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A wet fly is a fly designed to be fished below the water's surface of the water or a dry fly that has been drowned and is being fish below the surface of the water. Basically there are two main types of wet fly: The type is representational flies which are flies tied to represent food that trout…
Last Updated: March 2026I have extended the population of flies that I carry in my nymph fly box to include flies like Carixia and Shrimp flies because I fish them ostensibly in the same way that I fish my nymphs. Have a look at a full list of carixia and shrimp featured on this web site: QUICK LINK From the above list I…
Last Updated: July 2011Activity [months] Fly suggestions Brown trout feeding [50] [50] [50] [50] [40] [40] [20] [20] [60] [60] [60] [50] Quicklink Rainbow trout feeding [50] [50] [50] [50] [50] [40] [40] [20] [20] [60] [60] [60] Quicklink Dry fly fishing [40] [60] [60] [60] [40] [00] [00] [00] [00] [00] [30] [30] Dry…
Last Updated: April 2015Activity [months] Fly suggestions Brown trout feeding [50] [50] [50] [50] [40] [40] [20] [20] [60] [60] [60] [50] Quicklink Rainbow trout feeding [50] [50] [50] [50] [50] [40] [40] [20] [20] [60] [60] [60] Quicklink Dry fly fishing [40] [60] [60] [60] [40] [00] [00] [00] [00] [00] [30] [30] Dry…
Last Updated: April 2015Activity [months] Fly suggestions Brown trout feeding [50] [50] [50] [50] [40] [40] [20] [20] [60] [60] [60] [50] Quicklink Rainbow trout feeding [50] [50] [50] [50] [50] [40] [40] [20] [20] [60] [60] [60] Quicklink Dry fly fishing [40] [60] [60] [60] [40] [00] [00] [00] [00] [00] [30] [30] Dry…
Last Updated: April 2015Activity [months] Fly suggestions Brown trout feeding [50] [50] [50] [50] [50] [30] [20] [10] [10] [20] [40] [60] Quicklink Rainbow trout feeding [50] [50] [50] [50] [50] [30] [20] [10] [10] [20] [40] [60] Quicklink Dry fly fishing [40] [60] [60] [20] [00] [00] [00] [00] [00] [00] [20] [30] Dry…
Last Updated: April 2015At the 1999 world fly fishing championships held at Jindabyne in 1999 fishing buzzers was the buzz (excuse the pun) and as soon as I got home I tied some up according to the patterns I had seen. I fished those flies many times , without conviction or confidence, and with the inevitable poor…
Last Updated: February 2017The word nymph has of course two fly fishing meanings. The first is "Juvenile, sexually immature stage of certain insects, usually similar to the adult in form, and which require an intermediate stage before becoming an adult. Mayflies, Caddis flies, Dragonflies, Damselflies, Stone flies and Midges…
Last Updated: August 2012We are lucky enough to have two of the Lutjanus family of fish endemic to Central Queensland, Fingermark (L.johnii) and Mangrove Jack (L.argentimaculatus). Mangrove jack Fingermark They are both very solid fish that have powerful teeth (hence the Jack is often referred to as 'dog' or 'dog…
Last Updated: May 2026Food source Seasonality (Jan–Dec) Fly suggestions Adult yabbies Woolly bugger Floating yabby Shrimp shell yabby Booby Small yabbies Woolly bugger Floating yabby Shrimp shell yabby Booby Ants & termites Foam flying ant / termite Foam flying ant / termite 2 Ant Midge Midge Beetles Red tag…
Last Updated: March 2026Food source [months] Fly suggestions Gudgeon and galaxia [50] [50] [50] [50] [10] [10] [10] [10] [10] [10] [10] [50] Bead head nymphs Magoo Shrek Mrs Simpson Murdoch Adult yabbies [30] [30] [30] [20] [20] [20] [10] [10] [20] [30] [40] [30] Yabby Woolly bugger Floating yabby Shrimp shell yabby Small…
Last Updated: April 2015Food source [months] Fly suggestions Adult yabbies [30] [30] [30] [20] [20] [20] [10] [10] [20] [30] [40] [30] Yabby Woolly bugger Floating yabby Shrimp shell yabby Small yabbies [00] [00] [60] [60] [50] [50] [30] [20] [10] [10] [00] [00] Mini woolly bugger Woolly bugger Worms (as vegetation is…
