Please check all relevant authorities before fishing - www.ifs.tas.gov.au and dpipwe.tas.gov.au . Don't forget issuu.com/stevenspublishing for years of back issues !

2018 12 11 IMG 8016At last the Leven River level was down to a safe wading height which meant I could finally go and have another go at catching a trout in it. My last trip there resulted in a “donut” which was my first for two trout seasons. I did hook a few trout that day but lost every one of them, today I was out for a bit of revenge. Actually I would be happy with catching two or three fish, well not really I want more to make up for my previous losses. The conditions were ideal too with heavy cloud cover and the lightest of breeze as I entered the river just on 6:00 am. The river was running at the perfect height for wading, so far everything was spot on for trout fishing. First stretch of river I fished was a medium to fast water around forty meters long.

2018 12 07 3 Small brown falls to the Aglia FuriaWell for the first time this season I was in the Meander River by 5:00 am this morning in what was a beautiful cool morning with plenty of water flowing down the river. The day was supposed to reach 27 degrees, that's the reason for the early start. I was hoping the trout fishing would be better early morning than the later starts I have had on this river. I do prefer the early morning starts on the rivers as it is the best time to be on the water, the trout fishing is usually at it's best then, especially in the Summer months. This river hasn't fished all that well this season and this is another reason I wanted to have the early start on it. There was only one thing I wasn't happy with and that was the water level, the river was running at 70 cms which is a little on the high side where I'm fishing.

Please read - Report to Anglers September to November 2018

We want your best Tasmanian trout fishing photos. Entries for the Tasmanian Trout Fishing Photography Competition 2018-19 will be accepted up until 5pm on Tuesday 30 April 2019. In particular we are looking for photos of families, kids, female anglers, scenery shots and of course trout.

There are cash and gear prizes on offer - 1st Place: $500, 2nd Place: 1 x pair Neoprene waders (Fly 'n Dry), 3rd Place: 10 x Lures (Hueys Lures) 4th place 10 x Lures (Huey Lures) .

Entry is free. Conditions apply - see entry form

You can submit up to 6 images with maximum size 5 MB each.

Images will be showcased and the winner announced at Trout Weekend 2019.

Download the Entry Form, fill it out, press the submit button, attach your photos and email it all to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

This year, on behalf of Australia, Tasmania will host the 39th World Fly Fishing Championship. From 2 to 6 December competitors from up to 30 countries will experience fishing for Tasmania's wild brown trout.

After years of planning, the excitement is building.

This will be the second time Tasmania has hosted the championship. In 1988, competing anglers fished three venues, Little Pine and Bronte lagoons and London Lakes. The competition was shore based with anglers wading set beats. The local angling community who volunteered their support still talk about the friendships made and the camaraderie of the event.

Now the event is held across five venues. Competing anglers will fish from boats on Little Pine and Penstock lagoons and Wood Lake and wade beats on the Meander and Mersey rivers.

Again, the Championship will be a great opportunity for local volunteers to see the best fly fishers in the world and make lifelong friendships.

Published from https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/2019/jan/07/year-world-fly-fishing-championship

2018 12 05 4 Close up of the first trout caughtFinally I managed to get to a river earlier that I normally do, though it wasn't all that much earlier as it was 7:00am when I was finally in the Mersey River. This trip was to the same area that gave up 22 trout six days ago, I'm hoping it will again today. There was only a few problems I had to contend with, that was clear sky, clear water & thousands of insects hovering above the river & on the water surface. The trout were there in large numbers too, they were all surface feeding, so today wasn't a day for the spin fisher at all. A top morning for the fly fisherman providing they can match the hatch with a trout fly. There was still plenty of good flow in the river & with the trout surface feeding, fishing the fast water runs will be where I'll have the best chance of catching a few trout.

The Christmas and New Year period saw anglers flocking to the central highlands to enjoy some fantastic fishing.

Overall the weather was good providing lots of fishing opportunities.

Our Officers were on patrol throughout the period, and they saw some fantastic catches. Overall 317 anglers were checked, along with 109 vessels.

The standout waters were as follows:

Results from rock lobster samples collected from this Zone on 12 December show that paralytic shellfish toxins are below the established limit of 0.8 mg/kg.

The Maria Island Biotoxin Zone will open on Friday 21 December.

Recreational and commercial rock lobster fishers can set pots from 5 pm today, Thursday 20 December.

The zone is open to fishing (pulling pots, rings or diving) from 00:01, Friday 21 December.

ifs 2018 12 21

Tasmania recently hosted, Kirk Deeter, a leading US angling journalist and widely travelled author. Here is what he had to say in a recent social media post about his experience.

"Thank you, Tasmania.

Just back from one of the most extraordinary "fishing" trips I've ever experienced. Never thought I'd watch a wallaby jump over the creek as I made a cast. Never thought I'd see 7-pound brown trout tailing like redfish in skinny water, crushing frogs in the grasses. Never imagined a hatch of snowflake caddis that made the river look like an impending blizzard. Under-appreciated the significance of Tasmania in a cultural and historic context... as this is where the empire of the brown trout first expanded beyond European shores. Didn't fully respect just how dialed Tassie anglers are in terms of their cutting-edge techniques. Had almost forgotten what a truly wild trout behaves like, and how awesome it is to watch them eat a fly.

Did NOT under-appreciate the amazing hospitality and stunning environs while I was there.

Much, much more forthcoming, but worth saying that Tasmania is beyond special. Love NZ, and Chile, and Argentina, and of course, the wild, wild West of America. But for context, know that Tassie sold a grand total of @250 fishing licences to foreign anglers last year... by contrast, NZ sold about 100 times that many.

In other words, it's wide open.

More soon... just landed... totally spent... feel like Dorothy waking up after her trip to Oz."

117 cadis
Free living Caddis larva
Family Hydrobiosidae)

The Peeping Stick Caddis

Presented from Issue 117, August 2015
Caddis larva are very high on trouts’ diet. They come in two forms, those that build portable homes (Stick Caddis) and free living. All caddis larva have a hardened section near and including the head, whilst the bodies are soft and range in colour from off white through to a dirty yellow and green in a variety of shades. They also have claws to cling onto the inside of their portable case. Caddis can be found in water from fast flowing streams to marshlands and lakes. Case building caddis use leaves, sticks, reeds or spun silk as a home. These are generally found in slow moving or still waters: others use sand or very small stones and these are normally found in streams.

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