Andrew is always a very informative andentertaining speaker, and his presentationwill be well worth hearing.

So, mark it in your diary – Thursday,March 23, 8:00 pm at the Celtic Club.

All members are welcome to join us at6:15 pm for Dinner in the ShamrockRestaurant prior to the meeting, butPLEASE make a Dinner booking onWednesday, March 22, by phoning 0498254 497 and leaving a message.

M A R C H 2 0 1 7

Andrew is a long-standing and well-known member of the Association.

He is recognised as a highly skilled flydesigner and tier, and is an authority onfishing the Mataura and other Southlandrivers of New Zealand

At our March meeting he will speak onone of his favourite topics - thesignificance of fly patterns compared withfly design. He will give a brief history offlies and how flies tied to a patterngradually morphed into flies that weredesigned to simulate insect behaviour.The significance of this is how it effectsour selection of the flies we use whenfishing.

Andrew will also discuss insect behaviourand how trout respond when feeding onany particular food source, and how thisrelates to the selection of flies and how wefish them. He will also cover thetechniques and the gear he uses whenputting all this into effect.

If time permits he will also describedownstream wet fly fishing - the flies, thegear and the techniques necessary tocatch fish, especially when the rivers arein spate early in the season when the fishare often out of reach.

Thursday, March 23, 8:00 pm at the

Celtic Club

March Meeting with Andrew Mossman

2 VFFA MARCH 2017

THE VICTORIAN FLY FISHERS’ ASSOCIATION INC.

All material copyright © all rights reserved. No part of the contents of this publication may bereproduced without prior written consent of the publisher. Published monthly by The VictorianFly Fishers' Association Inc., PO Box 18423 Melbourne Bourke Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3001.

PresidentMike Jarvis

Email: president@vffa.org.au

Honorary SecretaryKevin Finn

Email: secretary@vffa.org.au

VFFA Website AdministratorKevin Finn

Email: webadmin@vffa.org.au

Honorary TreasurerTony Mitchem

Email: treasurer@vffa.org.au

Honorary EditorLyndon Webb

Email: editor@vffa.org.au

Honorary LibrarianRick Dugina

Email: library@vffa.org.au

VOL. 65 NO.5 – MARCH 2017Organisation No. A0024750J

P.O. Box 18423 Melbourne Bourke Street, Melbourne 3001info@vffa.org.au www.vffa.org.au

Other Council members:

Senior Vice President: John Permewan

Councillors: Alex Evans

David Grisold

Dermot O’Brien

John Pilkington

Jason Platts

Terry Rogers

Ian Sambell

Hamish Hughes (Immediate Past President)

3MARCH 2017 VFFA

Index

VFFA Office Holders .......................................2

Web Fish ........................................................3

President’s Message ......................................4

April Meeting With Anthony, Werner and Bo..6

February Meeting with Rick Dobson ..............8

Editor’s Desk – Lyndon Webb ......................14

Australian Fly Fishers’ Art And Craft Show...16

Ray Brown’s Tasmania Report .....................17

The 2017 VFFA Tassie Trip ...........................18

NOE – Bairnsdale Donger.............................20

Rick Wallace.................................................21

Peter McKean – A Tribute By Nick Taransky...25

One New Zealand Year .................................29

Outback Adventure On The Rangitikei ..........32

Fly of the Month ...........................................37

VFFA Meetings & Activities ..........................40

About the VFFA web site:

The VFFA web site has a comprehensive coverage of VFFA events, meetings , trips, …updated

monthly making it easy to track dates and times.

Features of VFFA web site:

• Monthly Newsletter delivered to members in full colour.

• Live access to more than five years of past Newsletters

• Newsletter in PDF format for easy reading on computers / iPads / tablets & smart phones

• Newsletter in PDF format that can be read and saved on iPads and tablets like eBooks

• Calendar of all activities that can be synced with all you digital device calendars

• Gallery of events - Photos and Event reports

• Where to fish directories: Victoria, Tasmania, NSW, New Zealand

Web FishCast regularly at vffa.org.au

4 VFFA MARCH 2017

President’s Message

Well I hope you have all been doingmore fishing than I have so far this

year. One thing and another, includinghouse renovations and then a bout ofpneumonia, has meant the trout havebeen pretty safe as far as I have beenconcerned. That’s not to say I haven’tventured out. I have, but more on thatlater.

Our luncheon meeting in February was atreat. VFFA member and proprietor of theAussie Angler tackle store, Rick Dobson,was our guest speaker and he kept usentertained and informed with his manyhints, tips and general advice on how tocatch more fish. There’s more on his talkelsewhere in this issue and it is well worthreading for those of you who could notattend.

Several members who did attend theluncheon had also been on the trip toTasmania, which was once again a greatsuccess, even though the fishing wassomewhat tough going. Everyonecertainly had a good time and it waspleasing to hear reports that suggest thefishing has improved in the Apple Islecompared with the last few years.

I also witnessed for myself theimprovement in trout numbers in Victoriaduring a recent visit to the upperGoulburn River above Kevington. I hadbeen invited to attend a meeting with JimCastles, Acting Riparian and RiverChannel Manager of the Goulburn BrokenCatchment Management Authority andGeoff Brennan, River Health ProjectOfficer with the GBCMA, at our memberTony Armstrong’s property to discuss apotential in-stream habitat enhancementproject the Authority is keen to proceedwith.

In order for the project to go ahead theAuthority needs local landowner support(Tony) and the support of a recognisedangling organisation. That’s where theVFFA comes in, and we have agreed tosupport this project which will be calledthe “Upper Goulburn Catchment WildTrout Habitat Restoration Project”.Funding for the project will come from theVictorian Government.

The project involves the strategic seedingof a section of the river on Tony’s propertywith large boulders in order to influenceriver flow patterns and create improvedhabitat for fish, particularly juvenile trout.If successful, the project is expected toincrease the numbers of trout in the river.

While there, Tony took me fishing, andthough I didn’t exactly cover myself inglory, I did take one small fish and sawplenty more, including several quite largetrout. All good positive stuff.

Here’s one for your diaries: the DongerWeekend competition with the BairnsdaleFly Fishing Club is on April 29 and 30 at

5MARCH 2017 VFFA

the BFFC’s lodge on the Mitta Mitta Rivernear Omeo. This year is the 50thanniversary of the BFFC, which began asa regional offshoot of the VFFA, and tomark the occasion a special dinner isbeing held in Bairnsdale on the Fridayevening, with further anniversary eventstaking place during the weekend at thelodge. We are keen to ensure the VFFA iswell-represented over the weekend atboth the dinner and at the Dongercompetition of the Saturday and Sunday.There is more information elsewhere inthis issue.

Before then of course is the annual VFFAweekend at John Pilkington’s iconicproperty on the Big River at Enoch’sPoint late in March. John tells me theevent is fully booked, so if you have not

already reserved a spot then I’m afraidyou will just have to miss out on what isalways a great weekend. Thanks John foryour hospitality.

Finally, I would remind you of our nextmeeting on March 23, when long-standing member Andrew Mossman willbe our speaker. Andrew has a wealth offly fishing knowledge and experience andis an excellent fly tier, and I can assureyou he will have plenty to share withmembers. Put this date in your diary.

Until next time, good fishing and tightlines.

Inspecting the upper Goulburn near Kevington with Jim Castles(left) and Geoff Brennan from

the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority.

6 VFFA MARCH 2017

Antony Boliancu moved to Thornton asa keen young fly fisher way back in 1996,bought into the business, and has beenthere ever since. He has guided for thepast 21 years on the Goulburn River, andspecialises in drift boating on theGoulburn and leading trips to Montana.He loves showing people another side ofthe Goulburn River, and his knowledgeof where to find fish at all river levels isunparalleled.

He runs the GVFFC website and takesclose-up photos of rising trout in hisspare time.

He is an avid runner and loves to sneakoff down the coast to surf when he getstime. Antony has two children, a boySasha (6) and a girl Ava (4). His wifeMaree is a teacher at the local high schooland runs a small photography business.

Werner Birkner has an abundance ofpassion and enthusiasm for workingwith beginners of all ages. He thrives onthe challenge of working with peoplewho have varying degrees of disabilitiesand/or learning difficulties. He says it’spurely through working with kids andhandicapped people that he has beenable to develop a teaching philosophybased on simplicity and doing the basicswell. His approach is all about makingfly fishing easier and less complicated.

Once people have mastered the basicskills he can’t wait to take them into hisworld of streamside, up close and

personal style of fishing for trout. “I findthat getting people close to the fishworks a treat when it comes to inspiringbeginners. What they don’t realise is thatwhile they are trying to catch a fish, thefish is actually catching them”.

His background working in Melbourne'scomedy circuit comes out when he’sguiding, as his sense of humour becomesevident throughout the course of the day.A keen fly tier, he’s always looking atways to improve or modify patterns tomatch local conditions and lovesexperimenting on his days off.

