A cool morning with light drizzle, what a top day to head of for a spin session, yes you guessed it I was on my way to the Meander River again to have another spin session in the fast water. When I arrived (7;35am) the drizzle had gone but it was still quite cool with heavy cloud cover which made it near impossible to see the river bottom. On heavy overcast days the cloud cover acts like a mirror on the water and polarised sunglasses don't work either, they're okay in close to the river bank with the cover of foliage but that's as far as it goes. Any way I started the morning off using a copper #00 Aglia Mouche Noire and picked up a small brown mid stream in the first five minutes, just the start I was wanted. The river was down a little since my last trip here six days ago which was good as it meant the trout should be well spread out across the river.
Calm humid conditions today that were ideal for trout fishing saw me head up to Weegena to chase the trout in the fast waters of the Mersey River. I wasn't in a rush to get there seeing it was overcast and humid, it was 8:10 am when I arrived at Weegena. From where I parked the car I had a fifteen minute walk to the fast water I was going to fish, on the way I bypassed a long wide slow flowing stretch of river that had a lot of trout surface feeding in it. There were black spinners hovering above the water surface that had quite a few trout fired up as they were leaping from the river trying to grab a few.
Safety Watch is a new service for Tas Maritime Radio members based on the ETAR System that we have been trialling.
If you use Safety Watch you will tell us when you expect to arrive at your destination or return to your starting point and then call us as you arrive or return.
If you are:
more than 20 minutes overdue: we will start to call you using radio and your mobile phone number.
more than 1 hour overdue: we will contact Tasmania Police who will then take whatever steps they feel necessary, possibly including mounting a search for your vessel.
There is a new and exciting project being undertaken within the Walls of Jerusalem National Park. This project will improve the visitor experience while helping to protect the high conservation values of this amazing area.
Attached is a Stakeholder announcement flyer which contains a link to Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service “Have your say” website. Here you can read all relevant project background documents.
You can provide feedback through the website if you wish.
Yours sincerely,
Daniel Johansson
Ranger
Please read the attached flyer re some maintenance work on Tarraleah no 1 canal starting early February.
Finally the weather arrived that I've been wanting for quite some time now, a day with light drizzle and very humid conditions were here at last. Even though I was up at 5:00 am I was a little slow of the mark before heading off to the Meander River. By the time I put a dozen heat patches on the old body & loosened up it was 6:10 am when I was in the '' Trout Stalker 2 '' and on my way to the river.
Today my plan was to head to the fast water runs, one of the toughest stretches of water one can fish in the upper reaches of the river. It's a very long rocky fast water that tests the best of any river fisher, a fast water full of very slippery rocks/boulders that has sent many trout fisho's home much earlier than they would have liked. As tough as it is on the body the upper Meander River fast water is at the top of my favorites list to chase brown trout. I was in the river by 7:05 am and found it was running a little higher than I preferred, this meant it was going to be that much harder work fishing my way upstream.
Many thanks once again to all those that competed in our event, especially those that travelled from the big island to compete.
Also a special thanks to those that offered their boats for use during the competition, it was very much appreciated.
The final results are attached.
Fish Stats :
Total Fish Caught : 195
Woods Lake : 95 Biggest fish – Garth Jackson 57.6cm, Di Richards 57.3cm, Tom Jarman 56.9cm
Arthurs Lake : 100 Biggest fish – Tom Jarman 55.5cm, Karen Brooks 52.0cm, Casey Pfeiffer 52.0cm
Woods Lake Average Fish Length : 35.8cm
Arthurs Lake Average Fish Length : 37.9cm
Click here for a PDF of the full results
Seeing as it's a new year and I haven't wet a line since the 24th December I thought it was time to go and have a session in a river this morning. I left home at first light and on the way I saw a fiery sunrise, one that was bright orange due to the air being filled with smoke from bush fires here in Tasmania as well as the mainland bush fires.
