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2021 01 08 Another beautiful rainbows in the net

The weather forecast wasn't all that flash for today with rain and gusty 30 kph NNW winds, that forecast kept me home for the most of the day, we did have a very light shower of rain and the wind was gusting at 30kph on and off throughout the day. At 4:00pm I'd had enough of sitting around the house and decided to shoot off for a quick spin session in a stretch of river I haven't fished for a very long time. By the time I put the wading gear in the car and hit the river it was 4:20pm and with daylight saving I had a good few hours up my sleeve to catch a trout or two. The river was actually running a little higher than expected but still safe enough to cross over and head to my starting point a few hundred meters downstream.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: Trout Fishing; Published: 16 January 2021; Hits: 628

2020 11 22 The third trout is about to be released Mild weather conditions again today had me heading off to the sheltered tannin water in the bush, the same little stream I was in a few days ago. This time I started fishing the stream close to where I ended the spin session last time when I managed to catch and release five wild browns. It was 3:15 pm when I hit the light tannin coloured water that had filtered sunlight on it, the lure of choice was a Mepps gold #00 Aglia. This time it's not the old well used one like I normally use, this one has only been used a couple of times. It took me twenty minutes before I had my first hit from a trout in a small pocket of water, it was hooked for a short time, it tossed the lure on the first leap from the stream. A little further upstream I had a hit and miss from another brown, not long after that it was trout on.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: Trout Fishing; Published: 16 January 2021; Hits: 463

Read more: Small stream trout

Fisheries Officer Paul Middleton
with a brown trout from
Four Springs Lake

During May 2020 we carried out a major survey of the fish population at Four Springs Lake to assess the trout population. This information along with past stockings numbers and angler catch information collected since 1999, have been assessed and reported. A final report is now available on the IFS website at: About Us - Publications - Fishery Performance Assessment Reports.

Additionally, our hard working compliance staff have been out collecting some interesting creel data from fishers at Four Springs Lake. Since the start of the season, 675 fishers have been checked at Four Springs. Of these, 383 had been fishing for one or more hours, while the remainder were just about to start fishing or had only just commenced. The average time spent fishing by these fishers was 4 hours.

Of the 383 fishers interviewed, they caught 326 brown trout and 132 rainbow trout. Table 1 below shows the number of brown trout caught and kept, the number of sized fish caught and released, and the number of undersized fish returned.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies; Published: 07 January 2021; Hits: 509

a salmon A 5 fish daily bag limit applies to Atlantic salmon in inland waters
With the recent arrival of 'escapee' Atlantic salmon in inland waters anglers need to be aware that regulations apply.

Each person must have a current angling licence to fish with a rod, reel and line in any inland waters.
A 5 fish daily bag limit applies to Atlantic salmon in inland waters.
The two main rivers where salmon are being caught are the Huon and the Derwent. An angling licence is required to take Atlantic salmon (and trout) above the following boundaries.

Huon River- Above an imaginary straight line drawn between a white post situated on the shore of the southern side of Castle Forbes Bay and another white post situated to the eastward of that post on the opposite bank of the Huon River.

River Derwent – Above a line between Dowsings Point to Store Point.

For the seaward limits of other rivers go to the Inland Fisheries (Seaward Limits) Order 2004

For more information go to the Tasmanian Inland Fishing Code 2020-21

Source: Chasing Atlantic salmon in inland waters! (ifs.tas.gov.au)

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies; Published: 07 January 2021; Hits: 330

IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies

Mike Fishburn and William Overton
with a well fought catch at
Cowpaddock Bay

Arthurs Lake is continuing to improve this season. Over the Christmas/New Year period lots of trout were caught. Spinning with lures and fly fishing were most successful.

Trolling cobra lures deep in bright conditions and shallow in dull conditions has been productive.

One angler using soft plastics had caught five well-conditioned fish from the Lilypads at the top end of Jonah Bay. There have been duns aplenty in Cowpaddock Bay also, with anglers using emerger style flies doing particularly well.

The $10,000 tagged fish that was released into Arthurs Lake is still there to be caught. If you are wondering where to go for a fish next, seriously consider having a look at Arthurs Lake!

Source: Arthurs Lake continuing to improve (ifs.tas.gov.au)

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: Arthurs Lake; Published: 07 January 2021; Hits: 310

Fisheries Officer on patrol in
Lake Rowallan

The Christmas/New Year holiday period was popular for trout fishing. Our officers conducted 336 recreational fishing and 101 boating safety inspections at key waters around the state. Fishing conditions were good during the period, with a mixture of sunny and overcast days accompanied with light winds and minimal rain:

Great Lake – Anglers trolling anglers caught good fish around the northern end of the lake, with cobra lures and flat fish. In bright conditions, trolling deep was more effective, whilst surface lures worked well in the evening. For the fly anglers plenty of fish were up feeding on the surface in the windlanes.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies; Published: 07 January 2021; Hits: 371

IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies

The Tasmanian Chapter of Fly Fish Australia will be organising the National Championships in February 2021, February 3 - 6.

We are seeking people interested in being ‘Controllers’ for the river sessions, which will be held on the Meander and Mersey rivers.

Please read the attached PDF if you are interested in being involved

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: Events; Published: 28 December 2020; Hits: 647

Events

Brown trout fry

Each year the IFS surveys Arthurs and Woods lakes for two endangered native fishes, the Arthurs paragalaxias and the Saddled galaxias. At Arthurs Lake, we found high numbers of the Arthurs paragalaxias across all areas of the lake, with 429 fish captured. However, the number of Saddled galaxias captured was very low, with only 9 captured over two nights of trapping.

The survey results for Woods Lake were contrasting to the Arthurs Lake results. A total of 217 Saddled galaxias were captured over two nights trapping, with only one Arthurs paragalaxias captured. The result for the Saddled galaxias was somewhat reassuring as the number of fish captured at Woods Lake over the past two years has been low. While just one Arthurs paragalaxias was captured, it is good to know the species remains in the Woods Lake, as before 2014 it was thought it may have become locally extinct.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies; Published: 28 December 2020; Hits: 674

IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies

Salmon escape creates fishing frenzy

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies; Published: 28 November 2020; Hits: 875