Last Updated: April 2015Food source [months] Fly suggestions Adult yabbies [30] [30] [30] [20] [20] [20] [10] [10] [20] [30] [40] [30] Woolly bugger Floating yabby Shrimp shell yabby Small yabbies [00] [00] [60] [60] [50] [50] [30] [20] [10] [10] [00] [00] Mini woolly bugger Woolly bugger Worms (as vegetation is drowned)…
Last Updated: April 2015OF FLY TYING AND FLY FISHING TERMS See also: A TO Z OF FLY TYING SKILLS ABDOMEN. Rear most of the three body divisions of an insect. ADIPOSE EYELID: an immovable transparent outer covering or partial covering of the eye of some groups of bony fishes, such as mullets and trevallies. AMADO. A…
Last Updated: May 2023==I Have only fished the Upper Derwent River a few times now around November between 2005 and 2009 Nationals so I am by no means an expert on this fishery. Having said that I have researched it and this information may be helpful. The general flows have been around 50 cubic meters per second (50…
Last Updated: May 2026Over the last two weeks or so I have had the pleasure of fishing with good friend Ray Ellis in various water ways around Gladstone. For a lot of the time we both fished fly and finished up with similar results. When the fly fishing got tough Ray swapped over to the "dark side" and fished with his…
Last Updated: March 2026As long as there is a flow in a river to work a fly then English Spiders are an option. Particularly if you want to target educated fish in clear slower water. They land softly and are suggestive little flies. The combination of the buggy shape, the movement of the soft hackle often produce a…
Last Updated: April 2026If you were to suggest to a traditional North Country (UK) fly fisher that there is such a thing as a bead head spider they would think your a rod section short of a fly rod. For their sake you could call this fly and my other "bead head spiders" "bead head soft hackles" but I find that more people…
Last Updated: April 2026If you were to suggest to a North Country (UK) fly fisher that there is such a thing as a tungsten bead head spider they would think your a rod section short of a fly rod. For their sake you could call this fly and my other "bead head spiders" "bead head soft hackles" but I find that more people…
Last Updated: April 2026Prawns and shrimp are crustaceans, of the family Isopod, and are endemic to our Australian estuary waters. They are toward the top of the food chain for a lot of coastal species of fish including bream, flathead and whiting. Prawns and shrimp are similar in form and function to each other and have…
Last Updated: April 2026Yabbies Floating yabby Shrimp shell yabby Sinking yabby Large populations of dark olive Yabbies of the Cherax Genus have developed in both Lake Jindabyne and lake Eucumbene and many anglers suggest that the Yabby has been responsible for changing the feeding habits of trout in the lakes as the…
Last Updated: December 2014We are lucky enough to have two of the Lutjanus family of fish endemic to Central Queensland, Fingermark (L.johnii) and Mangrove Jack (L.argentimaculatus). Mangrove jack Fingermark They are both very solid fish that have powerful teeth (hence the Jack is often referred to as 'dog' or 'dog…
Last Updated: May 2026I developed this fly to fill a place in my fly box for a fly that can be fished in all those areas where scroungers including: Flathead, Mangrove Jack, Fingermark, Grunter and Salmon and other predators scrounge are targeting small fish that are being flushed out of mangroves, rocky shores, drowned…
Last Updated: March 2026For the sake of convenience I have broken my fly suggestions up into 5 distinct sections. I have put those sections in the order in which I methodically go through as I determine what fly or flies to tie on. MATCHING THE HATCH WITH DRY FLIES It's hard to beat the exhilaration that comes with…
Last Updated: November 2020Endemic to beaches all the way from Northern Queensland to Central Victoria nippers (Trypaea australiensis) are widely regarded as the best of baits for a range of coastal and estuary species of fish. They are a borrowing shrimp and generally harvested with the use of a nipper pump. They are a…
