February – March 2019
TASMANIAN FISHING
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Tasmanian Fishing and Boating News Published by Mike Stevens: PO Box 7504, Launceston, 7250. Mike Stevens – P: 0418 129 949 or E: mike@tasfish.com Stevens Publishing, ABN 79 095 217 299 All material is copyright and cannot be reproduced without the permission of the publisher. Print Post approved; 100003074
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UNSINKABLE FLIES Commercial fly tyer, Shane Broadby shares his knowledge
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e all like to know that our dry flies are floating, it gives a fly angler confidence when they can see their fly sitting up bold and beautiful or as some of the old timers used to say “sitting up like cocky”. Sometimes though the conditions or the type and angle of the light make it very hard to keep track of where your fly is, and indeed to tell if the fly is floating at all. We can help the situation by using bright colours for the wing of the fly or two contrasting colours for the winging material. A darker or all black fly works better of a dull day, conversely light colour flies can be seen better on bright days and of course it helps to have the dry treated with a good quality floatant. By far the best way to ensure that the fly is floating is to tie the fly from materials that are buoyant, this is especially so for those who love to fish floating flies in the half light of dusk or in the black of night. There are many materials both natural and synthetic that we can use that that make the dry very buoyant or even unsinkable to the extent that the fly even floats too high and needs some added weight such as heavy wet fly hooks or a turn of two of lead wire to help them sit lower in the water.
Closed cell, craft type foam is the obvious choice for making unsinkable dry flies and there are a myriad of patterns that include some foam in their tying such as a small strip of foam as a wing case of a nymph to represent an emerger, or a strip of brown foam tied over the back of the Red Tag or other beetle type pattern to aid in floatation, all the way through to grasshoppers, crickets and beetles that are made entirely from foam. The Americans, especially fly tyers in the western states have been at the forefront of foam tying with patterns such as the Chernobyl Ant, Chubbies and the Morish range of flies and every other type of variation you can think of. Australian fly tyers have held their own with the development of foam flies, Leon Cubit’s Mudeye, Peter Broomhall’s Bruiser Bug ,Bruce Gibson’s brilliant Gum Beetle and Muzz Wilson’s Wee Creek Hopper are just a few of our own unsinkable foam flies. Many natural materials can be used to make very buoyant flies and the most unsinkable of all is cork, the humble wine bottle cork has been used for years as a material for floating mudeye patterns or just a general night fly that cannot sink. Trout will take a popping cork fly in the right circumstances too — just as well as
any saltwater species, especially at night time. You can pimp the cork fly up with tails hackles and coloured with permanent markers but a piece of natural coloured wine cork, cut into shape and touched up with a bit of sandpaper and glued to a hook, any size from a size 14 through to as big as you can cast on your fly rod, is very simple and effective, it’s almost anti fly tying! Our own Tasmanian Brush Possum Tail is a very floatable material. This is the main material for the deadly Possum Emerger, when a bit of Gink or Aquel floatant gel is worked into the fly, the fly becomes unsinkable, to the extent that you can jerk the fly under the water and a second or two later it will poke back through the surface. The fly maybe hard to see at times, especially on a bright day but you can be damn sure it’s either floating in or on the surface. Deer Hair is another very buoyant and versatile fly tying material. Ironically It first gained popularity as the spun head and collar of Don Gapen’s famous Muddler Minnow, originally a weighted wet streamer fly designed to imitate Sculpins, a North American forage fish. When tied lighter and on smaller hooks the Muddler Minnow and many other flies requiring a spun deer hair head are very buoyant and become just about unsinkable with a touch of floatant added. The very popular Shaving Brush, when tied properly with the deer hair fanning out nice and wide is also a very buoyant fly, although the body of the Shaving Brush should sit low or ideally hanging below the surface the Deer Hair wing, with floatant applied will float the fly all day. In most situations it’s better if your dry is sitting low on the water even just in in the surface film, when you choose buoyant materials like those that have been mentioned you can be sure that your fly will stay where you want it to be and not sinking below the surface .
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Fishing News - Page 3
Wee Creek Hopper
Muz Wilson’s fabulous easy to tie Wee Creek Hopper certainly is an unsinkable fly and very relevant for this time of year when trout are well and truly dialed into Grass Hoppers. Hook: Partridge Dry Fly Supreme size 14-12 Thread: Uni Thread 6/0 yellow or brown Body: 1/8 foam cylinder in yellow or tan Wing: Deer hair or a tan or beige synthetic yarn Legs: Orange/black medium round rubber Method Place hook in the vice and create a thread base three or 4 mm wide on the middle of the hook shank, all the materials will be tied in at this point, so we don’t start the thread at the hook eye. Select your foam cylinder and crease it with your thumb nail in the middle of the tube, apply a tiny drop of super glue on top of your thread base. Tie the foam cylinder in tightly with several turns of thread where you pinched the foam with your thumb nail. This creates a firm anchor point so the foam won’t slip around on the hook. Cut a pinch of deer hair (or yarn) from the skin, pull out any under fur, give a few taps in a hair stacker to even the tips, then with your non bobbin hand make sure the hair tips are even with the rear end of the foam cylinder, snip the hair buts with your scissors to even them out then tie the butts in firmly with a couple of
millimeters of the butts pointing forward, do not allow the hair to spin, the deer hair should be positioned on top of the tie in point. Select a strand of the round rubber legs and tie it in on the far side of the body and another on the near side of the body, whip finish and give the thread a good dose of head cement.
Cut the rubber legs to equal lengths at the front and rear but with the front legs a touch shorter than the back legs, and then cut ends of the foam cylinder at a horizontal angle, this just gives the body a bit of taper and looks a bit better to us, I doubt the trout care about it at all. Shane Broadby
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FOAM IS FABULOUS Craig Rist talks about one of his favourite times and flies and techniques.
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hen the Mayfly hatches start to slow up in the Western Lakes during late February and March. Trout often turn their attention to many of the large terrestrials that inhabit this Alpine terrain. Large Grasshoppers, Cockroaches, Spiders, Mountain Katydid can all end up in the water on those hot windy days. Giant Stone flies also hatch on these lakes at this time and Cicadas are abundant all through the summer months.
Foam Flies
With all of these large insects crawling over the Western Lakes it’s no surprise that large buggy foam flies work well. There are lots of different foam flies available today to represent a big buggy meal for a hungry Western Lakes brown. These flies are readily available at your favorite fly shop, as are all of the fly tying material you’ll need to tie your own creation.
