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2017 08 24 wild brown trout on Rapala After having physio this morning and given the weather conditions were absolutely beautiful I headed off to small stream in the upper reaches of the Mersey River near Weegena.. This little river quite often fished well early season while there's good flow in it, I'm hoping it will do so this trip too. Once the water level drops it's a tough little stream to fish, so now is the time to give it a go. I started off using a small gold bladed #00 Aglia and had a follow in the first five casts. That brown came up and nudged the trebles with it's nose a few times before it turned and moved off. I knew then and there the spinners weren't going to work here today so changed over to a gold/black F-3 Rapala to see if that would get the result I was after. Well, I had only moved upstream some twenty meters when I was onto my first brown for the session. It was a well conditioned fish that went just on 350 grams, like 98% of the fish I catch it had it's photo taken and was soon back in the river.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Parent Category: Rivers; Category: Mersey River; Published: 28 August 2017; Hits: 3549

It's been two weeks now since I damaged the hamstring and I felt it was time to put it to the test. Even though I have to see the physio again on Thursday, to me it feels good enough to have a short spin session in a river. Left Sheffield at 1:15 PM and arrived near the river just before 2:00 PM. I soon had the waders & boots on then off for leisurely forty minute walk that included a little bush bashing before I was finally at the rivers edge. All I had to do then was to find an easy entry point, instead of sliding down a steep river bank. It only took me a couple of minutes before I found one that was good enough, providing I took it easy. At last I was back to what I love doing most, spin fishing a river for that elusive trout.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Parent Category: Rivers; Category: Leven River; Published: 27 August 2017; Hits: 4483

Presented from Issue 109, April 2014

The lower Derwent River and North West Bay can be great places to catch a feed from the shoreline throughout the year. The bays in South Eastern Tasmania boast an impressive head of cockie salmon, sand flathead, squid, wrasse, barracouta well as the odd shark or two, all available to the keen landbased angler. As you move further along the headlands, the species become larger and competent anglers can often take good bags of black-back salmon and nice sized flathead, great fun for the family while catching a feed, all within thirty minutes of home. While this article focus’ on spots thirty minutes from the Kingborough district, the techniques and lures discussed will prove effective all over the state for an array of species.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Parent Category: Rivers; Category: Derwent River; Published: 16 August 2017; Hits: 13310

Derwent River

2017 08 09 Best of the session 540 grams After being out for lunch I thought I would dart of for a few hours to check out a couple of rivers, if either one was running at a reasonable height and clear enough I'd have a go at catching a trout. After a forty five minute drive I was soon bush bashing my way through some heavy scrub to check out the first river which I found to be running too high and a little dirty. A bush back to the car and it was onto the next small stream which I found was a nice dark tannin colour & just the right height to hop in for a spin session.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Parent Category: Rivers; Category: Leven River; Published: 15 August 2017; Hits: 4834

Mepps Agliae catches the first trout of the 2017 18 season Finally after two very wet, windy days I had a chance to go for my first spin session of the season. This trip was to the Mersey River in the Union Bridge area. I wasn't even thinking of going today even with the fine weather but I thought what the heck go wet a line. Once there I found the river to be running reasonably high and fast with a colour that was like the black coffee I have in the morning. The area I'm fishing today is one that hasn't fished all that well over the past season or two either so I'm not expecting too much this trip. Today is all about getting out and wetting a line for the first time in over three months since the trout season closed. Not that I minded the closure of the season either because it gives me time to get the old body back in some sort of working order for the start of the next one. Each year it gets that little bit tougher on the body for me. With the water still being very cold I thought it was a good time to test out one of the new model Mepps Aglia-e Fluro spinner that I had sent to me to try out on the trout here in Tasmania. I tried several deep long medium flowing stretches of river without a sign of a fish, I was starting to wonder if my trip here was going to be a waste of time. I did try a couple of hard body lures in these long deep runs too before going back to the fluro spinner.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Parent Category: Rivers; Category: Mersey River; Published: 10 August 2017; Hits: 3901

Presented from Issue 109, April 2014
With cold weather and rain just around the corner, it is almost time to say goodbye to another trout season. Many of you will agree with me that the last month of the trout season in Tasmania is generally very productive. For me, April is an exciting time. I spend most of it targeting places like Arthurs Lake and Great Lake. I also concentrate on Four Springs Lake, which is only 30 minutes away from my home in Launceston.