Last Updated: March 2026Jelly prawns are one of the critical building blocks at the lower end of the food chain in our tropical and sub-tropical estuaries. They are also a favourite food item for many species of iconic tropical sport fish such as barramundi, king threadfin salmon and blue threadfin salmon and tarpon to…
Last Updated: March 2026Please read this article in conjunction with the companion article: [member Link="p=6028" Title="Fly fishing tips"] This is the first river fishing technique that I was introduced to and is probably the most widely used technique used by recreational fly fishers in Australia and New Zealand and the…
Last Updated: October 2012Flies that represent spiders and beetles are very buggy and suggestive flies. Weather being used as a polaroiding fly, a static wet, one of the flies in a team of loch style flies, or a fly to cover rising fish spider type soft hackle flies may be taken as a snail, submerged beetle, drowned…
Last Updated: April 2026If you were to suggest to a North Country (UK) fly fisherman that there is such a thing as a bead spider they would think your a rod section short of a fly rod. For their sake you could call this fly and my other "bead head spiders" "bead head soft hackles" but I find that more people get the ideas…
Last Updated: April 2026The number of fly boxes you carry is obviously one of personal choice. One difficulty you may encounter when you are setting up your fly boxes is which flies you should include, and how many flies you should carry in your fly box or boxes. The last thing you want to be doing is standing on the bank…
Last Updated: March 2026The word nymph has of course two fly fishing meanings. The first is "Juvenile, sexually immature stage of certain insects, usually similar to the adult in form, and which require an intermediate stage before becoming an adult. Mayflies, Caddis flies, Dragonflies, Damselflies, Stone flies and Midges…
Last Updated: April 2011Prawns and shrimp are crustaceans, of the family Isopod, and are endemic to our Australian estuary waters. They are toward the top of the food chain for a lot of coastal species of fish including bream, flathead and whiting. Prawns and shrimp are similar in form and function to each other and have…
Last Updated: March 2026Before we go too far I just want to put it out there that this post is just a reflection of part of my fly fishing journey. Don't take it as gospel but do feel free to use it as a foundation in developing your own abilities to catch a fish on fly … in this case grunter. The original of this post…
Last Updated: October 2020=NSW=Completed in 1967 Lake Jindabyne is part of the iconic Snow Mountains Hydro Electric Scheme. Its an iconic lake has a reputation as a brown and rainbow trout fishery. It also produces reasonable numbers in the coldest of months. Jindabyne is the gateway for the NSW snow resorts and as you can…
Last Updated: May 2026This is more a class of flies rather than just one fly and is a hybrid of a spider fly and a bead head nymph with a tungsten bead up front. I carry 4 different hybrid spider nymphs in two sizes and find them particularly useful in situations where I need a bit of weight to get a fly down yet still…
Last Updated: April 2026An important part of my bead head fly box. I am a firm believer that when fishing rivers you have to get down to where the fish are holding and also that flies particularly in faster running water should include "hot spots". These flies satisfy both these requirements. I tend to use my bead head…
Last Updated: May 2011I was introduced to spider fishing a couple of years ago and had the opportunity in 2010 of tweaking my spider fishing skills when I fished the Eden river just outside Penrith where I was born. Fishing spiders or particularly swinging spiders has always worked well for me, I guess its in the blood….