Some of the bigger insects in the Western Lakes, like big Grasshoppers and Giant Stone flies, can grow to 4cm long. I have tried matching the hatch by tying very big foam flies in this size in the past but in my experience the average two to three pound Western Lakes trout are far more comfortable taking the smaller foam flies that are half that size. I can only assume these smaller foam flies simply cover a wider range of insects that are available at this time. Fly colour combinations vary as much as the different foam flies on the market. My personal favorite is black and orange because these are the colours found on our Giant Stone Flies and Cicadas. Brown and red, brown and orange or yellow and brown all have a place in my box at this time of year. I like tying my own foam flies with a deer hair wing. Which makes them much easier to see at a distance.
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Flies such as Peter Broomhall’s “Bruisers Bug “ is a tried and proven fly that also has a dear hair wing. As the name suggests this is a buggy looking fly and it has been the undoing of hundreds of trout over the years.
Waking them up
When the water heats up during those blue sky days everyone loves, trout often retreat to deeper water or hide under the shade of submerged rocks. This is often the case when there are no Mayfly nymphs hatching or Mayfly Spinners hovering over the water to bring fish in close to the shoreline where they can be seen. When fish are hugging the weed beds down deep or lying in against the shade of a rock I like to try and wake them up with the sound of a large foam fly hitting the water. Deep channels, submerged shaded rocks and weed beds are all worth a cast when fish are nowhere to be found or when cloud cover makes sightfishing conditions less than perfect. Fanning out a few searching casts over these areas can often produce fish on a potential fishless day. These big buggy looking flies definitely bring fish up from the depths and there is no better feeling than watching them suddenly materialize under the fly and committing to eat my foam and dear hair creation.
Hatch Breakers
Mayfly Dun hatches and the return of the adult mayfly spinners to the water to lay their eggs can bring a lake alive with rising fish. This is great news when they are readily taking emerging Dun imitations like a parachute dun or a opossum emerger flies during a Dun hatch or a spent or full hackle black Spinner on a Spinner fall. But when these flies fail to do the job with fine de-greased leaders, it can be a very frustrating time. Sometimes something like a buggy foam fly that does not have to represent a skating Dun or a Mayfly Spinner flying above the water can change the feeding mind set of one or more of these hatch driven fish. My go to hatch breaker fly is my 2cm long black and orange Stonefly. I realised the effectiveness of this fly while fishing a Dun hatch on Lake Field many years ago. I was really struggling to get a fish to take a range of Mayfly patterns so I decided to tie on my Stonefly above my opossum emerger. I covered the next rise just as I had done for the last 30 minutes. To my amazement, the fish took the Stonefly over the Dun imitation. I set the hook and landed a solid three pound brown. The hatch
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Fishing News - Page 7
continued and a second and third fish followed, both taking the Stonefly over the Mayfly. I eventually removed the dun pattern and just fished the single Stonefly to catch two more before the hatch ended. Soon after my Lake Field trip I walked into Lake Butters. I found trout taking Mayfly Spinners from the air as they neared the water to lay their eggs. My usual spent black spinner was not getting any interest at all so I changed to a full hackle spinner fly but these fish just ignored it as well. They were just too focused on tracking and eating the flying Spinners and there was no way I could represent a flying Mayfly Spinner, I needed a hatch breaker fly again. I took my black Spinner off my leader and tied on my black and orange Stonefly again. When the fish was facing away from me and it was safe to make the cast, I dropped the Stonefly on the line of its beat ready for it to return. The fish eventually turn and started to swim back towards my fly. I watched it track another spinner within a metre of my fly. At this stage I was so close I could count every spot on its back. The fish suddenly accelerated and leaped out and took the flying Spinner. It returned to the water and immediately noticed my Stonefly floating at the surface. It glided back up to the surface and eased up to my Stonefly and took it like it was the most natural thing to do in the world. I gave the usual pause and set the hook into a solid Fishing News - Page 8
fish. Once again the buggy foam fly was taken as an opportunistic meal, just like it was during the Dun hatch on Lake Field. I went on to catch more Spinner feeders and on this day, none of them could refuse the opportunity to eat something a little more substantial with no doubt, far less energy needed to do it. Sometimes a hatch breaker works and sometimes it doesn’t, it’s just good to have something else to try other than the nearest rock. I have no doubt, that in the right conditions there are many more flies that would become hatch breakers too.
Tying Your Own
I get a lot of satisfaction from tying my own flies. I really enjoy this side of fly-fishing and for me; it really complements this form of fishing. A buggy looking foam flies can be as simple as tying a Chernobyl Ant with a strip of foam and some rubber legs or it can be more elaborate, with the addition of fur and feather. It’s really a personal choice and having confidence in a fly even after the first refusal. On a trip to Great Lake many years ago, I was amazed to see my mate Jim Schofield still catching fish on a Bruisers Bug that was so well chewed that all that was left was the strip of foam on the hook.
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When I asked Jim why he had not changed his fly for a new one, he simply replied, why would I it’s still catching. I couldn’t argue with that. One common problem with tying foam flies is that the foam body can have a tendency to spin on the hook. Tying in a good bed of thread from the eye to the start of the bend of the hook, followed by a bead of superglue before tying in the foam is a good way to prevent this. If foam is not your thing, then the same body shape can be tied with spun dear hair or strands of dear hair. When I have tied flies like this without foam they have also worked. They are just a little more time consuming to tie and don’t have that loud splat on the water that foam produces to bring fish up from the depths. The choice of hook is also a personal one among fly tyres. For foam flies I like a hook with a wide gape, size #10 and #8 kamasan B170 or B175 have work well for me in the past. I’m now trying Owner Mosquito hooks in size #8 and #6, which have an even wider hook gape. So far these have been hooking up well and are quite strong. But again hooks are a personal choice and everyone has their favorite brand and style of hook. For me they just have to hook fish and not straighten out on a big fish. Craig Rist
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Fishing News - Page 9
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Fishing News - Page 10
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KING GEORGE WHITING TAMAR RIVER Todd Lambert tells....
Opinion
It was with a degree of trepidation that I agreed to a request from the editor Mike Stevens to write this article for reasons that will become clearer as the story progresses. It was only after plenty of thought did I finally come to the conclusion that I would be in breach of my own personal values if I didn’t share fishing information upon request, after all, I am the first to roll my eyes when fellow anglers adopt an attitude of selfishness when it comes to the sharing of information. Our fisheries, in my opinion, should be enjoyed, promoted and most importantly, sustainably protected for future generations to enjoy.
