Sydney Fly Rodders' Club Incorporated

Welcome to winter, a great time to sight fish lake edges. Had the gallows tool out to make some stacked hackle emergers for those glassy days. They sit low in the surface film, and I team them with an unweighted nymph.

ZONKER / MATUKA!
At the upcoming Sydney Fly Rodders Club Fly Tying night, we will be dubbing, zonkering, and hackling from the same fur patch. This Matuka style pattern is ideal to pull in winter lakes and swing when the rivers are open.
Great for practicing the following skills:
1. Where to place the jam hitch to minimise head crowding. (FFi1)
2. Applying lead wire weighting without giving yourself lead poisoning.
3. Applying the pinch wrap (FFi8)
4. Applying touch / noodle dubbing (FFi29)
5. Applying loop dubbing (FFi30)
6. Applying even ribbing to a Matuka style “wing” (FFi20/21)
7. Forming and applying a hair (crosscut) hackle in a “dubbing” loop (FFi30)
8. Applying a whip finish (FFi12)
Skills are pattern agnostic. Once a core skill is mastered, it can be applied to almost all other patterns - fresh or salt or brackish. Picking up skills haphazardly by tying random patterns takes a lifetime and usually cements bad skill habits into muscle memory. Its best to systematically focus on the essential skills despite the pattern!

HAIR & FLAIR SKILLS
At the Sydney Fly Rodders Club Monthly Fly-Tying night, participants developed hair management skills needed to tie Clousers, Crazy Charlies, Gotchas, Elk Hair Caddis’s and tails on Royal Wulff’s and Humpies using natural hair.
We tied a Clouser demonstrated by Bob Clouser on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwl9ew6E2Pk
Why use the term “Cris/Cross” wraps instead of “Figure-of-Eight” wraps when attaching dumbbell eyes? Those of us raised on freshwater tying were confined to “figure-of-eight” wraps.
Note how Bob introduces immediate tension by firstly wrapping multiple criss wraps, then secondly, he twists (wrenches) the eyes back into place and then applies multiple cross wraps until the counter forces square up the eyes. Then the usual figure of eight wraps (criss/cross), horizontal “helicopter” wraps and H wraps followed by more criss/cross wraps.
Some tiers file the hook to rough it up! Others (like me) form a thin bed of fine dubbing as a base for the dumbbells.
Superglue helps as does knowing where the best hair is located on a Buck Tail.
Belgian casting is the order of the day when casting heavy lead eye Clousers and Belgian Chocolate while tying also helps!



https://flytyingskills.com/ Sydney Fly Rodders' Club Incorporated

Anglers Journal 3.2K likes, 84 comments. "Bob Clouser Tying His Famous Minnow Pattern"

Sydney Fly Rodders Monthly Meeting
When: 13 Apr 2026 7:00 PM
Where: Freeway Hotel, 115 Reserve Road, Artarmon, 2064

EVENT DETAILS:

The Monthly Meeting will be held at our regular venue, The Freeway Hotel, 115 Reserve Road, Artarmon, 2064 (Google maps) commencing at 7:00pm. Members will arrive from around 6pm so feel free to come early and enjoy a drink and some dinner with fellow members.

Our guest speaker will be Steven Gaynor from the Flyboat Fishing Charters. Steven guides on the Sydney Harbour, but also fishes the Snowy Mountains and New Zealand regularly. As always there will be good opportunities to share and engage with other members.

Casting practice isn't always just about casting.

Carp virus release delayed again.

Release of herpes virus into waterways to fight carp delayed Release of a virus to control carp in Australian waterways has been delayed until 2028, a decade after it was initially slated for release.

There are quite a few big fish cruising the edges of Lake Wallace at the moment. Some cracking 10lb. Not always easy to catch but some fantastic sight fishing.
Small brown woolly buggers style flies and strong tippet are the go. You can find them in the shallows either side of the dog park and baseball field.

Members come along to learn these skills at the next fly tying night on 16 Feb 2026 at 6:30 PM at the Freeway Hotel.
The Tabanas is a Parachute Caddis pattern ideal for summer conditions that may also be taken as a hopper. It is of European origin and popularised in Australia by international competition anglers. A “go-to” pattern of Tom Jarman.

The Tabanas is very oddly named. Tabanus is the name given to Horse Flies (Tabanidae family) which are not related to Caddis’s at all. While on nomenclature, you will hear the name “Sedge” given to Caddis flies. Sedges and Caddis’s are the same fly. “Sedge” is commonly used the UK usually in company of Harris Tweed coats and deer stalker hats! They are called Caddis’s in Australia and the USA.

The Tabanas however is packed with core tying skills that are transferable to many other patterns. It is not easy to tie as managing flair of soft hair, tying a parachute hackle and maintaining proportion can be challenging.

Tying the parachute hackle while not fouling the hair wing can be tricky without applying a “secret” method.

2026 dates for fly casting practice

8 Feb I 8 March I 12 April I 17 May I 14 June I 12 July I 9 August I

13 September I 11 October I 8 November I 13 December .

Our casting days are not just a chance for instruction, you can join in the FFI skills program to develop your casting skills thru bronze, silver and gold levels.

Learning Center - Casting Instruction FFI Learning Center - Casting Instruction. You find lessons on fly casting, including roll cast, pick-up and lay-down, change of direction, and the fundamentals.

Coffs Coast event.