Don Dixon with a Tarpon caught at Hinchinbrook, QLD

Commonly referred to as Tarpon, or ox eyed herring, Megalops cyprinoides is a feisty northern sport fish species famous for their aerobatic displays when hooked. They are commonly encountered as a by-catch whilst targeting other more popular northern freshwater species, such as the barramundi but are extremely popular amongst fly anglers. Read More »

Merry Fishmas!

Welcome to our new look Newsletter. We have redesigned our fairly basic newsletter into a new format thanks to our technology wizard, Julian. Bonnie and I (mainly Bonnie) are still stumbling around the keyboard gradually finding our way around and about our greatly expanded editorial horizons. Read More »

Bead Head Hastings River Mayfly

Materials

  • Hook: Size 14 2X Nymph Hook
  • Thread: Black 14/0
  • Bead: Tungsten Mottled Olive 5/64 (any dark color Ok)
  • Tail: Olive Green Dyed Pheasant Tail Fibers. (Any dark PT Ok)
  • Body: Olive Green Dyed Pheasant Tail (same)
  • Rib: Extra Small Copper Wire
  • Wings: 4 strands of Semco Fringe Shimmer White (Spotlight) or single stand of flash
  • Thorax: Reddish Brown, Olive Brown or Chocolate Brown Hares Ear (any dark OK)
  • Hackle: Black CDC Feather.
Read More »

Paul Fedeles' Orange Bass Flopper

This is a combination hopper, Chernobyl ant and cicada in black and orange foam. I tied it in the morning for the first time. Toss it, flop it down, let is set and water movement is enough.

Materials

  • Thread – Orange 6/0 thread for the body and red nylon stretch overlocking thread for the head.
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Redfin perch

Perca fluviatilis
Perca fluviatilis

Redfin perch (Perca fluviatilis), also known as English perch, is a medium sized freshwater fish native to northern Europe. First introduced to Tasmania in 1862 (two years before the first trout) for angling, only eleven fish survived the arduous journey by sailing vessel and were released into Tasmanian waters. Read More »

Materials

  • Thread: Red 14/0
  • Hook: Scud size 10
  • Bead: Silver 7/64
  • Lead free wire – 4 turns .015, 4 turns
  • Rib: very small silver wire
  • Tail: Brown make up brush fibers
  • Body: Natural or Olive Hair’s ear dubbing
Shute Hill Special
Shute Hill Special

Tying Steps

  1. Silver bead and four turns of the lead free wire, should fit into the bead.
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Stealth bomber flies

A foam derivative of the Turck’s Tarantula, the Stealth Bomber is a foam diver/slider designed to duplicate the Tarantula’s diving motion and the resulting bubble trail made when the fly is stripped hard.

The rear tab of foam and the air space below it captures air, which bubbles on the dive. Read More »

Ron's bass, caught at an exploratory trip to Shute Hill

This month saw nine of our members check out the venue for November’s outing. Check out the photos and you’ll understand why we are all excited about returning to Shute Hill. Paul, our resident fly tying expert, found the only fly that was successful for the local herring and Dawn, Ron and Ken had success on some good bass. Read More »

Whip finishing

Whip-finishing-step-1
  1. Hold the Whip Finish Tool in your hand trapping the ball located just above the handle between thumb and index finger. (This prevents the tool from turning.) While holding the tool in this manner, position the head of the tool on tying thread as shown in Figure 1.
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John O'Shaughnessy
John O’Shaughnessy
Ken Holley
Ken Holley

We are pleased to announce that Club Members John O’Shaughnessy and Ken Holley have very kindly agreed to share the Club Captain’s role for the forthcoming year. Both bring a wealth of fishing experience to this role and I thank them for agreeing to undertake it. Read More »