Scott McDonald
The first Atlantic salmon eggs used to begin Tasmania's Atlantic salmon aquaculture industry were introduced into Tasmania in 1984. From these humble beginnings a valuable Tasmanian industry has evolved with a worldwide reputation for having a premium disease free product. This industry provides a spin off to all anglers in the form of regular escapes of salmon from the farms.
This season has been difficult and has really made the fishing population think on how best to catch fish. The weather has been the main contributor in making the fishing quite difficult at times; there was no warmth to speak of until well into the New Year. Mayfly hatches have been spasmodic to say the least, only occurring for short periods and not very often at that.
At the time of putting pen to paper I am sitting in a nice warm spot in the Central Highlands watching the snow creating a white carpet on the ground. It's because of this unsettled weather I have not had time to fish, but I have busied myself reading Greg French's new book Frog Call. I don't consider myself a great reader and it takes something special to hold my attention. This book I love. Many of the stories and places mentioned relate to experiences I've had. Greg talks lovingly about the western lakes area - he makes it sound so magical and is moreso if you have been there. The book is written as short stories and covers many places and often hilarious situations. So for all those interested in fishing, walking and dreaming this is for you.
Sticks, sticks and more sticks - stick caddis that is. Rarely does a trout's stomach contents not contain at least a few stick caddis.
Like most angler anticipation has already set in for what the coming season may bring. The past season was rather hectic for us. We fished a lot of areas, both near and far, and as always if one happened to be in the right place at the right time fish were caught. Always remember the more you fish the more you achieve in learning to catch fish.
Some ten years ago when the World Fly Fishing Championships were held in Tasmania, I was introduced to Loch-Style Fishing. It certainly is an effective style of fishing on the day and it won the English team the gold medal.
I must admit though it really doesn't do much for me. It seems to be that it is little more than fishing a team of wet flies, don't get me wrong, it does catch fish and plenty of them on the right day.
Winter time is a traditional time for fly tying and certainly I have done my share this winter. Winter is also the time for end of the year dinners, always great nights, where many fishy stories are swapped.
The days grow shorter and there is a crispness in the air that signals the end of the trout fishing season is getting near. This is a good time for you to reflect on the season that was, like always Bill and I had some wonderful trips and some not so good.
Parachute flies are hot on everybody's lips at the moment and they certainly do sit nicely on the water. Next time you are on the water fishing and there is a dun or two around, have a good long look at how they sit. Very nicely, belly down on the water.
The flies in this issue, a Black Nymph, Green Gold Bead Head and Chain Eye Nymph, are normally fished from a boat as the added weight generally makes them too heavy to fish in shallow water. However, they can be fished dead drift under a large buoyant indicator.
Jan Spencer talks about her three favourite flies for the coming two months
Read more: Jans Flies - Top Tassie flies for February and March
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Presented from Issue 100
Considering the world class quality of our sea trout fishery, these fish are not sought after by enough anglers. Sea runners live in the salt water and run up our estuaries and rivers from the start of August to the middle of November. At this time of the year, they are here to eat the many species of fish that are either running up the rivers to spawn or are living in and around the estuary systems. Trout, both sea run and resident (Slob Trout) feed heavily on these small fish which darken in colouration as they move further into fresh water reaches.
The majority of these predatory fish are brown trout with rainbows making up a very small percentage of the catch. They can be found all around the state but it would be fair to say that the east coast is the least prolific of all the areas. They still run up such rivers as the Georges (and many others) but their numbers along with the quality of the fishing elsewhere make it difficult to recommend the area above the larger northern, southern and western rivers.
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