Last Updated: April 2026As long as there is a flow in a river to work a fly then English Spiders are an option. Particularly if you want to target educated fish in clear slower water. Traditional (i.e. North country spiders) land softly and are suggestive little flies. The combination of the buggy shape, the movement of…
Last Updated: April 2026As long as there is a flow in a river to work a fly then English Spiders are an option. Particularly if you want to target educated fish in clear slower water. Traditional (i.e. North country spiders) land softly and are suggestive little flies. Many English flies have a spider version and…
Last Updated: April 2026Please read this article in conjunction with the companion article: [member Link="p=6028" Title="Fly fishing tips"] A very good technique for water of almost any depth that has a little width to it and an obvious flow that will work your flies. It is often only used where holding fish can't be…
Last Updated: December 2014In 2003 one of my fishing mates Ray Ellis developed a Crazy Charlie variation which had an epoxy head and a translucent body of Superhair. Ray's Epoxy Charlie as I named it worked very well and by experimentation we concluded that it was the heavily dressed translucent body that was in fact fooling…
Last Updated: March 2026This is a shrimp or prawn imitation which I made up as an alternative to my Mud Prawn for competition fishing trout fishing. That's right trout fishing. I had been using small versions of my Mud Prawn for trout feeding on shrimp with considerable success and I wanted to carry that success into my…
Last Updated: April 2026Many anglers think that scud are shrimp but in fact they are not. Whilst they are Crustaceans they are of the Amphipoda order and are distinguished from shrimp both in habit and design. They spend their life inhabiting the detritus matter in both flowing and still water and take on the colour of…
Last Updated: April 2026I developed this fly to fish both the snaggy rock and coral waters for reef fish but more recently have found a place for it when fishing the open blue waters pelagics and estuary waters of Central Queensland when targeting bigger inshore fish which we regularly encounter including but not limited…
Last Updated: March 2026==Perhaps the most iconic lake in Tasmania and for many the most iconic lake in Australia. Arthurs is a hydro lake that was created by the damming of the Upper Lake River in the early 1960's and the flooding of the areas that contained Blue Lake, Sand Lake and the Morass Marsh. From a fly fishers…
Last Updated: May 2026This is definitely my preferred popper for targeting Australian native bass in their natural river and lake habitat. Bass strike for 3 reasons. The fist and most obvious is when they are actively feeding. At those times bass can have an appetite for everything from nymphs, yabbies, small fish,…
Last Updated: March 2026This is a hybrid of a spider fly and a bead head nymph with a tungsten bead up front and are particularly useful in situations where I need a bit of weight to get a fly down yet still want the anchor fly to fish well and be enticing to trout rather than just being an anchor for other flies in the…
Last Updated: April 2026This is a hybrid of a spider fly and a bead head nymph with a tungsten bead up front and is particularly useful in situations where I need a bit of weight to get a fly down yet still want the anchor fly to fish well and be enticing to trout rather than just being an anchor for other flies in the…
Last Updated: April 2026=NSW=The Thredbo River runs from just east of the ski fields of Thredbo to Lake Jindabyne where it enter the lake at Waste Point. Once known as the Crackenback River it is very accessible and consequently receives a lot of attention from both fly fishers and those pesky lure fisher folk. Moving up…
Last Updated: May 2026=NSW=The Tumut River runs for 145 km from Blowering dam just east of Tumut to the Murrumbidgee River at Gundagai. During its passage it flows through the picturesque town of Tumut before cutting through fertile and generally green alluvial plains which have built up over a millennium. The river…
Last Updated: May 2026On many occasions over the years I have been told that trout are true opportunistic feeders and that they will eat almost anything. From my experience this statement is both true and false. If you approach your fly selection on the basis that trout eat anything, over time (probably your first…
Last Updated: March 2026=NSW=Text photo1 photo2 photo3/td> Lake *name* water flows are as follows: Water flows into *name* from: text text Water leaves *name* via: text text Safety first: Given the water inflows and outflows it's not surprising that water levels in Lake Jindabyne vary considerably so caution is…
Last Updated: May 2026I have been keeping a data base record of my fishing outings now for around 15years. When you do a search say on November, December and January for Lake Jindabyne its interesting to see the similarities for that period of time over the years. There is obviously some skewing of the results because…