Away from the river being dad to 9-year-old Jed is his pride and joy, and with wifeSandra is heavily involved in the localcommunity. A keen gardener, avid StKilda fan, trainer of greyhounds, andpartial to a spring carnival punt, heenjoys nothing more than a quiet beerafter a satisfying day on the river - with ajoke or two thrown in too, of course.

Bo Nikolic has been guiding for GVFFCon and off for the past decade. Hebecame a regular fixture in the businessin 1998 and has been guiding for GVFFCin New Zealand since 2005. He also helpswith the Montana trips and is now aqualified drift boat guide after manyyears under the tutelage of Antony andDavid.

Bo specialises in casting instruction andhis skills lie in teaching beginners andintermediates the fundamentals of fly

April Meeting - with Antony, Werner and BoOur speakers for the April meeting are Antony Boliancu, Werner Birkner and BoNikolic. They are all guides at the Goulburn Valley Fly Fishing Centre, and at the Aprilmeeting they plan to talk about some very exciting trout fishing on the Goulburn in thelast couple of seasons since the drought broke, along with their experiences fly fishingin Idaho and Montana. They anticipate plenty of Q & A time, so members are invited togather up all their questions on the Goulburn and its trout fishing, because these guyswill have the answers.

So - mark it in your diary – Thursday, April 20, at the Celtic Club.

7MARCH 2017 VFFA

fishing. He considers himself more ahunter than a fly fisher, and can be oftenfound out in the bush with hiscompound bow. He is also a talentedmusician (guitar and piano) and has aninnate ability to make people feel at easefrom the moment they meet him. As suchhe is one of our most requested guides.

Bo has two children, a boy Sasa (12) anda girl Tiana (11). His wife Virginia is nowa stay-at-home mum; tending full-time tothe needs of the family while Bo is awayguiding.

Drift boating the Goulburn

8 VFFA MARCH 2017

Most of the things I will mention todayare not new. Jack Kelly taught me a lot ofthis stuff 40 years ago. So it’s a rehash ofold elements, but there is nothing wrongwith the old things, though perhaps todaythey come with a different twist.

There are a lot of things that are differentas I get older. Tying on flies and seeing myflies on the water are becoming moredifficult, and staying stable on my feettests me these days too.

Here’s a comment I’ve made a lot of timesrecently, and I believe it – I have neverseen our state fish better in my lifetime.The fish are bigger this year, and there aremore of them. The Goulburn has beenparticularly good. And typical of fishing,it's what you want to do. I know guyswho have gone to the Goulburn andcaught 30 or 40 fish on nymphs, and theywere very satisfied. Others went to theGoulburn and caught just three or fourfish polaroiding the edges - and they, too,were very satisfied.

So this talk is not about numbers and size.It is purely about doing things that willallow you to fish better whilst having agood time and enjoying yourself, whetheryou walk 300 metres or 3 km in the day.

Let’s start with boots. Last November Igot a new pair of boots and thought Iwould try one boot with studs and theother without studs, just to compare andreassure myself I was on the right track. Ifell over in the first five minutes and this

was the start of a terrible afternoon. I wasdrenched to the skin and couldn't catch afish to save my life. So that wrecked thatexperiment.

But thinking about studs, they need to beattached high on the boot sole so that theywill grip on rocks. With studs correctlyplaced your traction and comfort and thusyour confidence are all high.

Who has lost a fly box over the years? Myfly boxes are now attached to my vestwith a length of cord, so that if they fall ordrop I won't lose them. I used to get veryupset when I lost a fly box because Iwould have lost hundreds of favouritepatterns, but now that just can’t happen.

A topic important to me is the recentdevelopment of nymphs. The nymphsthat I'm seeing today in our shop and thatI'm also seeing in the fly boxes ofcompetition anglers are flies I wouldn'thave tied on five years ago. But these daysI won’t take them off. Most are big gaudythings. If I open one of my boxes ofnymphs today you’ll see lots of flashyoranges and reds, all very eye-catching. Ifyou look in my other box, which hastraditional patterns, you’ll see lots ofsubdued colours. The flashy nymphscertainly stand out from the rest.

Now fish have to eat, and they have to seeit before they can eat it. But who wouldhave tied on a nymph with a silver beadhead three years ago? These days we tieon flies with red beads and green beads

February Meeting with Rick DobsonThe February lunchtime meeting was well-attended, no doubt because we again had anexcellent speaker, and also because the lunchtime time-slot, whilst obviously not suitingmembers who work, has proved increasingly popular with our retired members, manyof whom find evening meetings difficult to get to.

Rick was in great form – highly entertaining and full of very practical fly fishingwisdom. He spoke for well over an hour. Here is a summary of the main issues heraised:

9MARCH 2017 VFFA

and pink beads. Craig Coltman told mesome time ago, and he knows stuffbecause he's a very competentcompetition fisherman, that silver beadsare great for catching rainbows in clearwater. So I got myself some silver beadhead nymphs and of course reservedthem for rainbows in clear water.

But then I found myself in New Zealandfishing a brown trout stream where thefishing was really difficult. In desperationI tied on a silver bead head nymph,flopped it out in front of this cantankerousbrown trout, and it came straight over andate it. So now I know silver beads alsocatch brown trout in hard to fish water.

So I'm getting out of the mind-set ofthinking that our flies must be regulationdull browns and greens. We need to thinkoutside the box. I've been tying flies forthe last three nights for New Zealand, andthey are all tied with silver and red andgreen beads. That's all I will tie because Iknow they’ll work. The moral of all this isthat fish will notice them. As I've said tocustomers in the shop, if I am standingtalking to someone and a small brownSmartie races past, I’ll just keep talking.But trust me, if a decent-sized chocolateLindt Ball wanders past I'll leave the

conversation and grab it, because it'sworth having. In terms of trout, if a littlebrown nymph drifts past perhaps it won’teven get noticed. But if a big flashynymph drifts past then the fish are goingto see it, and the knee-jerk reaction will beto chase it and grab it - because it's a bigfood source.

I've got here a typical selection ofVictorian dry flies, and I'm talking aboutbig summer terrestrial bugs -grasshoppers or cicadas. If a fish sees abig bug it's often going to eat it. A fewweeks ago I fished the Rubicon, and itwas very evident that when I smacked abig bug down on the water fish wouldhear it, look up, and in some cases move10 foot across the current to intercept it. Ifinstead I had put down somethingdelicate and small I suspect that often itwould have been ignored.

I'm holding here some of my dry flies, andas you can see they are indeed quite large.They float well in New Zealand in the fastwater. Big flies float better, and the troutsee them better. Splash something downthat's big and they'll show an interestbecause it ticks that big food box. I’veexperienced this on many occasions.

The fishing in the Goulburn this season,particularly just prior to Christmas, wasfantastic. The water was low and flat calmin late November and the fish were takinglittle tiny insects and were sipping veryquietly. Now this situation called for asmall fly. So I'm not saying that my bigflies are the recipe for all situations; thereis a time and place for everything.

And I don't get fussy about small flies.They have one glaring deficiency – towork properly they need an appropriatelysmall tippet diameter. If you had fishedthose small flies on the Goulburn using a5X tippet you might have caught somefish, but if you had used 6X or 7X youwould have caught lots more, >>>

Rick in full flight

10 VFFA MARCH 2017

because the finer tippet allowed the smallfly to move and articulate more naturally.So don't forget that importantrelationship between fly size andappropriate tippet diameter. When I go toNew Zealand and use those big dry flies Ialso use 12 lb tippet.

Some 40 years ago Jack Kelly was tellingme to soak my dry flies overnight so theywould float the next day. Not many of usdo that these days. Instead when we getto the water we put Gink or one of thoseother sticky agents on our flies. Thismakes our dry flies wet and heavy andbedraggled. It’s much better to soak yourflies in liquid the night before, then drythem out. Then when you get to the wateryour flies are dry and will floatbeautifully without anything being puton them.

CDC is a great material, but it givespeople a lot of problems. To give bestresults CDC must be pre-dressed andthen allowed to dry, and then don't putanything else near it. For CDC, and foryour other dry flies too, get some of thatdrying powder that's been around foryears. This stuff is great. I'm going toNew Zealand next week and I've packedfive tubes of it, and could well getthrough a tube a day as I keep drying myflies after each fish I catch on them. Thismaterial is particularly great for CDC – itpulls the moisture out of the CDC so thatthe fly floats beautifully again.

In our shop we have different varieties ofthis dry fly powder, but they are allessentially the same stuff. You put yourfly into the powder, shut the lid, give it afew shakes, and your fly is ready to goagain.

A point to keep in mind is that micro-drag is an important issue, especiallywith bigger flies. I recall a few years agofishing a small creek using a leader thathad a short tippet tied on. The creek was

full of little browns that kept followingthe fly but wouldn't take it. I finallyrealised that the tippet had got too shortand as a consequence was causing drag. Ilengthened the tippet and the line sectionbehind it, and had no problems from thenon.

