Presented from Issue 99
The Western Lakes can be a tough place to catch a fish, especially if you’re limiting yourself to sight fishing only. There are many influencing factors that can contribute to seeing very few fish during the day. We see fish in the shallows because there is often some kind of food present that brings them in close to shore. So if there is no food, they really have no reason to leave the security and food rich environment of the deeper water. During low water levels and high water temperatures in late summer, trout will often shelter under rocks during the heat of the day and only venture out late in the evening and into the night to feed. These are the days when you can walk all day and only seen one or two fish.
Presented from Issue 97
Lake Mackintosh is your typical deep tannin stained West Coast Lake that was dammed in the 1980s to create the Mackintosh Power station. The lake has flooded up into native forest, limiting much of the shore access to the boat ramp area at the Mackintosh dam. To explore the full potential of this lake, you need a boat to access every corner. The lake is home to both brown and rainbow trout with it opening at the beginning of the brown trout season and finishing at the end of the rainbow trout season. The lake has a bag limit of 12 fish per person per day. To access the lake you need only drive to the town of Tullah via the Murchison highway and follow the signs.
Presented from Issue 97
When people refer to the Western Lakes they are talking about a vast area of the central plateau that contains hundreds if not thousands of lakes. This area is made up of the central plateau conservation area and the Walls of Jerusalem National Park. This area and its fishing is truly unique in the world. The crystal clear waters and the ability to sight fish predominantly brown trout, at close range, amongst a unique landscape, is something that inspires many people to go to great lengths to explore and fish this region. Interestingly, the Western Lakes is not a place where you would go to catch a lot of fish in Tasmania. This is a place where less is more, with the ability to catch a large number of fish per day being gladly replaced with the chance of only catching a few quality fish. This is a place where there is a lake over every hill and where you get that rare opportunity to count the spots on a wild brown trout as it slowly swims past your feet.
Presented from Issue 97
The opening of the 2011/ 2012 trout fishing season had many anglers excited, rainfall had consistently inundated the state for months prior, and our inland catchments realised levels not witnessed for many years. That being said, the overall condition of many fish landed in the central highlands disappointed anglers, Arthurs Lake and Great Lake being two of the biggest offenders when it came to not “reaching expectations”. One Central Plateau fishery that seems to have bucked the trend this season was Lake King William, where if anything, the average size and condition of its inhabitants has increased quite dramatically. Todd Lambert, John Cleary and Mike Stevens recently took a trip up there to see if the rumours were true.
Presented from Issue 97
Most fisherman I know have a spot or two that when they go there they get that same sense of feeling that occurs when you arrive back home after a lengthy absence. One area that never fails to generate this nostalgic feeling for me is when I journey out to the two diminutive lakes located roughly north east of Arthurs Lake named Gunns Lake and Little Lake.
A chance meeting….
My Gunns and Little Lake odyssey started approximately 20 years ago on a calm and sunny September morning when long time fishing companion Todd Lamprey and I journeyed out to the two shallow natural lagoons on a purely exploratory mission. Todd and I had been in the highlands for a few days already on a multi day trip and we had decided on looking for a location for the days sport that didn’t require a lot of walking to get to. The preceding days had been spent hiking in the Western Lakes district and Todd and I both really needed to rest tired legs.
Read more: Gunns and Little Lake - Home of the Golden Bellied Brown Trout
Presented from Issue 96
Lake Augusta has been an underrated fishery. It has as much to offer as any other water in the Western Lakes region and as Todd Lambert found out recently, given the right conditions, your bag limit can be caught in a matter of minutes should everything fall into place.
Presented from Issue 96
For the avid fly fisherman, Four Springs Lake is a pretty good option in the warm weather. Close to Launceston and super convenient for that after work trip. But ask any lure fisherman what Four Springs fishes like in the summer and you will probably get a reply consisting of something like “…the weed is really bad – it’s not worth the trip.” I think the first part of this answer is totally correct. It is a well-known fact that underwater weed growth increases with warmer water temperatures. Casting lures becomes difficult and trolling is near impossible. Weed every cast – definitely not anyone’s cup of tea.
Presented from Issue 94
Lake Plimsoll is a “brook trout only fishery” located near the heart of our rugged West Coast. It is also water that many of Tasmania’s angling fraternity would have heard about, but seemingly only a small minority have ever taken up the challenge to explore at any great length.
Is it a wasted effort or is it just a very well kept secret by those in the know? Todd Lambert, along with two of his mates, Dale Howard and son Trevor, spent some time there recently and in this article, he attempts to shed some light on this fantastic fishery that seemingly “ flies under the radar” to so many of us.
Refer to the Fishing Code for current regulations
AAT recently contacted Forestry Tasmania re access to Lake Rowallan and were told all access roads to Lake Rowallan have been closed including the Borradaile Plains access. The Parangana bridge is out and there have been massive washouts and landslides with vast quantities of replacement fill to be put in place eg 70,000 m3 in one washout.
Remedial work has started and will take some time (months not weeks) and this is the reason roads have been closed.
A video by Rod How is available on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLafM92cLn0
Thanks to Rod for making this video public.
The low level boat launching area at Boundary Bay on Great Lake has been graded. As water levels are slowly rising it should give anglers better boating access for those that want to boat fish on Great Lake. The upgraded launching area is 300 m North East of the usual launch site.
Click Read More for a larger image
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Lakes with only a few articles ...
Why not send Mike a small donation for this incredible resource !
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Or subscribe to his email newsletter.
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Here is a list of all of the Article Categories. The number in Brackets, eg (13) is the number of articles. Click on Derwent River and all articles relating to the Derwent will be displayed in the central area.
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Hello everyone, I thought it would be a good time to introduce myself.
My name is Stephen Smith and I have been managing the website tasfish.com since May 2009.
It has been an epic journey of learning and discovery and I am indebted to Mike Stevens for his help, support and patience.
I am developing a new venture Rubicon Web and Technology Training ( www.rwtt.com.au ). The focus is two part, to develop websites for individuals and small business and to train people to effectively use technology in their everyday lives.
Please contact me via www.rwtt.com.au/contact-me/ for further information - Stephen Smith.
Mike Fry doesn’t only live on the Wild Side of Tasmania, but also goes fishing in probably the wildest boat ever to troll for trout—certainly in Tasmania.
When your mate says ‘What are you doing tomorrow, want to come up the Gordon for the night?’ it would be pretty hard to say anything else except “you bet” and start checking out your tackle box and packing your overnight bag. But if your mate was Troy Grining and he wanted to give his new 52ft, high speed cruiser a run across Macquarie Harbour, test the new onboard dory with a chance of landing a nice Gordon River Brown you would have to feel privileged. I didn’t say anything about getting on my hands and knees and kissing his feet…just having a lend of ya’ but I did feel very appreciative.