Tips, Tricks and Trophies
There is little doubt that the KGs have been a wellkept secret in the past and locals will tell you that they have always been in the Tamar River system. “We were catching them some 30 years ago”, I have been told, but it has only been in recent times that the
cat has been let out of the bag regarding just how good a fishery we have right here on our doorstep. I have a couple of mainland mates that come over every year to visit and fish with my family, they are seasoned KG specialists that regularly fish Victorian whiting strongholds such as Corio Bay and Western Port, to see the looks on their faces when they witness a strong bite here is priceless. The size, strength and aggression observed when these fish are on the chew literally has them gobsmacked, in fact they tell me that our smallest KG’s landed on a recent outing would be in the classed as ‘whoppers’ over there. My personal best landed so far out of this estuary went 650 mm to the fork, I released this fish as she was obviously current breeding stock. I am told it would be classed as a mythical creature in Victoria so I am pretty proud of the fact that before the release I took photos as proof.
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Fishing News - Page 11
There is really not a lot to put forth when it comes to fishing for this species and I am sure many others will have differing views than myself on how best to catch them, but below is a quick overview on what works for us and I hope it helps you catch a few as well.
Bait
Tamar river squid, (fresh is best) before you start fishing cast a jig around the abundant weed bed’s in around two metres of water, more likely than not, one will come to the net quite quickly, once landed and dispatched, cut it into little strips around 30 mm in length by around 10 mm wide. Most squid we catch around this area are quite small, but every now and again we get some monsters that cause some conflict at home in as much as what will be eaten for tea, KGs or calamari!
Rods, reels, line and terminal tackle.
I use a 2-4 kg Cantana combo seated with a 2500 reel, 10 pound Fins braid in colour yellow (I was using 4 pound but found it too light and had bust offs even with a loosely set drag). I like circle hooks around the size 4 range and also the use of pre-made whiting rigs such as the custom made Hayabusa - or Neptune ‘Whiting Wackers’. These can be easily sourced from your local tackle retailers such as Fishing Gear and Tamar Marine in Launceston, it’s an cheap and easy option to kit up with. When using circle hooks, don’t strike as you will only succeed in pulling the hooks out of the fish’s mouth. Nine times out of ten the whiting will hook themselves but if they are picky a good idea is to lift the rod slowly whilst feeling the weight of the fish, once again, the fish will hook itself.
Sinker wise, I like those little tear shaped sinkers with the swivel attached in various weights and sizes, I use them according to the strength of the current. The Tamar River has a very strong tidal flow so I clip heavier or lighter ones on as the current flow changes.
Areas to fish
Anywhere around the mouth of the Tamar where you can find sand holes in between seagrass on the river bottom, it’s as simple as that. Anchoring can be a little complex though as tide and wind needs to be taken into account as you try and position yourself to drift back into the right spot. Fish in depths of around 2-3 metres so you can easily identify the bottom. If you fish over weed only, you will most likely only engage with species such as wrasse, gurnard and toadfish.
Imagine a King George whiting almost three times the length of this. Then you really get an idea of the true size of some Tamar River whiting. Fishing News - Page 12
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When I first heard of the five fish bag limit introduced in recent times I strongly objected to its implementation as I thought it was overkill but given the delicate nature of this emerging fishery and the ever increasing pressure it is now receiving as word spreads, I am now softening in my viewpoint on that decision. I want to be able to take my family and friends out for many years to come with a degree of confidence we can always find them a feed of quality King George whiting and until more is known about this species, their breeding habits and population growth in our estuaries, perhaps this enforced softly, softly approach is needed. Todd Lambert
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I have been told on the ebb tide, two hours into the run off, two hours into the run in, to be honest it doesn’t really matter, if you are patient enough and move around a bit, you will cross paths with them somewhere. As King George whiting are a schooling fish, when the bite is on, often it can be over as quick as it starts. I suggest, whenever the first one is hooked you assist to get your fellow fishers line in as quickly as possible then cast straight into the area this fish was hooked. Assist your mate bait up and get their line straight back out in the water ASAP as sometimes they don’t hang around for long and it can be quite a long wait between drinks. My little trick is I have a spare baited rod set up and ready to go, when a rod buckles over in the holder, I cast it out before retrieving the hooked fish, often this is met with the second rod buckled over whilst I retrieve the first, a couple of good rod
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Fishing News - Page 13
What do you have to do to be involved?
GAME FISHING GET ON IT NOW
It is pretty simple really. Just spend quality time on the water with a game plan. Too often I see crews heading out loaded up with too much gear and no real idea of what they are going to do. The rod racks are full of rods that cover off all types of fishing from whiting and squid to big overhead game fishing outfits. The decks are full of all sorts of tackle boxes covering off every species in Tasmania cluttering up every space on the boat.
Stop it - Please stop it
Kelly Hooch Hunt tells all....
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ell ladies and gentlemen it is not just warming up here as far as game fishing is going, it is about to explode ! The water temps are high and there is a lot of bait in the water. The water is looking fabulous and of great quality. The East Australian Current is spearing down the coast at around four knots and bringing with it lots of fish. The game fishing off Eden and Bermagui has been hectic all last month and that body of fish holding water is well on its way. So let’s have a look at what you need to organise and sort to get into the action on a typical game fishing trip. Fishing News - Page 14
If you are going to have some success in targeting game fish in Tasmania some planning and a PLAN is a must. Yes you can move and shape yourself around the weather to a degree, but you still need to be laser guided in your approach. If you try and do a bit of everything you will be spread too thin and second guess yourself all day. If you are GAME FISHING then you are GAMEFISHING. Get everything out of the boat that is not needed and put it back like this.
Preparation is everything
You need a crew and they must be committed and included in the plan and have the heart to stick to the plan. You do not want people on board after the first hour of trolling for no result, start suggesting heading in for a flatty fish. Get off. Get off the boat now!! You
can flatty fish whenever you want. This is game fishing and quiet times are part of the game. Get used to it. You need crew that find something proactive to do when the fish are quiet. You need people who climb up on a gunnel and hang on to the rocket launcher and scour the area for birds. That someone who gives themselves a migraine from looking out across the water for bait breaking the surface. You will need a minimum of two of them and we can talk more about the roles they can play to maximize success a little bit later on. Once you have your crew sorted you need to let them know that a trip is weather dependent and be ready to deploy at short notice. So if your crew are a little whipped and her indoors rules the roost a little bit, they need to sort that out. Your crew need to be doing chores around the home and paving the BBQ area or whatever it takes for them to build up some fishing credits. The weather is crucial and is best when there is little or no swell. Wind should be light to moderate and if you can fluke it, flat mirror calm on the way out. If the weather picks up a bit later in the day as it invariably does, you can plan your route and fishing day around the weather prediction. You would not want to head out and troll lures all day south off the shelf if the wind was going to pick up and be brisk from the north at lunch time. This will mean you will be punching into it all the
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way back to the ramp. The better plan of attack would to be heading north and troll around maintaining a position off the shelf that allows you to troll or come home with the wind and sea astern. The boat will travel much more comfortably with the chop to the rear of your vessel.