Last Updated: December 2011I came up with the design for this fly in 2011 and have used it with great success ever since. Designed to be fished with a stop start retrieve along the bottom this fly looks very much like a shrimp or prawn that is in row carrying eggs)and is an ideal fly for targeting bottom feeders such as…
Last Updated: March 2026This fly is basically my original mud prawn that I released in 2003 and have now miniaturised and modified so as to represent the sort shrimp that you find on tidal flats in tropical waters. On my next trip to CXI this year I am expecting that this variation will work really well particularly on…
Last Updated: December 2019This fly has a poddy mullet shape, casts well and as the name implies it has an action which is similar to both a jerk bait lure and suspending lure. The set up of the jig hook and extension puts the tow point 15mm back along the fly so that a medium to fast strips cause the fly to dart off in…
Last Updated: March 2026I tie my mutant clousers in a range of colours and from size #1 up to #4/0 and if I could only carry one colour that would be olive over UV shrimp. That one colour tied in a range of sizes covers a big cross section of fish that I target in Central Queensland. In the smaller sizes it's great for…
Last Updated: May 2024Qantas colours of red or orange over white are very popular hard body lure colours in Queensland and equally successful for flies. This is second to only wild olive over shrimp as my favorite ‘all rounder’ colour for many flies that I use in Queensland. In the smaller sizes it's great for estuary…
Last Updated: December 2021October 2011. Well the river season has opened with a blast and there have been great reports in relation to most of our local rivers and lakes. I have spent quite lot of time fishing the Eucumbene River either side of Providence Portal. It has been fantastic with plenty of double figure days. Most…
Last Updated: March 2026This is my favourite hybrid of a spider fly and a bead head nymph with a tungsten bead up front. I carry this fly in two sizes and find them particularly useful in situations where I need a bit of weight to get a fly down yet still want the anchor fly to fish well and be enticing to trout rather…
Last Updated: April 2026Please read this article in conjunction with the companion article: [member Link="p=6028" Title="Fly fishing tips"] At the 2012 World Fly Fishing Championships which I participated in as part of the Australian team leader lengths were limited to twice the length of the fly rod. Whilst at the…
Last Updated: May 2024Fantastic event that was well organised and mostly equally well executed. My rotation for the competition was: DENNETT RIVER On day one my departure time for my Dennett session was 7am. Competitors were supposed to be dropped of at their beats with at least 1 hour of time available to set rods up…
Last Updated: March 2026Bead Head thread spider type flies are amongst the best flies for fishing fast rivers and streams. They are suggestive little flies and the combination of buggy shape and the movement of the soft hackle often produce a hit. There is also the added benefit that they are so easy to tie. Finding good…
Last Updated: April 2026As long as there is a flow in a river to work a fly then English styled spiders are an option. Particularly if you want to target educated fish in clear slower water. They land softly and are suggestive little flies. The combination of the buggy shape, the movement of the soft hackle often produce…
Last Updated: April 2026Please read this article in conjunction with the companion article: [member Link="p=6028" Title="Fly fishing tips"] Whilst it would be nice to have the right rod, line and leader set up for each sort of water in a river or stream it is not always possible. In competitions in particular you can…
Last Updated: March 2026==There are many rivers and creeks surrounding Gladstone, as well as a couple of close by dams, many of which offer great fishing at the right time of the year. Gladstone is a major Queensland city located approximately 550 kilometres by road north of Brisbane and 100 kilometres south-east of…
Last Updated: May 2026==Located near Imbil south of Gympie Borumba Dam is unique in that it offers both great Bass and Saratoga fly fishing. The layout of the lake is interesting in itself and basically forms a cross. On the north east axis you have the dam wall and main lake and opposite that you have the Yabba Creek…
Last Updated: May 2026Insects such as Mayflies, Stoneflies and Dragonflies that have part of their life cycle in the water provide a significant part of a trouts diet. For a Mayfly Life begins as an egg. Gestation period is only a few days and the hatched nymph is a miniature of the adult except for the wings and tail….