When you walk up a river every sectionhas a different depth, a different type ofwater, and a different water velocity.Chris Bassano in his talk last year typifiedthis when he said that he would work asection of river very slowly andmethodically, changing his rig to suit eachsituation. Take strike indicators fornymphs as an example. It’s very commonfor anglers to place their strike indicatorson the leader butt close to the end of thefly line. But if you watch a fish take anymph you could almost count to 10 inmany cases before the indicator moved.So moving your indicator up or downyour leader to accommodate differentdepths and water velocities is important.The distance between the indicator andthe nymph should be 1½ to 2 times thewater depth. Changing flies is not a badthing to do, too. If something is notworking then change it.

I rang a guide in New Zealand yesterday.He’d had some Australian anglers withhim last week, so I asked him what thingsAustralian anglers do (wrong) that Ishould comment on here today. Hesuggested that a lot of Australians werenot good at seeing the visual clues forsubsurface strikes. Toconfirm his observation I spoke to acouple of guys in the shop this morningwho fish New Zealand regularly, andthey said the hardest thing for them wasunderstanding when a fish had takentheir fly.

Sometimes a fish will grab your nymphand then turn, and in this case you knowthe fly has been taken. But on other

11MARCH 2017 VFFA

occasions the fish will take a nymphwithout moving much and there is noobvious indication, so the take is veryhard to pick. To improve here you need tolearn to trust your instincts more, and bevery positive. Jim Allen said to me onceon the Great Lake, “Did you want thatfish?” I said, “Yes, of course.” Heresponded, “Well you didn't strike likeyou wanted it.” You've got to strike likeyou mean it. Be positive and forthright. Itresolves a lot of issues.

Let's talk about waders. It’s important towear a belt on top of your hips, becausethis helps take the pressure off yourshoulders. All full-length body wadersthese days are designed to fold down toyour waist, and the top part is made verylight for this reason. When they arefolded down they are much morecomfortable to wear, and you can walkmiles further without getting tired. So getyourself a decent wide belt, and wear iton top of your hips.

Many years ago three of us jumped out ofthe car up near Mount Baw Baw and puton our waders. One of us was wearing apair of heavy jeans under his breathables.At the end of the day he was reallylabouring and tired. He could hardly lifthis legs because his trousers were full ofsweat. Had he worn a pair of long johnsunder his waders he would have beenable to fish for hours more and not comeback a dehydrated lumbering mess. Whatyou wear under your waders is importantto your comfort. Don't wear shorts. Youare better off wearing thermal long johnsbecause they wick moisture away fromyour legs and keep you a whole lot morecomfortable, even on hot days.

Vests. Who gets a sore back at the end of aday's fishing? We load up the front of ourvests with boxes and other things that areheavy and this pulls us over all day. Theimportant thing here is to balance your

vest so that the things in the backcounterbalance the weight of the things inthe front. So load up the back of your vestwith water bottles and other items so thatyour vest is balanced and you probablywon't have an aching back at the end ofthe day.

This is another reason for wearing waderswith a belt around the waist, because thenyou are not carrying all that weightpulling down on your shoulders. The beltaround your waist will carry some of theload.

Someone said to me recently that we haveto find different waters to fish in NewZealand, because all the headwaters havetoo many people there. Now I don't fishheadwaters in New Zealand these days. Iwant to fish where I can have a fair bit ofthe river for myself. Also, at theheadwaters there are not many fish perkilometre. Yes, I know they are big, butthere’s a lot of water separating them.And those big floods wipe out all theinsect life, and it takes time for them torecover. So the fish there are oftenunderfed skinny critters. I would muchrather catch a whole lot more smaller fish.When you go to New Zealand next godown 20 or 30 km from the headwatersand fish there. You will have miles ofbetter fishing, with lots more fish perkilometre, and miles of more stablecountry too where the density of insects isheaps better as well.

I am a great believer in de-glossingleaders. Nothing new here – Jim Allenwas doing it 40 years ago. People use tomake up pots of Fuller’s Earth mixed withglycerine. These days I won't put a newleader or new tippet on without de-glossing it. I carry in my vest these days asmall square of pot scourer that I can useto rub up and down my leader, and whenI’m finished it doesn't reflect light at all. Soif you think the fish are being difficult >>>

12 VFFA MARCH 2017

and particularly spooky then make surethat you get rid of all that gloss.

Often when you are polaroiding fish inTassie or New Zealand, or even here inVictoria, you find that you can be fishingalong when something suddenly catchesyour attention in the distance. You thenspot an angler that you hadn't seenbefore. But you saw him the moment helifted his rod to false cast - because yousaw his rod flash in the sun. These daysevery thousand dollar rod I buy I then getsome fine steel wool and spend fiveminutes gently buffing it back so thatthere is no shine. I do this because I'vebeen in places with guys polaroiding fishand a fish will suddenly spook, and this ismostly because of the flash from a rod tip.Often the tip ring of a new rod is shiny, sobefore I head off on a week's fishing I willTexta it black. My vest now has nothingon it that is shiny or that will flash. It isimportant to obliterate anything shiny –on your lines, your rods, and your vest.

A lot of us fish small streams, and we useshort light rods to fish them. In regard tostriking, we should note that barblesshooks will go in further and hold fishmore securely than barbed hooks.Although it seems counterintuitive, youwill lose less fish hooked on barblesshooks than on hooks with barbs. Oftenwhen you strike when using a light rodthe strike doesn't really set the hook. Youneed to pull with your left hand toremove all slack then lift back so that thebutt of the rod is setting the hook.

Getting back to my phone call to theguide in New Zealand, he said thatapproach was so very important, and thatoften visitors approached a streamincorrectly. This guy is a New Zealandhunter, and he's a very good hunter. He isvery hard to spot along the river becausehe takes advantage of every bit of cover,and camouflages himself well. He catches

more fish as a result.

Another thing he said was that Australianvisitors often played their fish too lightly.He loves to get his fish in quickly andthen release them knowing that they'regoing to survive. He also suggested thatvisitors often used leaders that were toolong. 18 foot leaders were unmanageable,and 14 or 15 foot leaders were better. Anobvious problem is that on manyoccasions fish are reasonably close, so ifyou are using an 18 foot leader there isnot much fly line out of the rod tip to loadthe rod for the cast. In really smallstreams involving lots of short casts it ishelpful to have a leader of perhaps only 7to 8 feet length.

A final comment from the New Zealandguide was that the fly selections ofvisitors were often too limited. Their flyboxes were filled with the traditionalbrowns and greens, and the selectionswere too mundane and plain. More ‘LindtBalls’ were needed.

These days we have lots of new types ofleader material, and often fine diameterlines have large breaking strains. As anexample, a new line of diameter 0.23 mmthat we now stock has a breaking strain ofnearly 10 lb. But sometimes we have abreak off when we strike, so let’s look atthe knots we’re using. I asked severalpeople at the shop recently to tie somestandard leader material onto hooks, thenwe tested the strength of the knots theyused by pulling the line hard. Most linesbroke at the knot fairly easily.

However two knots that I tied didn't.Why the difference? All the knots tiedwere clinch knots, and most had 5 or 6turns. One of my clinch knots had 10turns, and it was significantly stronger.Then for an even stronger knot I foldedthe line back over itself and passed thedouble thickness through the eye of the

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hook, then made a clinch knot with thisdouble thickness of line. This time the linebroke before the knot gave way.

Of course in tying all knots it is importantto wet them with some saliva and then

slide them back firmly so that they beddown properly. I'm also using those tinytippet rings in my leaders these days, asthey are very handy.

Many thanks for your attention.

Lake Wendouree Two FlyCompetition

The Ballarat Fly Fishers’ LakeWendouree Two Fly Competition willbe held this year on March 25 and 26.The cost of entering the event is $50per fly fisher, and this includes entry tothe event, a two-course dinner onSaturday night and breakfast onSunday morning.

All profits from the raffle and entrancefees will go towards supporting thoseClub members who are selected torepresent Australia at internationalevents.

The winner of the Lake WendoureeTwo Fly will receive a Stalker GlideFly Rod, total value of $650, and aminiature Jim Thomas Memorialtrophy. This event has becomeextremely popular and is now regardedas the “not to be missed” event inVictoria’s fly fishing calendar.

Interested members should contactChris Doody on 0428 304 004 or viaemail on chrisdoody@bigpond.com forfurther information and entrance forms.

Fishing Sessions are on Saturday-starting at 10am and ending at 4pm ,and on Sunday- starting at 5am andending at 12 noon. Fishing will beallowed from either a boat or from theshore. Trophies to be presented at12:45 pm on the Sunday.

