Well it has been a challenging period.  The smoke around Canberra reminded us of the disaster that has been around us in NSW (and now on our doorstep).  My family has been personally impacted with members living at the coast being threatened with destruction of their houses or worse.  We’ve hosted 7 evacuees in our house – having them here has been quite entertaining but with the concern about those staying back uppermost in our minds.  The Fires Near Me app was in constant use – currently showing that our old haunt at Brogo perhaps having a near escape.

In amongst this, Charlie ran into an old friend of the club – Randy.  He had moved down from Canberra to Malua Bay some years ago (2013?).  Tragically, Randy lost his house and many of his possessions in the New Year’s Eve firestorm.  I have conveyed to Randy the sympathy of CAA. Our thoughts go out to him and Lindsay.

Many members will remember Randy for his knife sharpening stall operating at Moruya Markets.  Randy was the contact who got CAA access to the CSIRO Ski Club lodge at East Jindabyne for which we continue to be grateful.

I hadn’t thought we’d publish a February edition, but the ever reliable Jason M has filled my in-box with material about the previous trip to Brogo and ‘postcards’ from his fishing/kayaking/camping expedition in Tasmania – I’ve saved a couple for our next edition.  Thanks also to Claude for some images of his latest flytying creations – his ‘secret flies’ for our forthcoming NZ trip remain under wraps.  I’ve also popped in some information about the sculpture that long time member Charlie assisted with.

One final snippet that I just learnt of yesterday.  President of MAS and local angling guru Steve Samuels has been reappointed to the Recreational Fishing NSW Advisory Council – giving a voice to recreational anglers directly to the Minister.  Congratulations Steve.

This turned out to be a surprisingly large edition.

This month we have both a story from the President (thanks mate) but also one about him – Lost and Found.

Many thanks to Lyall for his comprehensive report on the World Championship – reads like a thriller except with pictures.  Thanks also for Stefan’s very thoughtful piece on the recent Brogo trip – more and more this proves to be very worthwhile event, but watercraft seem to be the go.

This will be the last edition that Jason Q is involved with.  Can I publicly acknowledge all the assistance he has given me, not least is picking up entire editions when I thoughtlessly make myself absent.  He has been a great asset to Burley Line and will be sorely missed.  If anyone would like to step into that void, discuss with him what it involves and drop an email to the burley-line address

Meantime, don’t be surprised if I ply you with a beverage in advance of asking you to volunteer to help.

Congratulations to those who stepped up to help out at the sausage sizzle at the Compleat Anglers First Birthday celebrations.  Unfortunately I was interstate and fully committed.

Finally, the story of ‘Stumpy’, our cover photo this month.  I was lucky enough to be invited for a few sessions fishing with local angling legend Steve Samuels.  His skills extend past fly fishing to soft plastics.  There we were on Mallacoota’s bottom lake, Steve calls the fish a good size looking at its head shaking, but when netted, it was revealed to be undersized!  Clearly some pelagic likes flathead tails as much as me. I should have noted in the edition, Stumpy went back into the water to fight another day.

The issue is a little light on for local news.  I had to publish early as I’ll be away in the last week of Nov (no, not fishing unfortunately) so our special Christmas edition could be a bumper issue with reports on the BugBlitz from Jaime (conducted last weekend), the Brogo trip led by Stefan this weekend, Jindabyne led by me and maybe some stuff from Claude on a recent trip to the upper Snowy.  Fingers crossed.

Meantime, our President has offered up some notes and pictures from his trip across the ditch, and ever-reliable Lyall has submitted an intriguing take on his most recent backcountry trip in NZ.  Peter sent in some notes encouraging us to pay more attention to our flylines (guilty as charged mate – that photo could be one of mine)

Jason

The emails have been few and far between in the Editors Inbox, so I can only assume everyone is out living the dream!

This is a great edition; we have more great articles even a special one from around the globe and spectacular pics of the most recent outing- Lyle Knowles on  the Cotter River.  Thank you for the contributions, I hope you enjoy the content.

Bill

Many thanks to Jason for largely putting this together in my absence.  Thanks also from both of us to Greg for his report on Scottish fishing.

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There was an omission in the original version and JQ has amended the item on casting to recognise the efforts of Nathan.

Bill This edition is a truly combined effort. I’m away at the moment and JQ has stepped in to finish the edition. CAA events have been limited to our annual fly casting lessons for the public. There’s also some items extracted from our News Blog … amazing video of the brown trout spawning run from underwater. So that we don’t totally get withdrawal symptoms, Shaun has provided some instructive notes after his recent sojourn in UK. Some good lessons learnt and now shared.

Jason Thanks for the opportunity to finalise the October edition, the perfect edition right before NSW Trout Opening. ‘Juicy’ is the best word for this edition; it contains lots of great articles and something to interest every angler. I hope you enjoy it, and as always, please consider sending through your fish photos with a sentence or two. Share, share, share! Tight lines and remember to look out for those ‘wriggle’ sticks.. JQ

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apologies – I uploaded the newsletter with the last month’s details in ‘coming events’ – all else the same for those who have read it already.

