A winning start to the New Year

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Sea run trout tactics – Craig Vertigan

During the trout off-season I tend to spend a bit of time chasing bream, to continue getting a fishing fix, and spend time tying flies and dreaming about the trout season to come. It’s a time to spend doing tackle maintenance, stocking up on lures and dreaming up new challenges and goals for the trout season ahead. When the new season comes around I usually spend the first few months targeting sea runners. Sea run trout are simply brown trout that spend much of there lives out to sea and come in to the estuaries for spawning and to feed on whitebait and the other small endemic fishes that spawn in late winter through spring. Mixed in with the silvery sea runners you can also expect to catch resident fish that have the typical dark colours of a normal brown trout as well as atlantic salmon in some of our estuaries that are located near salmon farm pens. Living in Hobart it is quick and easy to do a trip on the Huon or Derwent and is a more comfortable proposition compared to a trip up to the highlands with snow and freezing winds to contend with.

Libby with her
$2000 trout from
Lake Rosebery

Libby Webb broke her ankle back in September and hasn’t been able to go fishing for the past few months. Now that she is fully recovered she had a day fishing from the boat on Lake Rosebery with her husband Chris. While trolling a Stump Jumper lure in the Mackintosh River arm of Lake Rosebery around mid-morning a trout hit Libby’s rod. Libby quickly realised that there was a problem in that the line had become twisted around the tip of her rod. Despite the problem Libby persisted and slowly wound the fish in.

After some time, Chris netted the fish and lifted it into the boat where the lure dropped out. As Chris was putting the fish into the esky he called out “oh no!”. Libby didn’t know what was wrong. Chris then told her that the fish had an orange tag with “Winner” on it. They quickly checked the Inland Fisheries Service website and could see that they probably did have a winner.

Libby is indeed a winner, catching one of the five tagged trout released into Lake Rosebery as part of the Tasmanian Tagged Trout Promotion. The win nets her $2000. Libby has promised to give captain Chris $50 for his help!

Fifty tagged brown trout have been released into waters around Tasmania for the 2021-22 Angling Season. Each tag is worth $2,000* to the angler that returns the fish to the Inland Fisheries Service (*conditions apply).

The waters and number of tagged trout still to be caught are:

Designated water	Number remaining
Arthurs Lake	5
Briseis Mine Hole	Was 2 now 1
Bronte Lagoon	Was 2 now 1
Craigbourne Dam	Was 2 now 1
Curries River Reservoir	2
Huntsman Lake	Was 2 now 1
Lake Burbury	5
Lake Leake	Was 3 now 2
Lake Mackintosh	5
Lake Parangana	2
Lake Pedder	5
Lake Rosebery	Was 5 now 4
Lake Rowallan	2
River Derwent	Was 3 now 2
yingina / Great Lake	5