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"It is not a fish until it is on the bank."(Irish Proverb)

"The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuitof what is elusive but attainable, a perpetualseries of occasions for hope." (John Buchan)

"O, sir, doubt not that Angling is an art; is itnot an art to deceive a trout with an artificialfly?" (Isaak Walton)

"Some act and talk as though casting werethe entire art of fly fishing, and grade anangler solely by the distance he can coverwith his flies. This is a great mistake. Castingis but a method of placing a fly before thetrout without alarming it and within it’sreach. It is merely placing food before a guest.The selection of such food as will suit, and soserving it as to pleasure a fastidious andfickle taste, still remain indispensablynecessary to induce it´s acceptance."(Henry P. Wells "Fly-Rods and Fly Tackle"1885)

The clear implication in these quotes byMessrs Walton and Wells is that the fly isimportant. It matters. I'm sure we’dagree. Rick Dobson was guest speaker atour February meeting, and he had a bit tosay about flies. What he proposed wasfounded on experience and solidpractical results – his and that ofcountless skilled competition anglers –but it had just a tinge of heresy. Toexplain, Rick was promoting nymphsthat were gaudy and eye-catching anddry flies that were really large. Colourfulnymphs work because they stand outfrom the crowd and attract attention,while large dry flies are attractive to trout

because they represent big mouthfuls offood. But the thought that lingers in mymind is that the whole point of fly fishingis to deceive the trout – to convince themthat the boring little brown concoctionfloating past their noses, constructed ofbits of fur and feather, is a real bit of troutfood. It’s supposed to be a convincingsimulation of the actual live bugs alsofloating past that are the same size andshape as our forgery. We’re supposed tocon our speckled mates into believingthat what we’re serving up is a real meal,the same as the stuff they’ve beenmunching on all morning.

But of course trout are foolish and of verylimited intelligence. We know that. I’veseen them ignore a perfectly respectableimitation that I presented ever socarefully, and then rush off to bite on alump of spinning metal that somefeckless spinner-fisherman threw into thewater. I mean, where is the sense andjustice in that?

To add to my perplexity I went fishingthe day after Rick’s talk, racing off to oneof my favourite streams up nearThornton. The paddocks were filled withhoppers – clouds of them leaping into theair as I hiked across to the river. It was ano-brainer that hoppers would be on themenu. But the hoppers in the paddockwere small and the hoppers in my fly boxwere large, so the reactions of the troutwere interesting. I worked my way alongplonking the hopper pattern down. Someindividuals rushed out, scoffed it, andfound themselves being hauled ashore(then returned, of course). Others

EDITOR’S DESKFrom the

15MARCH 2017 VFFA

charged out and smashed the fly, perhapstrying to drown it. Still others cruised out,then drifted down in the current for threeor four feet sitting right under my hopperand giving it a very close inspectionbefore deciding … what? They didn’ttake the fly, for whatever reason. Duringthe day I also fished some veryrespectable small beetles and parachuteAdams and other similar stuff. These flieswere totally ignored. So Rick’s contentionthat big flies (my largish hopper patterns)

will get the attention of trout seemed tobe confirmed. But then Rick’s a smartcookie and a very clever and experiencedangler, and I'm a paid up member of hisfan club.

Rick also assured us that this year’sVictorian trout season is proving to beone of the best ever, so get out and enjoyit. And tight lines,

Lyndon

This magnificent brown was caught by Rick Stuart-Smith, a friend of Greg French. Gregprovided the photo for us. The fish was caught in a fairly inaccessible highland lake in Tasmania.

It was 74 cm long and 48 cm in girth.

16 VFFA MARCH 2017

The VFFA will this year organise andsponsor the Australian Fly Fisher’s

Art and Craft Show, which hopes toattract high quality entries from aroundthe country with a first prize of $5,000.

The show is targeting creative talentswhether their skill is in sculpture,painting, photography, metalwork,woodwork, needlework or in any otherkind of art or craft medium - providing itrepresents any aspect of the sport of flyfishing. This includes fishing equipmentor accessories made by individuals.

The event was last held in 2008 under theVFFA umbrella and was purely an artshow focused on painting as well asother types of figurative art. It attractedover 60 entries and was won byTasmanian-based artist Pieter Zaadstra.

VFFA member Paul Squires is againhelping to organise the show and heexplains some of the changes in thisyear’s format.

“Our previous show was very successful,but we wanted to appeal to an evenwider audience if possible and hence theinclusion of Australia in the name of thecompetition this time as we hope toattract entries from every state. Althoughthe quality of the entries was very highlast time, we felt it was perhaps toofocused on figurative art. The sport of flyfishing has generated exceptionaldevelopments in craft over manycenturies. We only have to think of thebeauty of split cane rods, hand-madereels, fly tying and all other kinds offishing paraphernalia. We want thisyear’s competition to appeal to anyonewith an artistic or craft based talent whoalso shares an interest in fly fishing and alove of the landscapes in which we enjoyit including stillwaters, rivers or the sea.”

President Mike Jarvis explained theVFFA’s interest in organising the show:

“As a sport we are fortunate to haveattracted the brilliance of artists andcraftsmen over many years, who haveproduced exquisite works that capture orenable this wonderful activity. We wantto help foster these talents in currentartists and crafts people and that is whywe are putting forward a significant sumas the first prize.”

“The art world can sometimes be toofocused on contemporary art and we areseeking to provide a platform whereartists and craftspeople can showcasetheir talents, whether they use traditionalskills or modern technology drivenmediums. The exhibition will also be ofgreat interest to collectors looking toacquire exciting new pieces at affordableprices.”

Entries need to be submitted before theclosing date on July 31, 2017, andselected works will be exhibited at aspecial exhibition at Steps Gallery inMelbourne on 13-16 September 2017,which the VFFA is hoping will be openedby a high profile guest. Information onhow to submit an entry can be found viathe VFFA website www.vffa.org.au/vffa-art-craft-show.

The Australian Fly Fishers’ Art and Craft Show

17MARCH 2017 VFFA

In the winter of 2015 we in Tasmaniaexperienced wetter than normal

conditions. As a result the Mercy, Levenand Esk systems sustained massive floods,and some 29 bridges were lost in thestate’s north-west. The Esk system faredmarginally better.

As the season progressed into November,although the river levels were stillunseasonally high, it became evident thatthe fish were there. The mayfly hatches onthe Macquarie River were the best for theperiod I have lived in Tasmania. Eventhough water levels were a problem thefishing was superb, with quite a few fishof 1.5 kg or more caught and released.Early trips to the lower South Esk aroundCressy were successful with numbers ofgood fish coming to the net. They weremostly dun or spinner feeders, though wedid have a period in early to mid-November when the tea tree beetle wassuccessful. At this time grasshoppers hadnot yet made an appearance.

We had a great day on the tea tree beetle inthe middle reaches of the South Esk,though the beetles only lasted a bit over amonth. By mid-December it was all over.We then turned our attention to the upperSouth Esk above Mathinna. We had patchyresults there until mid-January and thenthe river really came to life. Any beetlepattern was successful, and days with 20or more fish caught were normal.

During this same period we fished theupper sections of the North Esk aroundUpper Blessington. I mainly fished tinyspinner patterns because the hoppers hadnot yet started. The North Esk wasproducing good numbers of fish aroundthe 0.5 kg size. Later towards February theNorth Esk was producing better fish on

Snowflake Caddis patterns. The best wecaught were about 20 inches and most fishcaught were in the 14 to 16 inch size.

Our last trip up to the Camden – StPatrick's area yielded more than 40 fish, allon hoppers. In February the middlereaches of the South Esk started producinggood fish on hoppers too.

Around the Cressy area fish started on thehoppers in mid-January. Fish numberswere average, as was the size andcondition of the browns. Water levels hadremained quite high for much of spring,and only after December did they drop toa more reasonable fishing level. For mostof the late spring to early summer we usedmayfly patterns – both duns and spinners.Only after the hoppers appeared has theaction increased.

After many years of very low numbers offish the Camden appears to have made arecovery. The fishing is best when the troutare on the hoppers. Of late, however, theyhave been hammered and have becomequite skittish.

I haven't fished much of the St Patrick'sexcept around the Myrtle Park area. Thatarea has fished very well over the last fewyears. In fact quite a few fish have beencaught in the St Pats and North Esk areasthat have exceeded 4 to 5 kg.

Overall the fishing season has beenexcellent. The North Esk and South Esksystems have both fished extremely well.Just think – we have another 2½ monthsleft of hopper fishing. And the Macquarieusually fires up in early March and intoApril, and the Mayfly fishing should betruly excellent this year.

Best of luck, Ray

Ray Brown's Tasmanian Report VFFA member Ray Brown has provided the following report on the much-improvedfishing in Tasmania over the past season.

18 VFFA MARCH 2017

The 2017 VFFA Tassie Trip

Again this year an intrepid bunch of verykeen and hopeful VFFA members headedto Tassie for a hectic week of fishing andsocializing. The social facets of the weekwere highly successful, as they always are,though the fishing was again challenging.Some anglers were successful, with goodfish landed, while others found thoseTassie trout a tad elusive.

As for other years the base camp wasHayes on Brumbys. The photos here givereaders a sense of what the weekproduced.

Hamish Hughes brings in his bounty from the

Little Lake excursion with David Hemmings

and Rick Dugina from the smoker.

Rick Dugina celebrates the maiden voyage of

his new boat on Brumbys Weir.

Pre-Dinner drinks with Tasmanian

guests on Thursday night whilst

Hugh Maltby slaves in the kitchen.

Hamish with another fine brown.

