was on the last of the run in.

Luke was first to get the eat but didn't quite connect. Ooops forgot to teach him not to trout strike! I then got a solid hookup and played the fish to the boat and Luke kindly landed it as Brownie was busy hooked up to his own fish. Yep it's looking like a great day so far we thought.

The tide slowed and so did the jumping fish so we moved around a bit in search of them. No action for anyone and as the saying goes - no run no fun - so we decided it was a good time to warm the hands with a nice cup of tea. Once the tide had turned the fish were starting to hit the surface again, but were very very scattered. So many boast and no doubt that way all week has the schools spread out and fish hitting the surface sporadically. It really was luck of the draw.

They were very finicky and easily spooked but I did manage to hook and land another decent fish before Luke then got a solid hook up only to pop the leader on the first big run. Yes Salmon do pull hard Luke. ;)

Brownie then hooked up and landed a fish and we continued to just move around and drift in the hope of getting a fly into the face of the fish. I spent the rest of the morning help Luke and giving him tips as he sorted out his casting and by the end of the morning he was throwing a pretty good cast I have to say.

No more hits for us but we did see the other guys getting the odd fish here and there. First saltwater fish on fly for Tim was a bit of a highlight.

Back to the ramp for the BBQ put on by Ken and to exchange stories of the morning. The snags and drink went down a treat on a cold day.   

It was good to see so many fly fishers out there. The Hunter club guys were out there as well as a few local fly fishers and I think we outnumbered the bait and lure guys on the day.

Fishing is all about learning and there was a bit of that done on the day. First of all it was obvious that the salmon had been under pressure all week by the fact that they were so scattered and also very boat shy. Second, just cos you catch a fish early doesn't mean your in for a great day so don't count your chickens before they hatch as they say. I think we did pretty well on our main objective to get Luke casting and the fact that he got the eat twice was a pretty good result even if the fish didn't make the boat.

Good to hear most people got a fish or two. Brownie managed to break his rod on a fish, which made for a good discussion and some new words that I learned from him lol.

Off The Rocks - June 17 2018

Off The Rocks

It had been over 3 years since we had managed to get a rock fishing outing off the ground, mostly due to weather or swell conditions on the weekends we had them booked in. This was the second attempt for this year and gladly the weather and swell were looking much better - well as good as we were going to get. The forecast was for a freezing morning and day with west to south-west winds and a swell of less than 2ft. The swell was the only worry as there may not have been enough wash with the tide pushing in. 

Ten of the bravest CCFR members had their names on the list to fish in these conditions and the plan was to meet at Norah Head at 6:30 am. A lot of lead up work to prepare - flies to be tied, sink tips to be found of made, lines and leaders to be dusted off. 

The morning came around and I met Brownie at Anaconda and we drove the 40 minutes to Norah Head arriving in the carpark about 6:10. Shortly after Murray, then Bob, Col etc and we were busily getting our gear together and loading our buckets with berley for the walk down to the rocks. On arrival the swell was small so we looked for positions where there was a bit of wash to help us hide our flies and there were a couple of likely looking points.

Brownie, Richard and I filled our buckets and proceeded to a point with a bit of a hole and a reef off it about 20 - 30m. In with some berley and it didn't take long to see fish rising into the berley trail and not long before we started getting hits on our flies. Brownie the first to hook up on a smallish drummer, but the target species nonetheless. I hooked up next but dropped the fish in the fight and then hooked up again to a reasonable sized sweep.

Brownie with the first fish of the day

The sweep were on the chew and not a bad size.

Richard was next to hookup and we watched as his fish went parallel to the ledge and into the reef - goodbye fish and fly and better luck next time Richard.

As the tide was pushing in the spot we were fishing was starting to get water across it so we moved again, but not before another good sized sweep was pulled in by me.

We started the berley flow again in the new spot and straight away I started getting hit, but couldn't hook up. A quick fly change to a smaller bread fly soon saw me landing a small drummer or piglet as I now call them. Still a drummer it was and it was returned to grow some more.

It wasn't look until I heard Brownie screaming and I saw his rod bent over as he struggles to get this fish over the ledge and closer to his feet. A good hard fight that could have gone either way. I ran over to help Brownie land the fish and grabbed the leader and pulled the pig onto the rocks as the leader snapped. A lucky save. Brownie then hoisted a good 3kg of drummer as everyone cheered. A few photos and Brownie despatched the fish for a feed.

Brownie doing battle and below the end result.

A well earned fish and a PB for Brownie

Another sweep as the tide came up and it was starting to get quiet. Time to head back to the carpark for some bacon and eggs and to catch up with everyone on their successes. Matt managed a sweep and Col managed a very nice luderick and a drummer. Not much else caught, but pretty good success rate given the conditions. 

Bacon and eggs and a nice hot cup of tea was just what we needed after a cold windy morning on the rocks. Thanks to Brownie and Mat for their help with the BBQ and Tea and Coffee!