Pocket Water

Well, it’s that time again. The Rise film festival is making the rounds again. If previous shows are anything to go by, this one will be a cracker again.

The press release says …

"RISE - Fly Fishing Film Festival has become the premier event on fly fishers calendars across three countries and two continents. In April 2008 the film tour will start in Dunedin and play over 35 shows over two months circumnavigating New Zealand and Australia. The two hour show comprises of the best fly fishing entertainment available from around the world. This year’s winner of the Fly Shorts - Short Film Competition will open the festival at each screening. The competition is open to the general public and always produces some exceptional short films.

The films will be an interesting blend of exotic and local fly fishing focusing on adventure, story telling and humour - all brought to life on the big screen."

The films featured in 2008 include The Search - Tahiti, Fishizzle and Green Tide. The list of venues is available on the gin-clear website here,

I’ll see you there

No, they arent politicians, though they do have a lot in common

Since the alpine streams are a bit of a hike from here, we sometimes find it necessary to spend some time on water closer to home. Trout are a little scarce on my home water, but carp are plentiful and they are quite sizable. Now before I get an inbox full of hate mail from Carp fanatics asking why I don't release them, I have to say that European Carp are a declared noxious pest in Australia. Where as in some states anglers are legally obliged to destroy the fish, in NSW we are not legally obliged to do so. That being said, we are strongly encouraged to destroy them, and thus no carp are returned to the water alive.

This guy is 70cm long, 10lb in weight and delicately sipped a bread fly off the surface :). There are some additional pics in the gallery.

Spent a lovely day in the mountains, and as the rain tumbled down in the afternoon I came across these little guys …

… beautiful 

Well, it's that time again, and the Fly Fishing Film Festival is coming around again fast. The Australian dates were released a while back (and I have been too busy to post them til now) but better late than never Last years festival was great (see previous post) and it was great to see so many anglers coming out of the woodwork to support this project.

The films this year include Trout Bum Diaries 2 (Kiwi Cammo), Running Down the Man and A Foam Odyssey. If the trailers are anything to go by it is going to be a spectacular evening.

Tickets are available online from the Gin Clear web site, as well as from some fly fishing retailers, including Alpine Angler.

Do yourself a favour and come along for a look. I might see you there 

For those located in Victoria, Northern Suburbs Fly Fishing Club is running a couple of beginners courses that are well worth a look.

The fly fishing course covers equipment, casting, tactics, and fly selection. Also included is a days fishing at Tranquil Rises. Courses run from September 14 - October 1 and November 9 - 26 2006.

The fly tying course will teach participants to tie 16 different flies. it covers various fly tying methods, hooks, materials, and basic entomology. All tools an materials are provided. There are 2 courses on offer, commencing on 28 Sept 2006, or 15 February 2007.

All courses will also give you a years membership to NSFFC. More information is available from their web site at http://www.flyfishing.org.au.

The Northern Suburbs blokes are a great bunch and really know their stuff, so if you are looking to improve your fishing and/or tying this would be a great way to do it.