19MARCH 2017 VFFA

Tasmanians Mark Youngman, Ray Brown, Peter Hayes, Mike and Hamish Stevens, Andrew

Braithwaite, Ian and Adam Dickensen enjoy a delicious roast and some vino with the

10 Victorian VFFA visitors.

Gordon Baker, Peter Hayes, Colin Morrison and Peter Boag up top, with the Great Lake

in the background.

20 VFFA MARCH 2017

VFFA Notice of Major Event (NOE), Bairnsdale Donger, 2017

Date of this NOE – March 1, 2017

Event*:Weekend trip to Bairnsdale Fly Fishers’ (BFF) lodge on the Mitta Mitta Rivernear Omeo for the Dudley Lee Donger fishing challenge between VFFA and BFFC.

Event Co-ordinator (EC):Mike Jarvis on 0418 265 390.

Event date: Friday, April 28, to Sunday, April 30.

Cost/s: To Be Advised

Event location & address: BFF lodge on Mitta Mitta River near Omeo.

Travel directions: Information from co-ordinator.

Accommodation: Shared lodge accommodation or own camping nearby if preferred.

Sleeping requirements: Bring own bedding and towel.

Catering/ food and drink requirements: Self catering for lunch and breakfast, BYOdrinks, BFF will supply Saturday evening Dinner

Description of fishing areas: Mitta Mitta River and nearby streams in the Omeo area.

Mobile phone coverage: None

How physically challenging: Varies from location to location - from easy to difficult.

Fishing license required: Yes, if applicable.

Strongly recommended personal equipment:Waders, wading boots, wading staff,gaiters if wet wading; brimmed hat; glasses/sunglasses, sunscreen; wet weathergear, warm clothing; UHF radio; torch; water and lunch food.

Optional but advisable equipment when fishing out of sight of other participants:UHF radio

Event Registration Form (ERF): To be completed and returned to Mike Jarvis, 4Munro Street, Armadale, Victoria 3143, by April 22, 2017

Date of issue of this NOE:March 1, 2017

Event Registration closing date:� April 22, 2017

*The Event Registration Form (ERF) can be downloaded from the VFFA website orobtained at the next meeting.

NB: This year this event coincides with the 50th Anniversary of the Bairnsdale FlyFishing Club. A special dinner is to be held in Bairnsdale on Friday, April 28, towhich VFFA members are invited to attend. Details can be obtained from MikeJarvis, on 0418 265 390.

21MARCH 2017 VFFA

Iwas just a young reporter in theCanberra press gallery and thus afrequent target for then prime ministerJohn Howard’s famously curmudgeonlypress secretary’s invective. I’d scarcelyhad time to set up my desk in ParliamentHouse when he and I crossed swordsover various stories I was writing.

But one otherwise ordinary afternoon,things took a different turn. I could seehim approaching my desk and launchinginto the opening sentences of a tiradeabout something I’d written whensuddenly a smile gripped his face.

“My dear boy – why didn’t you say?” heblurted out as he reached my desk. Hehad spotted a series of fly fishing picturesI’d just got around to taping to the wallof my cubicle.

With that one break-the-ice moment, allour problems were put behind us andfrom then we traded fishing anecdotesinstead of verbal barbs for the rest of mytime in Canberra. I know politics is of nomore than a passing interest for most ofus, but I mention that story as anexample of how in our sport there reallyis a brotherhood - or sisterhood - of sortsamong us all.

It’s easy to forget when someone drops inupstream of you on a remote troutstream, or refuses to say where theycaught that nice fish they were so keen totell you about. But isolated examplesaside, we really are a tight-knit band inthis fly fishing caper and there are veryfew pastimes that can match it with flyfishing when it comes to breaking the iceand forming friendships. Think about it –someone tells you they are a fly fisher andusually any doubts and suspicions youmight have had about them melt away.

I had another example of this in recenttimes when I was working as a journalistfor The Australian. The former ALPsenator John Black had penned a featurepiece for the paper on demographics andpolitics – areas that are his professionalspeciality in his current career as ademographer. The editor wanted me toextract a news piece from Black’s featurewith a view to running it on the frontpage.

The sensitivities of the exercise becameclear pretty quickly – rewriting the copyof a former senator and expert in his fieldwhile making the necessarysimplifications involved in turning it intoa news piece. And I’d have to ring John –who I didn’t know at all - to go throughwhat I had done to his piece.

Gritting my teeth, I reached for the phoneto put in the call, checking out Black’swebsite as I dialled. “Hang on,

Rick Wallace

>>>

Rick with a fat rainbow he caught during

his time working in Japan

22 VFFA MARCH 2017

what’s this?” I said to myself as I saw atab labelled “fly fishing” on the formersenator’s otherwise demography focusedwebsite.

The first thing that came up when Iclicked the tab was one of several nicestories he’d written about what I soonlearned was his main passion outside ofwork. “I can spend eight hours on thewater chasing trout and miss lunch andonly realise it’s getting dark when I can’tsee the fly anymore three metres in frontof me,’’ the first story starts. “And Iwon’t have worried about clients orpolitics or chasing jobs or anything muchreally. It’s meditation you see. Andtotally absorbing.”

“Ah … a fellow tragic – my kind ofbloke” I said to myself, breathing a sighof relief as the phone began to dial. Whenhe picked up, I immediately turned theconversation to fly fishing beforebroaching the issue of the delicate

microsurgery I would be performing onhis piece.

As it happened Black was about to losemobile reception enroute to a fishing tripat Angler’s Rest. But once he knew I wasa fellow fly fisher it was easy enough toreassure him about what I was doing,and we’ve collaborated on several storiessince. We’ve now made plans to fishtogether when the opportunity presents.

Quite simply, I think there is no othersport that’s so useful in generating trustand breaking down barriers. You canfollow the same football team assomeone, have a shared love of cricket, oropera, ballet or classical music. But it isstill too general. When it comes to flyfishing, being a fly fisher usually equatesto being obsessed with fly fishing. I don’tfind too many lukewarm fly fishingenthusiasts. And you can’t fake it. I thinkthose are the main reasons we can useour sport as an instant way to bond.

A magnificent taimen – much sought after in Japan

23MARCH 2017 VFFA

There is one other importantphenomenon that’s come to the fore infriendship and fly fishing, and that’stechnology. Gadgets –the smart phone,tablets, big-screen TV, the internet – areoften blamed for alienating us fromnature and physical pursuits. But someless heralded technologies that havesnuck in alongside these major advancesare actually a boon for finding like-minded fly fishers and collaborating onadventures.

For many of us, our friendships havebegun in the forum pages of FlyLifemagazine, Facebook fly fishing groupsand numerous other digital hangouts. Ihave people I have got to know fromthese places that I would considerfriends, yet I have never actually metthem. I know them from exchanginginformation on fishing spots and tackletechniques to make each trip as big asuccess as possible. The same goes for flyfishing and sites in other parts of theworld, I have found.

Video hosting sites YouTube and Vimeoare great for people to post footagehighlighting a particular water or species,although I have to say there a few things Ilike less than unedited and jumpy Go-Profootage from a camera worn onsomeone’s head.

At the other end of the spectrum is thework of Australian-born NZ-basedfilmmaker Nick Reygaert (The Sourceseries, Hatch, Predator, Leviathan and otherfilms), whose films have helped lifted thestandard of fly fishing film making. Nickgot in touch with me while I was workingin Japan as The Australian’s Tokyocorrespondent and, after severalconversations on Skype, ended upcoming over to film a segment of his filmPredatorwith me in Hokkaido inNorthern Japan fishing for itoh, orJapanese taimen. I love the fact that otherfly fishers can reach me out of the blueand make contact and we can collaborateon projects such as this.

Again, the shared love of the sportprovides the reservoir of trust that makessuch collaborations work. I think bothNick and I knew without even meetingeach other that we’d get along and beable to work together on this kind ofproject, and that’s exactly how it turnedout.

While the internet creates bothopportunities and threats for creativetypes such as Nick and other film makersand magazine publishers, one beneficialelement to it, in my view, has been theability to share digital images.

My most recent effort for FlyLifewas acollaboration with Japanese fly tierMitsugu Bizen that was heavily photodriven. Bizen is a phenomenal fly tier andhas just as good an eye for photographinghis work. When pitching the story to

Two of Rick’s Japanese angling colleagues –

quite pleased with their catch

24 VFFA MARCH 2017

FlyLife editor Rob Sloane, I was able toput a selection of Bizen’s images in aDropBox folder and let Rob andphotographer Brad Harris take a look. Isent off the email saying the photos werethere and I am happy to say Rob went forthe story like a NZ brown chomping on acicada. “Brad just showed me the picsand I don’t reckon we will need too manywords from you,’’ was his response.

Ego-crushing quips from editors aside, Ihave really enjoyed bringing someelements of Japanese fly fishing to theoutside world through FlyLife, TheAustralian and through the VFFA. Quiteseriously, it was one of the highlights ofthe four years I spent living there and itcontinues to help me forge newfriendships today.

