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Ociana Fly Fishing Championships 2015

In 2015 Australia will be the host country for the 10th Oceania Fly Fishing Championships.

I'll be there representing Australia as a member of the green team. Go to the FFA web site for information on the Ociania's and of course follow the event on the FFA Facebook page.

If you have any gems of information about flies or techniques for either Lake Wendouree or Lake Fyans please pass them onto me.

The Oceania Championships were first held in New Zealand in 1998 and were the result of discussions between Fly Fish Australia and Sports Fly Fishing New Zealand. The original concept was to provide additional competition experience to anglers from both countries broadly under the FIPS-Mouche International Competition Rules. The reference to Oceania is derived from the Oceania Region defined by the IOC. Australia and New Zealand are currently the only FIPS-Mouche affiliated countries in the Oceania Region and it has been the practice to invite other countries to participate in the event. Past participants have included Canada, United States and Japan. There is currently no written agreement as to the conduct of the event however there is a mutual understanding the event, whilst modelled on the World Fly Fishing Championships, is not intended to carry with it the strict ceremonial content of that event. The Oceania Championships alternate between Australia and New Zealand as host countries. They are held every second year (in the odd numbered year) with the Commonwealth Championships being held every second year in the even numbered year.

The event is by tradition strongly contested by skilful anglers in an atmosphere of friendship with an emphasis on sportsmanship. Our event is designed to enhance that tradition.

Knots – Chatto’s 2 turn loop knot

This knot is very simple to tie and because of its figure eight configuration is relatively strong. It also has the advantage over the other many other loop knots in that the two parts of line coming out of the actual knot are next to each other so the actual open part of the loop can be as narrow as just the two thicknesses of line.

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Tackle set ups for big CQ fish

In this post I review the gear and set ups that I use for #10 weight fly fishing in Central Queensland.

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Fusion – soft plastic lures as flies

These soft plastic / flies are best fished in the same way as fishing a soft plastic on spin gear. I generally fish them using a #8 to #10 weight fly rod depending on the weight of the head and on a fast sinking fly line so that I can get them a little deeper.

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PTN variant

This variation of Frank Sawyers pheasant Tail Nymph takes into account the shorter herl on pheasant tails that dominate the market these days and to include the substitution of peacock or coloured dubbing in the thorax and the addition of legs.

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Carrot dry fly

Tied with natural seals fur it is a fly that sits well on the water and easily sheds water with a snappy false cast.

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Carrot wet fly

This fly came about as an extension of the idea of using very popular carrot dry fly and has turned out to be a great weighted attractor fly to use on the top or middle dropper when fishing a representation fly on the point to river fish.

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Fly lines that I use – #10 Central Queensland

The fly rods that I use when fishing in the tropics for the likes of barramundi, mangrove jack, GT's, queenfish and tarpon are #10 weight Redington Predator fly rods. At only 8 foot 3 inches long they are relatively short rods that have turned out ideal for tropical fly fishing amongst the snags in rivers and also around the inshore reefs and headlands.

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Fly lines that I use – #3 & #4 trout in rivers

All my #3 and #4 weight fly lines are loaded onto a BFR 5/7 modular spools which many would say is better suited to a #6 weight rod. I do have smaller reels that I don’t use because the slightly heavier reel helps me keep the rod tip high because it overbalances the butt of the rod. This helps a lot when your holding the tip of a 10 or 11 foot #3 0r #4 weight fly rod high for a full 3 hour session.

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St. Peter’s Winery and Distillery

Before I was able to indulge my passion for fishing I was lucky to have my own winery and distillery in the Riverina region of NSW. This thumb-nail picture shows the only French Charentais-Alambic still in the Southern hemisphere.

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