From the Archives ...
Early season - Bob McKinley
Presented from Issue 105, August 2013
Bob is a professional fishing guide and guides for trout and estuary species. Check him out at www.fishwildtasmania.com
There are several things we look for in our early season trout waters. It is still winter and cold, so some of the things to consider are: Altitude as this dictates the water temperature and therefore feeding activity. Food for the fish. Availability of trout food is generally dictated by the quantity and quality of weed beds.
Quantity of fish.
Three waters which I believe fit all three requirements are:
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Seeing as I only need another three trout to reach the 500 trout target I set myself for this season I decided not to wait another day to reach it. With rain forecast for all of tomorrow I made the decision to head off to my favourite tannin water to see if I could get it over and done with. It was 3:05 pm by the time I hit the river which was a little on the low side but still deep enough thanks to the 6 mms of rain we had yesterday. I started the session off using a small copper #00 Aglia inline spinner thinking that the copper colour would stand out better in the dark water.
- Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training
- Category: Trout Fishing
- Hits: 39
Today is another day and with more rain forecast later in the day I headed back to my favourite tannin stream to hopefully catch five trout to reach another achievement with my trout fishing. The weather this morning was quite good, very humid and no wind, the water level was down to an ideal wading and fishing height too. I was also hyped up and raring to catch the trout, whether it be the five I need or even better ten or more would be great. Once in the stream I started casting the little #00 White Miller Bug spinner directly upstream into a nice bubble line, then retrieved it while giving the lure a light twitch every so often.
- Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training
- Category: Trout Fishing
- Hits: 485
Today's mid afternoon trip was to one of my favourite tannin streams and my aim was to catch four trout to reach my 300th of the season. The conditions weren't all that good with an Easterly breeze, warm day with plenty of sun and a higher than normal water level. The one thing I disliked about today was that it's a good day for snakes, I had to walk through a lot of high grass and fallen tree branches to reach my entry point into the tannin water. It was 2:55 pm by the time I hit the water and started to flick a small #00 gold Aglia spinner into a small section of dark tannin water where I had a trout follow the lure on the first cast and retrieve. It was on the second cast and retrieve when a small brown trout took a liking to the gold Aglia, the first trout of the session was soon in hand. Even though it was a small brown trout this was just the start I was looking for, I was hoping it will continue to keep on going too.
- Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training
- Category: Trout Fishing
- Hits: 333
With another storm forecast later in the day I headed up to a small stream on private property for a quick spin session before the weather turned sour. It was quite humid when I left home and on my arrival I noticed quite a few heavy clouds building up so I had to hurry on and get in the small river. The water level was still good here and there was still plenty of flow, it was a nice medium tannin colour as well so I started off using a small Mepps #00 gold Aglia. The first cast and retrieve resulted in a small brown having a go at the spinner, it missed getting hooked. The second cast and retrieve was much better when another small brown had a go at it and was hooked, the first trout of the session was landed. I moved several feet forward and flicked the spinner into the top end of this narrow stretch of water, no sooner had I started to retrieve the spinner when another little brown snapped it up, trout number two was soon in hand. Another cast & retrieve back into the same area I had a hit and miss from a trout, like the others, it was a small fish.
- Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training
- Category: Trout Fishing
- Hits: 416
With a more lousy weather forecast for later in the day I thought I would spend a few hours in the water this morning while the weather was calm. Even though it was foggy and quite cool when I left home, there wasn't any wind to contend with and that mattered most. Once I left the car and walked to my entry point at 8:45 am when I was standing on a gravelly river bank, the first thing I noticed was the water level had dropped to a nice wading level. It was down by at least five inches from my last trip here which meant the trout would be in more open slower flowing runs now. I started the session off using a #00 gold Aglia Mouche Noire, I felt it would be a good lure for the dull conditions & lower water today. While I was at the river edge I decided I would cross over and head further downstream to fish a stretch of water that I have fished for a couple of seasons, one that did give up a few fish back in it's day. Before I crossed over I looked at a nice flat water that had a large submerged log in it, to me it looked fishy and worth a few casts to see if I was right.
- Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training
- Category: Trout Fishing
- Hits: 691
Needing only ten more trout to reach my 300th trout for the 2020/21 trout season and with the larger rivers still running high after 47mms of rain three days ago I had no option but to head back to my favourite tannin waters. The weather was fine, no wind to worry about plus I had an earlier start to the day than I normally do, I was in the water by 8:20 am. At this time of the year the sun rises much later than last month and lower in the sky in the morning to what it was last month. Not that it mattered all that much as the area I'm fishing has a lot of dense foliage on both sides of the stream.
- Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training
- Category: Trout Fishing
- Hits: 975
The weather forecast wasn't all that flash for today with rain and gusty 30 kph NNW winds, that forecast kept me home for the most of the day, we did have a very light shower of rain and the wind was gusting at 30kph on and off throughout the day. At 4:00pm I'd had enough of sitting around the house and decided to shoot off for a quick spin session in a stretch of river I haven't fished for a very long time. By the time I put the wading gear in the car and hit the river it was 4:20pm and with daylight saving I had a good few hours up my sleeve to catch a trout or two. The river was actually running a little higher than expected but still safe enough to cross over and head to my starting point a few hundred meters downstream.
- Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training
- Category: Trout Fishing
- Hits: 755
Mild weather conditions again today had me heading off to the sheltered tannin water in the bush, the same little stream I was in a few days ago. This time I started fishing the stream close to where I ended the spin session last time when I managed to catch and release five wild browns. It was 3:15 pm when I hit the light tannin coloured water that had filtered sunlight on it, the lure of choice was a Mepps gold #00 Aglia. This time it's not the old well used one like I normally use, this one has only been used a couple of times. It took me twenty minutes before I had my first hit from a trout in a small pocket of water, it was hooked for a short time, it tossed the lure on the first leap from the stream. A little further upstream I had a hit and miss from another brown, not long after that it was trout on.
- Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training
- Category: Trout Fishing
- Hits: 591
Rain and windy conditions were the forecast of the day again today so I had planned to stay home, then as the day went on the weather wasn't all that bad so I headed off for a spin session in the tannin waters. It was 1:30pm when I finally hopped in the water and started flicking a small #00 White Miller Bug spinner around in the tannin stream. The flow was pretty good due to recent rain and the water was a little cloudy but still had that nice tannin colour to it, that's the reason I went with the White Miller spinner. This time I'm fishing approx one kilometre of water and one that has quite a few log jams on it, also one that hasn't given up a trout in two previous trips let alone see one. Several days ago I caught seven trout two kilometres downstream from here and that's why I want to give this area a go today, I feel there may be a few trout here now.
- Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training
- Category: Trout Fishing
- Hits: 890
The conditions weren't ideal for trout fishing today seeing the wind was gusting up to 30kph, the good thing was it was sunny so I decided to head off to have another go at catching trout in tannin waters. I knew once I was in the water I would have some shelter from the wind, though there would be times when I won't as well.
The water level was much lower than my last trip back August, it still had a reasonable flow and was a nice light tannin colour, plus the water temp was seven degrees, much better than the two/three degrees that it's been. I started off using a small #00 Aglia gold, and yes it was a well used spinner which I prefer to use as often as possible.
I hate breaking in new lures for some reason, even though I know they'll do the same job, I just like the old used ones. Seeing as this tannin water has only given up one trout for the season I wasn't feeling all that confident of catching all that many trout this trip.
- Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training
- Category: Trout Fishing
- Hits: 987
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From the Archives ... (last chance)
"Angling is an art - Hannah Ledger
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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