Regular activities
For more than 57 years, the Lakeside Fly Fishing Club has been promoting the art and science of freshwater fly fishing for trout in New South Wales. This has largely been through teaching beginners the skill required to become a successful fly fisher, or improving the skills of those wishing to better their casting technique.
Fishing Trips
During the year, Club members go on regular fishing trips to known Trout waters close to Sydney, the Snowy Mountains, Victoria and New Zealand. Given that our membership base covers a wide range of ages and fly fishing preferences, we can offer a multitude of fishing experiences to suit most peoples tastes. Please see the Calendar of events for details on trip dates and locations.
Competition Casting Days
Between March and November of each year the Club holds an in-house casting competition that offers members the opportunity to compete in internationally recognised events such as the Wet, Dry and Skish casting. The competition is open to all members regardless of their skill. Scores are recorded and grades awarded with prizes awarded each year for the most improved in each category.
If for nothing else, this activity will help members hone their skills in terms of accuracy, judging distance and casting styles - all of which are needed when out fishing.
NEW - Casting Practice and Tuition
Starting Saturday 30th August 2008, the Club will hold casting practice and tuition days at its pond for all our new members and those that wish to hone up on their casting skills. Experienced members will be on hand to assist and instruct those wishing to learn basic casting techniques, different casting styles and accurately judging distance. These sessions will be held on the last Saturday of each month between August and November 2008.
Fly Tying Nights
Fly tying evenings are held on the first Tuesday following the regular monthly meeting at 7.30pm sharp in the Club's usual meeting room. Members are encouraged to bring along their own equipment and take part in tying their own flies under the guidance of our resident experts.
It's a great opportunity to swap old ideas and to come up with new and interesting patterns. Dates and times are posted in the Calendar of Events.
Major Competitions and Events for 2008
Fishing the Snowy Mountains: 7th to 9th March 2008
Members are invited to come away and fish the peak of dry fly fishing in the beautiful Snowy Mountains. Our base will be Thredbo Mountain Resort and the Rivers targeted include the Thredbo, Murray and Swampy Plains, where the water level will be low and crystal clear. Insect life will be in abundance and the trout wary. This trip will test the skills of our members as they stalk and tempt trout with an assortment of dry flies (hoppers, cicadas, royal wulfs etc) in what can only be described as testing but idealic conditions.
Stream-craft School with Jeff Brown on the Eucumbene River: 4th to 6th April 2008
Lakeside members are invited to a weekend away with Jeff Brown (an experienced guide and expert casting instructor) to take part in a casting and stream-craft school that will be held on the Eucumbene River. A maximum of 12 members only will get the opportunity to have lessons with Jeff in order to improve their casting abilities on moving water and to learn the finer art of stream-craft. Each class will have a maximum of 3 anglers only and will spend 4 hours on the water with Jeff. This is a great opportunity for all our members to learn from an experienced fly casting instructor out on moving water, targeting wild trout.
CFA Inter-club Meet: 2nd to 4th May 2008
Lakeside Members compete each year in the NSW Council of Freshwater Anglers (CFA) Inter-club meet, which is held at Wallerawang. The event is usually held towards the end of April / early May and involves an organised agenda comprising a fishing competition on the Saturday taking in the rivers and lakes of the local area. Prizes are awarded for most fish caught and biggest fish caught.
On the Sunday, various accuracy casting competitions are held throughout the day. Accommodation is at the Black/Gold Country Cabins Wallerawang. Lakeside is proud to say that it has now held the trophy for the best overall club at the Meet for the past three years (2006, 2007 & 2008) and hopes to be competitive yet again in 2009.
Close of Trout Fishing Season: 6th to 9th June 2008
A trip to the Eucumbene River is planned to coincide with the closing of the Trout Fishing Season. The weekend will see Club members targeting local rivers such as the Upper Murrumbidgee and Upper Eucumbene together with other streams and brooks in the area. This trip takes advantage of what is usually a good time of the year to catch large fish as they start to move out of the Lakes to spawn. Our accommodation will be at the Snowy Mountains Alpine Cabins, near to Adaminaby.
NSW Fly Casting Championships: 14th September 2008
The NSW Casting Championships will be held this year at beautiful Lake Wallace, Wallerawang. This premium casting event is being proudly co-hosted by the Orange Trout Acclimatisation Society and our own Club. Competitions will include Wet, Dry and Skish casting, Distance Casting - both double handed and long haul. Other accuracy events will also be held catering for all skill levels. This event is sanctioned by the Australian Casting Federation (ACF).
Brunn Shield Casting Championships: May-August 2008
Each year, Lakeside members take part in the Brunn Shield Casting Championships, which is a national competition hosted by the Australian Casting Federation (ACF).
The Brunn Shield casting competition is held during the Autumn and Winter Months at the Club's Casting pond at Lansdowne, Sydney. Events contested are Skish, Dry and Wet events. For further details of this event, please refer to the "Calendar of Events".
President's Challenge: 5th July 2008
Once a year in July, the Lakeside Fly Fishing Club hosts the "President’s Challenge", which is the Club’s peak casting event and open to all members from other like minded fly fishing clubs across the City and State.