Here I was heading off chasing trout in a river when there are people battling to save homes as well as their lives, it really makes one think how lucky many of us are. My thoughts go out to all of those people as well as the volunteers who have and are still being effected by those horrific bush fires around Australia. I arrived at the Meander River just before 6:30am in what was a beautiful cool morning, the river was running clear and at an ideal wading height, all I needed was the trout to be here and in an aggressive mood.
Winning photo Tasmania Trout Fishing Photo by Shaun Chooper "Keep em wet" taken at Lake Fergus |
The IFS Trout Fishing Photography Competition is back for 2019-20.
We want your best Tasmanian trout fishing photos. Enter photos of fishing families, anglers, scenery and, of course, trout.
1st Place: $500, 2nd Place: 1 x pair Neoprene waders (Fly 'n Dry), 3rd and 4th Place: 10 x Lures (Hueys Lures).
Entries is free and will be accepted up until 5pm on Tuesday 5 May 2020.
Conditions apply - see entry form
Read more: Trout Fishing Photography Competition 2019-20 Update
Don't forget that free fishing clinics are being held in January at local jetties around the state from Dover to St Helens to Devonport. All ages and abilities are welcome.
New fishers learn basic skills like setting up a rod, casting, how to measure your catch and to fish responsibly. Others may want to improve their skills or just drop by to find more about fishing. Rods and gear are provided.
Preregistration is encouraged to allow us to plan the required support and assist in guaranteeing you a fishing spot on the day.
Dull overcast conditions and a gusty South Westerly helped me make the easy decision to fish the lower Mersey River this morning mainly because I knew it would be reasonably sheltered from the winds. It wasn't an early start either because the air temp was only eight degrees when I left home, so there was no rush to get in the river. I was on the river bank by 9:05 am and spotted several trout on the rise plus a few small jumpers as well. As always the first lure of choice was a Mepps spinner, the #0 Stone Fly Bug was what went for starters as it's the lure that's done a great job on several trips lately. I spotted a trout on the rise close to the opposite river bank so that's where the first cast headed.
Handy information and links to fisheries,weather etc
Fishing books
Note: All videos use a lot of download data - please be aware of this.
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When you have finished for the day, why not have a brag about the ones that didn't get away! Send Mike an article on your fishing (Click here for contact details), and we'll get it published here. Have fun fishing - tasfish.com
Here is a list of all of the Article Categories. The number in Brackets, eg (13) is the number of articles. Click on Derwent River and all articles relating to the Derwent will be displayed in the central area.
Visit https://www.windyty.com/
Hello everyone, I thought it would be a good time to introduce myself.
My name is Stephen Smith and I have been managing the website tasfish.com since May 2009.
It has been an epic journey of learning and discovery and I am indebted to Mike Stevens for his help, support and patience.
I am developing a new venture Rubicon Web and Technology Training ( www.rwtt.com.au ). The focus is two part, to develop websites for individuals and small business and to train people to effectively use technology in their everyday lives.
Please contact me via www.rwtt.com.au/contact-me/ for further information - Stephen Smith.
and an art worth your learning.."
Presented from Issue 112, October 2014
So said Izaak Walton in the 1600s. It seems that Burnie’s Hannah Ledger has combined angling with art rather well. Hannah is a fish fanatic, outdoor enthusiast and budding, self-taught artist. From as young as she can remember, she has always had crayon in hand, colouring book under arm and as she’s grown as a painter, jars full of paintbrushes and cupboards full of ready-to-go blank canvas’.
A country girl at heart, Hannah was schooled at Yolla District High School, a small ‘farm’ school in the states North West, then went on to Hellyer College where she was given the opportunity to really grow her art skills; And by grow, that meant skipping the classes that would probably have more an impact of getting her somewhere in life, like English and Math to spend every spare minute with the art teacher, painting or drawing.
As typical teenagers do, they make poor decisions- and after being accepted in to one of the countries top art schools, turned down the offer and decided to move to the big island, where she lived for 5 years working in what seemed ‘dead end’ retail.
Read more ...