19-20 May is set down for "Eucumbene", traditionally Braemar Bay. Bruce was suggested as co-ordinating and Ian volunteered to conduct the organisation if Bruce was not available. The NSW Freshwater Fishing Council meeting is on the Saturday at Buckenderra and some members of CAA may attend both.

After some horror stretches with both of us having a series of drops and break-offs of what were good fish, at least Bill managed to land one - albeit not the largest in the river but with beautiful colouration. Ah! the attraction of the ever-popular stimulator has been proven again! Nicely placed fly, into a little run by some overhanging tussocks, a little nose comes up and I managed to strike as per the textbook?

Been a bad stretch of fishing that we can hope has been broken in time for Eucumbene trip.

Precis: Intrepid anglers thumb collective noses at middle age by riding mountain bikes into remote location, and pay the price.

8 March 2005 – Col J and Mark S show me route on topo map. Estimated to be 12-14km in. What? Have reservations. Long ride on alpine track. Col says terrain is undulating. More reservations. Told track is "good". Grave reservations.

10 March 2005 – take half day off work to get early start. Am ready at 3.00pm. Take bets with wife on when others will turn up, they arrive at 5.30pm. Stay at Cooma at friend of friend. Nice bloke. Watch Brumbies while fiddling with fishing bits.

11 March 2005 – early start from Cooma but still arrive late at start point for ride (8.30). Start riding, buggered by top of second hill. Going in is very slow, later discover that there is substantial rise on the track. Track degenerates. Would not describe it as "good". Last two kilometres is exhausting. Stop at river, 500m short of intended destination. Who cares, it's water. Took 3 hours to ride in. All are stuffed. Mark S has developed worrying knee problem. Have lunch. Mark S picks up a couple reasonable fish.

Ride out is OK for me, lot of downhill runs. Mark S in pain with knee. Don't know how he kept going. Col's bike seat clamp fails, he is sitting on lowest setting with knees bumping elbows. I arrive at car feeling OK (only one of three to ride regularly). Others are rooted. Mark S cannot bend knee, cannot drive, cannot get in back seat. Col J gets carsick. Col drives, I am in back seat. At camp Mark S, on back, receives acupuncture to swollen knee from Col J (!!!) and gives directions how to erect new tent. What Fun. Acupuncture worked (!!!!). Go fishing on lake. Mark S and Col J both catch fish. I miss fish. I get tangled. I put torch on, fades to a dull dot. I turn on head lamp, it fails. Use emergency light. Change fly, cast, take, strike and miss good fish. Had enough.

Dinner. Mark's knee seems on mend. Go to bed feeling fatigued, dejected, but smug that am doing better than others physically, even if on no other respect. Fall into dreamless sleep.

12 March 2005 – God punishes smugness. Go to small lake. Not a touch. Col J has white hot streak using same flies as me. Catches dozen fish in two hours. Gives running commentary on radio, "Yes, another one!….." "casting ….and….yes he's taken it", oh, well another one….". Mental note: take batteries out of radio, put them in torch. Col J wants to stay on till late. Not a hope. I need 2 hours at home to prepare case. We're having lunch and going (he can stay and ride his bike home is he wants to, as long as I am out of radio range).

Home: Baby drops sticky tape dispenser on big toe, which turns black, go to hospital. Another 4.00am preparation. Nice to be home.

1. 25km round trip is too far for a day unless you are pretty fit
2. Riding might cut walking time in half, but do not expect to do better unless you really know the track. Much depends on terrain and the quality of track and level of fitness.
3. Pack light. Dump vest and anything else you can. Use shirt with pockets big enough for fly box, tippet etc. Riding shorts also often have big pockets.
4. Conditioning: little bit of preparatory riding will not give you match fitness but it goes a long way.
5. Shoes: riding shoes (with cleats to clip to pedals) that double as walking boots are great. Don't have to carry second pair of boots.
6. Gaiters: wear them on ride in, otherwise lunchtime is spent picking a kilo of seeds etc out of socks.

With what some folk consider the 'cold' period coming up, it was good to receive an article from Stu on an important issue for those who brave the mountains over the next few months.

