Get the Knowledge - Get the Fish - with TasFish.com

Please check all relevant authorities before fishing - www.ifs.tas.gov.au and dpipwe.tas.gov.au . Don't forget issuu.com/stevenspublishing for years of back issues !

Did you know that through the new Infish App 2.0 you can get up to date notifications on fish stocking, the latest news and licensing. So if you haven't already download the app and follow the prompts below. The Infish app is free on iOS and Android.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies; Published: 17 February 2022; Hits: 1819

IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies

camden dam brown trout Last week we did a survey of the trout population at Camden Dam. This water was flooded for the first time during 2020-21. At full supply level it holds around 9,300 megalitres, supplying water to Scottsdale Irrigation Scheme. The dam captures inflows from the Camden Rivulet and several other smaller streams, so the potential for the recruitment of trout is very good. Rainbow trout are also found in some of the connecting streams.

We used the electrofishing boat to sample trout from several areas of the dam. The number of trout captured, 26 from 4.5 hours of electrofishing, indicates the size of the brown trout population at present is low, but most fish were in very good condition. Over half of the fish collected were between 1.0 – 1.5 kg (see Figure 1), with the heaviest fish weighing 1.7 kg. There were signs of recruitment from last year with a small number of fish around 130 mm in length. In addition, significant numbers of river fish had dropped downstream and were captured in the bays where the streams flow in. Most fish were feeding on subsurface items such as aquatic beetle larvae and snails.

camden

Figure 1: Length and weight plot for brown trout, Camden Dam, February 2022.

Camden Dam is showing promising results and is likely to continue to improve as a fishery over the next 3 – 5 years. Beyond this, the size of fish is expected to decrease as the population grows with high recruitment expected.

Source: https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/2022/feb/16/camden-dam-trout-survey

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies; Published: 17 February 2022; Hits: 1972

IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies

2022 02 09 A beautiful tannin water wild brown trout 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; Published: 16 February 2022; Hits: 2108

Read more: My 11,000th Tasmanian trout

A rainbow trout being
released into
Brushy Lagoon

The release of rainbow trout into regional public waters continued with 750 into Brushy Lagoon and 140 into Lake Kara yesterday. The fish averaged 1.3kg but ranged up to 2kg. This will provide some exciting fishing over the coming months.

For more information about access and the rules for these waters see the brochure for Brushy Lagoon and the fact sheet for Lake Kara.

Thanks to the Huon Aquaculture Group for donating these fish.

Source: https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/2022/feb/04/rainbow-trout-to-the-nw-coast

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies; Published: 05 February 2022; Hits: 1619

2022 01 21 One of only five trout caught today 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; Published: 27 January 2022; Hits: 1326

A happy crew
with a female
carp caught in
Lake Sorell

High rainfall in October resulted in Lake Sorell rising quickly. By the start of November, Lake Sorell was 150mm over the full supply level. The last time the lake had filled to this level was in October 2016, when there was still a quite large population of carp, and many were caught in traps set in barrier nets in front of the marshes. With the lake level and temperature also rising at a similar time this year it provided a good chance to test the theory that few carp were left, and to catch any remaining carp in the lake. The strong spawning cues were likely to draw carp into the shallows, making them easier to catch. However, it also meant that we had to be on high alert, given the risk of spawning in the marshes was possible.

The fishing strategy for the 2021/22 carp season was to focus on spawning related carp movement and blocking spawning. This has included blocking the marshes with barrier nets, trapping the preferred carp entrance points to these areas, and targeted gill netting combined with electrofishing.

Fishing started in late October, and a total of four carp have been caught up until the end of December. One carp was caught in a trammel net set while using the electrofishing boat, another was caught in a trammel net set behind the barrier net in the marshes, while two carp were caught in barrier traps. The carp ranged in size from 800 to 2344 grams, and all four were females. Of the four females, three of the fish had gonad tumours and could not spawn. The other female carp appeared to healthy, carrying 334gm of eggs, with a gonadosomatic index (GSI) of 20% which is quite high. However, all the eggs were completely intact, indicating she had not spawned. The last healthy, sexually mature male carp was caught on 16 December 2018. It is increasingly likely that any remaining carp in Lake Sorell are unable to breed.

41 503 carp have now been removed from Lake Sorell since their discovery in 1995. There has been no sign of spawning so far from juvenile carp surveys this season. Surveys will continue each month through until March. These surveys involve electrofishing with the boat and backpack, fine mesh dip netting, fine mesh fyke netting, and visual checks in spawning habitat. Targeted fishing will continue into January if good weather conditions arise.

Source: https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/2022/jan/06/lake-sorell-carp-eradication-update

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies; Published: 07 January 2022; Hits: 1754

2022 01 01 Beautiful colours in this brown trout After a poor spin session in a tannin stream this morning with just one small brown trout being caught from five hookups, this afternoon I decided to give the River Leven at Gunns Plains a go. The reason I headed to this river was because it was down to a safe wading height, plus it's a river I love to fish even if it does run hot and cold with the trout. The trout can be hard to find at times and when one does come across them they can be very moody, they're either aggressive or they just sit behind the lure and tease you. Seeing as I had an angling club meeting meant it wasn't going to be a late finish, I would have to be back at the car around five thirty. It was 3:10 pm when I arrived at Gunns Plains and after a short walk it was in the river flicking a #1 Aglia Furi around in the very light tannin coloured water. It didn't take all that long before a nice medium size brown trout followed the spinner right up to where I was standing in the river. There was not a sign of aggression from it either, straight away I thought it's going to be one of those teaser days.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: Leven River; Published: 05 January 2022; Hits: 1759

Read more: River Leven brown trout

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

The tags are orange and have unique identifying details.

Source: https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/2022/jan/04/a-winning-start-to-the-new-year

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies; Published: 05 January 2022; Hits: 1623

IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies

echo dam Hydro Tasmania is currently working on a major refurbishment of Lake Echo Power Station, including replacing the turbine runner and overhauling the electrical system that controls the station’s gates and valves. This project is part of the ongoing asset management program that keeps our stations operating safely and efficiently.

As they near completion, the project team need to test the new system before the station can be restarted. Testing will take approximately 8 weeks, from late January and late March 2022. During January to March, they will need to operate Lake Echo dam spillway. When the spillway is being used, large volumes of water run across Lake Echo Road (see red star on the map below), making it unsafe to cross. For your safety, permanent barriers are being installed either side of the spillway and when the spillway is in use, these barriers will be locked.

Please stay alert for changing conditions during the testing phase and obey the temporary road closures and warning signs. Lake Echo dam wall road and the boat ramp will not be affected by this work. If you want to access these areas, we suggest using Mentmore Road to avoid travel delays.

Thank you for your patience while they complete this important work. If you know someone that may be affected by this temporary closure, please share this update. If you have any questions or concerns, you can email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or phone 1300 360 441.
Source: https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/2021/dec/22/lake-echo-dam-road-intermittent-closure-january-march-2022

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies; Published: 23 December 2021; Hits: 1544

Rock lobster catch app trial

Recreational rock lobster fishers can now log their catches and fishing details in a new Rock Lobster Catch Monitoring app. The app is part of a trial to gather real-time catch data to better manage the rock lobster fishery.

Using the app is voluntary and your feedback will help develop future versions. Available now from the Apple and Google stores.

Download and Win!!: Log your catch and send in your feedback - you can win great prizes including cray cookers and PFD yokes.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies; Published: 21 December 2021; Hits: 1288