What to take
Do not clutter your boat with every bit of tackle and gear you own on the off chance you might see some squid or Australian salmon. You can take that gear when you are targeting those species. You are going game fishing so if a reel comes on board smaller than 5500… smash it with a hammer. If you are heading out to try and find some pelagic game fish you can go out and buy all the fancy overhead reels under the sun. Only thing is you don’t know if game fishing is for you and really should have a few goes at it before laying down the big cash. We can talk about some overhead gear a bit later on in the article. All you will need this time out if three big egg beater reels and by that I mean spinning reels. Big spinning reels with some 50lb braid and about 50m of 24kg mono wound onto the reel as what we call a top shot. The fancy named top shot will give you some stretch. Mono filament has some elasticity that will keep you connected to fish. The give in the mono will alleviate the fish pulling hooks when it shakes its head and goes on a big run. You will have to either learn to do an FG knot to join the braid and mono or head into a tackle store and have them do it first few times. Knots come to some people easy but if you are like me you
will have to be shown eight times and do it yourself another eight before you can remember it. While in the tackle store have them put a double in the line long enough for you to have a few winds of double on the reel before they cats paw on a snap swivel. These are all just terminology words and not that fancy. A double is the double backing of the main mono line and using a knot that doesn’t allow it to slip. Some like a bimini twist but I am a huge fan of a plaited double. This will also lead to a fair bit of youtube time if you want to do it yourself. Cats paw is a way to affix the snap swivel to the other end of the double without actually using a knot. While you are in the tackle store have them rig up four or five tuna lures with 100lb leader material. A lot of people will scream too light, too light. Well I would rather get the fish to bite due to minimal leader spook than use the whipper snipper cord most have on their lures. It is a little bit different in Jumbo season where the tuna are damn strong and a handful on the leader. You can go up in poundage of breaking strain then of course, but for now 100lb will be more than adequate. Now I said four or five lures and that will mean you have a couple of spares as you will only have three rods out because that is all you have taken. I can hear people saying that’s not enough that’s rubbish. Well you might have done a bit of game fishing before, but for the new comers that is heaps. When a rod screams off or maybe two you lose more fish to tangles and muck ups when inexperienced, so let’s take that out of the equation.
Three rod spread and two lures as spares, let’s keep it simple. If you have had your knots tied well and you have your drags set nicely there is no reason to lose a lure what so ever. When a fish strikes be calm, be measured, and play the fish gently to the boat. Don’t rush don’t jerk the fish and if your crew member grabs the leader be gentle. It’s called a “L E A D… E R”….. It is not called a jerk the fish’s head off…..ER ?!?!
The day has arrived
Ok it is go time and the weather has played the game and the crew has assembled. Last night you would have packed your three rods and one spare. You would have packed a large landing net and a gaff with a four inch head with a handle of around 1.2 metres long. You will have packed a nice size esky for two bags of ice. These are for the fish, because we are going to catch some, okay. The sorted of you will be looking for a catch bag — for your imminent catch. A low cost alternative can be found at shiploads for four bucks — a folding tartan looking bags that open up huge with the zip. These are handy tuna catch bags going as they store flat and are big if you catch a monster. They are not thick vinyl and insulated like the best and trendy bags, but they are not 200 bucks also. Sure, buy a good one and it will last forever, but these are a handy alternative. You will also have an esky just for food and a few drinks. Big broad brimmed hats and sunscreen are a must when game fishing and get the sun screen on early. A big day out on
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Fishing News - Page 15
the open ocean will torch up your face, ears and neck bad. You can also wear those face cover things that seem to be all the rage. I would prefer you didn’t and keep some of your dignity. Leave them to the bream fisho’s Once you have calmly put the boat in and got your bearings you can head off on your pre thought out run to the shelf taking into account as I said the afternoon weather conditions. I know you will be keen but don’t roar out and bash your crew to pieces. It is a long day in the saddle and know body appreciates a flogging out and a flogging home. The weather you have chosen should mean a pleasant ride out, but every sea condition will have a comfort zone. Find a speed and motor trim that has the boat and crew happy. Ask them how they are traveling and they might surprise you and say Give it to AH!!
Where to start fishing
Some people will tell say you must go here or you must go there. NOT SO – to quote the great Leo Miller “there are no fences in the ocean”. To be fair I am not sure if Leo made that up or he heard someone say it when he was a young lad growing up in the game fish mecca of EDEN. The sentiment is true no matter where it came from. The oceans are full of fish and you just have to find them and it is not easy. If you are down south it’s a bit easier as the bait are in some good structure out to Hippolyte Rock and all through Munroe Bight and around to Tasman Island. The tuna are quite often in and around the structure that tends to hold the bait. Here you can use your sounder to great effect and target them. If you do not get a hook up first and second pass that is not an excuse to head off in some other random direction. You should work that bait and fish on your sounder from a dozen angles and try and raise some fish. Only after a dozen passes would I try one more and if no strike head off. Tide and conditions do weird things to fish and if you find some on the sounder you are best to put your lures over them as many times as your patience will allow. Those skippers that have patience and a sense of the task at hand will do better than those that think it’s just about driving from one spot a fish was caught yesterday to another spot a fish was caught the week before. If you don’t have structure to troll around like off St Helens or Bicheno you can head out to the continental shelf and try your luck. The shelf is a good spot to try as it is the supermarket of the ocean. All sorts and all sizes of fish are in the water looking for a feed or trying not to be fed on. The East Australia Current rolls down the coast off shore and when it hits the ups and downs of the shelf and its many underwater shapes it spills nutrient rich water full of life to the surface. This turning over of the water causes up welling’s and down welling’s that are exaggerated by the moon and the tides. The water can spill over the shelf and push water in towards what we game fisho’s call the “Hundred Metre Line” This is a very broad term that is over 100m of depth but not the edge of the shelf where the depth drops away to 300, 400 and 600 plus metres. The hundred metre line is also where the birds start to thicken up. It is one of the ancient mysteries as to what is going on here as once it gets to over 100m and there is a solid amount of shearwaters and gulls it’s a good time to put the lures in. Fishing News - Page 16
Here we go!