The most recent example is one of myfavourite FlyLife contributors – top Tassiefly fisher and writer Greg French. We gotin touch via email after he had read mypieces about fishing in Japan and seen theitoh fishing footage while doing thenarration for Reygaert’s film Predator.

Greg is just as resourceful a traveller as heis a fisherman and scarcely needed anyassistance, but I was able to help him outwith a few recommendations, flies andother information for his recent trip toJapan. He more than returned the favourrecently taking me fishing in his owngiant playground of the Western Lakes ofTassie in January (2015).

We’d never met physically before Iarrived at Launceston Airport, but he washappy enough to take me out into thewilderness for three days. Again, onceyou get to the point of knowing thatsomeone is as similarly obsessed with thissport as yourself, I think there is verylittle chance you won’t get along.

I have had little experience fishing lakesand could have had no better teacherthan Greg. For a start he knows everyinch of the area (it’s like having a humancompass with you). We both love spottingfish and he’s got a great knack for it.What I like just as much about hisapproach to fishing is what you mightcall an “iconoclastic simplicity”.

He’s the antithesis of the gear freak wecan all identify among our fishingcompanions. He uses whatever tacklegets the job done, and he pays moreattention to honing techniques that justwork. He holds the perceived wisdom upto the light, and if he sees a defect in it isnot afraid to discard it and develop hisown way. Sacred cows such as mandatoryinert presentation of dries are tossed outin favour of twitching the fly to attract theattention of a passing fish that’s missed it.He uses dries to imitate frogs and othersubsurface prey in the shallows purelybecause they work and you can see thetake even in mirrored water in the halflight. He walks quickly (he can almostbreak into a gallop!) when the sun’s outand the spotting distance is greatest tomaximise efficiency and the number ofshots you get at fish when the clouds areabout. Greg casts as quickly as possibleon spotting a cruising trout, whereas Imight have previously tempted to holdback and study its movements, becausehe knows it might not return for 20minutes.

These are doubtless second nature to thebest Tassie lake fishers among us, but as agreenhorn at the stillwater caper I soakedthese tips up like a sponge and cameaway impressed with Greg’s approach tolakes, as well as to the sea trout in hishome of Hobart, where he has pioneerednew methods and techniques.

>>>

25MARCH 2017 VFFA

For me, there’s something special in this,how great things and great times cangrow out of collaboration among us. Andtechnology – although it is oftenmaligned – can be as much an enabler assomething that distracts us from outdoorpursuits such as fly fishing.

We are a band of brothers and sisters andI look forward to making new online flyfishing friends and turning these virtualencounters into real-life friendships.

Salmon fly tied by Japanese master fly tier

Mitsugu Bizen

Ifirst met Peter at the Red Tag CastingPool at a VFFA Cane Day back around

2004. I had heard of him by reputation asan established maker. I had just jumpedin the deep end, quitting my comfortablecomputing job to become a full-timerodmaker. As the “new kid on the block”,I had no idea how I would be received byPeter, or any other person already makingrods here. Right from the outset however,he was never anything less thanoverwhelmingly encouraging,supportive, and helpful to me in my ownrodmaking, right up until our lastcorrespondence, less than a week beforehe died. It was always a pleasure to seehis number come up on my phone, or seean email from him in my inbox. Similarly,I knew he was always there if I was stuckfor a source of anything, or wanted tobounce an idea off him. With his drysense of humour, it was always anenjoyable and productive exchange. Ourconversations usually started withrodmaking, but often got side-trackedinto his wife Ruth’s latest victory incroquet, or the joy he had from a newgrandchild from Thomas or Caroline.

Peter told me that he started rodmakingin the mid to late 1990’s. As a self-taughtmaker, it was a steep learning curve withlimited resources, especially down here inAustralia (America being the “home” ofmodern bamboo rodmaking). The bookson the subject (particularly the originalGarrison/Carmichael “Bible”), arecomprehensive but incrediblyintimidating. For online help the internetwas still relatively embryonic in thosedays. I have immense respect for anyonewho has had to learn on their own. In anarticle written for the American “PlaningForm” newsletter in 2000, Peter said thatas an Australian maker he had still“never seen another person make a rod”.

Core to the rodmaking process are the“Planing Forms” (long steel bars, used toform the accurate taper of the sixindividual strips that go together to formthe completed rod). Peter was able tointerpret the information in the availableliterature to enable a local machinist thathe knew to make his planing forms. Hesaid that it was no mean feat, given thefine thousandths of an inch tolerances

Peter McKean – a tribute by Nick TaranskyLate last year we lost Peter McKean, a wonderful rodmaker and equally wonderfulfriend to many of us. I personally will miss him for both reasons. I’ve been asked towrite a few words on his contribution to rodmaking here in Australia and it is a greathonour to do so.

26 VFFA MARCH 2017

required. The machinist said that theywould never, ever, make another set foranyone!

With his forms sorted, most other toolswere available from the hardware store,or at least less difficult to have made thanthe planing forms. The only other thingrequired was ... Bamboo!!! In the same“Planing Form” article of 2000, Petermentions Tony Young (then in WesternAustralia, and now I think in Tasmania)as a great help early on. I believe thatPeter bought his first rodmakers grade“Tonkin Cane” from Tony. He thensourced further Chinese grown TonkinCane from Durnford Dart at BambooAustralia in Queensland. These daysthere are several sources of bamboo, butprior to 2000, sourcing planing forms andthe bamboo itself were seen as the “showstoppers” when it came to making a rod.

So from these beginnings, Peter beganmaking rods … for himself, friends, andothers, including many VFFA members,by word of mouth. Whenever we spoke,though he was busy in his VeterinaryPractice, he always had a few of rods onthe bench, or on the list, such was hisreputation as a maker. I don’t know histotal production, but I think that it wouldnumber in the low hundreds of rods –very prolific for someone juggling catsand dogs as well as bamboo rods!

In many ways, we came from the “DarkAges” of bamboo here in Australia rightthrough to when Peter (and a few others)began producing rods in Australia. OurEnglish heritage had delivered us Englishrods - Hardys and others, and Australianrods were made in the same style. I dohave a respect for these rods - they havesoul, and a “swing” and momentum tothem, but in many ways they are rods oftheir day. Long (eight to nine feet orlonger), heavy (six weight and up), andslow. Meanwhile, over in America as

early as the late 1800’s they haddiscovered that shorter, lighter bamboorods (six to eight foot, three to fiveweights) made superb rods for streamfishing (like we have here in Australia).Peter did a huge favour to bamboo rodsin Australia by making and advocatingthis style of rod. This alone is a significantcontribution to bamboo rods in thiscountry.

Specifically among the American makers,Peter had a soft spot for the rods ofmaster American maker Jim Payne. Theseven foot, four-weight “Payne 98” andthe seven foot six, five-weight “Payne101” were favourites of his. He also maderods based on the tapers of other notedAmerican makers, including EverettGarrison and Pinky Gillum. Some rods hemade faithfully from the originalpublished tapers, but he also went on tomodify some originals to suit his own

Cressy Cane Event at Hayes on Brumbys –

Peter working at the lathe

>>>

27MARCH 2017 VFFA

ideas on rod action, or to tailor them tothe requirements and styles of customers.

So the tapers and rod actions, developedby American masters, and promoted andinterpreted by Peter, were a great stepforward in Australia. But what does aMcKean rod look like? I have seen many.Taking the artists’ view here, as opposedto just the anglers’, I see “happiness”. Asa fellow rodmaker, I love seeing the workof other makers. Every time I’ve seen oneof Peter’s rods I can’t help but notice,(aside from the quality workmanship), anoverall bright feel, while retaining atraditional look. Peter brought out thediversity of colour achievable in bamboo,through mottled flaming of the rawbamboo. Lighter nodes, transitioningthrough warm, honey gold areas to darkchocolate brown - a full spectrum of lifeand colour. And his wraps - I’ve seenseveral colours, but his reds stick in mymind - bold and bright, but notostentatious, with fine black tipping.

Peter’s rods will stand the test of time. Ifyou have one, cherish it, and don’t let itgo. A McKean rod, well cared for andfished hard, but with respect, should lasta lifetime of fishing. Aside from the rodsthemselves, Peter has left an even greater

legacy. Perhaps most of all, he will beremembered for the many people that hehelped to get started in their ownrodmaking. I’ve lost count of the makersthat I’ve come across who have saidsomething like, “Oh yes, I contacted PeterMcKean when I was thinking aboutmaking a rod and he helped me out”. Iknow that he gave a lot of bamboo awayto budding rodmakers wanting to make arod, as well as a lot of his time andexpertise, without asking for a cent ofanything in return. In a craft where sometry to mystify everything they do to try to“set themselves apart”, he humbly puthopeful potential rodmakers’ minds atease with his down to earth manner. Hewas encouraging, and never authoritarianin his advice. It was always along thelines of “this seems to work for me”, or“you could do worse than try …” ratherthan “you should” or “you have to do itthis way”.

