Category Archives: Newsletter

The Burley Line, the monthly CAA newsletter

March 2024 Burley Line (Issue 199)

Two groups from CAA have recently visited NZ, and as I type one more is heading there.  Enclosed here is my report, Claude’s will follow next month.

The Jindy trip gave quite diverse results, though all agreed the Saturday was tough fishing – the bright blue skies had the fish hiding and not coming up to a rise.  Still a most enjoyable trip and highly recommended for next year’s program.

Some more good links from Greg S, plus much activity with MAS identifying trout stocking sites in some iconic Monaro streams in light of the discovery of threatened natives.

January 2024 Burley Line (Issue 198)

Apologies for the mixup. It was pointed out that I had omitted some important material. Updated newsletter now uploaded.

Since our Christmas barbq the club has been understandably quiet.  We hope your Christmas and New Year went well.

Our cover shot this month is our little friend from the North – we’ll make a dry fly fisherman out of him in due course.  More of this inside.

Many thanks to Greg S for his contribution – the videos he finds are always entertaining.  I’ve got a report here on the somewhat controversial stocking of Trout Cod in one of our favourite rivers. Ryan has had some success – if you don’t already do so, consider following him on Instagram.  A report on the club carp event is here – was fun for those who participated.  Two reports from Tumut, though a little bird tells me that Lake Eucumbene is going off at dusk too – mudeyes seem to be the fly of choice after dark replacing caddis during the day.  Finally, an excellent report from Claude, BJ and Travis on Yaouk fishing.  Great to see they had success on dry, especially the black spinner that was the subject of a recent fly tying night.  So good when these self-tied flies bring home the goods.  Roll on the hopper next fly tying.

With my Membership Officer hat on … there’s still a few, what I would call ‘regulars’, who haven’t paid their 2023-24 subs.  Note that public liability coverage when on CAA events is contingent on being a financial member.

December 2023 Burley Line (Issue 197)

What can I say about Rod’s mulloway – hmm, I did man the net .

Well done to Ryan for organising an excellent event at Tuross – he even put on some perfect weather and lots of fish.  Little did he know that organiser responsibilities extend to assembling the trip report for Burley Line.

The shirt and cap sale was a great success, except for my poor arithmetic.  For those who missed out, the club does hold a few for sale – speak to BJ.  Claude and I are considering whether to follow it up next year with some fancy dye-sublimate shirts.  They are all the rage up North and maybe we could follow suit.

Just a reminder here for the few members who have not paid up their 2023/24 subscriptions.  Recall that to be covered by our public liability insurance you have to be financial.  All the information on rates and how to pay are here.

We’re coming towards the end of the year and gives me pause to think – 2024 will be my 20th year producing this newsletter.  It has been a pleasure, but I will likely need some assistance next year due to family travels.  Anyone want to help out?

I probably won’t produce a January edition, but if you have some stories to tell, feel free to email them into me.  If there is enough copy I’ll put out a ‘holiday edition’, otherwise, my plan would be to put something out early February.

The December meeting by the lake will be the last until 14 February, but Claude will gather the keener anglers to chase the feisty carp on 14 January.  If I don’t see you at the barbeque, all the best for the festive season, take care on the road and don’t forget to slip/slop/slap.

November 2023 Burley Line (Issue 196)

Many thanks to those who provided words and photos.

A few reports here from Opening Weekend.  Seems that those who went up had some very good results – well done all.

Reports from Lyle Knowles shows the river is producing well, albeit a bit smaller than we’d like.

Peter has done well on local lakes too.  Lovely colour on that yellowbelly.

Ryan is set to take us to Tuross and Texas Mike has shared a view of some of his more successful flies for Tuross – very kind of him.  They look very different to the pineapple express nymph that John led us for Oct fly tying.

MAS has been busy again.  Their efforts with Snowy Hydro and Rec Fishing Trust to improve access roads around Snowy Lakes continues along with placing style to help us get over fences.  Peter and I got to put in some quite large ‘fingerling’ browns into selected sites on the Snowy River – a great day exploring these lower reaches.

A beaut YouTube video with some simple, but very useful, fly tying tips.  Have added to our Flytying and ‘tips’ blog.

Some entertaining and inspiring stuff in my ‘In Box’ this month. Lots of news, especially about brumbies in KNP.

I forgot to remind those last few that fees are due.

October 2023 Burley Line (Issue 195)

Activities dominated by our annual Fly Casting Days instruction to the public.  In addition, our special meeting at Boss Outdoors on 13 Sep went off a treat – many thanks Nathan.

Membership renewals are slowly progressing.  We’ve got maybe 10 ‘regulars’ still outstanding.  Member fees are now due, unchanged from last year – $40 for adult, $50 for family, $15 for individual juniors and $15 for concession (age pension or similar).  Payment of subs via EFT is available BSB 032727, A/C Number 233821. Please ensure your name is included in the transfer comment information.  Alternatively come to a Wednesday meeting and pay with cash or card.  Any contact detail changes can be provided by the webform on our ‘join us’ page or speak to me at a meeting.  Reminder that you need to be financial to be covered by the club’s Public Liability Insurance – particularly important with our outings commencing for the season.

Outing dates for our Feb trip to Jindabyne has been locked in for 23-25 Feb.  Pop it into your diary, I’ll seek registrations later this year.

Lots of interesting stuff hit my in-box this month (in addition to casting photos – many thanks Paul, John and Ryan), check it out towards the end of the newsletter.

Hope everyone goes well with Stream Trout Season opening this weekend.

