With it still overcast, cool and light rain falling I decided that this hanging around waiting for the weather to clear up was over. I headed off to the Mersey River to fish a small stretch of back water that I felt would be holding at least one trout and may one or two more.. After arriving at the river I saw it was still running high and very fast then after a fifteen minute walk I was finally in the backwater at 10:15 am. This back water is now only around 60 meters long now as the 2016 June floods changed it from a 200 meter stretch to what it is today.

Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training

Parent Category: Rivers

Category: Mersey River

Published: 15 August 2018

Hits: 3372

• Mersey River
• Adrian

Read more: Back water gives up my first trout of the season - 6/8/2018

Please read this link urgently.
You can go fishing this Saturday even if your card hasn't arrived.
https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/…/2…/aug/02/2018-19-licence-cards

If you have bought or renewed a full season licence, you probably don’t have your card yet.

There has been a delay with this season cards. We hope the first ones will arrive in letterboxes next week.

You can still enjoy fishing this weekend. If you have a receipt, take a copy with you. This might be a photo on your phone or the email itself.  This makes things a bit easier for our officers. If you don’t have a receipt, but you know you have a licence, don’t worry. Our officers can check the licence database so long as they have phone reception. If there is no reception, they will ask for some information and check later.

There have been some regulation changes for this season.  Make sure download the Tasmanian Inland Fishing Code 2018-19 from our website and update your InFish app. This way you will have the latest rules.

You can buy or renew a licence online at any time from www.ifs.tas.gov.au

Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training

Parent Category: Articles

Category: IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies

Published: 02 August 2018

Hits: 2258

• IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies
• Trout Fishing

The August-September edition of Tasmanian Fishing and Boating News is now on sale at all good newsagents and tackle stores.

In this issue you will find heaps on lure and fly fishing – what, where and how. There is also a terrific story about the history, building and subsequent rebuilding of the Sandy Lake hut by the Mountain Huts Preservation Society. It was built as a joint project between the Northern Tasmanian Tourism and Northern Tasmanian Fisheries associations. It fell into disrepair and was later burnt down and then the area flooded. The MHPS through a lot of effort rebuilt it nearby and reopened it 7th April 2018. I and hundreds of others attended the reopening. What a great day and well done to MHPS.

Greg French has just been published again. His new book is Water Colour and I have just read a few snippets from it. Greg is a beautiful story teller - making the mundane interesting and the interesting rivetting. His telling of events and trips and expeditions and general goings on are terrific and I for one don’t think there is another story teller like him in fishing that has been published.

Some people want ‘how to’ or guide books and articles, but I love well told anecdotes. Buy Water Colour and enjoy it.

Greg has inspired me to keep a diary again. I have done it spasmodically over the years, and many of my memories are just snippets of a day, rather than a bigger recollection. A diary doesn’t lie - unless you write it to deceive, but that would be pointless. Look back later and revel in your fishing days, where you fished, what happened and with whom.

Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training

Category: Articles

Published: 31 July 2018

Hits: 2832

Read more: Issue 133 Information

Each year, recreational fishers report catching sand flathead that have areas of blackened flesh, a phenomenon known as melanisation.

IMAS researchers are conducting a survey to gain a greater understanding of:

• where the fish are being caught;
• what is causing the black flesh;
• are there any risks to the flathead; and
• are other species affected.

  Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training

  Parent Category: Articles

  Category: IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies

  Published: 29 July 2018

  Hits: 6124

  • IFS, DPIPWE, MAST and Peak Bodies
  • Flathead

  Read more: Survey - blackened flesh in flathead

Fish mount restoration

Presented from Issue 116, June 2015
I’ve been practising fish taxidermy for several years, starting with skin mounts and fibreglass reproductions, and more recently have taken on the restoration of old mounts.

With modern day products and techniques there is no reason why a properly crafted fish skin mount should not last a lifetime. However, we’ve all seen old (and some not so old) mounts hanging on pub walls, in fishing shops or in mates sheds that have weathered badly over time . Not all old mounts need a make over. Those with least deterioration may still look rather discoloured but are best left alone with the vintage look and have a charm, character and history of their own. The worse for wear jobs with the curled fins and shrivelled heads can certainly be brought back to life.

Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training

Parent Category: Articles

Category: Trout Fishing

Published: 25 July 2018

Hits: 3663

• Taxidermy

Read more: What to do when your fish is stuffed - John Wilesmith

Presented from Issue 116, June 2015
There is still plenty of time left to hook up with some big tuna - off Tasmania’s coast. You often hear about the one that got away and that can be heart breaking. However with good preparation the risk of losing a fi sh of a lifetime drops enormously.

1. Keep an eye on the sky

Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training

Parent Category: Articles

Category: Tuna Fishing and other Game Fishing

Published: 20 July 2018

Hits: 5153

• Tuna Fishing and other Game Fishing

Read more: 11 Tassie Tuna Tips - Preparation is everything - Joe Mangan

Presented from Issue 115, April 2015
I don’t think we can really start talking about what May and June will bring for fishing in Tasmania without first talking about what has been happening in the Tasmanian game fishing scene recently. Tasmania has gone off, particularly the lower East coast. Bicheno has seen some battles with big yellowfin tuna with a few sad results.

Talking to one angler with years of experience he had a tale of woe. It was a day like any other off the 80 metre mark just off the top side of the Gulch, looking very fishy. The skipper decided to put in a small spread and troll out to the shelf. He had on a couple of tried and true albacore lures that had never let him down. This one particular lure he mentioned he had…. HAD.. for over 15 years. They had only been trolling for 10 minutes when the reel screamed off in earnest and within an instant they knew there was a big fish heading home with lure in mouth. They battled this fish for an hour before sighting it at the back of the boat. That’s when things got exciting !

Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training

Parent Category: Articles

Category: Tuna Fishing and other Game Fishing

Published: 19 July 2018

Hits: 3707

• Tuna Fishing and other Game Fishing

Read more: Game On - May & June - The two best game fishing months - Kelly Hunt

Presented from Issue 115, April 2015
As April and May progress the days are shorter and they for one thing sure are colder. But the trout angler in many of us still ‘needs’ to head up top chasing those that challenge us.

End of season trout should, as a general rule, be hungry. Either pre or post-spawn. They generally feed well pre-spawn. Feeding before they move up the many streams, creeks, rivers and canals that provide the breeding grounds. The process sees the trout with little or no food for some time hence the need to add condition for energy during this very strenuous spawning period.

Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training

Parent Category: Articles

Category: Trout Fishing

Published: 18 July 2018

Hits: 3219

• Trout Fishing

Read more: Short cold trouty days - Bright colours bring results - Justin Causby

Presented from Issue 115, April 2015
Well this season is passing before my eyes. Maybe I’ve been working too conscientiously, but for some reason I have fished less this last season than in recent years. There are still some golden Autumn fishing to be had, if I can make it out there, but even here on the mainland, where the rivers are open until early June, the dry fly action slows right down by the end of April. With that in mind, I’m already thinking of what I might do differently next season.

Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training

Parent Category: Articles

Category: Trout Fishing

Published: 17 July 2018

Hits: 2474

• Trout Fishing

Read more: Starting over - Fish more - Catch less - Nick Taransky

Presented from Issue 115, April 2015

While the action on the saltwater has been okay, the Tasmanian trout season has been far from great. Over the summer, I have fished many of the highland lakes, using both dry fly and micro-sized plastics. Although some of my trips have been productive, there have been many trips where I have put in long hours and plenty of effort, for only a few fish. It is with particular sadness, that Arthurs Lake - my favourite place to fish, has also let me down on a number of occasions. As with any fishing trip, I always endeavour to find a ‘silver lining’, and for me it has been that the few fish I have caught were noticeably larger, and in better condition, than the ones I caught the previous year.

Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training

Parent Category: Articles

Category: Tackle, Boats and other Equipment

Published: 16 July 2018

Hits: 3363

• Tackle, Boats and other Equipment
• Trout Fishing

Read more: Last cast - End of season soft plastic tips - Michal Rybka