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Rodders News |
Updated
3 February, 2012
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February 2012 |
February Meeting
Welcome to 2012. Last night's meeting was held in what have been fairly standard weather conditions lately (ie rain, rain and more rain) so the casting session was skipped and we cut to the chase. With a good turnout considering the conditions and two months of fishing since our last meeting our regular round-table report from members resulted in a long and varied list of species ranging from locally-caught estuary and pelagic fish including salmon, frigate mackerel, bonito and kingfish to bream, flounder and flathead, to bass, golden perch and trout, to Queensland giant herring and NZ King salmon.
Our monthly achievment award went to John Robb for his first saltwater species on fly and we welcomed visitors Trent Morson and Len Verrenkamp to the meeting. Trent and Len were impressed enough with our friendly group that they both joined straight away, so welcome to the club guys.
During the meeting John Humphries spoke about the upcoming Interclub which the club regularly attends.
Following the formalities we were treated to a talk by Rob Harwood on his recent trip to Canada and the US. Starting in LA Rob and Penny drove up the west coast to Vancouver in British Columbi where Rob hooked up with a guide and caught salmon until his arms ached and got sick of them. They then caught the Trans-Canadian railway to the east coast where the hosptiality of a local tackle shop owner saw Rob fishing for brook trout in bear country. Following this they travelled down the east coast to Martha's Vineyard where Rob fished for Mack Tuna. All in all it sounded like an awesome trip. Thanks to Rob for sharing it with us. Hopefully we'll be able to put in a trip report with pictures in the not too distant future.
Don't forget our 2012 Challenge. This year the challenge is to catch the most species on a surface fly so let's see what we can hook.
2 February 2012 |
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December 2011 |
December Meeting
The last meeting for the year was held last night with 18 members and 1 visitor. Fishing reports from members for the month revealed a range of fish caught including whiting, mullett, flathead, bream, salmon, kingfish, bass and brown and rainbow trout.
The club's November trip to the Nepean River was very successful with around 160 bass caught over the weekend. Many thanks to Brownie for arranging the trip and to his brother for accommodating us in his back yard. Everyone enjoyed the hospitality even though the weather was sweltering. Congratulations to Brook, Dave De Luca and Steve Bunney for their first bass on fly.
Congratulations also go to Murray Keating. Murray entered his photo in the NSW Fisheries calendar competition and won a place in the calendar. His photo was also chosen for the recreational fishing guide booklet cover and will be seen by thousands of people around the state.
Speaking of calendars, our club calendar has arrived and was distributed to members at the meeting. If you weren't at the meeting and ordered one then please contact the club secretary to arrange picking it up.
John Robb also gave us a report on the NSW RFA meeting held recently in which he and John Humphries attended.
December's Christmas outing is this Sunday (11th), departing from Koolewong at 6am. A fish and chip lunch will be supplied to members and family at 12.30pm back at Koolewong. Please let Steve Tizard know if you are attending and how many will be in your party.
We also decided the Club Challenge for 2012 was to catch the most species as possible on surface flies. So dust off those poppers, gurglers, dahlbergs and dries and see what you can catch.
Finally, Steve Tizard presented to us a slideshow created by his wife Catherine on their trip to Africa. The photos were amazing and everyone enjoyed the show.
The committee would like to take this opportunity to wish all members a safe and enjoyable Christmas break. Don't forget there's no meeting in January but there will be a Pelagics outing from Patonga on the 15th of January 2012.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
8 December 2011 |
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November 2011 |
November Meeting
Last night's meeting was a big one, kicking off with a casting session and tournament casting demo by Jeff Randall from the Lakeside Fly Fishers in Sydney. Jeff demonstrated the various disciplnes involved in tournament casting with some of the members giving it a go. It would certainly improve casting accuracy and we may introduce a few casting targets at future casting sessions.
At the meeting itself Jeff gave us a rundown on how to get involved in tournament casting. Not a lot is done in NSW on the tournament casting ffront and Jeff is hoping to drum up some interest. If you are interested please contact Dave or myself.