I guess most fisher folk these days have heard about Hypothermia at one time or other, but do many people know enough to take it seriously? As I was obliged to when fishing at Eucumbene dam the Thursday before Easter. When I arrived back at the van (very late) I was extremely cold, colder than I suspected, since I had been focusing on fishing, which I add was most unsuccessful.

Ask yourself….. how often have you been out walking and fishing in cold, wet and windy weather???……..and been quite a few kilometres from the shelter of your car, tent, etc..???

Picture this: you lose track of the distance you have walked from your car (what’s around the next bend??). While out, that nice day has turned rather nasty, and you are unprepared…. the odds rise unsuspectingly in favour of Hypothermia.

Question is, what are the symptoms, treatment and (most importantly) preventative measures?

Hypothermia is a critical lowering of core body temperatures…… that is vital organs like the heart and brain cool, and are unable to maintain operational temperatures.

Fishermen are at risk to the three forms of the condition:-

1. Immersion Hypothermia – (immersion in cold water)
2. Basic Hypothermia – (over exposure in cold water)
3. Exhaustion Hypothermia – (combinations of physical exhaustion + energy depletion + cold conditions.)

Immersion hypothermia could easily affect boaties, float-tubers and wading fishermen. Basic hypothermia may result unavoidably through lack of suitable shelter in bad weather conditions, and the third form may affect those who walk distances when fishing, without being suitably prepared.

• Immersion in water at 5 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes may be fatal….
• Water below 10 degrees Celsius causes immediate intense difficulty in breathing, hyperventilation and unconsciousness.
• Fatigue sets in quickly (active swimming may shorten time before unconsciousness).

The onset and severity of the condition will be affected by a number of factors like wind speed, temperature, clothing age and physical condition as well as amount of exposure.

The aspects that will make these basis factors much worse are wind, snow, rain, fatigue, anxiety, hunger and denial of early warning signs (soloists beware!).

1. Mild symptoms include:

• feeling cold, shivering as well as feeling very tired, vision problems, faintness, cramps increasing slowness of physical and mental responses, stumbling gait, slurred speech.

2. Severe Symptoms include:

• coldness, slow pulse slow and shallow breathing, quietness and refusal of food, unconsciousness (most likely in elderly or ill).

First Aid (St. John’s - Australian First Aid, Vol.1)

1. Check for dangers to you, the others and the casualty (maybe others have the condition too)

Check responses (is the patient conscious?)

If unconscious check A B C - Airway, Breathing and Circulation and if need be – perform resuscitation.

2. Protect casualty and anyone else from wind, rain and sleet.
3. Remove any wet clothing and wrap in dry, warm clothing, sleeping bag, space blanket (keeping head warm too).
4. If conscious give warm (not hot) drinks.
5. DO NOT GIVE ALCOHOL.
6. Aid victim with body warmth from a companion.
7. NEVER use direct heat sources from a fire, hot water bottle, and electric blanket etc.
8. Seek medical aid if recovery is not satisfactory, urgently if symptoms are severe (often the case with Immersion Hypothermia).
9. Remain close to patient for strict observation.

There are some simple common sense tips that will have you prepared for fishing in possible dirty weather conditions:

Have good main meals and frequent glucose enriched snacks in between (I always have a store of goodies in my fly-vest). You can eat lollies, dried fruit nuts etc. Make sure you don’t dehydrate as this hastens exhaustion. Remember….you lose more moisture in your breath in cold weather.

Know your limitations. The fitter you are the more tiredness is delayed. Excessive exercise and carrying too heavy a load will bring on exhaustion (therefore you had better leave that 20lb fish behind!!).

Be aware of varying ages and fitness levels of members of your group. Some will be expending too much energy (leading to exhaustion), others too little (leading to insufficient heat gain.) Young fellas beware

Are all members of the group 100% well? Colds, flu, gastro, etc… all take time to get over and deplete energy sources.