I should also say that his influence didspread far wider than Australia. Throughrodmaking internet forums and emails Iknow that his influence reached to theUSA and beyond to help others in theirendeavors. In that sense he was awonderful Ambassador for Australian

Nick Taransky, Peter McKean, and Jeff Wagner

28 VFFA MARCH 2017

rodmaking, and Australia in general. I’vementioned already how much Ipersonally appreciated his support andhelp over the years.

It is perhaps fitting that the last time Isaw Peter McKean he was with the otherbiggest influence on my rodmaking, JeffWagner, from the USA, who I’d learnedthe craft from. In many ways they aresimilar people. Much to offer, but nothingto prove. Through Peter Hayes’ andDavid Hemmings’ “Cressy Cane” eventat “Hayes on Brumbies”, we’d broughtJeff over to Australia. I’d spoken at lengthto Jeff about Peter, and Peter about Jeff,but they’d never met. We did manage toget together, despite Peter not being wellenough to get out to Cressy, thanks toHayesie getting on the front foot. It was ahighlight of my year.

Footnote:

A few weeks before I saw Peter for thelast time, a friend from his universitydays called me, wanting to touch basewith him, and seeking his contact details.In passing he’d mentioned that whenthey were at university together, Peterwas a giant of man who was an amazingsportsman - particularly at rugby - but atwhatever he turned his hand to. Those ofus who knew him know the physicalchallenges that Peter uncomplaininglyovercame to make the wonderful rodsthat he did. It was a very moving thing tohear. In my mind, he is out there now,with Marty Rogers, casting a long line ona bamboo rod upstream, to a brown trouton station.

A few weeks ago Lester Walton was wading the flats at Fairwell Spit, New Zealand. He wascasting to stingrays and catching a few kingfish, like the one shown here.

29MARCH 2017 VFFA

Ihad in the past given some thought tobeing an expat – Dubai, Croatia,

Japan…but an Aussie expat in NewZealand? No, not really, because as a flyfisher having visited New Zealand oncountless adventures, it almost felt like asecond home anyway! All of those pre-planned fishing trips, mostly to the SouthIsland, brought only good times asholidays always do! But there wasanother side to making the not-so-anticipated BIG move to New Zealand.

Settling into a new work contract gaveme the blissful accommodation of takingas many fishing days off as I pleased (orso I thought!) What more could I havewanted? Adam, my husband, and Imoved from Lilydale in Victoria toCentral Otago in the South Island in Juneof 2015. We chose to make our relocationin mid-winter to give ourselves a chanceto settle in with as little “trouty”distraction as possible. The weather wascold, most of the rivers closed, and ourlittle gas heater was enough to keep usfocused on organising new driver’slicenses, utilities accounts, buying a newcar, opening new bank accounts … the listwent on! Although I knew these choreshad to be done, I hadn’t given them muchthought. And the time I thought I’d bespending planning back country fishingexpeditions, since this was now ourbackyard, was spent on the phonehooking up our internet connection! Allthis was a reminder that while I was in anew playground, there were otherpriorities to be considered.

We did make time to explore some newwaters - systems we hadn’t had time tovisit on our two or three week NewZealand adventures visiting fromMelbourne. We were astounded at the

sheer volume of trout-holding waters andfly fishing opportunities just begging tobe uncovered and fished! Our ownbackdoor lake, Lake Dunstan, had beenmentioned in tales by John Sautelle, and,true enough, it has brown and rainbowtrout dying of old age! There are just notenough people trying to catch them.

Lake Dunstan – more of a slow-movingsection of the Clutha River betweenBendigo and the dam wall at Clyde –runs along the highway and borders ourlittle town of Cromwell. There arecountless locals who sit on their boatstrolling the edges with spoon lures whilethey drink Speights from their on-board“chilly bins”. However, we’re alwayssurprised at the lack of land-basedanglers. Lake Dunstan offers

One New Zealand Year (… by Kristina Royter)

Nice trout Kristina

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30 VFFA MARCH 2017

opportunities with willow grub feedingbrowns, mooching and tailing damselnymph feeders, aerobatic damsel flychasers, gentlemen’s-hours sight fishingwalking the high banks, not to mentionthe morning and evening rises. So muchwater, so many fish, so much challengingfishing, and we haven’t even left ourtown!

We did find ourselves in the trap ofpacking our truck – pride and joy ToyotaPrado – and driving two or three hoursevery weekend in search of fly fishingdestinations! We swore we wouldn’t dothat, having such quality water to fish soclose to home. But we’d leave early, as thesun was rising, and drive past tens ofrising fish in Lake Dunstan on our way tosomewhere else! CRAZY! After all, youdon’t leave fish to find fish, right? Well,we were wrong! Because what we failedto remember was that as fly anglers ourfly fishing truly is about the journeywe’re on, not about the volume of fish wecatch. The journey and the challenges

were posed by those infamous SouthIsland trout; harder to catch than theylook!

We’ve met some wonderful people on ourjourneys to date, from Greymouth toInvercargill, all of which truly proved thetheory that the South Island’s southernhospitality lives on. Opening their homesfor short-stays, just to share their little flyfishing slices of heaven with us.

From our home base in Cromwell up tothree hours’ drive took us to so manyamazing waterways; truly spoilt forchoice. The wondrous Fiordland;Southland, including blue-ribbon streamssuch as the infamous Mataura; hydrorivers and lakes in the beautifulMackenzie Country; just to name a few.We have a back-country river within onehour from our home, where the bigbrowns grow. They are few and farbetween in the Nevis River, and I am yetto land one of her trophies. But I haveseen her gifts so rarely given up, and this

Adam Royter is a master angler. Here he has a typical South Island brown.

31MARCH 2017 VFFA

challenging river in itself is enough tokeep me improving my fly fishingabilities just to have the chance to oneday land the fish of a lifetime.

However, it’s fair to say that the SouthIsland waters we’ve seen or fished aren’tall back country blue ribbon rivers, yetthey all hold their own trophies in theirown right. Never underestimate thoselittle pocket pools in the narrow tributaryyou ‘accidentally’ stumbled across onyour way to your destination. It was in alittle holding pool that I saw Adam landan 8 lb brown after watching it sipspinners, leaving small rings on thesurface. NEVER in our wildest dreamscould we have imagined the size of thefish beneath the surface from the size ofthe rings it was leaving. A very pleasantsurprise to say the least, and a thankfulmoment from the little river itself, just

because we took the time to get out of ourtruck to explore.

Us Victorian anglers truly are a resilientbunch. Our fly fishing rivers are a toughask at the best of times, and they teach usto be skilful, gracious and thankful. Theseare qualities which in New Zealand’sSouth Island bring many joyfulexperiences, whether a fish is landed ornot. I am thankful that I’m a Victorian flyangler, because even though Adam and Imoved to New Zealand, the fishing isn’talways easy, but the journey alwaysreminds us that the fish are just a smallpart of a bigger picture we had in mindwhen we made our move. No matterwhat our future holds, our first NewZealand year will always retain the talesof our own slice of fly angling heaven.

Another fine catch by Adam, and about to swim off

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During the more than 20 years that Ilived in Palmerston North, a city

located in the lower part of the NorthIsland of New Zealand, I spent a lot oftime with my family driving up throughthe centre of the North Island to theholiday cottage we owned on the southernshores of Lake Taupo.

Fly fishing for me in those days meantfishing the Taupo fisheries such as theTongariro, Tauranga-Taupo andHinemaiaia Rivers, across and downstream with a fast sinking line and a large(typically size 4 or 6) wet fly. I wasgenerally oblivious of other waters near towhere I lived and to other fishingtechniques.

Since coming to Australia some 25 yearsago, I have frequently returned to fish inNew Zealand, initially not to the old

haunts, but mainly to the South Island. Atleast I have learned a few more fishingtechniques and am now comfortable withboth the dry and nymph.

A few years ago I decided it was time toreturn to fish other waters of the centralNorth Island. This has included some ofthe Waikato and Rotorua fisheries, theupper reaches of the Wanganui, theWhakapapa, Mohaka Rivers and justrecently, the upper/middle reaches of theRangitikei, a river that for some of itslower reaches runs parallel with that mainhighway from Palmerston North to Taupo,a river that I had ignored as a likely troutfishery for so many years.

My good fishing friend, Peter Hobman, apast member of the VFFA when he lived inMelbourne, has returned to live inCambridge, New Zealand. He and I

Outback Adventure on the Rangitikei … Wayne Sanderson

That’s Wayne there demonstrating the delights of wet-wading

33MARCH 2017 VFFA

decided to book a three-day trip in to theRangitikei Valley using Brett Cameron, afishing guide that I have fished withfrequently over the past 10 years. Brett isbased in Acacia Bay, Taupo, and hasguided extensively throughout the CentralPlateau. The Rangitikei River has itscatchment in the Kaimanawa Mountains, alittle southeast of Lake Taupo, and flows ina south westerly direction to the sea on thelower western coast of the North Island.