Righto! It is time to come out of the throttle and put the lure spread to work. Set the trap! The skipper must keep the boat tracking nice and straight at around six knots and preferably down sea if there is a bit of sea on. If it is dead calm then you don’t need to worry as it is just a courtesy to crew as they work. “Downsea” is the smoothest run on a vessel in a sea and means that you are travelling the same way as the swells or wind chop. Yo u h ave p i cke d a n awesome day and there is just beautiful smooth, calm ocean as your crew runs the lures out. You have three so you better make them count. The first one you should run out is called a Zacatak “Redbait” in BUNGA. You run it out first as it goes all the way back into what is known as the shot gun position. This is the nickname for the lure that is furthest back behind the boat. Sit it about three metres from where the wash of the boat stops being confused and full of white water. The next lure that you run out is your next longest. See the pattern here. You run out your long lures and this saves running them back through a heap of short lures and causing mayhem as the skipper wanders all over the sea. He is meant to be running straight but he will be trying to take a pic of the sunrise to put on facebook or remembering where he put the rest of the iced coffee he bought at the bakery in Bicheno. That second lure should be the Zacatak SACRED SAURY in the head shape of roach in eight inch and it loves to swim at what we call long corner. This is another fancy name for the lure that is off the port side corner of your boat about 15m to stern and the rod lives in the corner rod holder. The next lure I like to run with good success is the Halco Laser Pro 160 This is a diving lure. Most people call them a deep diver and at 3 knots they are. When travelling at tuna speeds they are a sub-surface lure at best. This one I like to have in the opposite corner from long corner and you guessed it - at “short corner” The game fishing set of old were such an inventive bunch. About 10m of line out will have this lure roughly 8m behind the boat just beside and slightly under the wash trail of your outboard. You now have the makings of a lure spread that any fish will find of interest. The two tuna skirts are of a colour combination that mimics local bait fish here in Tasmania and will work the surface slightly differently. The bunga at the rear will hug the water harder due to the weight in the head of the lure. It will still come up and leave a bubble trail in the water occasionally. We call this a smoke trail and as fishermen we like to see this. The roach will be breathing a lot more and also on surfacing
push some water forward and sploosh on the surface when running correctly. The sub surface lure completes your trap and has a lure under the surface working in a total different action to the skirts on the surface. This lure through the design of the bib will be well under the surface and be wiggling like mad in a psycho swimming action. No fish swims like this for as sustained an effort unless it has had three coffees and two Red Bulls. Who cares as the action triggers something in the primeval piscatorial brain of the fish and they love it. I like a gold or silver colour for the diving lure as a reflective sun glint can be seen from a long way under water, and that’s just me. I imagine that a massive big tuna size eye can see something like that from a great distance. This could be enough for that school of fish to come say hello and see your lures. Put simply and I cannot stress this enough. If this spread does not hook you a fish you have simply not found any fish to drag the lures over. Period Now you have your lures out you can make the decision to troll at 6 knots or 8knots. I say this as I find that stripey tuna and the smaller albacore will be more likely to nail your lures at the slightly slower speed. So if you would like to get some runs on the board early I would start at that and later on if you are looking to get some Southern Bluefin or the holy grail - a marlin or a yellowfin tuna, bump the speed up to around 8knots. Once you have made that decision make somebody on board responsible for the lures and how they are running. The BUNGA to the rear should be coming up to breath every 30 seconds or more, the ??? every 10 and the diver should be giving a constant action on
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the rod tip all day. If any of these is not happening you have weed on your lures and if anyone else notices this before the person placed in charge of the lures… That’s a beer from them!! Now it is up to the skipper and the second crew not staring at the lures to do their job. Skipper is in control of speed across the water and also the sounder. He must swat up on his sounder and know how it works, why it works and what he can tune to improve it. If you have a Furuno you will need to go to University to get this done. Some brands you are best to unbolt, toss over board and get a SIMRAD. I am unashamedly a fan of the SIMRAD product. They have processing power to burn and really simple user interface and are easy to self-teach on how to get the most of them. When it comes down to it any sounder in front of you will help you find fish and once you find them keep on them. If you see some bait on the sounder as I mentioned if fishing the neck, haunt it. Come at it from a couple of angles and sea conditions. Down sea, cross sea and punching into it. If the bait is deep it will take a fair few passes to work any tuna or marlin up to have a look at your trap. What you are trying to do is have the fish see your flashy diving lure swimming away like a caffeine crazed loon and look up. Then that fish or school of fish is going to see the shadow of the boat hull and froth and bubble from your outboard and go “Bait ball.. I’m on it!”. Then if your lure guy has kept the kelp of the lures they are going to steam in and see your three lures looking wounded and distressed. You are now in the box seat as their walnut sized brain is not going to twig that they are about to munch down on a heap of plastic with some pre sharpened hooks in them(yes you did tickle them all up before you ran them out, that’s right !) An ancient feeding reaction has been triggered and they will be lining up to jump on your lures and STRIKE!!! The third member of the team is on board solely to annoy the skipper by mentioning any small detail that they spot on or above the sea surface. Every single different bird species. Where they are and what are they doing. Are they on the surface are they cruising
and picking are they gaining height are the diving in. Is there a weed line and water surface difference over there that might be a current line. Is that bait shimmering on the surface “oh look a marlin free jumping over there” the lot!! The skipper needs all the info he or she can get and combine it with what they are seeing and what is happening on the sounder. All the information can combine into a successful day and you work as a team.
