Off The Rocks

Off The Rocks 

June 2002 

This was our first ever rock fishing expedition, and for quite a few of the attendees, their first ever time fly fishing off the rocks. The day was perfect, sunny, very little wind. Looking good. We arrived at the Elizabeth Bay Shops at 1pm and moved on to the car park in the National Park, got our gear out and started the walk down to the rock platform. On arrival however we noticed that there was a bigger swell than anticipated and as the tide was coming in, there was a feeling that some of the holes we intended to fish would be more than a little tricky to fish as the tide progressed.

We split up so that we had a few people fishing in different holes. The berley started flowing and and it didn't take long to get the rods rigged, the flies attached and line shooting out into the wash. 

I hooked up first but lost the fish shortly after. Big Bob was next and he had a solid hookup on a fish that was like hooking up to a freight train. The line was running through his fingers and it wasn't long until his rod straightened out and the fish was gone. The leader snapped about 8 inches from the fly line! 

We had a few more bites but no more hookups. The swell was big enough to either wash your fly up onto the ledges or back at you. We were starting to get wet and we decided to move. As I moved back to the point where we had left our gear I noticed that John "Stix" Grant had quite a bend in his rod as he was playing a reasonable pig down along one of the ledges.

 It was a fair drop down to the water and we had to work out how to land the fish. Luckily Steven Call had brought a short handled landing net and I grabbed it a moved to a position where Stix could try and use the swell to wash the fish toward me and into the net. Easier said than done and it took several attempts to get the fish actually into the net, and no doubt a few nervous moments for Stix! 

Anyway, it was the only fish we saw and a great way for Stix to get his first drummer on fly. Well done Stix.

Interclub Meet - May 2002

Interclub Meet - 2002

May 2002

The Institute of Freshwater Anglers’ (IFA) general aim is to promote the interests of anglers and to manage and conserve fish resources and the aquatic environment.
Much of the Institutes’ work is basically political – lobbying politicians and government departments to achieve its aims. Recent achievements include:
Translocation of species, particularly barramundi farming because of the possibility of infecting native fish with disease.

• Attempts to gain access to Sydney water and other storages
• Foreshore access to Oberon Dam and Thompsons Creek Dam
• Angling law reviews
• Freshwater License & Implementation Committee.
• NPWS re access & attempts by Nat Parks to ban trout stocking in National Parks
• Standing Committee on State Development
• Fishway installations on impoundments
• Salmon imports, possibility of disease introduction
• Constant dialogue with State Fisheries & govt depts on relevant issues
• Supporting the discontinuation of destruction of the Tumut River habitat
• Support increased flow in the Snowy River
• Lobbying re Murray Cray preservation
• Prominent player in the all water Recreational Fishing Alliance

Our club member John Humphries is an active member of the IFA and was heavily involved in organising the May IFA Interclub meet.
The meet was held at Wallerwang staying in the Black Gold Country Cabins. CCFR members Bill Sonnenberg, Bob Beamish, John Humphries and myself attended along with about ninety members from various clubs. The venue (old public school converted) was excellent—the food and service great. I wondered how the IFA kept the price so low ($90 for two nights accommodation and five meals)!!
On the first night people were encouraged and assisted to form fishing groups for the Saturdays activities. Relative beginners such as myself were teamed up with experienced anglers as the meet is held more for knowledge sharing rather than competition. Decisions were made to fish lake, stream whatever you wanted.
Saturday night was a social night with prizes for fish caught and raffles to raise funds for the IFA…the prizes were incredible , the sponsors were very generous!
The venue and organisation were great, unfortunately the fishing wasn’t. Few fish were recorded (a couple of browns went 500mm). Fish in the dams (Oberon, Wallace Thompsons Creek,Lyell) were deep down with little surface activity. The locals seemed to get better results in the streams.
Sunday was more fishing, casting demonstrations and a friendly casting competition followed by a BBQ then home. Records of captures were kept for State Fisheries.
On a humorous note, I watched five fly fishermen working a patch on Wallace for no results when a couple of old (80s) locals wandered down threw out some spinners and left 15 minutes later with two rainbows…6 and 1.5 lb! Maybe there is a lesson there.
Personally I had a great time and must thank John Humphries for partnering me up with an experienced angler, I learnt heaps , which is the main reason I wanted to go.
I strongly recommend we get organised and send more people next year. Its good fun (beer, fishing, campfires) And good for the IFA who do so much for our sport. Perhaps CCFR should consider joining the IFA?

Lake Liddell - May 2002

Lake Liddell Carp

May 2002

This was the clubs second trip to Liddell to chase those monster ferals, and the turn out was good. 12 members came along to try there hand on the carp. The day was cool, partly cloudy, but very little wind when we first arrived. We put our boats in and set off to various locations around the dam in search of some targets.

Brett Aley, Steve Call and myself headed to one of the banks that I had fished previously. The first thing that struck me was how much the water level had dropped. In areas that we were successfully picking up fish on the previous trip, there was barely 6 inches of water and that meant that we had to look a lot further out in order to see any fish. It was very hard going with a only a few small fish seen and they were too far out and very spooky.