September 2023 Burley Line (Issue 194)

The Bondi Forest event was a success, though the constraints on bank fishing limit the maximum that can realistically attend.  The three gaps in the reeds have become reduced to one. Much appreciate BJ’s assistance in organisation and preparing the report.

The AGM was a splendiferous affair with a good rollup of members.  All the trophy winners are pictured here along with other key news.

Always looking for articles folks.  Email via the Burley Line address available on our web home page https://canberra-anglers.asn.au/

With my Membership Officer hat on, remember, we are in a new season/new club financial year.  Member fees are now due, unchanged from last year – $40 for adult, $50 for family, $15 for individual juniors and $15 for concession (age pension or similar).  Payment of subs via EFT is available BSB 032727, A/C Number 233821. Please ensure your name is included in the transfer comment information.  Alternatively come to the casting days, or a Wednesday meeting and pay with cash or card.  Any contact detail changes can be provided by the webform on our ‘join us’ page or speak to me at a meeting.

Reminder that you need to be financial to be covered by the club’s Public Liability Insurance – particularly important with the casting days coming up.

Hmm, the original link I found for the scintilla stick caddis now seems to require signing up. Try this one instead (thanks Mike for spotting this problem)

https://tacklevillage.com/tying-the-scintilla-stick-caddis/

August 2023 Burley Line (Issue 193)

Here we are in the depths of winter and fishing reports looked to be pretty quiet, then a bunch arrived.  So, I’ve got many thanks to Roger for assisting by providing us with his next report from his round the world fishing adventures, this time from Nova Scotia.  Jason with his latest post card from the USA.  Much appreciate Lyall’s assistance in seeking permission from ACTFF member Des Cannon and ACTFF Newsletter Editor Brett Leyshon to reprint an article from ACT Fly Fishers Flylines.

A short snippet from Peter is here too, plus the prolific Internet observations from Greg S – don’t forget guys you can email articles for Burley Line anytime.  Peter’s brown trout (photo sent by Mark S) is a beauty.

The Committee has been busy.  I’ve been given a sneak preview into the forthcoming outings program – they still had not locked in organisers for two events, Saltwater 17-19 Nov at Tuross and a Tumut trip 17-19 May (may be finalised before this edition is published but I’m sure they’d welcome offers).  They have also almost completed a full fly tying program for the 2023-24 period.  Much will be revealed at the AGM.

July 2023 Burley Line (Issue 192)

Apologies for being a little late – have been travelling (a 9,700km road trip!).

Read on for an excellent story from Stefan – who knew that we had trout cod in the Cotter.  Many thanks also for Greg S.  He’s been assiduous in trawling the Internet for interesting stuff – has helped to provide some excellent content – click on his links and be blown away.  Finally, Claude has reported on a final session on the streams before the closure – much appreciate the yarn and photos from Travis.

Ryan has been hard at work experimenting with new ideas (see our cover photo).  One will be the subject of our next flytying session – material list below, more detail soon … many thanks Ryan.

At the risk of being a bit ‘political’, the New Zealand Fish and Game Council (they manage freshwater fishing on behalf of the government) has been caught up in some tricky legislation.  Seems the government is being swayed to formally recognise the value of salmonids, alongside natives.

Just remember, the July meeting is the last time you can register your catch for consideration for trophies.  If you haven’t already done so, make sure you bring in your trophies so that they can go to the engravers.  I don’t think I’m up for any trophies this year, but I have advised Lyall that I don’t want a mini-trophy for retention (they aren’t a small cost to the club) but I have asked for the little shield – I can put any I’m awarded on the mini-trophies on my shelf.

June 2023 Burley Line (Issue 191)

Many thanks to Claude for completing this edition in my absence, cheers, Bill

Great photo of the month from life member Stuart. Rivals the photos provided by one of our new members, Paul, in his talk last month – in our ‘Tips’ blog. Many thanks to contributors, but especially to Claude for his efforts finishing off this edition in my absence. BJ has responded to suggestions of a Bondi Forest Lodge event very soon after our August Annual General Meeting. Indeed the tentative date is immediately after the 9 Aug AGM … Bondi dates 11-13 Aug. BJ is contemplating bringing down the drift boat to take folk in turns. Also looking about another 120 minute fly tying/fishing competition. Hold on for more info. Lyall has been to New Zealand recently, but more significantly helping out a mutual mate, Barry Perkins, with a fly casting event in Gore – Lyall provides some more complete with photos. Greg S has spotted another Landline article of interest. Mark S has also popped some stuff into my in-box. A bit been happening on our News Blog – eg you heard it first there about the Tantangara trip rescheduling. We have added some member profiles so you can learn a little more about our new and existing club members. We’ll be in contact soon to get your profile….start thinking about your ‘desired fishing superpower.’

May 2023 Burley Line (Newsletter Issue 190)

Folks, I’ve been away so this issue is a little smaller than normal, but our membership has made up for it in quality with an excellent report on the club trip to the Goodradigbee.  Many thanks to Greg for organising the trip and for assembling this interesting report.

I’ll add some images from my recent trip to NZ – just some ‘grip and grin’ to whet your appetite for visiting in the future.  In respect to NZ, NSWCFA has taken action in respect to some proposed changes to non-resident angling – see the section below on our “News” blog.

We had some very sad news with the death of long term member Shaun.  Last month’s fly tying was in some respects a commemoration of his contribution to the club’s activities.  We’ll miss him also as an active Administrator for our Facebook page.  Our thoughts go out to his family.

As always, any and all submissions from members for future newsletters will be appreciated anytime.