Georges River Sea Runners

Jamie Henderson
The East Coast of Tasmania, in particular Georges Bay St Helens, is fast growing in popularity as a saltwater sports fishing haven, not only in Tasmanian circles but also with anglers right across the country. It has always been on the map as the "Game Fishing Capital" of Tasmania boasting some of the best Salt Water Game Fishing Tasmania has to offer and now with the inshore bays and coastline fishing better than it ever has it offers sports anglers a diversity of species and environment unmatched by anywhere else in the state. 

Georges Bay salmon on the chew

Jamie Henderson
As an angler one of the joys of living on the East Coast of Tasmania, in particular Georges Bay St Helens, is having a plethora of salt-water fish species to target. The variety of fish being caught in this pristine estuary during the summer months now is nothing short of outstanding. Every year Georges Bay finds itself home to large schools of what I would class as one of the most popular sports fish this country has to offer--The Australian salmon.    

Georges Bay silver trevally

Jamie Henderson
When the words "Sportsfishing" and "Giant Trevally" are spoken most think of far north Queensland and long boat journey's to offshore reefs, but here on the East Coast of Tasmania we have our very own version. Georges Bay is home to Pseudocaranx dentex, or the silver trevally as it's more commonly known, which is one of the most prolific species in our estuarine waters. They are caught as juveniles by children on just about every jetty around our coastline and are the very fish that most of us would have cut our teeth on as a keen youngster. They can be caught with a wide variety of methods from simple bait fishing to saltwater flyfishing but no matter what the technique or size of the fish they are one of the best sportfish Tasmanian waters have to offer.

Shore fishing - St Helens

Jamie Henderson
As many of us fish on a tight budget these days, what with mortgages, living costs, family expenses, kids and cars etc, owning a boat is quite often low on the list of priorities. With this in mind 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.
What follows is a quick look at shore fishing options around Georges Bay, St Helens, and the tackle and techniques needed to take home a feed of fish.

St Helens - a bay full of fish in my backyard


Jamie Henderson
As we move through spring, and summer looms ever closer, the days grow longer and the temperatures get warmer. We dust off our fishing gear, service our reels, respool with fresh mono or braid, check lures for rusty hooks - all the while reminiscing on seasons past, and wonder what adventures the new season holds for us. What species will we target this year, what new frontiers will we explore, what records will we strive for and more importantly how many days off do we have to get it all done in.

Garfish in Georges Bay, St Helens

Jamie Henderson
St Helen angler and tackle shop owner, Jamie Henderson looks at the garfish, one of Tasmania's favourite Winter fish.

Georges Bay Boom

Mike Stevens spends his summer holidays at St Helens. He has noticed a great improvement in the fishing over the last summer - especially for salmon, tailor and bream. Mike gives a few tips on how you can find some of the big Australian salmon and tailor he has been catching.
Unexpected catches can be some of the most satisfying of all. Planned trips and planned catches are the "norm" and whilst they can be fantastic the surprise catches are somehow special.
Early January is beach time for our family, and this usually means St Helens. The trout are forgotten for a while and we turn to bait, lure and fly. It is really an eclectic mixture of fishing - mostly in Georges Bay.

St Helens Grand Slam results

Everyone was a winner at the www.tasfish.com St Helens Grand Slam held on 24 January at Georges Bay on Tasmania's east coast.

The rollup for a low profile and inaugural event was spectacular with 29 teams and about 70 anglers competing for no prizes. The only thing on offer was three trophies for the top three and an equally spectacular trophy for a "Room for improvement" award.

The big winner on the day was Canteen with a cheque going to them for $1600. Canteen supports young people living with cancer.

The other winners were Michael Haley's team from St Helens in first place, Jamie Henderson from St Helens second and Les Simms team from Devonport third.

Victorians visit Tassie

Hi Mike,

Its Jaymie and Jake from Melbourne that came down to St Helens for 7 days. You took a quick snap of me with the bream with Michael Haley.

Thought we might just say thanks from my brother Jake, Dad and I.

Might also give you a quick insight to how good we thought the fishing was down there in Georges bay.

St Helens bream

by Mike Stevens

After just a couple of years as a (mainly) recreational fishery Georges Bay at St Helens is looking better than ever. I spent a week there over the March long weekend (2000) and the bay was a hive of activity. The jetty and foreshore in the centre of town played host to the increasingly popular St Helens Game Fishing Classic.

Go to top
JSN Boot template designed by JoomlaShine.com