Hobart

HOBART Andrew Large

Anglers have been spared the cold fronts and unseasonal low-pressure cells of recent months, and mild weather in the last few weeks has been increasing fishing opportunities state-wide.

Saltwater has seen sand flathead starting move in some areas. The water temperatures are still down, but some action has been seen throughout Storm Bay. As late spring temperatures and up the channel.

Meanwhile, sand whiting have been encountered around Lewisham in the south, while good runs of King George whiting have been experienced along the northern coastline and northeast of the state.

In deeper waters off the east coast, tiger flathead are still very quiet. Some fish have been caught around Marion Bay, undoubtedly due to milder water temperatures.

In the south, on the edges of Storm Bay, snapper have been taken recently near and will continue to attract anglers to the southeast. Good captures of school sized SBT, some to 40kg, have been experienced in Pirates Bay itself, and further down the coastline to Tasman Island. Most fish have been around the 18kg mark.

Estuary fishing has been on fire. The heavy rains we have received have been bittersweet, but estuaries like the Derwent and Huon have cleared quickly, allowing bream and sea trout to feed well in the shallow margins.

In the south, sea trout have been busy chasing

All the fish coming out of Penstock have been super fat. Sea-run trout have been hitting whitebait-style flies readily of late.

Lower to mid reaches of estuary systems are probably the go-to zones as fish haven’t pushed all the way through to upper reaches just yet.

Freshwater areas are fishing particularly well so far this year, again due to high water levels for the third straight year! As a result, trout are in superb condition, having been able to feed up after spawning a few months back.

Bronte Lagoon is without doubt the number one water in the state so

continue to rise, flathead will move into the shallows and start hitting soft plastics and deep diving lures.

Runs of Australian salmon have been sighted off Kingston Beach in large numbers. Cremorne and Pipeclay lagoons are experiencing a limited run of good fish to 0.9kg. The action has been a bit patchy, but the rewards are there for persistent anglers. The lower Huon region is also experiencing a good run of smaller salmon from Dover Lauderdale and Betsy Island.

Calamari have just started to run along the east and southeast coasts. Patches of fish can be found after a little searching over broken and seagrass bottom. Adventure Bay, Nubeena and Marion bays have seen reasonable captures. Northern and southern closures for calamari are now in effect.

Southern bluefin tuna are still taking lures readily on the Tasman Peninsula. October is ‘jumbo month’, whitebait and smashing lures and flies.

The River Derwent has been fishing well since early August, and shows no sign of slowing for the moment, particularly with annual whitebait runs beginning to build. The Huon and further south have been a little slow but are producing fish. The slowness is due to high river levels in recent weeks as a result of increased rain in the Pedder catchment.

Bream action is increasing as bait increases. Flathead have made a reappearance for the season. This one was caught on a Berkley Nemesis while simply spinning a sand flat while on a beach walk.

far this season. The fish are fitter than they were last season, and are eager to hit a lure or fly. All methods are working well – spin, troll and fly. Both land-based and boat-based anglers have been catching fish.

Slightly lower in elevation, Four Springs in the north is probably only second to Bronte by a smidge, and has seen rainbow trout to 7lb landed so far this season. There have been rumours of good mayfly action on this lake already.

Sitting atop the eastern tiers, Lake Leake has dropped back a little in tempo from last season but is still producing good brown and rainbow trout. Again, all methods are working well. At the time of writing, the lake is spilling and will continue to do so for a while.

Mysterious Arthurs Lake is producing good numbers of short, fat fish around the 1.1kg mark. Fish have been found around the edges all over the lake, with both fly and spin anglers all reporting good bags.

Great Lake has been fishing well again this month. We are putting this down to snowmelt and the many inflows attracting trout. This, combined with warmer water temperatures for October, has seen a flurry of feeding action as trout mop up galaxia and terrestrial food items around the shorelines. One again, the standout lure is the 13g Tasmanian Devil in S12 sunburst, BR bloody ripper and 102 Bengal tiger.

Woods Lake is now providing spin fishers drifting the edges from a boat with some truly amazing action. Anglers have taken quality fish to 1.8kg to 3.3kg. Fly activity will increase now that ambient temperatures are on the rise.

Fly only, Penstock Lagoon has been fishing well and has offered a little bit more shelter on those blustery days. Fish started off in close around a month ago, and have recently started to hit flies on sinking lines out wide in the mid reaches.

Little Pine Lagoon, another fly-only water, has been fishing well since the start of the season in August. Lower alpine temperatures have not been limiting fish activity this year. Shreks and Woolly Buggers have been working well on this water of late.

Good breaks in the weather should persist and increase over the following month, while some of our more popular species will continue to come online for the imminent summer season make the most of this hiatus of activity in coming weeks.