Christopher Bassano
Fishing guide Christopher Bassano explores his favourite fishing-and shares a few tips that will help you discover the world of trout near the sea.
By the time this edition of Tas. Fishing & Boating News goes to press winter will be upon us, however, this is not the end of the world for "fish-o-holics" as some excellent angling can still be found locally to keep enthusiastic anglers occupied.
Snapper are definitely Tasmania's premier estuary inshore sports fish. They are caught from as far west as Smithton, all along the Northern Tasmanian coast to the far south-east where the occasional fish is reported. To me, Snapper have the lot - good looks, hard fighting and delicious eating qualities. (My father does not eat seafood of any type, but loves a meal of Snapper.)
Look after the Easter Stocks
So Easter is upon us again - another great chance to do some fishing and a great time for rabbits (unless they are chocolate)
But it's not such a great time of the year if you happen to be a fish.
This year for Easter, let's take particular care to do the right thing and let's all do our bit to make sure we have fish for the future.
If I may, I'd like to offer just a few pointers...... nothing new, but every bit helps.
Georges Bay Bream.
It was Friday 9th March, the day before the start of the St Helens Classic game fishing competition, and those of us with fish fever were in the town early preparing for the big day.
I went around to Rocky and Angela Carosi's place to see who had been catching what -and hopefully where, only to find Kaj Busch (or Bushy as he is better known) hanging over Rocky's gate contemplating the view over the bay, "come back to Tassie to chase a few smutting mako's eh Bushy?', I politely enquired referring to last year when we presented him with a 2 kilo fly we fondly called "the emerging muttonbird'.
During the Duck Bay recovery story in the last issue, we questioned the fact of the possibility of catching Snapper. It seems we are seeing an ever-increasing number of species being landed in the area, but snapper were few and far between. Sure, there had been the occasional one caught, but it was uncommon.
If there is one fish species that can help ease the winter blues, it would have to be the impressive Australian salmon. Locally known as either the cocky salmon or black back salmon, these great sport fish often remain in all the major estuary systems till the first big floods, and if the last few years are any indication, that means July or August. It doesn't matter how you plan to tackle salmon, with either bait, lure or fly, they are ready biters, sensational fighters, as well as being an acceptable, if not first class table fish.
The New Estuary Gamefish!
Sea Mullet. Most people would think of the yellow eye mullet that is prolific in Tasmanian estuaries. The sea mullet is a different type of mullet that grows much bigger that the common yellow eye mullet, and is extremely powerful when hooked. In fact, their fighting capabilities are astounding, as I found. They are very "dirty" fighters, going for any snags they can find. Sea mullet are very hard to catch because they are reluctant to take a bait.
There has been some terrific fishing on the far north west of Tasmania - especially around Smithton and Stanley.
The whole of the northern coast has been fishing well for larger than usual flathead as they move in to shore with warmer water.
This seems to be the question that many anglers in the Circular Head
district are asking themselves lately. The varieties of fish being
caught have suprised the locals, with no doubt the 13 kilo snapper in
October being the highlight. Other species that have been caught in the
sporting fashion that are not usually common are King George Whiting,
pike and the snotty trevally. Throw in a few Australian Salmon, silver
trevally, gummy shark, mullet, tailor and the odd double figure flathead
and you have one of the most productive and improving estuary fishery
this state has seen in modern times.
Bridport is one of the most popular summer holiday destinations, and although many of the leisure seekers are after the sun and the surf, there are also a great number who seek the excellent fishing available there. For many people, it is a case of just chuck and chance, so this piece is intended to be a short guide to the best fishing that Bridport has to offer.
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Presented from Issue 100
Considering the world class quality of our sea trout fishery, these fish are not sought after by enough anglers. Sea runners live in the salt water and run up our estuaries and rivers from the start of August to the middle of November. At this time of the year, they are here to eat the many species of fish that are either running up the rivers to spawn or are living in and around the estuary systems. Trout, both sea run and resident (Slob Trout) feed heavily on these small fish which darken in colouration as they move further into fresh water reaches.
The majority of these predatory fish are brown trout with rainbows making up a very small percentage of the catch. They can be found all around the state but it would be fair to say that the east coast is the least prolific of all the areas. They still run up such rivers as the Georges (and many others) but their numbers along with the quality of the fishing elsewhere make it difficult to recommend the area above the larger northern, southern and western rivers.
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