We soldiered on and walked around to find Bob and Peter Houston casting at the reeds from the boat. they had picked up a few fishing this way, but they agreed that it was quieter than a usual Liddell day.
The clouds finally disappeared, but the wind picked up a bit, making it hard to see the fish through the ripples, so we headed back to the boast and tried fishing out of the boat for a while. talking to the other guys that were out, all were reporting very tough conditions, with only a handful of fish seen, let alone caught!

Bob decided to move down the dam, out of the wind a bit and we did likewise. Bob and Peter came across a spot that allowed them to wait for the fish to cruise past, and they landed a fair number of them in a short time, whilst we watched on and spooked more fish than we had the chance to cast at! Very frustrating.

It was soon time to head back to the ramp, but not before part taking in some of Chris Bannerman's scones..... A good day out despite the conditions and distinct lack of fish!

Paterson River Bass

Paterson River Bass

March 2002

Saturday 17 March saw ten members on the CCFR meet for a fish at the Paterson River near Paterson. The weather was fantastic for Bass fishing. 32 degrees, sunny and a light breeze blowing to keep things a little cooler.

We launched the boats at the makeshift ramp and headed off in different directions in search of some likely looking snags to cast at.

Steven Call and I headed up towards the railway bridge and drifted back casting along the banks at anything from weed beds to fallen timber without a look or a hit. We soon met up with Bob Williams and Chris Bannerman and the story was much the same.

We decided to head down closer to the mouth of the river and passed Jimmy Hyatt and Roy Browne, who reported that they had one fish take the fly but no hook up. Bob Beamish and Brett Aley also reported no hits. Warren Yuile and Tom Ferguson the same. MMMMM tough going!!!

We continued to fish along the banks, getting the flies in as close to the cover as you possibly could, you can tell if you are in the zone by the number of time you have to pull your fly off a tree or out of the long grass along the banks.

The sun started to set and as yet we had not had a hit let alone landed one! Bob Beamish and Brett reported on bass caught by Brett as well as a herring, so at least there was something to talk about. The rest of us got zilch except for some good casting practice and a chance to have a chat!

Back to the ramp, loaded the boats up and headed off for the 90 minute drive home. Great weather, great company, great casting (some of the time!) but no fish. There were a few lure chuckers leaving the river as we arrived who said they had caught a few bass, the biggest going 47cm, a great fish for a wild river bass.

We'll do it again soonish.......

Woy Woy Casting Day - February 2001

Woy Woy Casting Day 

February 2002

The second casting of the Central Coast Fly Rodders took place at Woy Woy, just down from the Fisherman's Coop. Nine members showed up for what turned out to be a good morning, both fish wise and weather wise. At last we scored a day that wasn't windy or raining. Instead we got heat and humidity, but with it came some fish and we even managed to get people that hadn't caught fish on fly or never caught fish on fly in the salt, connected.

The tide was still running out but nearing the bottom when I arrived at the venue. I brought along some bread with the hope of getting some mullet on the chew close in, that way we could get some casting practice in and still be in with a show at the fish. 

It didn't take long before there were fish boiling at the surface nice and close to the shore we were fishing.

Bread flies all round and the guys started casting into the melee. Wozza was first one to hook up on one of the local mullet population and they weren't a bad size fish. We continued berleying and John Adams latched onto his first ever saltwater fish on fly. It was a day for firsts and soon after Peter Houston caught and released his first ever fish on fly and shortly after started showing off by catching another!

William Vasquez was next and again he managed to land his first ever saltwater fish on the fly gear. I hooked up shortly afterwards and as the tide started to flow in fairly strongly the fish and the berley started to move away and we called it quits. The heat was getting a bit much also so we all had a look at various flies, rods & reels and practiced casting on the grass for a while. A great day was had by all - even if you didn't catch a fish you learnt something, and that's the main thing!