Also at the meeting was the judging of the annual club calendar photo competition. With nearly 100 photos submitted it was hard to choose just 12 but after the votes were tallied we ended up with a great selection of photos for the 2012 calendar. The winners were:
1st: Chris Bannerman
2nd: Ken Colmer
3rd: Steve Tizard
You can view the 13 top photos here.
Remember, you need to ORDER AND PAY for your calendar by Friday 11th November. Please give your payment to either Dave Witham, Bob Williams, Steve Tizard or Chris Bannerman. Only a few extra calendars will be ordered so you may miss out unless you pre-order.
This month's outing is for bass on the Nepean River. Check the trip calendar for further details. And the December outing has been brought forward to 11 December.
November 3 2011 |
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September 2011 |
September Meeting
At last night's monthly meeting we had the pleasure of a presentation and display of fly fishing gear from John of Pro-Angler. John gave us a run down of Pro-Angler's fishing holidays, covering a diverse range of destinations from Oberon and Victoria to Christmas Island and Patagonia. All sounded great and the prices weren't too bad either. John was full of great advice for travelling to those places and everyone enjoyed the presentation with plenty of questions and discussion.
Afterwards members perused a range of Pro-Angler products including Stalker rods and reels, shirts, jackets, waders, boots, lines and an assortment of accessories. Purchases were discounted for the evening and a number of people got a great deal. Our thanks to John for spending the time to visit us. We look forward to seeing him again next year as we make this an annual visit.
A quick meeting was held afterwards covering the upcoming Oberon trip and this month's salmon trip (contact Mac Lyall if you wish to come along).
Steve Tizard gave us a quick taste of his Africa trip. He'll be giving members a slideshow at one of our future meetings.
Members were also informed of a visit by Jeff Randall of the Lake Lakeside Fly Fishing Club, in Sydney. Jeff is a tournament fly caster and will be giving us an introduction to tournament fly casting, an area of the sport that we haven't really heard about up here. Dave has arranged for Jeff to come to the November meeting, give us a demo at the casting session prior to the meeting and a talk during the meeting. This sport is practically non- existent in NSW, with Lakeside being the only club that actually holds regular competition casting (with the exception of ACT Fly Fishers). Victoria has quite a strong following in tournament casting, and Jeff is looking to try and create a little more interest from other clubs within NSW, and hence open up a few more opportunities for people within NSW who have, or would like to have a bit more activity in this area of fly casting.
Congratulations to Terry Whitter for his triple 'first-catch', winning the best fish prize for the month.
8 September 2011
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August 2011 |
NQ FlyFishers
The NQ Flyfishers held their August meeting on the 27th August. The minutes from the meeting can be read here.
31 August 2011
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Film Festival A Great Success
 We had a great turnout for the Film Festival on Friday night. Between 30 and 40 members and visitors enjoyed a range of films presented by Nick Reygaert, the highlight being excerpts from his new film-in-progress "Hatch".
From around the globe Nick has captured the most amazing hatches from the chalk streams of the UK to a massive mayfly hatch in Poland to krill off the Bay of Isles in NZ. The spectacles were amazing and the cinematography incredible. Narrated by reknowned Australian fly fishing author Greg French it's going to be an awesome film. I can't wait to see the final cut.
Other films Nick presented to us included Jazz and Fly - a group of scandinavian jazz musicians who play jazz and fish. A great laid back, off-beat film about four guys who just enjoy getting out there and fishing, and how those few moments of magic when you hook a nice fish makes it all worth while. Their enthusiasm is infectious and they prove that you don't need to catch huge fish or huge numbers to thoroughly enjoy fishing.
We also got to see Mikey Weir's follow-up to Soulfish, aptly named Soulfish II. Mikey has spent 3 weeks rafting down a remote river in Mongolia after his beloved taimen, then travelled to Egypt to fish for Nile Perch in Lake Nassau. If the fishing isn't inspiring enough, the scenery is fantastic.
 Finally we got to watch April Vokey and friends fish for Steelhead in British Columbia. This is an amazing part of the world with some tryuly amazing fish. And the spey casting . . . well you just had to see it, it was amazing. There were more than a few of us now who yearn for a go at this style of fishing.