Alcohol should be avoided (it speeds up heat loss). Tranquilizers and sedatives slow metabolism and therefore aid the onset of the condition.

check newspapers, T.V. etc. for expected weather patterns. Go to <http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/wrap_fwo.pl?IDN10103.txt>

Be responsible, hypothermia is not an accident, it’s preventable through careful preparation, observation of group members and willingness to discontinue when faced with potential problem weather.

Remember, if it is raining and blowing a gale, a temperature of around 10 degrees Celsius can be fatal if symptoms are undetected.

The lesson is,…. do not expose oneself unless amongst responsible friends.

* * * * * * *

Did anyone as well as Bruce and myself get along to the championships? It certainly is different from casting for fish! For those who did not, click here for a short sample of the roll-casting action (465 kB - say a few minutes download for those of us with dial up modems)

Members present: Ian, Stefan, Bill, Max, Scott, Peter, Stu and. Geoff.

Apologies: David.

Ian declared the meeting opened.

Minutes of the meeting of 9 Mar 2005 had been disseminated via email. Highlights were read out and minutes were accepted.

The estimate for value of the Hardy rod obtained by Stu has been passed to Geoff. He will endeavour to get some confirmation during his visit to the US this month.

Stu and Scott still to arrange engraving of their trophies and claiming costs from the club. This needs to be done before the AGM.

Ian spoke on the NSW Freshwater Fishing Council. Their next meeting is at Adaminaby (after the meeting revealed to be Buckenderra) on the same weekend as the next club outing. Attendance will be considered at the next CAA meeting.

Future speakers were discussed - Geoff will speak on planning trips to exotic destinations on 11 May. Bill has arranged for Scott Mitchell of Alpine Angler to speak on trip preparation (especially his recent road trip to Weipa) and also giving some ideas for other exotic locales.

Senator Humphries office has advised there is likely to be another round of minor funding to volunteer organisations. Members are asked to bring possible project ideas to the May meeting.

Mark F has been approached by a 'Work for the Dole' agency offering the services of a web developer. There are technical challenges with having someone undertake this, also the club did not see a need for our web site to be excessively fancy, but Bill was tasked to explore getting them to produce a nice looking main page.

Stefan arrived late and so a treasurer's report was not presented. $800 remains outstanding to Max and this will be fixed ASP.

Ian raised the point that this was CAA's 60^th year. Subsequent discussions supported the idea of having a celebratory dinner possibly in October, inviting life members and other key personalities.

Ian suggested that the President annually bestow possession of the Hardy rod as a symbol of appreciation of the club for efforts during the previous year - this received support of the meeting.

Max would like to get the club boat soon so that he can make the canopy.

Discussion was conducted on the club taking over the road registration of the trailer. Bill will check with Motor Registry on how that can be done.

Geoff raised the idea of the club considering a longer term plan for a club trip to an exotic location in say 2007. Indicative cost of 7 days in NZ for $2000 including all costs and guiding was suggested. Geoff will conduct a discussion next meeting

19-20 May is set down for "Eucumbene", traditionally Braemar Bay. Bruce was suggested as co-ordinating and Ian volunteered to conduct the organisation if Bruce was not available.

The question of the coast charter timing was raised in the context of poor conditions at Pejar Dam (June) and a feeling that August is too late/cold. Stu will explore potential for bringing forward the coast charter.

Next meeting 11 May 2005.

Ian declared the meeting closed. Ash Wells of The Fishing Hole spoke - some interesting details enclosed.

Ian Bill

President Secretary

Ash Wells of The Fishing Hole spoke on a number of matters. Some key points for members are:

CAA members should flash their membership card to receive 10% discount. Such discounts will be restricted to a select group of people and not extensively offered - Fishing Hole intends to link discounts to club memberships.

The club will get substantial discounts for raffle prizes with an additional 5% rebate to the club.

If members see better prices in Australian catalogs, The Fishing Hole will generally match the price providing they still get some profit.

The Fishing Hole will welcome club membership promotional material and membership applications and will prominently place this material - Bill will prepare up a package.

The Fishing Hole is out of the flytying supply game due to lack of trade, however have links to Todds Tiewell and is happy to arrange bulk purchases.

Ash was prepared to provide a 'show bag' of fishing items for our 60^th birthday if we would like this to be done.