Brisbane Water @ Dusk - January 2002

Brisbane Water at Dusk - January 2001

Once again the weather gods were not smiling on us as we got to the boat ramp at Gosford shortly before 14:30. Put another way - Waves were breaking over the retaining walls at the Gosford Marina and Iguana Joes Restaurant on our arrival at the Gosford Boat ramp. A very stiff South Easterly was blowing right up the middle of Brisbane Water and whipping up a swell with whitecaps thrown in for interest. It would have made for a wet and bumpy trip if we had have put in at Gosford. A few quick discussions saw the venue change to Correa Bay Boat ramp where there was still a breeze, but at least it was fishable. That was the easy part! The next task was to find some fish in the protected area of the bay. We headed up the creek a little an started to berley with some bread to get the mullet on the prowl. It took a while to see any action and when we did the fish were all of about 5cms in length. A move was in order. We moved back out into the deeper water and found mullet breaking the surface, so over went the anchor and the berley trail started again.It wasn't long before we had a school of mullet breaking up around us in search of some of the bread floating around the boat. Mark Williams and Dan Jonas had the run of the boat and started to cast to where the fish were feeding. Mark hooked up first on a small bream, that was quickly returned to the water. It wasn't long before Mark had the first mullet of the outing in the boat and ready for a quick mug shot prior to release. I kept the berley trail going while Dan and Mark continued to float flies in amongst the bread. Mark hooked up again, this time another bigger bream, but it slipped the hook at the boat. A short time later and Mark was into another fish, this time however it was Mark's first whiting on fly and not a bad one on a bread fly!Roy Browne turned up in his shiny new Hornet 390 and Dan jumped ship for less constrained quarters. Roy anchored just up from us and Dan and Roy started another berley trail and I picked up the fly rod and started casting into the trail. Dan soon hooked up and a nice bream was brought to the boat for release, Dan's biggest bream on fly to date. Browney foul hooked a mullet and quickly despatched it back to the water. Mark and I got tangled up and after I had undone the tangled leaders, I somehow managed to get on of the flies imbedded in my shirt and the other one firmly imbedded in my thumb! It went in all the way and the point was coming through the other side. I tried to push the hook right through so I could either de-barb it or snap it off and pull the hook free, but it wasn't budging. I ended up after about 10 minutes cutting the hook in half near the bend and feeding through my thumb. Mark was on the first aid kit and I soon had a band aid over the wound and ready to fish again. By this time the fish were off the bite and all we could see in the berley trail was those small 5cm mullet again. A quick call to Bob Williams who was now on the water out near Woy Woy and we headed up towards the railway bridge at Woy Woy to see what the conditions were like out in the main channel. Bob and Chris Martin had been fishing the leases and battling the wind for a while with two lost fish in the leases to Chris. Mark and I tried Lintern Channel for nil result and as it was getting dark we picked Dan up and headed back to the ramp. Bob and Chris continued fishing the leases. Chris got busted up again and Bob landed one small bream. Chris then donated a fly line to Bob's outboard motor and it was quitting time for them also.So despite the weather we still managed a few fish, found some spots to fish in a heavy SE wind and had some fun. I managed to hook up on myself and little else, but at least I know the easiest way to get a hook out of one's thumb!!! From now on we are playing "chess" whenever we talk about fishing. Maybe that'll confuse the weather gods and we will actually get some decent weather.

Broken Bay Pelagics - December 2001

Broken Bay Pelagics 

December 2001

Well it looked like we weren't going to get our chance at the action in Broken Bay if conditions on Saturday were anything to go by. A bit of a southerly, rain and a reasonable swell on moderate seas had us thinking of staying home. Sunday morning however, saw a sunny day, light breeze and a dropping swell, so we met at the boat ramp at Woy Woy for our first ever foray into the pelagic on fly scene.

Nine members of the CCFR came to throw flies at the salmon etc in Broken Bay. We headed out from the ramp at about 07:30 to meet up with Wozza and Ross Huntington at Pretty beach. A few quick transfers between boats and we were soon heading past Half Tide Rocks on our way towards Box Head.

The swell and seas were a bit larger than anticipated and that made life interesting given that three out of the four boats were under 4.5m in length! Suffice to say that we didn't venture too far out of the bay in search of our quarry. It wasn't long before we saw a school of tailor thrashing at the surface and Ross and Chris Martin started to get amongst them. Big Bob was having engine trouble at the ramp and joined us out in the bay about 15 minutes later.

The swell soon had Bob and I heading toward Pittwater to try and find some protected fishing. You wouldn't believe it, boats everywhere and salmon busting the surface. A few casts at them and nothing. They had moved a bit further up. We motored over to them and it didn't take long for Roy Browne to hook into one. Whilst I was casting and watching Roy out of the corner of one eye, I got hit and hooked up on a sambo. After a short tussle with the fish it jumped clear of the water and slipped the hook..... game over!

Brownie was still fighting his fish and I asked them to motor over to us once they had landed it for a photo session. Result below..... Not a bad fish. 

Reports from Wozza's boat who went wide and up the coast a little were even better than the tailor and one salmon that we landed. Wozza and Bob Beamish managed about a dozen salmon taking between 10 and 15 minutes to land each. The fish were about the 2 - 3kg mark and were caught on 8 and 9 weight outfits. The guys eventually gave up after their arms were stretched and a little sore. Pictures will be available once processed.

So despite the weather a good trip was had by all, and at least everyone got something on the day, including Chris Martin's yakka on fly! I leave you with a quote from Bob Beamish:
"Several hours of really good fly fishing action however, saw us hook and
land at least a dozen salmon in the 2kg to 3kg size range on 8/9 weight fly
tackle. The "long draw" and dapping" techniques demonstrated on Wednesday night 
worked particularly well. Most of the fish took the fly on or near the water surface, so the fishing was very visual. Most fish took 10 to 15 minutes to subdue.
When are we going to do this again?"

Enough said - Thanks, Bob!