Rod screams
Some days you can have the rod go off in two minutes, some days you have been trolling for hours and have not had a touch, but all days you must be ready. On a strike you again must work as a team. On a single hook up the angler that was discussed as first up must pick up the rod and set the drag. The skipper must not come out of the throttle at any stage here until it has been decided that the fish is not big and not a marlin. You will never ever catch a striped marlin by pulling out of the throttle on the sound of a strike. You are far better off for all hook up rates on all species to keep the boat on the trolling speed until you have started to clear the gear and made sure it is not a marlin. This sounds silly as it will be a marlin once in 100 strikes, but that’s why you don’t want to drop the lure straight out of that rare marlins mouth. The other reason you keep the speed up is for multiple hook ups. The skipper on the sound of the reel drag ratchet should go to work placing a waypoint in the sounder immediately. The monitor how the crew is going in clearing the other gear. Around 60 seconds is enough time to have picked up a second or third fish and garnered some idea of what you have hooked. Now the skipper can come out of the go stick and just trundle forward slowly. You should make boat position to the fish down sea. What I mean here is have the fish between your boat and where the wind and chop is coming from. This will
allow you to wash off the fish and not have the wind and sea keep washing you over the fish. This is all good practice for that time you get a solid fish that will take you to task. People get a little use to fighting school sixed fish where you can man handle them and do what you want. This is bad as you learn bad habits. Good fish fighting habits is to keep angle on the fish and don’t let the fish get straight up and down on you. This will have the boat hull and engine skeg too close to the battle. These are all things that are the enemy of braid and mono fishing lines. Keeping angle on the fish means that at some times you will have to drive off and lose some line to the fish. This is all normal and you have all the time in the world to land the fish so do things that maximize the potential for the fish to end up in your boat and freezer. The other option is you all panic and carry on and the line kisses the boat hull under tension. Next minute you have lost a good fish and $40 worth of fishing gear. Once the fish is tired and you can notice the fish starting to swim in circles you can have a go at gaffing the fish. The fish will have one last ditch effort and escaping so be prepared for this. Once you get a sense the fish is spent you can back the drag off slightly so you don’t pull hooks or something silly happens. Then the leader guy who has read this article and knows not to heave and tug on the leader like moving a stubborn horse. He can come in and take the leader gently on one of the circles in one hand and on presentation of a nice arc in the water hit the fish with the gaff sharply. I find when learning coming over the top of the fish and pulling the gaff sharply towards you aiming to sink gaff point in the head is best. That way if your aim and arm speed are not quite right you have the whole length of the fish to get a gaff into. A gut hit tuna is still a gaffed tuna! You should keep up the momentum towards you, get your other hand on the gaff and lift vertically into the boat job done! Well nearly. You have to high five each other and hoot and holler like mad because that is what you do. Then you switch back on and repeat. The skipper goes to work getting back onto the waypoint he created. One crew member sets about bleeding the tuna and getting it on ice
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Fishing News - Page 17
a short time later. The other has already got the shotgun lure out the back and is sending out the long corner. The skipper has to think here now. Where is the current running and in what direction? The way point is a static mark on a digital map. The fish are not back there just hovering under this imaginary mark on the ocean surface. They are in the current and traveling in it with everything else. Yes they can swim against it, but hey let’s not be too pedantic here. So if you think about it you should plot a course that has you come back up through the sounder mark from below the current flow. Current off the shelf on the East coast of Tasmania at this time of year is mostly north heading south. This is not the only way to find the fish or guaranteed to find them again, but it is a practice that I have used to great effect after learning from skippers much cleverer than me. So there you have it a brief description of how the new comer to game fishing can go about getting on the water and finding some fish. The biggest key ingredient I would like to share with you is TIME ON THE WATER. All the facebook people that are always holding fish are on the water twice as much as their pictures would suggest. There are trips they don’t catch fish. That’s Fishing News - Page 18
fishing. You have to spend time on the water learning your craft and building up your knowledge of an area. I wish you all the luck in the world and if you have any other questions or need some advice anywhere at all. Feel free to message us at Team PENN SIMRAD Fishing. Mozza , Clinton and I are always happy to help with anything at all. We also have access to any number of industry people that can help you catch fish and save money doing it. I will let you into another little secret. They way to maximize your time on the water is to actually find fish, look after it post capture and learn to cook it up and prepare a great meal for her indoors and the family. This is as important as learning the knots and every other thing I have mentioned. So get on youtube and pick a few dishes that are simple and healthy and make them your own. It’s not hard and well cooked fish dinner and a nice pleasant looking salad will be really appreciated by all the family. Get this right and the wifey or girlfriend will be saying when the freezer gets low “Hey babe, I think you should start planning another fishing trip!” That’s it from me for now and I hope I have not bored you too much. Kelly Hooch Hunt
Once you step up to the mark - you need gear This is what I use
Once you have got the bug you can step into some gear that will have you in the fight should anything come along. We are PENN men through and through. We love the design and tradition built into these reels and everything their heritage brings with it. We were honored to be involved in the new series of Penn reels by running some pre- production models in our cold temperate waters of Tasmania and being asked feedback that went all the way back to the home of PENN? I doubt they took any notice, but it was nice to be involved given as a kid in high school we would run to the library to read the latest fishing magazines all featuring a game fishing section bristling with big GOLD PENN reels. Enough of the guff. Below are some reels and rods that I would run in chasing fish off the Tasmania coastline. Just wanting to get a little harder into it – Tuna/small mako. PENN Squall 2 speed 30vsw on PENN Ocean Assassin 15 kg rod with 15 kg STREN line. Tackle pretty much everything – Bigger tuna/bigger mako/ occasional broadbill drop PENN Squall 2 speed 50vsw on Ocean Assassin 24kg rod and 50lb whiplash braid and 24kg STREN mono topshot. THE BLINGPENN International 50VISW on PENN Inter 24kg Rod and 24kg STREN mono top shot over 50lb WHIPLASH braid. The great Allrounder – Massive tuna/massive sharks/Broadbill. PENN International 70VI on either Inter rod or Ocean assassin rod in 37kg and 80lb WHIPLASH braid and 37kg STREN mono.
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GEARING UP FOR SNAPPER Matt Sherriff tells....
P
robably one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learnt from Snapper fishing is that preparation pays off. If you want to get the best out of your time on the water, you need to set yourself up for success. What does this mean? The following article runs through what I consider to be some of the most important steps required for setting yourself up to succeed on Snapper in Tasmanian waters.
GEAR
One thing I’ll always say is that it pays to buy the best gear you can afford. You don’t need to break the bank on your set-up, but quality gear will maximise your enjoyment and minimise your disappointment. The main thing to keep in mind is that your reel should have a smooth drag that is capable of handling big runs from sharks and rays, that will often be encountered, and
matches up nicely with a rod that has enough grunt to exert some serious pressure on these fish also. I run a spread of 5-8kg, 7’ to 7’6” rods, coupled up with 4000 sized reels and 20lb braid. The longer rods work well when laid horizontal in the Snapper racks, loading up well and helping with the hook set. A pair of Snapper racks are a fantastic investment for setting your spread when fishing in deeper water off the coast but aren’t as well suited for fishing shallow bays such as those in the Tamar River.
