| Lake Augusta | Great Lake |
| Arthurs Lake | Little Pine Lagoon |
| Lake Burbury | Penstock Lagoon |
| Bronte Lagoon |
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Trevor Hawkins - Angling Arts-one of Australia’s foremost angling artists and illustrators
www.trevorhawkins.com.au
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I am sure you have all read a few articles and reports on how BIG the silver trevally are on the East Coast and how good the fishery is these days, hell I have even done a couple myself, but for the most part they are based more on fishing from a boat around Georges Bay and being able to find schools of fish and target them specifically. Owning a boat these days is quite often low on the list of priorities for the family man with many other commitments. So being able to maximise your shore fishing opportunities and make the most of your feet is as important as the tackle you use to do it with. Now just because you don’t own a boat it doesn’t mean you can’t catch some quality silver trevally and St Helens is the perfect area to base yourself from. The following article and photo’s will prove beyond a reasonable doubt the fish caught shore bashing are everywhere as big and hard fighting as those caught from a boat and can offer the wandering angler some of the best light tackle sport fishing this state has to offer. 
When it comes to brown trout fishing, as Tasmanians, we are spoilt for choice. As a whole we have a lake fishery for wild brown trout that is unparalleled, fish that are plentiful, that come in many size ranges depending on the lake you care to angle and fish that can come to the fly with ease or at times be as challenging as going five rounds with Daniel Geale.
Brumbys Creek is one of the best known and consistently fished trout rivers in Tasmania and this is not without good reason. On its day Brumbys can be surface busting fun in the sun and yet as with everything else in fishing, things can go horribly wrong.
Long touted as the jewel in the crown of Highland fisheries, Penstock Lagoon has been a consistent high quality fishery since 2000. Although only fly fishing is permitted, it has been ranked in the top 10 lake fisheries on an annual basis for the State since the 1999/2000 season, in terms of angler visitation. Given that it is a small water body and that only those fly fishing can fish there it is an extremely popular fishery. During the 2008/2009 season Penstock sustained a very high angler effort which was in part due to low lake levels and less than ideal conditions at a number of other popular fisheries such as Arthurs Lake. Despite this, the fishery has consistently produced good size and conditioned fish at reasonable catch rates.
It is now well over a decade since Peter Wilson of the Great Lake Hotel, now the Central Highlands Lodge discovered the ‘glowing sharks’ in the late afternoon on the Great Lake while he took some time off from pub duties. Today a dedicated band of fly fishers watch the sky carefully every morning in the highlands hoping for a stiff northerly breeze and a cobalt blue sky. 
The difficulty (or easiness) of a fishery is relative and changing, a waterway may yield good results one day but for reasons unknown, completely shut down the next. There are however, a number of waters that consistently give up their fishy inhabitants more readily. One thing these waters have in common is a huge population of trout. Most trout fishers are aware of the fact that the bigger the fish population in any given water, the smaller the individual fish size. This is due to the finite amount of trout tucker available in any given waterway. Unfortunately, unless larger fish have been stocked into a lake these easier waters usually hold fish averaging closer to one pound than two. Having said that, big fish can turn up anywhere at any time. 
Well, what a season it has been so far! It started with water everywhere with flooded rivers and lake margins pushing back into the tussocks. This made a wonderful feeding zone for fish.
Jim Schofield is a good friend of mine. His first impression of Great Lake used to be of a large barren unattractive lake that had no appeal to him at all. That was, until he was shown the view from out in the middle of the lake in the early hours of the morning.
Spring is nearly over and as we head into what looks like being another long hot summer. I believe this season holds an anticipation amongst Tasmanian anglers not seen for quite a while thanks in large to renewed water levels in many of our impoundments due to better than average Autumn and early Spring rainfall.Tasfish Feed
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