Last Updated: April 2015In fast flowing water or where you just want your nymph to stand out a little a Flash Back nymph is an option. Whilst this nymph is not tied to represent the nymphal (sub imago or pupa) stage of any specific insect it is a good “buggy” looking fly and readily accepted by trout. I generally only…
Last Updated: April 2026AKA: proportions – wet fly The physics of dry flies are quite simple either they rely on buoyancy (displacement) to simply float or they rely on the materials used to be light and resist water penetration and consequently to be supported on the surface tension of the water. Just as the…
Last Updated: May 2023Keep an eye for swallows dipping on the water feeding on midge. That's a sure sign that there will also be damsel nymphs around and then of course further up the food chain there are likely to be trout feeding on both the midge and the damsel nymphs. This is the time to start thinking about fishing…
Last Updated: April 2026Although a similar tie to my fuzzy nymph this fly incorporates your choice of Hends Spectra dubbing for the thorax. This makes the fly a lot more visible in dirtier water and also a great alternative to bigger flashy nymphs such as Montana nymphs. I also tie it with a little added weight because if…
Last Updated: April 2026Hi Jon, Yours is a good question. (Full question is at the end of the blog) There are 3 reasons why I have gravitated to my set of six fly boxes as set out below: My "trout" lake fly box My bass EP & perch fly box – lake and river My booby fly box My dry fly box My nymph fly box My salt water fly…
Last Updated: March 2026This is a prawn or shrimp imitation that has stood the test of time. Whilst I have seen it in all sorts of sizes and colours I have found that small flies tied in translucent shades of olives through to browns work best. Materials Hook Thread Eyes Weight Mouth parts Sieves Legs Body Size 2 to 6…
Last Updated: May 2023Bonefish are an amphidromous species which means they migrate from fresh to salt water or from salt to fresh water at some stage of the life cycle other than the breeding period. They live in inshore tropical waters and moves onto shallow mudflats and sand flats to feed with the incoming tide….
Last Updated: May 2016This fly is basically my original mud prawn that I released in 2003 and have now miniaturised and modified. This orange and brown size #2 hook version of my tidal flats shrimp is my first choice of fly when targeting feeding trigger fish. It stands out in the storm of mud and other debris that…
Last Updated: March 2026This fly is inspired by the Clouser but it is so different I just call it a a baitfish fly. It's slightly translucent and swims well making it a realistic generic baitfish pattern. It also sheds water well on the pick up and back cast making it easy to cast. I tie my "baitfish fly" in a range of…
Last Updated: May 2024When I am talking about big fish flies I have in mind the flies I carry when targeting species such as but not limited to: Barramundi (both freshwater & saltwater) Kingfish (Yellowtail and Cobia) Lutjanids (Mangrove Jack & Fingermark Javelin fish (Barred Grunter and Silver Grunter) Flathead (Dusky…
Last Updated: March 2026My articulated swimmer dressed in the red and white "Qantas" colours has been one of my most successful prospecting flies for Central Queensland. It has caught more than its fair share of barramundi in both the Boyne River and Awoonga Dam and has caught other species including bream, flathead,…
Last Updated: March 2026Classification Animalia (animals) > Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Sparidae (porgies) > Acanthopagrus In the Acanthopagrus family we have quite a few members in Australian waters. From both a commercial and recreational fishing point of view the main members of the Acanthopagrus…
Last Updated: March 2026If your going to fish any faster flowing water or if you are going to fish running or still water where you may want your fly to get down then Bead Head or Cone Head nymphs are very useful. Beads and Cones can be made of various materials with tungsten being the heaviest. Whilst this nymph is not…
Last Updated: April 2026==Lake Maroon is one of South East Queensland's best freshwater fly and surface fishing destinations It lays close to the base of the Great Dividing Range on Burnett Creek, a tributary of the Logan River. It is a relatively small impoundment with a surface area of 350 ha and an average depth of 9.6…
Last Updated: May 2026Cania Dam has been on my bucket list now for a couple of years and consequently I have been undertaking quite a lot of research so that when I do get up there hopefully this year I have enough information to make a reasonable job of that fishing trip. This is what I have found so far. Lake Cania is…
Last Updated: March 2026Hi Kerry, Thanks about your email looking for information on Lake Maroon. I love Maroon and have had a couple of podium finishes there in Fly Fish Australia competitions. I am not aware of any guides that fish the Lake Maroon area so I cant help you there but I have set out a little information on…