TERMINAL TACKLE
There are several styles of pre-made rigs available for catching Snapper. The Snapper Snatcher style of rigs have become very popular and for good reason. These rigs are available in both a “J” style or “Octopus” hook and also a “Circle” or “Mutsu” hook and usually
have some form of flashing on the hooks as an added attractant. The “J” hooks are what most anglers are used to and have always been a favourite when fishing for Flathead. These hooks are still suitable for Snapper fishing but as you generally need to strike the hook home when the fish bites, the rod will need to be held to maximise the hook-up rate. This is where the circle hooks stand out in my opinion. If you are running a typical spread of four to six rods, you obviously can’t be holding them all. With circle hooks, when the rods are laying horizontal in the Snapper Racks, as a fish takes the bait the rod will load up and due to the design of the hook, it will set in the corner of the fish’s jaw. The other style of rig we use is set up with a running sinker. For this I prepare several rigs with circle hooks (5/0 or 6/0 usually) tied to about 50cm of 30-40lb leader material with a swivel on the other end. All you need
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Fishing News - Page 19
We all get excited when we pull our first Snapper over the side while we are drifting for Flathead, but before you get the camera out for happy snaps make sure you mark a waypoint on your sounder!! I cannot stress this point enough as there is usually a reason for fish to be in an area and by marking it, it allows you to go back and sound the region for structure and bottom characteristics and also to mark up if bait is holding in the vicinity. This will help you to gain an understanding of what to look for in other areas when searching for new fishing ground. Secondly, what are the best settings to have the sounder on when searching for bait or feeding fish? This could lead to a whole other article, but I’ll keep it basic around what I would suggest for water depths between 10 – 40 metres. I will set the frequency of the sounder to the Medium Chirp or 200kHz and then zoom the picture in on the lower 20 metres or so of the water column (no need to zoom if fishing shallower than 20m). From here I will turn the sensitivity up until there is noise/static appearing in the top section of the screen which will help to distinguish fish in the lower half. In the pictured screenshot of my sounder you can see the burley cage showing on the bottom in the lower left of the screen with a bait ball above it. As the screen scrolls across you can see how the bait has moved down to hang around the burley with a few fish markings above them. This sort of activity is gold and if there’s Snapper around you’ll be in business.
to do then is put an Ezy Slide rig on your line before tying the trace on which allows you to clip on a sinker as required. In your spread I would suggest having at least two of these running sinker rigs to go along with the Snapper Snatchers to cover all bases.
BAIT: FRESH BAIT IS KEY!!
I didn’t want to shout, but this can’t be overstated. Whilst we will always make sure we take some bait out with us just in case, getting out a bit earlier or even the day before and gathering your own bait will pay dividends big time! Mackerel, Salmon, Couta and Squid are all good baits and are readily found in areas where you’ll be chasing Snapper. A couple of Sabiki Rigs and a Squid Jig should be all that is required to gather what is needed; just make sure it is looked after it by keeping it out of the sun. The Snapper Snatchers work best when spiced up with a bit of Squid or a small piece of fish and we generally find using, half fillet, slab baits on the running sinker rigs to be the best option. For those who would prefer to buy their bait, King Bait & Burley have a good variety which is available at most local tackle shops.
BURLEY
There’s nothing like walking past a good restaurant and getting a whiff of the food to make you hungry! Fish are no different, and Snapper love coming up a burley trail. From most accounts, if they are in the area, there won’t be many fish that will beat them there! There are a couple of options with burley; the first one a bit messier than the second. Fishing News - Page 20
For those keen to collect their own burley, my best suggestion would be to target oily fish such as Salmon, Mackerel and Striped Tuna (even though you are using them for burley please remember your bag limits). The next step, the messy part, is to run these fish through a mincer or garden mulcher and then freeze into five or ten litre blocks. All this is great if you have the time, tools and freezer storage required to complete the task. Alternatively, you can call into your local store and grab a burley log that’s ready to go. King Bait and Burley would be my first choice for these also. A burley cage is of course required and there are weighted ones available from most tackle stores. Alternatively, they can be as simple as an old milk crate with a rock in it for those that are using the bigger home-made burley blocks. Make sure to tie it off to your boat before deploying it too…sounds simple enough but doesn’t always happen, trust me!
USING YOUR FISH FINDER
We are blessed these days with an array of awesome technology to helps us locate and mark fish. The thing that surprises me the most is that many anglers don’t take the time to learn some of the basic key features at their fingertips that will improve their results ten-fold! First of all, I will talk about the GPS features of most units. Yes, it’s great to have maps which show reefs to avoid, contour lines to target etc. but by far one of the best features of your GPS is the waypoint button.
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AFTER DECADES BUILDING STAND-OUT WADERS , WE’VE DONE A ONE-EIGHTY.
Check these out at the Tasmanian Flyfishing Expo 10-11 November. 105 York St, Launceston. Ph: 03 6331 8944 w: www.essentialflyfisher.com.au email: sales@essentialflyfisher.com.au
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Fishing News - Page 21
SETTING YOUR BOAT UP
This is one of the most crucial parts of your success. Let’s say you’ve headed out to your mark, driven around observing the sounder and marked up some bait or fish. You’ve put in a waypoint and are now ready to anchor. Don’t just drop the anchor over and hope for the best… you’ll probably end up well away from the mark with the burley drifting away in the wrong direction with the current. Stop your boat and determine the drift/current direction; this can be done by watching the boat plot a line on the GPS. The idea is that you need to work out where to drop the anchor, so the boat is positioned slightly up current of the position you have marked. Therefore, when you deploy your burley cage, the current will draw the fish to your boat and hopefully your fresh baits! If you’re not happy with the position of the boat, don’t just make do, pull the anchor and reset…taking short cuts is not an option if you plan on being successful!
FAVOURITE SETUP
The rod that I’ve found best for this style of fishing is the Crucis Force 7628 Rod. It’s rated 5-8kg and is 7’6” long. The rod has plenty of power to handle anything you will come up against whilst Snapper fishing, but my favourite aspect is the light tip, which, when laying horizontal in a Snapper rack will load up and set the hook without any angler input. I couple this rod up with a Pioneer Altitude Sovereign 4000 reel. These reels have been extremely reliable for us and have an ultra-smooth, multi disc, carbon drag system which easily handle those big runs. Spool one of these up with approximately 300m of 20lb braid and you’ll be good to go!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Damon Sherriff – Tamar River Snapper Guru; thanks for helping me to catch my first Tassie Snapper over 15
Fishing News - Page 22
years ago…you started something! Glen Saltmarsh & Harry Murfett – Taking myself and Shinsuke from Hayabusa Japan out and sharing how they catch Snapper in Bass Strait (a lot of this article stems from their generous information). Also, thanks to a close group of mates (they know who they are) who love talking fishing and sharing info…between all of us we’ll surely work it out one day! Matt Sherriff
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YELLOWTAIL KINGFISH Aaron Flakmore with a newcomer’s perspective........
