Presented from Issue 105, August 2013
We did a bit of a runaround Tasmania’s tackle stores to see what their tips for the first month or so of the tackle season were. We asked what the top three places to fish were, plus lures, flies, baits and a few other things.
Here is a rundown on their answers Whenever, and wherever you fish - anywhere, or for any fish in the world - ask the locals and especially ask at the local tackle store. They know what was caught today, yesterday and on what.
Headed off for another afternoon spin session in a tannin stream, hit the water just on 1:45 pm in what was reasonably good conditions. The water level had dropped by a few inches since yesterdays trip so I'm hoping there will be a few more trout out and about today. When I left home it was nice and overcast, by the time I hopped in the water the clouds had parted and the sun was out, good thing was there was plenty of insect life hovering above the water. The first thing I noticed was a small trout jumping in the pool I had just entered which was a good sign. After several casts around this knee deep tannin water with the copper Aglia I finally had a hit from a small trout and that's as far as it went so I moved on to the next narrow stretch of water.
After some decent rain a few days ago I felt a trip back to the tannin waters may be the go, with plenty of water in them there should be a few hungry trout around. This trip was to a stretch of water I haven't fished since the 8th March which is exactly a month ago, on that trip I caught and released nine trout. If I can catch that amount again on this trip I'll be pretty stoked seeing as this tannin stream has slowed down with the trout on my previous trips. Seeing as it's been a month since I've actually fished this stretch of water it will be interesting to see how it fishes this afternoon.
This report covers two consecutive days fishing tannin waters after some decent rains that got the streams up and running to a good fishing height again.
The first trip was the morning after we had 26 mms of rain the day before and into the night and once at the river I found it to be running at a nice height and a very dark tannin colour. Several weeks ago I fished this same little tannin stream and had a good four days of fishing in it, I'm hoping for the same result again this trip. I was in the water at 8:20am and started off with a #00 White Miller Bug spinner, the same little one that did a good job in dark tannin water here before. The area I started off in is the upper reaches and the last trip here (7th March) I caught & released thirteen trout. Even though the water was a littler higher and faster flowing it was still good enough to be holding trout in flat water on both sides of it. I slowing fished my way upstream casting the Bug into the flat waters on both sides of the stream and waited for a strike as I retrieved the lure each time. Nothing happened, not a single touch from a trout, not even bow wave behind the spinner, the trout weren't here.
Today's weather is not as good as I was hoping for as it was bright sunny conditions with a North Easterly wind blowing at 15 kph which will make for a tough time in the small tannin stream I'm heading to this morning. It's also a day to be on the lookout for snakes, perfect weather conditions for them to be out and about. I was a little slow of the mark in heading to the stream due to the long spin session I had yesterday the body was a little on the sore side this morning.
By the time I walked (1.5kms) and reached the stream it was 9:20 am, a little late given the conditions that were forecast. The stream had dropped in level as I had expected it to, any lower and I wouldn't have fished it. Today I started off using a gold #00 Aglia Mouche Noire just for something different to see if the trout would take it in the low, light tannin waters. This 1.5 kms of is very tight fishing as it's pretty narrow over the distance and the foliage isn't as thick, it's more open than other areas I've previously fished.
This trip today required a forty minute walk to where I started off the spin session in what was quite good conditions, apart from the lack of cloud it was a top morning to be chasing trout. It was 8:50am when I hit the river and started the session off with a well used #00 copper Aglia mainly because I was fishing in shade & the water was still reasonably dark in colour, if it doesn't catch a trout then I'll make a change. The water level had already dropped by a few inches since my last trip so I have to make the most of fishing these tannin waters while there's still some decent water flowing in them. Casting up and across the stream into the flat water near the river banks I had a few light hit and misses on the Aglia, I wasn't sure whether to stick with it or give it a bit longer. I did the latter and it wasn't all that long when I had my first hook up and trout in hand, a small/medium brown and a plump fish it was. I continued working the spinner from one side to the other in the stream as I slowly fished my way up it and had a couple more hook ups but lost both fish. I don't mind losing the odd trout every now and then but when I lose two in a row then it's time for a lure change, it was off with the Aglia and on with a #00 March Brown Bug spinner.
Wild windy weather is going to hit later today and it's going to hang around for the next few days so I thought I'd better get a spin session in before it arrives. When I arrived at 9:05am the first thing I noticed the water level had risen by around three inches which was great to see, yesterdays much needed rain did the job.
The rise in water level meant the trout should be in a aggressive mood with any luck. With the water being higher meant I could also use the anti-kink today and my spinner of choice was the Mepps #00 White Miller the same lure that caught thirteen of the fourteen trout a few days ago. The tannin coloured water was only marginally darker so everything was looking good for a spin session here today. By the time I had my wading gear on and hopped in the stream the wind had arrived, even though it was still sunny the air temperature wasn't all that warm.
Today is the day I'm going for my 10,000th Tasmanian wild trout since we moved here back in March 2000 & I'm going to catch it in one of my favorite tannin waters. Looking through a few of my past trout seasons records I found that these tannin waters fished extremely well at this time of the season so that's a good enough reason to head there. It proved correct yesterday when I fished a new tannin water, the trout were there and pretty aggressive and with cooler weather and recent rains they'll be on the take today.
After having around 5-6 mms of rain and with the morning being quite humid I thought a trip to tannin waters would be well worth it this morning. I was just about to leave when the rain arrived again so I had to sit around for an hour before heading off. This trip involved a long walk and plenty of bush bashing to reach a new tannin water, one I came across while looking around on Google Earth. With nineteen trout still needed to be caught for me to reach a milestone of 10,000 Tasmanian wild trout I thought the change to a new water may help bring it that much closer and maybe a little quicker.
More lousy weather forecast for the next few days I thought I would get a few hours of trout fishing in today seeing most of the day was going to be reasonably good before the change arrives later on. I was in two minds whether to head over to the Meander River at Meander or to the shorter trip to the Mersey River at Weegena, I chose to head to the Meander River. I was originally going to fish at Weegena then after checking the BOM site to see that the water level at Meander had dropped to a decent wading height helped me decide where to go.
With poor weather forecast over the next few days I thought I would get one more trip into the tannin water before the change arrives, at the moment the conditions were perfect for trout fishing. I wasn't sure how much lower the water level had dropped in the small stream until I arrived (11:45am) to find it was very low and it was going to be quite a challenge chasing the trout. In low water levels the trout are very alert and will dart off with the slightest bit on movement, even when using a lightweight 1.5 gram Mepps spinner is enough to send them heading for cover.
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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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