While these are all great fishing spots, there is also another option that is even closer to home. It fishes well at this time of the year and is a spot that should not be overlooked. The North Esk River is the place I am referring to. Launcestonians are often put off by the mere appearance of the very ‘silted up’ North Esk River. If you cross the Lower Charles Street Bridge on a daily basis, you will know what I am talking about. This is the end of the North Esk, one of the Tamar River tributaries.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Parent Category: Rivers; Category: Esk and other Northern Rivers; Published: 24 July 2017; Hits: 10340

Esk and other Northern Rivers

Presented from Issue 108, February 2014
I believe the Leven River to be one of the best rivers in Northern Tasmania. It flows freely from Black Bluff Range below Mt.Tor, through Loongana and the Leven Canyon. It then flows through the farmland district of Gunns Plains all the way to the estuary at the seaside township of Ulverstone. There is not a single dam on this beautiful river to interrupt its natural flow and that is great. The river above the Loongana Bridge is now classed as a rainbow water, and below it is classed as a brown trout fishery, and a very good one it is.

Refer to https://m.ifs.tas.gov.au/about-us/publications/river-leven-angler-access-brochure for current information.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Parent Category: Rivers; Category: Leven River; Published: 13 July 2017; Hits: 10745

Read more: Leven River - Adrian Webb

Presented from Issue 107, December 2013
For the last few years I’ve been a bit of a lake fishing fanatic. Almost every chance I got I’d zip off “up top” for a chance to attack a stillwater. It could be a few hours of an evening, a dawn patrol tail session on the Pine, or a couple of hours through the middle of the day between jobs. Free fuel and a work bus made it easy to take off on a whim. Sessions were short and travel times were often pretty long, and increasingly the travel with a young family has become just a bit more tiresome.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Parent Category: Rivers; Category: Meander River; Published: 02 July 2017; Hits: 3986

Presented from Issue 105, August 2013
The Mersey River is now even better - with ‘Anglers Access’ project completed. Adrian Webb fishes the Mersey consistently from the start to the end of the season. Here is his guide and a few tips

IFS Links Mersey River Access and All Angler- Access Brochures

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Parent Category: Rivers; Category: Mersey River; Published: 10 June 2017; Hits: 11094

Mersey River

Wading boots
now retired

Well it was an earlier start on the river today than yesterday, this time I was back in the water by 10:00 am. Yesterday it was sunny and windy whereas today it's very dull with low cloud and a cool South Westerly breeze. I prefer it like this too with no sun on the water, it gets the trout out and about more often than not. Stuck with the same set up that I finished with yesterday and the session started off very quiet. Not a sign of a fish over the first three hundred meters at all. Where the hell have they gone I said to myself, they were every where yesterday.

Still can't worry about it, just continue to work my way upstream as I'm sure I'll pick up one sooner or later. I came to a large fallen tree across the river that had a nice pocket of water under it and with a back hand cast into it I was soon onto my first trout of the morning. This was a solid fish too and one that was in a fighting mood as it fought hard all the way into the net. This female trout went 540 grams and was in excellent condition.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Parent Category: Rivers; Category: Leven River; Published: 09 May 2017; Hits: 4340

2017 05 29 Another brown in the net With just the two days of the 2016/17 trout season left I'm giving the small streams a go as they'll be full of well conditioned aggressive trout by now. Well that's how I see it any way. It was another afternoon session on a stream in the Gunns Plains area, another stretch of water that I have never fished before. I hit the river at 2:00pm today and the first thing I noticed was the water was a very dark tannin colour with good flow. I started off flicking the spinner into a deepish pool without having a touch or a follow from a trout.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Parent Category: Rivers; Category: Leven River; Published: 07 May 2017; Hits: 3989

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Derwent River 19

Mersey River 119

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Derwent River 19

Mersey River 119

Coming to the 2019 World Fly Fishing Championships?

Meander River 85

Esk and other Northern Rivers 18

Leven River 21

Other Rivers 40

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