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St Helens - Tasmania's Springtime Sportsfishing Hotspot

Jamie Henderson

Its always been a perception that if you lived in Tasmania and you wanted quality sports fishing then you had to travel far and wide to experience anything decent-..well not anymore.
St Helens is fast becoming known all over the country as a hot sportsfishing destination offering a wide diversity of fish species and options for both the intrepid sports angler and the weekend dangler. With fantastic flats fishing for dedicated fly and plastic fisherman to quality "bread & butter" estuary fishing for the family man it's all here on offer.

: Category: St Helens; Published: 14 October 2009; Hits: 6242

St Helens

Derwent trout worth the chase

Alistair Creed

The Derwent River is one of my favorite trout fisheries, it can be a good challenge to the best fishermen. I always look forward to the first few months of the season on the river the weather is pretty good. I found that an overcast day with a gentle breeze is the way, the fish seem to come on good in these conditions. So far this season I have bagged 17 trout, all these fish were resident fish. All fish apart from one were caught on soft plastic, the other on fly.

: Category: Derwent River; Published: 14 October 2009; Hits: 7021

Derwent River

Bream on Fly

Craig Rist
I've been hooked on fly-fishing since I was a teenager. Pursuing trout and many salt-water species with the fly has been a big part of my fishing. Fly-fishing can take you on a life long lesson in casting, presentation, fish behaviour and the life cycles of the many different insects; crustations and baitfish, that make up the diet of the fish you want to catch. With each year your casting improves, as does your catch rate. The more you can learn about the fish species you want to catch, the better angler you become. This is probably the reason why I have never lost interest in fly-fishing. Sure, there are other forms of fishing that are far easier and more productive at times, but for me, fly fishing has been the most rewarding.

: Category: Fly Fishing; Published: 14 October 2009; Hits: 16246

Fly Fishing

Mersey River at Bells Parade, Latrobe

Leroy Tirant
The Bells Parade area at Latrobe seems at first glance an unlikely fishing spot. The Latrobe council has done a magnificent job at this park area and in conjunction with groups such as Rotary they have bar-b-que's, gazebo's and children's play equipment not to mention the well manicured lawns. But it's the magnificent fishing that's on offer here that were going to talk about.

: Category: Mersey River; Published: 14 October 2009; Hits: 14254

Mersey River

Western Wilderness fishing

Shane Flude
I started bushwalking a few years before I started fishing in earnest so it is only natural that I later combined the two and began to explore Tasmania's Western Lakes. One of the first trips I did and one which I have done again recently was the Pine Valley and its associated lakes and tarns. Despite visiting this area several times, I still find it has everything to offer the bushwalking/fishing enthusiast and its somewhere I will probably visit until I'm too old to do so comfortably. It features a number of waters that mostly contain high numbers of moderate sized trout and several nearby trophy waters for the occasional monster. The area is easy to walk through, has tracks leading in from both ends to the valley and the headwaters rise in what would have to be one of Tasmania's most scenic areas, the Walls of Jerusalem National Park.

: Category: Western Lakes; Published: 14 October 2009; Hits: 13286

Western Lakes

Penstock Lagoon

Joe Riley

Since the creation of Penstock Lagoon in the early 20th Century to hold water for the Waddamana Power Scheme, Penstock has build a strong and lasting reputation as a challenging and rewarding fishery for both Brown and Rainbow trout. With a dun hatch that was regarded as one of the finest anywhere, polaroiding on bright days for large browns sipping black spinners and trout foraging the shallows for damsel fly and mudeye larvae the lagoon has always offered exciting opportunities for the persistent and observant angler to catch with quality fish.

: Category: Penstock Lagoon; Published: 14 October 2009; Hits: 10635

Penstock Lagoon

Flinders Island

For those of you that have never fished Flinders Island, do yourselves a favour! Take John Orchard's advice and DO IT.
For an island that only takes an hour to drive from one end to the other, it is packed with some of the best recreational fishing to be found in Tasmania.

: Category: Saltwater and Estuary Fishing; Published: 14 October 2009; Hits: 15798

Saltwater and Estuary Fishing

Restoration of the grave of Alfred Ronalds

On Sunday 17 August, members of the Victorian Fly Fishers Association and the Ballarat Fly Fishing Club attended a short ceremony to mark the restoration of the grave of Alfred Ronalds at the Old Ballarat Cemetery. It was the culmination of an appeal which was launched by the VFFA in 2000 for funds to restore his grave, which had been destroyed by vandals. The appeal was launched at the initiative of well-known fly fishing journalist, fly tier and VFFA member, Rick Keam, and followed an article by Mick Hall on the life of Ronalds which appeared in The Flyfishers Annual (Volume 6, 2001) of which Rick was the editor.

: Category: Other; Published: 14 October 2009; Hits: 7188

Other

How much should you pay for a rod?

Jamie Henderson
Tackle retailer and competition angler Jamie Henderson explains the vexed question on how much you should pay for a rod.
I saw an interesting statistic the other day that said at least one third of the population of Australia go fishing. That makes it the biggest single recreational pursuit in our country. That's a lot of rods and reels at the end of the day. Its because of this that the fishing tackle industry grows and improves all the time, every year new gear, new brands and a myriad of upgrades and improvements come along which can at times have the owners of the tackle stores pulling their hair out wondering what they should stock next.
This doesn't make it any easier for the consumer, what type of gear should they purchase, what fish are they targeting, are they targeting anything at all or just want to dabble on the jety and hope for the best, fly, plastic, bait, spin, surf, game--aaaaagggghhhh.

: Category: Tackle, Boats and other Equipment; Published: 13 October 2009; Hits: 7650

Tackle, Boats and other Equipment

Fishing from the Jetty

Daniel Paull
Intro
Fishing from a jetty is a great experience for people of all ages, especially for the amateur angler. Tasmania has some great jettys and piers along the coastline, Georges Bay being my personel favourite. Fishing from jettys can produce some great species. The best thing about jetty fishing is that you don't have to take a truck load of gear. All you really need is is a hook, line, sinker and bait. Prawns and squid usually do the trick and if you are like me and want to catch something huge, take some pilchards. I started my landbased fishing on a jetty on the beach across from Jetty Road (Georges Bay). It produced some great fish until it was closed to the public. There are still many great jettys to fish from in our great state. I can easily say that any jetty is a good one.