113 wizzing echo shorePresented from Issue 113, December 2014
25 years experience chasing poachers, trout and carp....

Chris Wisniewski has spent the past 25 years working for IFS – much of it in the Central Highlands based at Tarraleah, Liawenee and Lake Crescent Chris is known to many, simply as Wiz and as well as being the face of the carp eradication program, he is also a passionate angler. Here are some tips, suggestions and observations on some lesser known waters that he believes are under fished.

 

113 wizzing laughing jack
Laughing Jack is a great fishery, but under fished.

Laughing Jack Lagoon

When thinking of places to fish, “The Jack”, would not be high on many anglers’ list. The lagoon tends to be high at this time of the year (-1.69 metres on 25 November).

Early in the season when the lagoon is full and the water is flooded into the tussocks the trout eagerly look for frogs. There are a number of inflows at the top of the lake that are attractive to fish.

Early season fishing can be great, but the best fishing tends to be better later in the season when the level drops to around 8 metres from full. This usually occurs around March/April. The trout target the large concentrations of shrimps (phreatoicids) that can be found at the lake edge retreating with the water level.

Fish can be found cruising and tailing slowly in the shallows in the early and late light of the day. With overcast skies fish can be found on the shore all day. The western shore is particularly worth a look at this time.

The water has a slight tannin colour and can get stirred up at lower levels during wind events. Despite low levels the mudflats are quite firm to wade. Trolling and drift spinning can be effective and bait fishing can be worthwhile.

If you are looking for somewhere a little different this is a great water to explore, with good numbers of fish generally in excellent condition averaging around one kilogram.

Access:

The Fourteen Mile Road runs between the Lyell Highway at Tarraleah and reconnects with it about 6 kilometres west of Bronte Lagoon. “The Jack” turn off is a couple of kilometres from the western end of the Fourteen Mile. The first section of the road into “The Jack” follows an old wooden pipeline that transfers water from Clarence Weir to Bronte Lagoon. After you pass the weir the road weaves through open eucalypt forest until you reach the dam.

Camping:

There are informal camp sites either side of the dam and up along the shore of the lake. Some need to be accessed by boat.

113 wizzing laughing jack trout
A typical brownie from the ‘Jack’

Fishing regulations:

General rules and regulations apply.

Open season 2/8/14 to 3/5/15.

Open to all methods angling (fly, artificial lure and bait).

A daily bag limit of 12 fish.

A minimum fish size of 220mm in length.

Best time to fish:

When levels are high and flooding into the button grass and trees and when the lake level gets to around eight metres below full supply level with the mudflats exposed.

 

Lake Echo

A lake that is a consistent producer of fish. It fishes best when the water level is above the 4 metre below full supply level. It is around this level that water pushes onto the grassy flats in Brocks Bay, Teal Bay and the Surveyors Marsh area in the North West corner and allows good shore fishing on the inundated ground. However this year this will most likely not happen as the level is at 7 metres from full as we enter summer.

113 wizzing echo trees
Some of Echo’s most productive areas are in the trees.

Fishing out through the dead trees from the shore that are along most of the western shore is effective as there is generally a steep gradient that is good for spinning, floating a dry fly or soaking a bait. The water is clear and using polaroid sunglasses will increase your chances. At this time of the year gum beetles start to appear on the water drawing fish to look to the surface. Trolling along the outside of the dead tree line is a good tactic and anglers commonly fish with lead lines to target fish in the deeper water.

Another great opportunity is wind-lane fishing. There are often reports of wind lane fishing in the Great Lake, but Echo can be a mini version. It has rainbows and browns – feeding on midges and gum beetles. From early morning midging fish to shark fishing in the waves

Echo is a remarkable fishery.

Lure fishers and especially trollers should fish along the tree edges as this contains a smorgasbord of food. The mouth of Monpeelyata Canal is also a good location to target

Access:

Access by vehicle is only available from the southern end off the Victoria Valley Road. Driving across the dam wall allows access by 4WD to Brocks Bay where there are lovely camp sites. A series of forestry roads give access to the western shore where there is a middle boat ramp and more recently the road to the North West side was upgraded and a concrete boat ramp was constructed. There are three boat ramps along the western shore and this is largely protected from the predominately westerly weather. It is worth exploring.

An Angler Access brochure is available for this lake. http://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/publications/angler-access- brochures

113 wizzing echo shore
Lake Echo has some great fishing from the shore.

Camping:

There are numerous informal campsites around the lake.

Fishing regulations:

General rules and regulations apply:

Open season 2/8/14 to 3/5/15

Open to all methods angling (fly, artificial lure and bait)

A daily bag limit of 12 fish

A minimum fish size of 220mm in length

Best time to fish:

Summer time is fantastic with plenty of surface action available for fly fishermen yet the deep cool water allows opportunities for other methods

 

113 wizzing bradys dee portal
Brady’s Dee Portal is one of the most productive areas.
 
113 wizzing bradys
An overview of Bradys Lake

Bradys Chain of lakes: Bradys, Binney and Tungatinah

A small group of waters that have their local fans, but are often passed by others. There have been reports of plenty of good fishing over the early part of the season, and great optimism for the next few months. Bradys, Binney and Tungatinah have received plenty of stocking. These waters have something to offer all anglers from bait to spin and fly fishing with a good chance to land good fish. There are many kilometres of shore that can be walked and fished. There are logs, structure, weed beds, dam walls, canals and inflows. There is always some shelter from any wind on one or all of these waters whatever your style of fishing.