A pretty quiet edition given that CAA events are in quiet mode EXCEPT the all important AGM and Trophy Awards.  Many thanks to the ever-energetic Lyall for providing some fishing news.

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oops, third time lucky.  Peter also spotted that in “Coming Events” I had the wrong date for the meeting and somehow “Bondi Forest Lodge” appeared in the heading.  (Second attempt had the wrong edition 🙂

A slightly smaller edition, but particular thanks go to John (for a report on our recent Saltwater event) and Andrew sharing his observations of a trip to UK – with success angling.

After Luke produced the new look for the newsletter (hope you like it), he and I have been discussing the general content.  We are looking for some feedback please.  Specifically:

• Are there any specific topics or items you’d like to see included in The Burley Line?
• Are there any existing topics or items you’d like to see removed from The Burley Line?

Meanwhile, two items have come up within the Council of Freshwater Anglers.  CFA are looking for copies of historical angler’s diaries to support Uni Syd study into recreational fishing challenges.  We’ll be formally approached in due course, but members with diaries are asked to consider whether they might be prepared to participate.  There is a serious concern about Recreational Fishing NSW Advisory Council ceasing it’s operation due to not processing wholesale replacement of its members.  Without this council, the trust funds holding our NSW licence fees cannot be properly managed.  All holder of the NSW licence ought to be concerned that the angling community have lost their voice in the management of what is arguably our money – watch this space.

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Apologies, Luke has reminded me that I should have made one important point in the newsletter … the record of fish is only for interest and encouragement to get out and fish. It is not the official recording. Make sure your put your catches for the year in the green book that Lyall brings to meetings. Especially important with the July meeting being last of the trophy period.

This issue has an eclectic collection: Lyall’s “June Chill” trip report shows why more folk should get along to our events. Meanwhile: a solo JM reports on the Eucumbene on closing weekend; Peter and Roger got along to a UMDR workshop on the Macquarie Perch restoral efforts on the Bidgee and report from JQ on the FFA Nationals. I’ve also extracted a learned article from a Kiwi colleague on the impact of fog on fishing – I wonder if Australian fog has the same effects. Finally, there is a bunch of new entries in the ‘longer term, non-CAA’ events, especially the kid’s workshops.

With our AGM coming up in August, I’m expecting Lyall will want all trophies returned at the meeting or ASP. I’ll try to remember to bring in mine.

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Luke’s latest post on CAA Facebook reminds me that I forgot to mention stream trout season closure real soon now. Oops🙄

An eclectic mix this month.

Thanks Shaun for the gear review on modestly priced wading boot studs – I’ve still got to order mine. There is also some interesting news from MAS and CFA. Many thanks to Stefan for a thoughtful report on the Tumut trip. The photos from Lyall, and particularly by Thomas, are brilliant. Lyall is a trusted provider of material for Burley Line but I look forward to more from Thomas to grace our photo of the month to add to this month’s.

There’s an article here following on from Jaime’s great idea suggesting the coffee and shop trip to the Grand Opening of the Compleat Angler Canberra – the photos show a bunch of happy shoppers in amongst extensive stock. Well done and good luck to Nathan in this new endeavour.

Lyall was kind enough to pen some notes on the recent FFA National Championship held at Tumut. I noted that JQ had been too busy with work (and I’m aware family) to get in his report on this event for this issue. I look forward to some words on his experience with the FFA event next month.

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The weather didn’t seem to have read the script over Easter.  Yep, a little cooler in the evening and the leaves were falling, but the temperatures were unseasonable.  Whereas Peter, Ian and I were in NZ with some drastic winds and floods but thankfully still got a few fish (especially that ‘almost a Kiwi’ Ian).  Anyway, we seem to be now getting some rain, but I’m unsure if it is having impact on the Monaro streams.

One big item of news is that our own prodigal son, Nathan, is back in town and the powerhouse behind an expansion of WetSpot in Fyshwick taking over the Compleat Angler franchise following the Pratt’s closure.  I’ll pop more info up on the news blog in due course but Nathan tells me it won’t be truly operational for a few week yet.

This issue seemed to be shaping up as a bit thin but clearly my mind is slipping – had totally forgotten Luke’s report on the April trip that he had sent to me while I was away.  It was an excellent report so I’ve popped it into our “Places” blog for visibility.  A copy is included in this issue also.  Claude has reported back on some time he had on Eucumbene plus a couple of mystery photos from Luke.  JQ has been competition fishing and he explains a little about how it works.  Maybe the rest of you have been too busy fishing to report in but, as always, I truly appreciate my reliable correspondents coming through.

Breaking news: This updated version has Luke’s full report PLUS Claude submitted some up-to-date intel on his trip on 5 May to the Tumut – essential reading for those going up with Stefan later this month.

Claude remarked to me the other day that our ‘photo of the month’ and cover shots are perhaps dominated by “fish grab” – yep, guilty as charged.  Accordingly this month has a more scenic cover image courtesy of Claude – thanks mate.

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