My thanks to Nick for bringing the show to us, to Rob Harwood for generously supplying the projector, to Stickerman for picking up and setting up the screen and speakers, and everyone esle who helped make the night a resounding success. Nick's already looking forward to visiting next year as are we.
13 August 2011
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New Philip Weigall Book
Exisle Publishing have a brand new book coming out this month. It’s called Fishing Sense and is written by acclaimed fly fishing author, Philip Weigall.
A perfect book for Father’s Day, Philip knows the mind of a trout inside out and over many decades of fly fishing has learnt the ideal conditions that will make catching your next trout a success.
Here's a link to their media release.
11 August 2011
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Hastings Fly Fishers Newsletter
The Hastings Fly Fishers have held their second AGM and sent us their latest newsletter. It can be read here.
8 August 2011
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Annual General Meeting
With 10 years to celebrate we had a record turnout of members to the meeting. We welcomed our newest members Ian Keunig and Mick Dillon, and visitors Joel Norman and Brooke Kennett.
Dave gave a stirring speech on the last ten years of the club, it's success due to its members, its principles and the hard work of those who have served on the club's committee. Over 130 people have been a member of the club over the ten year period.
The new committee were elected - they are David Witham (President), Bob Williams (Vice President), Steve Tizard (Treasurer) and Chris Bannerman (Secretary).
People who live too far away to make meetings or trips can now join as an 'out of area' member. For $15 they are entitled to attend two club outings.
Updates on the new web site and the 10 year anniversary book were given by Chris Bannerman. The new web site is up and running. The members' area will be available soon.
Members were reminded that our annual screening of Nick Reygaert's RISE FLY FISHING FILM FESTIVAL will be on Friday 12 August. The venue is our club meeting room at Kariong Neighbourhood Centre at 7.30pm. A preview of the films can be found on Nick's web site Gin-Clear.
The August outing is to Lake St Clair. See the trip calendar for details.
The accomodation for the Oberon outing has been booked for the 28-30 October. We have beds for 16 people so please contact Murray Keating to reserve your place. There will be a $50 non-refundable deposit required to reserve your place. First in best dressed.
The best fish prize was awarded to Dave DeLuca, Rick Montgomery and Garry Kent.
Species caught in the last month by members included EP, salmon, trout, bream, butterfish, silver drummer, black drummer, mullet, pike, bonefish, trevally and goatfish.
The night finished up with a demo of the new web site and a slide show of photos from the club's last 10 years.
4 August 2011
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June 2011 |
| This year's Film Festival presented by Nick Reygaert will be held on Friday 12 August at 7.30pm. Nick's been busy over the last year showing his films to enthusiastic audiences across Europe, so the Festival comes to the Central Coast a bit later than usual. But the wait has been worthwhile as the films presented this year look truly amazing. Check out the previews on Nick's web site here. |
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7 May 2011 |
| Wednesday night's meeting treated members to a fascinating slideshow and talk presented by one of the greats of Australian fly fishing - Peter Morse. Peter spoke about his top ten species, derived from nearly 300 that he's caught over the years. His stories kept us captivated and photos inspired us. We thank Peter for coming all the way from the Blue Mountains to share his stories with us. It was greatly appreciated by all. |
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March 2011 |
| Coming up to our ten year anniversary there's been some talk of celebrations and commemorations. One idea is to publish a book commemorating ten years of fly fishing by the club. Chris Bannerman has volunteered to head a small group to produce the book and have it published. The book will cover our history, favourite fishing destinations and species and a bit about those who have put so much effort into steering the club on its successful path over the years. |
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The November meeting saw the close of the calendar photo competition. Fifty four photos were entered and members voted for their favourites.
After the voting was over we were treated to another fantastic slide show from John Robertson. John has just returned from South Africa where he spent time fishing for a variety of exotic fish. His trip report will appear here shortly.
Also of interest was the new clear acrylic body material "Tuffleye" which was demonstrated by Dave Witham. The gel-like substance is easly to handle, is cured by UV light and is reported to stay clear for forever! Numerous members show a great deal of interest and ordered some via Dave, so no doubt we'll see how this goes.
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