The Bradys Chain offers good opportunities for the bait fisher. Often one of the most important things a bait fisher wants is good camping – this chain has plenty of that and it is well stocked.

Prime spots for lure fishers in this area are: Bradys – the mouth of the White Water where it enters from Bronte Lagoon, along the Bradys dam, the mouth of the Dee Portal Tunnel where water flows into Bradys Lake and anywhere along the Dee Portal Road shore which has nice deep water.

The dam walls on each of these water and any of the canals are also worth some focussed effort.

Fly fishers should note that Bradys gets really good wind lanes in the right conditions. They can provide awesome for fly fishers using a boat. Binney gets one similar.

The timbered shores in Binney near the dam wall on the Western side and the Eastern timbered shore can be tremendous with grassy bottom and timber in the water. There is good water to polaroid and Binney is a great spot for fly fishers.

Levels are not as critical in the Bradys chain as some other places. It is often better at between one and two metres from full supply. Being small hydro impoundments this system can fill at any time of the year providing good fishing in the flooded margins Brady’s Chain of lakes was stocked with around 10000 takeable wild adult fish that were sourced from both the Arthurs and Great Lake spawning run traps. This was an increase from the previous season when 5000 adult fish were stocked into this chain of lakes. The fish averaged around 500-1000 grams depending upon the water they came from. There have been reports of good catches coming from all three lakes in the Chain this season. It appears that the stocking with adult fish is working. In addition to the adult stocking last year these lakes received over 160 000 brown trout fry and this year the aim is to stock around 200 000 fry to try and build the population base back up after the struggle of the drought years.

Access

Easy access is available from the Lyell Highway to all of these waters and each has at least one or more boat ramps. The main Bradys boat ramp was recently upgraded and has a pontoon.

An Angler Access brochure is available for this chain of lakes. http://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/publications/angler- access-brochures

Camping:

Lots of lovely informal campsites. A great place for family camping.

Fishing regulations:

Open season 2/8/14 to 3/5/15

Open to all methods angling (fly, artificial lure and bait)

A daily bag limit of 5 fish

A minimum fish size of 300 mm in length

Best time to fish:

All season

 

113 wizzing king william 
 Lake King William is open all year and is
probably Tasmania’s most productive water.

Lake King William

This lake has a large population of trout. Most are small but above takeable size. There are some larger fish to be caught. The lake is a hydro impoundment and has a wide operating range of levels. At the end of November it was quite high and whilst the level is not critical to fish catches access can change a lot.

At heights above four metres from full the northern mud flats are covered and fish can often be seen rummaging around looking for shrimps and other foods. There can be outstanding fly fishing to tailing fish during these conditions.

Exploration of this water is encouraged as it regularly gives up the largest bags of small but good conditioned fish of any water in Tasmania.

Access:

There is a track that runs along the eastern shore from the Clark Dam to Derwent Bridge providing access to the shore in many places. From the north the lake can be accessed from the Lyell Highway just west of Derwent Bridge. A bit further west on the Lyell Highway a forestry road leaves the highway near the Navarre River and from this the western side can be access as can the Guelph Basin with some exploring in a 4WD. A formal boat ramp exists at the Clark Dam and there are launching options from the flooded gravel roads at the northern end.

An Angler Access brochure is available for this lake. http://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/publications/angler-access- brochures

Camping:

Lots of lovely informal campsites.

General rules and regulations apply:

Open all year round

Open to all methods angling (fly, artificial lure and bait)

A daily bag limit of 20 fish

A minimum fish size of 220mm in length

Best time to fish:

All year round but particularly spring and early summer while the water level is high.

 

Pine Tier Lagoon

A lovely, small, productive fishery. There is always a sheltered corner. The fish tend to be on the smaller side but a great place to fish with the kids.

Bait, lure and fly all exist happily together and if you have a family that wants to enjoy all methods and/or the camping there is no place better. This lagoon can have a bit of rise and fall in level, but through the summer stable levels and plenty of insect life. Good bait, lure and fly fishing. Trolling is also popular

Access:

From the Marlborough Road just north of Bronte Park. There is a good gravel boat ramp and a few informal spots where you can drop a dinghy in.

Camping:

A sheltered lagoon with some nice informal camping spots.

Fishing regulations:

General rules and regulations apply.

Open season 2/8/14 to 3/5/15

Open to all methods angling (fly, artificial lure and bait)

A daily bag limit of 12 fish

A minimum fish size of 220mm in length

Best time to fish:

Summer time

 

Wayatinah Lagoon

A nice sheltered lagoon just down off the southern end of the plateau as you travel the Lyell Highway to or from Hobart. The lagoon has logs and stumps that provide good cover for trout. The bottom of the lagoon has good weed beds making it a productive water. Bait, spinning, trolling and fly will all catch a fish.

Access:

There is plenty of access around the lagoon that allows shore fishing and a boat ramp near the outflow enables the use of small boats for both spinning and trolling.

Camping:

There is a formal caravan and camping area at the Wayatinah Lakeside Caravan Park.

Current rates are:

Adults (16 and up) $10 per night

Children (5 to 15) $5.00 per night under 5 free

Powered site add $5.00 per night if available

Fishing regulations:

General rules and regulations apply.

Open season 2/8/14 to 3/5/15

Open to all methods angling (fly, artificial lure and bait)

A daily bag limit of 12 fish

A minimum fish size of 220mm in length

Best time to fish:

Summer time.