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Coming Events

Next Meeting

8 Apr – normal time of 7:30PM at Raiders/Weston club. Paul will be regaling us with tales and tips from his recent and very successful New Zealand trip.

Next Activities

23 Apr – Fly tying – Perdigon and Sunken Ant. Details will be emailed. Look out for Zoom invite.

24-26 Apr – Goodradigbee with Ryan … looks like there is one bed available.

Fly Tying Wednesday 22nd April 2026 – Olive Perdigon, Sunken Ant, Euronymphing Leaders

See below for the recipes from Lachy (our tying lead for the night) for; Olive Flash Perdigon, Sunken Ant and Euro Nymphing Leaders.

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Olive Flash (or Gasolina) Perdigon

  • Hook – Size 14 or 16 jig hook – eg. Hanak 450/460/470, Dohiku HDJ
  • Bead – Tungsten 3.0mm (for sz 16) or 3.5mm (for sz 14) in copper colour
  • Thread – Black 70 Denier thread or nano silk 50-100 Denier
  • Tail – Coq de Leon dark or medium pardo (use what you have)
  • Body – Hends 233 Krystal Flash Dark Brown (has a green shine)
  • Resin – Thin and clear UV resin (eg Solarez Bone Dry)
  • Wing case – Black UV resin / nail polish / sharpie (optional)

Sunken Ant

  • Hook – Size 16 or 14 scud caddis pupa hook – eg Dohiku 644, Hanak 300 series eg 333.
  • Bead – Tungsten black nickel (2.0mm-3.0mm)
  • Thread – Black UTC 70 and Rusty Brown Uni 8/0
  • CDC – Brown or Dark Brown
  • Resin – Thin and clear UV resin (eg Solarez Bone Dry)

Euro Nymphing Leaders

  • Butt Section – Can vary significantly. Usually VERY long ~ 9-10m. A large variety of mono lines gives ample opportunity to experiment. Some options include: Maxima Fibre Glow / Chameleon / Ultragreen, Pierre Sempe Mono line (avail from FLyFinz), Sunline Hi-Vis – Orange mono, Soldarini Camou Line (Boss is getting some in), Adams Euro Nymph Mono line (from US – Tactical Fly Fisher)
  • Sighter/Indicator – Many options with makes and colour. Good to start with Rio Two-Tone Indicator in hi-viz pink and yellow. Can also use Sakura Indicator Markers available from Officeworks (on order). You can also tie on a ‘backing barrel’ which is a uni knot tied with fluro backing of your choice and you leave on a longish tag/s. This is to help with sighting your line.
  • Tippet Ring – Normally go for 2.0mm tippet ring
  • Knots – Use either blood knots or double uni knots for joining the butt section to sighter. I use either a 16-20 knot or double Davey knot to tie the butt section to the fly line and when tying to the tippet ring – most often the 16-20 knot with thinner lines.
  • Hint – When starting, go for a thicker butt section until your technique and confidence builds, then go thinner.

Leader Recipes

  • Beginner/Standard – 9m 15-20lb Maxima – 1m 3X (7lb) Indicator (can also add a backing barrel [uni knot] if desired) – Tippet ring – fluro tippet, start with1.5m of 5X to a single weighted nymph
  • Thin – 9m 6-8lb Maxima/Sunline – 1m 4X (6lb) Indicator – Tippet ring – 5X to 6X fluro tippet about 1.5 times max water depth
  • Micro – 9-10m <0.20mm mono eg Pierre Sempe/Soldarini/Adams – use Sakura paint marker for indicator – Tippet Ring – 6X to 7X about 1.5 times max water depth

Here is a diagram of the leader setup and a material that Lachy found at Boss that is ideal for the Perdigon.

April 2026 Burley Line (Issue 221)

No club event for March – cancelled as Claude was available to lead (and no-one volunteered to take it on?).  Instead we have some personal reports – an extensive one from some ‘usual suspects’, one from a regular contributor of other snippets and one from a keen junior member.

We have more from our WhatsApp channels – contact Claude to join up.

As always – some interesting links from Greg S as well as a report on his recent trip to the coast.  A fabulous report from Hector on his Canberra Day trip – since catching his first trout on fly at Jindabyne he’s really gotten into the swing of things.

Our web home page has references to the new individual membership for NSWCFA and MAS.

March 2026 Burley Line (Issue 220)

Well done Hector – photo of the month captures his joy.
Apologies from me for leaving off the promotion of Feb Fly tying in last newsletter edition.
A very full edition this month, with some generous submissions from those who went on the Jindabyne trip – many thanks folks, especially Bob’s record of interview (reproduced here with acknowledgement). I think everyone shared with me an impression of “fishing was hard but a most enjoyable trip”.
I report on a trip to NZ that I missed (drat). Inspires me to try to go again – others of you may be interested in our connections with Hastings Fly Fishing Club for access to their lodge.
We have more from our WhatsApp channels – contact Claude to join up.
Some good news from Peter for local fishing, and Gaden Hatchery expansions.
As always – some interesting snippets from Greg S.

0220

GFA Foam Hopper – Wednesday 25 Feb 2026

John hosted the tying of the GFA Foam Hopper. This is a great all-around attractor pattern in late summer when larger terrestrials are out. This is a great searching pattern with a dropper underneath. It’s also very buoyant allowing for heavier droppers to be used.


Ingredients:

Hook: 2 or 3 X-long hopper hook  – Sizes 6-14
Thread: UTC 140 Denier – Tan (or equivalent to suit the foam colour)
Underbody: Dubbing
Body: Craft Foam, 2-3mm – Tan/Yellow
Wing: Elk hair, cleaned and stacked
Hot Spot: Bright Craft Foam or other indicator material – 2mm
Legs: Striped round-rubber legs – Medium


References if you wish:

How to Tie a GFA Hopper (Step-By-Step With Video) – Into Fly Fishing


You NEED to Try This HOPPER!

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Meeting Wednesday 11th February, Norm’s 95!

The first meeting of the year on this Wednesday 11th of February will be an opportunity to share our fishing experiences from over the summer period – whether soaking a worm, bouncing a soft plastic or drifting a fly. Please bring any photos or videos on a USB stick to be put up on the projector
Starting at 7:30 pm!
Also, more importantly of course, it’s Norm’s 95th! Come down, share a drink, some cake and listen to some stories from a wonderful man we are fortunate to know.

February 2026 Burley Line (Issue 219)

I thought the Christmas/New Year period might be pretty quiet with no meetings and only one club event, but there was a lot going on in our social media accounts.  If you aren’t there already, you should think about joining our WhatsApp channels.

Thanks to Claude for organising our carp event, and providing the report.  Was fun to watch the images get around to the participants in real time on the event Whatsapp channel inspiring everyone to put in their best shots.  Great to see a good roll up.

Two extended reports (also for inclusion in our ‘places’ blog) from Paul and Jason make for interesting reading.  What is notable is the lack of rainbows this season so far.

There’s also a snippet on hints for beginners in the local area.

Much appreciate Greg S’s continued support over the break – some really interesting stuff here.

0219