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!

Wyong River - November 2017

Off The Rocks - Wyong River

November 2017

The decision was made to postpone the “off-the-rocks” outing due to unfavourable wind and swell, and consensus was reached on fishing the Wyong River, an estuary off the Tuggerah Lakes.  Despite initial disappointment, exploring new territory always interests me so I was at the ramp at 6.32 sharp to find Len, Matt, Richard H and Garry Kent all in the water ready to go.  A quick chat and they were off, Richard heading upstream and the others down.  I was assigned to Bob's boat, and as he was yet to make an appearance, I chatted to two bait fishermen who had lines in the water from the wharf.  It is usual for these conversations to start with some scepticism, with questions like, “what sort of fish do you expect to catch here?” or “you do know there’s no trout here, don’t you?” but this guy had something wavering between respect and a healthy dose of curiosity about flyfishing, and it was a pleasant enough chat.  He did however inform me that he’d been here for awhile and was plagued by only small fish.

Bob drove up, and despite looking a little tired from fishing all night, we were promptly in the water and fishing.  Well, I was fishing.  Bob wasn’t fishing.  Bob did catch the first fish.  I was targeting the edges of weed a few metres from the shore with a small tan and brown clouser while we drifted towards the lake.  Then Bob caught another fish.  While Bob was releasing a fish, I felt a little pull on my line and raising my rod, weight.  Not a lot, but a fish all the same.  The little bream came in quick and I was on the board.  “You really want a photo of that fish?” Bob asked.  “Everyone gets a photo.” I replied.  It’s like my fishing diary.  “It’s got to be pretty small to not get a photo,” I let him know, “maybe if the fly is bigger than the fish.”  I didn’t measure it, but the bream swam away to fight another day.  A few casts later and another one is on.  An even smaller bream.  Another photo and off he goes as well.  I hooked another that managed to avoid capture, and as any fisherman would tell you, he was bigger than the others.  More casting was fruitless, but a delightful way to start the morning.

As the bite died off we decided on a change of tactics.  Seeing a few mullet around Bob suggested we get a bread burley happening and see if we could fire up some fish.  Now prior to joining the club I wouldn’t really have considered fly fishing to involve burley.  Some would deem it cheating, and others feel it contrary to the ideology of the long wand.  To me, fly fishing is whatever you want it to be.  There are enough rules in life without spoiling fishing too.  If you don’t like it, don’t do it!  It gets a bend in the rod and is a nice, relaxing way to spend a Sunday morning if you ask me, not to mention more fun than practicing casting in the park.

So the finer points of bread burleying was explained, and there’s more to it than I thought.  Little splashes and swirls gave away the presence of fish, so I cast my clouser into the burley a few times without success.  I changed over to two bread flies, a size 6 floating deer hair and underneath a size 16 sinking bread fly I tied myself with egg yarn.  Bob also tied a bread fly on and we both flicked into the burley.  Before long my floating fly was bobbing down, and after a couple of missed strikes, I connected with a fish.  It came in quickly, but I didn’t recognise the long slender shape until I pulled it from the water.  A garfish! A species I hadn’t caught before, and one of the primary goals of club members is the challenge of catching new species of fish, so I was stoked.  Not quite equal to the excitement of finally landing my first trout, but enjoyable all the same.  Another garfish fell to the sinking fly instead of the floating, and yes, he got a photo too.  A harder fighting fish was boated, “Not a bad mullet” I declared, but Bob quickly corrected me, “That? That’s a pissy little mullet.”  Photo nonetheless.

Another change in tactics saw us tie on heavier flies to target flathead.  We drifted a few likely spots, but weed was all we managed to hook up.  My stomach informed me that it was nearly time to head back, so we headed back and returned to the original plan of casting along the banks for bream along the way.  The wind was starting to really pick up and I thought of how unpleasant fishing into it off the rocks would have been.  Good call, and a thoroughly pleasant morning. 

Back at the ramp the smell of the cooking meat was enticing, and the generally slow fishing was one of the main topics at the traditional barbecue to finish the outing.  Richard H had some success, catching three bream and an estuary perch.    

Thanks to Chris for organising the outing and to Steve B for cooking the barbecue, and also to Bob for having me in his boat. 

Lake Lyell - October 13 - 15

Lake Lyell Trout

October 13 - 15 2017

by David Witham 

 

Nicely Pinned

 This was going to be a bit of a first for the club as it had been a long time since we stayed at Lyell and given it a good shake. A bit of planning had gone into the weekend and then a bit of an emergency in the Browne family looked like it may have derailed the weekend. Anyway, without all the details we managed to sort something out that allowed the Browne boys to fish and see their mother in Orange hospital so all boxes were ticked. 