Last Updated: May 2026==Cania Dam has a reputation of being an all round fishing venue but in reality for me it is best suited to the warmer months when there is plenty of insect activity. Even then, for the best results, fish a morning session from at least half an hour before sun rise to when the dawn bite window…
Last Updated: May 2026==Awoonga Dam was created by damming the Boyne Rive with a rock fill structure faced on the lake side with a concrete skirt to mitigate erosion in the case of overflows. The 650 odd meters of embankment is 540 meters high at its highest point and was built from rock excavated from a quarry on the…
Last Updated: May 2026==Lake Maroon is one of South East Queensland's best freshwater fly and surface fishing destinations It lays close to the base of the Great Dividing Range on Burnett Creek, a tributary of the Logan River. It is a relatively small impoundment with a surface area of 350 ha and an average depth of 9.6…
Last Updated: May 2026=NSW= Opened in 1976 Brogo Dam was created by damming the Brogo River with concrete faced compacted rock dam wall. It has an uncontrolled unlined rock spill way which unfortunately allows fish to escape down the Brogo river when the lake overflows but does not allow bass to return to the dam from…
Last Updated: May 2026=NSW=Located in that part of New South Wales that is still referred to by some as “old town country”. By virtue of how it is accessed the lake is virtually split into three areas of public access. The only access point I have used, and consequently the focus of this post is via Burrendong State…
Last Updated: May 2026Published on :Nov 25,2009 =NSW= Tallowa Dam was constructed at the confluence of the Kangaroo and Shoalhaven Rivers in 1976 for the Sydney Catchment Authority to form what is known as Lake Yarrunga. Lake Yarrunga is a popular recreational waterway and particularly popular as a canoe / kayak…
Last Updated: May 2026My first fish on fly fell to the magic of a Woolly Bugger and many have gone the same way since then. My understanding is that the Woolly Bugger has its origins in America where it appears to be tied, as a leach imitation. having said that there is also an English fly with bead chin eyes called a…
Last Updated: April 2021I can remember the first time I tied this fly. I had lost a few nymphs during the day and had limited resources on hand to make up some replacements. A little dubbing and a few church window feather (rein neck pheasant) later and the church nymph was born. It's not dissimilar to many other nymphs I…
Last Updated: April 2026Beetles are of the order Coleoptera and there are over 28,000 species found in Australia. Terrestrial beetles Many different types of beetles are fond in the vegetation throughout Australia. There are those that live in forests, other that live in pastures and yet others peculiar to tussock ridden…
Last Updated: March 2026Loch Style fly-fishing involves fly-fishing from a boat, side onto the wind, using a system incorporating one or a number of flies. There are both wet and dry lock style fishing techniques. The dry fly technique involves casting out in the direction of the drift, stopping the cast above the water…
Last Updated: August 2011The Pheasant Tail Nymph was created by Frank Sawyer during his days as river keeper on the Avon River in Wiltshire in England. The fly that he tied was not representational of any particular mayfly nymph but rather is suggestive of the broad range of nymphs that he came across in his duties and his…
Last Updated: April 2026For me polaroiding is one of the most rewarding forms of fly fishing. It involves the process of sighting fish with the aid of polaroid sunglasses and then working out and executing a when, where, what and how equation with the aim of enticing the sighted fish to take the fly. I like it because it…
Last Updated: December 2014I was recently at my home on the shores of Lake Jindabyne the wind was up and blowing from the north east at about 20 Km, it was cold and overcast and there were intermittent snow and sleet showers. All in all it was a miserable day and better suited to tying flies, reading or writing than actually…
Last Updated: March 2026This definition covers insects from two separate orders. The first are the aquatic bugs of the hemipterus order and the second the aquatic beetles of the order coleopteran. Water boatman and back swimmers Whilst there are over 5000 different species of aquatic bugs Australia only two are of…
Last Updated: December 2014I have listed this fly box first because its undoubtedly the most important of my river fly fishing boxes. I am a firm believer that when fishing rivers you have to get down to where the fish are holding and also that flies particularly in faster running water should include "hot spots". These…
Last Updated: August 2011There are over 470 species of Caddis flies in Australia and they all lay their copious numbers of eggs in water. Given the numbers of caddis pupa (or nymphs) that hatch it's not surprising that Caddis fly pupa form arguably the largest part of a trout's diet. Caddis flies are of the order…
Last Updated: April 2026