The event is open to all fly fishing skill levels and is a great day of competition and fellowship between other like minded Clubs. Each year the Club also holds a separate casting event during the President's Challenge, to encourage those not wanting to take part in the main event, to nevertheless experience competition casting in a more relaxed format so as to foster the awareness and experience needed to take part in more formal casting competitions.
Polaroiding Lake Jindabyne: 15th to 17th August 2008
The Club hosts an annual trip to Lake Jindabyne to polaroid the shores for trout feeding along the weed beds. At this time of the year, the days are cold and the weather clear (mostly). Large trout have moved back out of the rivers after spawning and are feeding aggressively on bugs and insects that have been dislodged along lakes edge as a result of rising water lines caused by snow melt. Our friends from Sydney Fly Rodders and Illawarra Fly Fishers join us in what is a great weekend away. On Saturday night, we dine out at "Hunters Lodge" - Mt Gladstone and enjoy a first class German banquet.
Opening of Trout Fishing Season (Victoria): 5th to 11th September 2008
A trip is planned to fish the Goulburn and Rubicon Rivers in North East Victoria to coincide with the opening of the Victorian trout fishing season. It is planned to stay at the Goulburn Valley Fly Fishing Centre in Thornton. Numbers are limited in what will be a great opportunity for members to fish and wade the Goulburn River and to fish the Rubicon River (a small alpine river) as it weaves its way through the lush green pastures of the Goulburn Valley. Float trips are also available (depending on river levels). A trip not to miss!
Opening of Trout Fishing Season (New South Wales): 3rd to 6th October 2008
A trip is scheduled to fish the Eucumbene River and other local streams to coincide with the opening of the season during the October long weekend. Our accommodation will be the Snowy Mountains Alpine Cabins located 9km from Adaminaby. This trip will offer opportunities to nymph fish late spawning trout in the ice cold fast flowing waters of the region.
Fishing the Western Lakes: 28th to 30th November 2008
This will be the last planned Club fishing trip for 2008. Our base will be the Black/Gold Country Cabins in Wallerawang. Depending on weather conditions we will fish the local Rivers as well as Lake Wallace, Thompsons Creek Dam and Lake Lyell. Conditions should be dry and starting to warm up for Summer. This trip will offer both wet and dry fly fishing opportunities for all our members.
Annual In-house Competitions
Fly Tying Competition: March, May, July, September & November 2008
An in-house fly tying competition is held each year. Members wishing to compete will be asked to present their entries at the March, May, July, September and November general meetings. Four flies will be tied for each occasion. Flies tied will be prescribed prior to submission dates.
The categories will be Wet, Dry, Nymph and a fly of choice. The winner will be announced at the Christmas Dinner and Awards night in December.
In-house Casting Competition: March-November 2008
Members taking part in the regular casting practice days have the opportunity to compete in an "in-house" competition that seeks to award the "most improved" caster for the year. This event is open to all levels of ability.
At the end of the year, each competitor will also be ranked according to their ability - based on their average scores. To take part in this competition, each member must take part in four out of the eight casting days planned for each year. A prize will be awarded for the most improved caster at the Christmas Dinner and Awards night in December.
In-house Fishing Competition: March - November 2008
Members taking part in each of the Clubs official fishing trips automatically qualify for the year long fishing competition. The competition itself is very straight forward. The overall winner will be the member that has the longest sum total of all legal sized fish caught throughout the year. That is, any fish over 250mm or as prescribed in blue ribbon waters (usually 500mm). So if you catch for example 10 fish over the year, you add the length of all fish caught together to get the sum total. This competition also cover all official trips away with Illawarra Fly Fishers to designated trout waters only.
Awards Night: 3rd December 2008
At the Christmas Dinner and Awards Night in December each year prizes will be given for various casting and fishing events over the year. The fishing prize will be awarded for the overall length of fish caught during the Club's organised fishing trips throughout the year.
The overall length will be determined by the sum total of all the fish a member has caught during the year. Only fish of legal size will be counted (250mm +, or as stipulated under local "Fisheries" rules and regulations).
An award for fly tying will be given based on a scoring and marking system for those flies tied in conjunction with the five official fly tying events over the year. Various awards will also be given to members for casting.
Other activities
Fly Tying
The Club also takes great pride in the depth of knowledge its members have in the art of fly tying and stream craft. Each month, a new fly is tied by one of our experienced fly tiers that more often than not employs the latest materials, pattern or technique.
New members are taught these skills (if they are interested) along with stream-craft, as well as what fly to use at particular locations at varying times of the year. These skills are all necessary in making fly fishing all the more enjoyable and successful. Club members take part and successfully compete in regular casting and fishing competitions throughout the year together with organised Club fishing trips to a number of locations around the State.
Mid-week Fishing Trips
The Club is planning to put together a programme of mid-week fishing trips for those of our members wishing to take in the "quieter" days of the week. These dates will be posted in Random Casts and or announced at Club meetings.
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