Offshore

OFFSHORE Kelly Hunt

July is traditionally a time in Tasmania where days are short, dreary and cold. Very cold. It is easy to go into a dark place like a bear in hibernation, but now is not the time for such actions. This month it’s hot – well, the fishing is hot, at least!

The big news here in Tasmania is the southern bluefin tuna fishing. The number of fish, and where Bassian Plain. Around 14,000 years later it was an expanse of sea water, and named after George Bass in 1800 by the then NSW Governor John Hunter.

Bass Strait is approximately 250km wide and 500km long, with an average depth of 60m. The widest opening is about 350km between Cape Portland on the northeastern tip of Tasmania and Point Hicks on the Australian mainland. It is this opening, found at both the west and eastern feeding or been spooled by something over the years, should the bluefin have been about. I’m 50 this year and have been fishing these waters sporadically since the age of 10. This, however, is next level.

The bluefin have been in the strait in massive numbers, and have really started to thicken up. First it was the large jumbo fish of 100kg and bigger that were stumbled across, and this led to some people calling it a fluke when Glen Saltmarsh caught one. Some in the fishing community suggested he caught the fish somewhere else and then made out he caught it off Devonport on Tasmania’s northwest coast. These people must be very down on themselves to think someone would stoop to such a pointless deception.

Then Glen caught another… and another. Then some of his mates caught some, and they were all big fish to 100kg+. Now this quickly went from fluke to phenomenon.

Now we fast forward two years and we also find there are school-size southern bluefin in the strait and in good numbers. It is not just the change in the fish but also the birds and the bait itself. The number of gannets has increased and the bait is on the rise, and of varied species. There has been a definite shift in the matrix. It may be climate change or whatever, but I really believe the improvement in water quality and reduction in industry outfalls has also played a huge part.

Towns such as Devonport and Ulverstone now have boats heading out with big spinning reels and overhead game reels ready to troll big skirted lures for tuna. It’s amazing, and the sales of gamefishing gear and deep diving lures of size and design to catch tuna are walking off the shelves.

Burnie and Penguin are also seeing tuna being caught off their boat ramps, at a time of year when the carparks are usually almost empty. They are full, brimming to capacity with crews and boats of all types and sizes heading out to try their luck.

The boat ramp at Low Head at the mouth of the Tamar River has been a focus for the Launceston area to the east, and Penguin and Burnie have seen some action as well. Wade Hill has managed to snare a couple off Sisters Beach to the east as well. This proves that the tuna are spread all across the coast and in great numbers as well.

The other interesting point is the varied depths the fish are being found in. Originally it was depths of 45-60m off Port Sorell point and Badgers Head where most of the effort was concentrated. In more recent times, crews and anglers have been picking them up in as shallow as 15m, and there have been tuna bust-ups off the shore under the Bluff Lighthouse at Devonport. There seems to be no real rhyme or reason as to where they will show up, which could be a sign there are a great deal out there currently. They are being found in the deeper water as well and along the entire coastline of the North West. It’s truly amazing.

Given the nature of the sea floor, depths and lack of seals I wonder when someone is going to try some different techniques like drifting with live baits or slow trolling with live or skip baits. I really think that some of the Wicked Tuna techniques might work as well. Boats could set up and work in a team and anchor across a depth line and cube and burley. This may draw the fish to the boats over the period of the day. It has never been as exciting a time to be an angler in Tasmania. Even as I write this, reports of very big tuna being caught off the Middle Ground of St Helens to 140kg. Early last month there were schools of large southern bluefin terrorising bait schools in Oyster Bay in 17m of water in behind Schouten Island. These fish were moving on the bait and sipping them off the surface like a trout would take a dun. The other giveaway has been the common terns picking the leftovers off the ocean as the big tuna gently swoosh the surface.

So now we have got over the shock of the first month of winter here in Tasmania, rug up in July and make the most of all that’s on offer offshore: massive tuna, a world class broadbill fishery and amazing deep drop species.

Stay safe, watch the weather, and tight lines.

Ashley found this fish in 17m of water in Oyster Bay.

they are being found, continues to amaze. The usual Tasmanian SBT haunts of Eaglehawk Neck, Southport and Pedra always fire at this time of year, but it’s the unusual spots that have been creating quite the sensation.

Bass Strait is a formidable section of water known for 200 years for its ability to cut up very rough and nasty given how shallow it is in general terms. Around 8000 years ago it was a land bridge between mainland Australia and Tasmania, before rising sea levels at the end of the last glacial period created the island haven that is Tasmania. The prehistoric land bridge, which allowed transit of Aboriginal people, was known as the end, that is of interest. Traditionally bluefin tuna are a pelagic species found off deep water and are quite common on or around the continental shelf off both the west and east coasts of Tasmania. Yes, they are found in shallower water at times, but more often out of very deep water to a coastal feature that holds bait.

Bass Strait, however, is shallow and not much over 80m at its deepest point. There are no fences in the ocean and these fish may have been passing through over the years in some way, shape of form. There have been incidental reports and sightings of school blues on the western and eastern tips for years. I have spent enough time on the waters of Bass Strait to have seen Lachy Barnes found a big pomfret while deep dropping.