Presented from Issue 107, December 2013
Arthurs Lake has always been one of the key fisheries for Tasmanian brown trout. In recent years though Arthurs has faded somewhat from the trout fisherman’s perspective with the lake being challenged by big draw-downs on the water level. The draw-downs drained many shallow bays including Cowpaddock and most of Jonah Bay, killing long established weed beds and resulting in the prolific mayfly hatch being interrupted. With the aquatic food supply from these bays no longer available this meant that the lake could not support a large head of good size trout.
In 2008 Arthurs fell to one of its lowest levels since damming, 5.72 meters below the full level of 952.82 meters above sea level. Dead fish were located in pools isolated by the draw-down and threatened galaxias were transferred to other waters by the Inland Fisheries Service to create safety populations.
Before and after shots of the boat launching area at Morass Bay. No parking signs have been installed on the approach to keep the area clear for turning and launching (Stephen and Adam please use obstruction infringement/caution if required). Parking is available on Nielsen Crescent approx 50m walk from the ramp until the lake level drops. No Parking signs will be removed when there is enough space for parking at the ramp.
On reading the super forecast of humid, rainy and winds 10-15 knots easing back I headed to Arthurs confident of finding a good dun hatch. How wrong was I . Wind never got under 15 knots and I'm sure got up to 25 knots meaning any hatching duns got swept up and spirited km away! I fished 4 hours and only saw 2 duns. It was a matter of getting in the lee and seeing what i could conjure up.. the trusty bead head under the dry did no good so loch style it was and within minutes of changing I hooked and subsequently lost two smallish fish.
My Nephew Jedd and I just returned from our Annual trip to Arthurs lake but sadly our trip was cut short to just over 3 days as my mum was very ill and we needed to rush home. The three days we did have were very good weather-wise with warm weather and a fair amount of sunshine.
Only five hardy (foolhardy?) souls gathered @ Pumphouse Bay campsite on Friday, meeting Simmo who had arrived the day before.
Cold. Windy. Pissing rain and even a heavy, but brief, hailstorm! Noice.
Simmo and Doc were out fishing when I arrived, so during a break between showers (deluges!) I set up camp. They came back just after I'd set up, and we had a coffee. Simmo had a good trout, and we decided it was cold, wet and unpleasant at the camp, wouldn't be much worse on the lake, and a better chance of a fish on the lake than at camp, so we set off.
Read more: Tassiepaddlers annual get together @ Arthurs Lake
Trev, myself and a few mates headed to Arthur River for a day’s fishing. We left Launceston at 6.45 on Friday night and arrived there about 3 1/2 hours later to a nice unit and “more than ready for bed” after a big day at work. The others had a different plan and were well into the whisky. After a few laughs, 1.30 am soon came around and then it was finally off to bed. Trev and I awoke to the smell of eggs and bacon cooking and after quick feed we were the first to head out onto the water making our way to the mouth of the river. Doug soon had one on a 4 inch softie but he only stayed on for a couple of seconds unfortunately.
We had the afternoon off so decided to go to Arthurs Lake with a mate for the a 3 hour session. We headed to Jonah Bay at the ramp about 2.30 off the water at 5.30 we ended up with 7 fish each, 14 for the afternoon not bad - better than working.
Read more: Quick Response by IFS Saves Lives at Arthurs Lake 2012-05-01
Janet, my son Jacob and myself headed up to Arthurs Lake this morning and met up with Presidents Jim and Virginia Mckenna for breakfast. As usual we had the egg n bacon "pre - fish" cook up, along with a cup of coffee before heading out to the Cowpaddock around 9.30ish.
Saw one solitary dun on the water for the whole day and only two fish rise.
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and an art worth your learning.."
Presented from Issue 112, October 2014
So said Izaak Walton in the 1600s. It seems that Burnie’s Hannah Ledger has combined angling with art rather well. Hannah is a fish fanatic, outdoor enthusiast and budding, self-taught artist. From as young as she can remember, she has always had crayon in hand, colouring book under arm and as she’s grown as a painter, jars full of paintbrushes and cupboards full of ready-to-go blank canvas’.
A country girl at heart, Hannah was schooled at Yolla District High School, a small ‘farm’ school in the states North West, then went on to Hellyer College where she was given the opportunity to really grow her art skills; And by grow, that meant skipping the classes that would probably have more an impact of getting her somewhere in life, like English and Math to spend every spare minute with the art teacher, painting or drawing.
As typical teenagers do, they make poor decisions- and after being accepted in to one of the countries top art schools, turned down the offer and decided to move to the big island, where she lived for 5 years working in what seemed ‘dead end’ retail.
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