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:
Read more ...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 !
Mariners are advised that a Rowing Tasmania Regatta will be held on Saturday, 18 December 2021 and Sunday, 19 December 2021 (0800 -1700 hours) on the Lake Barrington Rowing Course.
Mariners are requested to transit the area with caution and avoid interfering with the event.
Source: https://mast.tas.gov.au/notices/m347-21-lake-barrington-rowing-regatta/
Darryl with a Camden Dam brown trout taken from his kayak |
Darryl Saunders of Scottsdale has been enjoying fishing the new Camden Dam from his kayak. Fishing with hard bodies and soft plastics Darryl has been averaging two well conditioned brown trout up to 1.5 kg per session. A visit this week was no exception keeping one fish just under the 1kg mark and releasing one other. A gut sample revealed the fish had been feeding heavily on mudeyes. You can find more information about Camden Dam on the fact sheet or by going to the new INFISH app.
Source: https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/2021/dec/17/camden-dam-is-fishing-well
Recently contractors completed the accessible angling project at South Riana Dam.
This project was commenced in 2019 when it was identified that an easement was required to ensure public access to the car park and access area in perpetuity. The easement was created with the assistance and cooperation of the private landowner, Gary Carpenter and Tasmanian Irrigation.
Upon completion of the easement the IFS has built a new 60 m long pathway from the carpark to the waters edge via a self-closing pedestrian gate. The gently graded path provides access for anglers with mobility issues including wheelchairs with carers, mobility scooters, and walking frames. The gate is designed to permit canoe and kayak trolleys up to 1300mm wide.
The recently completed works cost $8,000.00 and was funded through the Government’s Strategy to ‘Increase Participation in Tasmania’s Inland Recreational Fishery 2021-28’.
South Riana Dam is an ideal location for passive angling with gently sloping grass to the waters edge. The IFS stocks the dam with brown trout fry annually. Anglers are catching well-conditioned trout up to 1.5kg with bait, lure and fly.
Source: https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/2021/dec/08/south-riana-dam-access-improvements
Yesterday (7th December) we released 50 Atlantic salmon into Brushy Lagoon. The average weight of the fish was 1.5kg. This should provide some exciting fishing for anglers that like to fish the lagoon in the lead up to Christmas.
Thanks to Tassal for donating the fish.
Scource: https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/2021/dec/08/atlantic-salmon-released-into-brushy-lagoon
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.
Tony Robertson with the tagged trout |
Keen angler, Tony Robertson, showed that the tagged fish are out there to be caught.
While drift spinning from his boat in yingina / Great Lake, near Reynolds Island, with small hard body lures he hooked and landed a brown trout. He noticed that it had blue tag. On closer inspection Tony realised it was the tagged fish from the 2020-21 Tasmanian Tagged Trout Promotion. The fish also had fishing line trailing from it where it had been hooked by another angler and lost.
Unfortunately for Tony, the 2020-21 competition finished at the end of April making the catch ineligible for the $10 000 prize. Tony has been given a consolation prize and is now on the hunt for one of this years tagged fish.
There are 45 tagged trout out there, waiting to be caught,
Each tag is worth $2,000* to the angler that returns the fish to the Inland Fisheries Service (*conditions apply). There are still five tagged fish swimming around in yingina / Great Lake and Tony has shown that these fish can be caught. Five of the fifty tagged brown trout in the 2021-22 Tasmanian Tagged Trout Promotion have been caught. There are lots more tagged fish in waters near you.
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 |
2 |
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 |
5 |
Lake Rowallan |
2 |
River Derwent |
Was 3 now 2 |
yingina / Great Lake |
5 |
Source: https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/2021/nov/17/tagged-trout-can-be-caught
After being laid up for a while with a torn muscle in my back and then giving it a short two hour workout in the Mersey River yesterday in which I pulled up okay I decided I will get a spin session in again today. With rain looming in the distance I headed off to one of my favourite small tannin streams for a morning spin session in the hope of catching a few trout before it arrives. As soon as I arrived I darted over to see what the water level was like, it was running high, much higher than I thought it would have been. The 60mms of rain we had here four days ago has really lifted the water level, it was still at a safe wading height, the downside was I'll be in for a tough time finding trout in the faster flowing water. After a twenty five minute walk I was at my entry point where I started fishing for trout, my lure of choice was a #0 Mepps Aglia Fluo Phospho (white) lure. The reason I chose this lure was because of it's white coloured blade plus the Aglia blade is a wide blade that will send out plenty of vibration through the water as I retrieve it, hopefully that will be enough to attract a few trout. As I started fishing my way upstream I couldn't believe how cold the water was, it was very cold on the legs which was something I wasn't expecting today. To make matters worse I didn't wear my thermal gear today either thinking the water temperature would have been okay. Yesterday when I fished the Mersey River the water temperature was around the 12-13 degree mark, here it's only around 7-8 degrees.
SFAC Minutes |
Calamari 2018 Analysis of Management Tools |
Calamari Discussion Paper Oct 2021 |
Calamari spawning in Northern Tas |
TARFish response to calamari management |
Another change of weather is on the way, this time it includes thunderstorms and heavy rain so I made a hasty decision to head off the Mersey River before the change arrives. I checked the river levels online and saw that the river at Weegena was down to a reasonable level that was fairly safe for wading. It was 7:40 am when I hopped in the river and the first thing I noticed was the water temperature was sitting at 10 degrees which was good to see.
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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.
Read more ...