We booked into the River Valley Lodge, agreat eco-tourist facility right on the banksof the Rangitikei River, some 45 minutesnortheast of Taihape. The lodge is verypopular with young backpackers lookingfor a thrill and oldies alike. It is a base forwhitewater rafting (there are rapids up tograde 5 on some stretches of the river),horse trekking, fishing or just sitting backand admiring the views. The facilities atthe lodge vary from mixed dorms andbunkrooms to rooms and cabins with on-suites. Excellent meals are provided in a

large dinning lounge that has a hugecentral fireplace for those cold winter daysand nights.

On our first day we took a short helicopterflight to a clearing just above theconfluence of one of the tributaries of theRangitikei River and spent the dayworking our way up this beautiful valley,fishing the pools and runs withconsiderable success. Numerous rainbowscame to the net, the largest probablyaround 5lb.

We fished with both a large dry fly andnymph dropper or, for the deeper pools,tandem nymph rigs. The going was prettytough, having to tramp over fairly steepand rocky terrain but both the scenery andthe fishing made it well worthwhile. Imust admit, however, that it was a relief tohear and then see the helicopter come upthe river valley to pick us up at thepredetermined location at the end of theday. I would love to fish this stretch of

Wayne with a magnificent Rangitikei rainbow

>>>

34 VFFA MARCH 2017

water again, but if I did I would want thehelicopter take out point to be about halfthe distance up river than where it wasthis time. That way I could spend muchmore time fishing the wonderfully clearruns and pools and less time clamberingover rocks and boulders.

Days two and three were spent accessingvarious fishing spots on the RangitikeiRiver itself, by raft. Peter and I had beenintroduced to fishing by raft on a previoustrip to the Mohaka River with Brett lastNovember and agreed that it was a verypleasant way of getting to fishing spotsthat were otherwise inaccessible by land.While we occasionally drift fished andcaught some lovely fish chomping downon the dry, most of the fishing was fromthe river banks and sides, again usingeither dry and dropper or tandem nymphrigs. As it had been on the first day, mostof the fish caught were rainbows. We onlycaught one brown on the whole three daytrip.

The Rangitikei River is quite variable inwidth and flow and while we kept awayfrom the higher grade rapids, there wereseveral occasions when we had to get outof the raft and circumnavigate the river onfoot while the raft guide manoeuvred theraft through some fairly treacherous smallrapids and falls. The weather was verykind to us for the whole period. It wasmostly sunny and thankfully no rain. Thismade the rafting, and in particular thestops for lunch, even more enjoyable asthe rafting guide set up the table with awonderful range of food and drinks tokeep us well nourished. The scenery isbreathtaking. Many parts of the RangitikeiRiver cut through gorges with sheer cliffsof 100 meters or more, often covered inferns or shrubs. The trip was one of thoseadventures that even if we hadn’t caughtfish it would have still been a wonderfulexperience.

Superb water in New Zealand’s North Island

35MARCH 2017 VFFA

Well done Wayne – another fine Rangitikei rainbow

Tricky water to fish

>>>

36 VFFA MARCH 2017

A great way for us retirees to travel

Setting up for lunch on the Rangitikei

37MARCH 2017 VFFA

FLY OF THE MONTHThe Cinnamon Parachute Dun, or CPD

(as tied and fished by John Pilkington)

(Members will be aware that for years John Pilkington’s favourite fly, especially forfishing his beloved Big River, has been the old stand-by – the Red Tag. John has beentying and fishing Red Tags in various forms, especially super attractive fat palmer-hackled varieties, for as long as we’ve known him. But the Red Tag has now beendisplaced in his affections. Here is what he says:)

Last year, when down in Tasmania, I was fishing the Tyenna River just belowNational Park (a tiny township on the river). A fish, which appeared to be a goodbrown, was rising consistently in a lovely pool, and continued to do so despite myrepeated offerings of the usual suspects. Increasingly frustrated I fossicked aroundand found something new in my fly box. It had a parachute hackle and looked very‘buggy’. Don’t know where I got it from, but it was worth a try. On my first cast thefish engulfed it, then headed for the bottom and snagged me around a large rock thatit must have known was there. I waded in and succeeded in losing the fly, breakingmy rod tip, and getting a thorough soaking.

I tried to remember exactly what the fly looked like and tied up a few for futurereference. They sat in my fly box until early this season when I found myself on theBig River and Red Tags, Royal Wulffs, Humpys, etc, were given the thumbs down bythe fish. So I tied on one of those new ones - and instant action! This continued overmore outings, so I distributed a few to Dave Wark and John Gill for road testing, andback came very favourable reports. The new fly worked well in the Taponga, too.

38 VFFA MARCH 2017

Here it is. Easy to tie and easy to see on the water. Try it in small, fast streams, and youwill be delighted with the result.

Materials needed:

Hook Kamasan B401 (whisker barb) in sizes 14 and 16.

Thread Brown 6/0 UNI-thread

Tail Half a dozen stiff whisks from red cock hackle

Body Cinnamon (or orange) caddis dubbing,

Thorax Two peacock herls

Post Polypropylene floating yarn, oyster white

Hackle Red cock

Tying Procedure:

1. Tie the thread in and run it along the shank of the hook from the eye to the bend.

2. Tie in the tail fibres.

3. Tie in a length of the post material (about 2 - 3 cm) about a third of the way alongthe hook shank from the eye.

4. Spin some dubbing onto the thread and wind it on from the bend of the hook backto the post, forming a body that is not too fat.

5. Tie in the hackle, butt first at the base of the post with the butt facing the eye of thehook. (I double it over to ensure that it will not pull out when the hackle is woundon.)

6. Tie in two twisted peacock herls at the post and wind them up to the eye. Tie thesein and cut them off, then wind the thread back to the post.

7. Wind the hackle down the post making four turns, then tie it off and cut off theremaining hackle feather. Then trim the post to size.

8. Finish off with a few half hitches at the eye and a little dob of head cement. The flyshould sit flat on the water, so any errant fibres underneath should be clipped off.

39MARCH 2017 VFFA

LIBRARY NEWSA note from our librarian, Rick Dugina:

Very few members are using this valuable resource. I am looking for suggestions as tohow it can be made more accessible.

Please contact me on mobile 0401 963 601 or via the email library@vffa.org.au

I am currently updating the database to bring in some great first editions. This will bedisplayed on the website soon. I am also reviewing the old rules around the lendingcriteria. We’ll keep you posted.

V.F.F.A. ITEMS FOR SALEThe Association has the following quality items for sale:

The following made donations for the raffle at the 2016 Annual Dinner:

• Aussie Angler Tackle Outfitters • Armadale Angling • Australian Fishing Network

• Essential Fly Fisher Launceston • FlyLife Publishing • FlyFinz Fishing Tackle and

Books • Gavin Hurley’s Fly Fishing & Pro-Angler • J.M. Gillies Pty Ltd

• Mayfly Tackle Pty Ltd • Millbrook Lakes • Ray Brown Onkaparinga Flies

• Stevens Publishing Pty Ltd • The Flyfisher Tackle Store Melbourne

• Hook Up Bait & Tackle •VALU

ED DON

ORS

Book “The Country For An Angler” (the History of the VFFA) ..........................$70.00 eachBook “Geehi to Great Lake” .................................................................................$45.00 eachBook “Time Flies: A Victorian Fly Fishers’ Association Fly Box 1932-2015.” ...$70.00 each Columbia Shirts.....................................................................................................$70.00 eachPolarfleece jacket with VFFA logo .......................................................................$40.00 eachAssociation ties (blue or maroon) .........................................................................$35.00 eachWine glasses and whisky glasses inscribed with VFFA logo, set of 6 ..................$45.00 per setCloth badges............................................................................................................$7.00 eachThe Australian Trout by Jack Ritchie ................................................................$20.00

V.F.F.A. car stickers.................................................................................................$2.00 each

Members wishing to purchase any of these items should contact Hugh Maltby prior to the monthly General Meeting on telephone 0423 283 079.

40 VFFA MARCH 2017

VFFA Meetings at the Celtic Club & other activities.

March 2017

23 Thursday General Meeting – 8:00 PMGuest Speaker: Andrew Mossman

27 Monday Council Meeting - 7:30 PM

24 – 26 Annual Big River trip

April 2017

14 – 16 Easter 2017

20 Thursday General Meeting – 8:00 PMGuest Speaker: Antony Boliancu, fishing guide at the GoulburnValley Fly Fishing Centre

24 Monday Council Meeting - 7:30 PM

28 Friday Bairnsdale Fly Fishing Club’s 50th Anniversary Dinner

29 – 30 Donger Weekend with Bairnsdale Fly Fishing Club

May 2017

18 Thursday General Meeting – 8:00 PMGuest Speaker: Scott Xanthoulakis from the Flyfisher store

22 Monday Council Meeting - 7:30 PM

June 2017

4 Sunday Sunday Casting at the Red Tag Pool commences

11 Sunday Sunday Casting at the Red Tag Pool

15 Thursday General Meeting – 8:00 PMGuest Speaker: TBC

18 Sunday Sunday Casting at the Red Tag Pool

19 Monday Council Meeting - 7:30 PM

25 Sunday Sunday Casting at the Red Tag Pool