Greetings from Darwin, it’s hot! Most days are averaging 350 but as the dry season has arrived at least it isn’t humid any more. Lovely to catch up with the family again, especially our two year old granddaughter who is the second youngest and distant member of our club.

I had hoped to go on a fly fishing charter with my son and distant member Craig, on what was to be a joint birthday present from Bonnie for us but alas Barefoot Fly Fishing Charters were completely booked out. Seems that the Territory is a popular place at the moment possibly because it is a Covid-free and therefore a safe place to visit for grey nomads and others. We will be sure to book ahead before we return here in August. Although August isn’t the best time of year for Barramundi fishing they can still be caught and there are plenty of other species out there to challenge even the most experienced fly-fisher never mind a tyro like myself.

Although no stranger to Barra fishing I have yet to catch one on a fly so the knowledge of a professional guide will be invaluable, which leads onto my next point. When I first joined this club back in 2014, although I was an enthusiastic angler (on the dark side) my only experience of fly fishing was a half day of tuition on a stocked pond in Tasmania while on holidays. When I retired and moved to NSW I was fortunate enough to join HFFC. The friendly club members were very generous in sharing their time and knowledge as was our Patron Brian Henderson and I finally got the chance to use the fly rod in my garage that had not seen the light of day since that long ago Tasmanian holiday!

While there is a lot of useful information and advice available to fly-fishers on the World Wide Web these days, there is no substitute for a guiding hand right by your side and fellow club members have remained unstintingly generous of their time and knowledge to a relative novice.

Iain

View/download May 2021 edition