Author Archives: bill

Post AGM Stuff

The AGM will be fully reported in the next Burley Line including our new (slightly changed – congratulations Ryan!) Committee, however there were some other important outcomes.

The 2023-24 program on the member’s card has a few errors so our Secretary will be emailing out a corrected program. I think the 2023-24 program on our website is correct, but I’ll amend it if Secretary’s email has any differences. The website program has incorporated the planned flytying schedule. Both are always subject to change, but any changes will be promulgated.

With the start of a new ‘trophy season’, the ‘rate my catch’ calculator has been reviewed. The calculator is the basis for comparing our different natives species for the Keith Shield trophy. It is based on DPI Fisheries legal minimum lengths and ANSA length records for line caught fish. Each are subject to possible change. As it happens there’s been none since we established the calculator in 2017.

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.

‘Useful Links’ Page Revised

In these days of ChatGPT and ever more powerful search engines, ‘Useful Links’ pages have become a bit passe but good practice still behoves us to keep ours up to date.

I saw someone had followed the link to a NSW Government link, but when investigated I found the link was broken. This has prompted me to reconfirm and fix all the links.

Our ‘Useful Links’ page could do with an entire revamp, but I’ll leave it to another day. Meantime, if you identify something that would be an ongoing resource to members, please send them to the Burley Line address on our home page.

Fly tying Wed 26 Jul 2023 – Wiggly Damsel

Ryan has been experimenting with a number of patterns. For July’s flytying he’ll lead us tying a wiggly damsel. A good choice for the Bondi Forest trip?

Hooks- main body- #14-16 wet/nymph hook (Tiemco 3769 for example).

Articulated shank- any hook of the same size with a straight eye will do, as the bend will be cut off it doesn’t need to be a good quality one, but a hook that works well is a Tiemco 101 #14-16.

Tail and body- olive marabou.

Ribbing (optional)- copper wire.

Eyes- black or gold bead chain. Extra small.

And finally some mono line. 3x tippet works well.

Zoom details will be provided closer to the event.

Keyword wetfly nymphfly

RFANSW Newsletter June 2023

Available here. Key points:

  • RFA’s meeting with Minister Moriarty
  • NSW Trout Strategy – some notes from a brief on the current draft
  • 2023 Winburndale Trout Muster – relocate several hundred brown and rainbow rrout from the Winburndale Dam and the stream above, to the Mill Pond at Portland