We had booked a cabin for this trip to see what they were like and to avoid us carrying half the house on a camping trip....... still think we went close to half the house anyway, but it was good to experience the cabin albeit we were separated a bit from the rest of the guys. That said we were grateful when the rain set in and the conditions got a tad chilly on Saturday.  

Brownie and I left home about lunchtime on Friday with the trusty hornet in tow. We were pretty keen to fish Lyell from the boat as all previous sessions had been shore based and some of the really good looking water was impossible to access. We were to meet Shayne at the cabin mid to late afternoon.

We had a good run up and got to the cabins about 3 and started setting things up. Shayne had been delayed by work so Brownie and I had a bite to eat and headed into Lithgow to get some firewood etc for that evening. By the time Shayne arrived we had the cabin and the boat ready to go so we headed out for a last arvo session. 

I used the sounder to try and locate fish amongst the timber off the rocky points to no avail. The weed was really thick along the edges which made it hard to get a decent cast in, so we moved across to a more open bay with better defined weed edges. 

The sun was starting to set and the wind had dropped of and we started to see fish working the weedbanks. Now I was unable to fly fish as I had dislocated my shoulder the day before we left so I had to throw the devil stick while the Browne boys threw the long wand. Brownie was first to hook up but lost the fish mid fight, which I am sure the guys back at the camp ground would have heard. There was a lot of surface activity and Shayne changed to a parachute adams but wasn't rewarded. The only fish for the session was a redfin on the devil stick..... yes redfin in the lake and it was about 25 cm so my guess is they are breeding.

Back to the cabin for a feed and off to bed with plans to hit the water early and head up the creek. 

Up pre-sparrows and it was raining a freezing. A quick cup of tea and down to the ramp to launch. Got to love being so close to the water and the ramp! We headed up the creek a fair way and started fishing the edges of the weedbeds in amongst the timber.  Quiet, despite the awesome looking territory. 

We kept moving along and Shayne took control of the devil stick for a while and managed a nice brown..... This was good to see as we knew we were in the right area. Brownie then managed to get a nice brown on a Craig's Nighttime which made our morning. Shayne then hooked up again with a smaller brown and then, as if a switch had been flicked it went dead. Just as well I thought to myself cos I could no longer feel my fingers!

Warning: may contain traces of lure

Brownie with a solid brown caught off the edges.

Back to the cabin for a well earned breakfast of bacon, Eggs and Chorizo sausage wraps and nice hot tea and coffee! We talked baout plans for the rest of the day and given the weather we decided we'd all go to Orange. So we packed up the boat and put the cover on and off we went to Orange. I dropped the boys at the hospital and I did the tackle shop crawl. Always interesting to see what they have in these places. We were back on the road to Lithgow about 2:30 and it was wierd...... We got to Bathhurst and Orange and the sun was out and the temp was a nice 22 degrees..... as we drove back it was like a big black cloud hung over Lithgow and no sooner had we passed the Wallerawang turn off, than the rain started again. Temp a balmy 13 degrees. At least we know that the Browne boys and I aren't the club weather jinx.

We hit the water after having a quick cuppa and tried the bay just down from the cabin as it was the least wind affected. We saw fish rising almost immediately and I was getting some good arches on the sounder. I hooked up on something with the jackall but pulled the hooks and we continued to drift the edges. As the sun started to fade (what sun?)... o.k. as it got darker I pulled a small bass, followed shortly by Brownie getting skunked again by a wily trout. SHayne then got the fish of the trip a ripper of a brown on one of his fur flies / donnies. A quick snap and as the flash went the fish jumped out of his hands and over the side of the boat..... Brownie and I were in stitches.... Shanye not so much. 

Crackin' brown on a fur fly

First Lyell Bass I have seen

Brownie's fightin rainbow

It was almost dark when Brownie connects again and this fish went ape. A couple of good runs and a bit of line taking..... Shayne and I of course asked Roy if this was an all day fish.... you know the one that takes forever to bring in. Anyway... eventually I net the fish and it's a lovely rainbow, which was the first for the trip - so that's one of every species in that dam. That was it for the fish as we decided to sleep in Sunday when we heard the wind and rain lol. A cracking trip though and I believe just about everyone managed something, which is a pretty good effort given past trout outings! Thanks to Stickerman for organising the trip and to Col, Jeff, Richard, Matt, Steve B, Mick and Richie from coming along.