I
t’s January, the Aussie salmon have gone a bit quiet, then the rumours start to flow: Yellowtail Kingfish (Scientific name Seriola lalandi), commonly referred to a Kingies around Tasmania, have been spotted around the shores of Derwent River. In this article I write about how I, a novice fisher, went about the journey – and eventual success fishing for that elusive “kingie” around the Eastern Shore region of Hobart along the Derwent River. You can say I caught and broke Yellowtail Kingfish fever. I cover the gear I use, the locations tides and time I fish, and then describe how I hooked and landed my first Kingie.
There are various methods I have seen anglers use to chase Kingies from the shore such as live baiting, floating baits and various lures (favourites seem to include 6 and 9-inch soft plastics such as sluggos on a 3/6 or ½ oz head with 5/0 hooks; 20-40g metal lures such as Halco, Raiders and Surecatch Knights; hardbody stickbaits; and so on). Whilst I have tried many of the lure variations, my favourite method, however, has become using a 90mm 21 g popper in either gold or silver chrome colour. I find that popping is a very visual way to fish and that I don’t tend to get as bored with it as other fishing methods.
The gear
Locations, tides and times
After talking to a few people, I have concluded that when targeting Kingfish around the shores of Hobart the choice of outfit is essentially a matter of personal preference. I run two outfits. The first is a 7ft 5-8kg 15-45g lure weight rod, with a size 4000-reel spooled with 25Lb braid and 25 LB mono leader; The second outfit I run is a 7ft 2-5 kg rod with a 4000-reel spooled with 10 LB braid and 25 LB mono leader. Most of the time I find myself using the lighter rod outfit. Whilst this seems very light by mainland standards, I feel this is satisfactory in chasing the little rat Kingies (generally classified as Kingfish up to 4 kg) we seem to mostly get in Tassie, and it also allows me to cast all day without getting too fatigued.
There are many locations around the Eastern shore side of Hobart to target Kingfish. Popular locations include: Bellerive Bluff ’s 1 and 2, Tasman Bridge, Montagu Bay, Rosny Point, and Tranmere. You will often see people fishing these locations, and for good reason – they hold fish! However, I tend to move around and explore new areas. My thinking is “if you can get to it, fish it”. Kingfish are schooling fish that are always on the move and are likely to swim past at any time. So, I tend not to worry too much about the time and tide, and fish whenever I can. However, I do like to stay out of the wind. So, when there’s a North wind I tend to fish Bellerive Bluff, and for a Southerly I will fish the shelter of Montagu Bay or the Tasman bridge. If the weather is calm, I will explore.
Catching that first Kingie: Breaking the fever
So, I’ve been fishing like a madman, and after two weeks of solid fishing around the shores I’ve had nothing, not a bite, not a sight, nothing. Not to say there aren’t kingfish there. Indeed, I have seen on two separate occasions people pull in Kingfish while fishing no more than five metres from me. Then I get a hook-up, but I lose it on the rocks (Arhh!). I’m starting to feel the Kingfish blues. It’s now been three weeks of solid fishing and I’ve yet to land a Kingie. Nevertheless, I endeavor to persevere. I decide to do a spot of late afternoon – early evening (4-8 pm) fishing along the shores of Montagu Bay. The water is calm, and my popper is working nicely. Suddenly, I see some baitfish jump my popper. Then I think I get a hit. I’m thinking to myself “was that a fish?”, then BANG! ITS ON!! My line starts screaming and the rod is bending like a wet noodle. The best way I would describe it, is that it’s fighting like an Aussie salmon on steroids. I’ve regained composure and I’m observing the water. Then, there it is, the flash of yellow on the caudal (tail) fin – Kingie! I know that once hooked, kingies have a reputation as dirty fighters that will attack any structure to bust you off. So, I play it safe. I find that when my hooked kingie gets too aggressive its best to relieve the pressure on it by loosening the drag a little, then levelling out my rod and letting it have its space and take some line (this is a
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Fishing News - Page 23
technique I often do with bream, and it seems to calm them). But it is a fine balancing act, and my nerves are on edge. Eventually, I have calmed the fish down and I can see it swimming no more than 1-3 metres from me. One thing I keep thinking to myself is “don’t think that the fight is ever over”. Indeed, I have heard of many an angler with kingfish mere feet away from the shore thinking the fish has been landed, only to come undone with a final tail kick and watch their fish swim away – This was something I remember experiencing the hard way with my first hooked kingie. So, I have my Kingie hooked, and its swimming casually in the shallows no more than 3 ft away. But how to land it? It’s a tough job landing a big fish solo, especially a Kingie, and least of all when your using light gear and you’ve lost one before in a similar situation. Fortunately, some fellow fishos are nearby who assist in netting the fish for me. YES!! Success!! After two weeks of solid fishing I have Landed my first kingfish from the shores of the Derwent River. I guess the adage “You got to lose one before you land one” held true for me. Now it’s time to measure my fish. Its 58-59 cm. That’s not bad size and is greater than the 45 cm legal length in Tasmania to take home. I take some photos with my Kingie catch – They say a photo is worth a thousand words, but a photo is worth even more when it comes to fishing.
Conclusion
Landing my first kingfish from the shores of the Derwent River was a great experience. It was one filled with a mixture of relief and excitement. I soon found that once I caught (and landed) my first kingfish I forgot all those donut days, and the pain of losing one. All that time and effort I put in was more than worth it.
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Targeting, catching and landing a Kingie from the shores of the Derwent is a milestone achievement that can almost be defined as a rite of passage – a definite bucket list achievement for any Hobart fisho. It is something I highly recommend doing. Aaron R. Flakemore
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Fishing News - Page 25
LAND BASED KINGFISH Rodrigo Gomez It is summer again, the sun is shinning, the weather is hot and the ocean is nice and warm. If you don’t find me at home or at work you can almost guarantee I am fishing for kingfish at one of my local favourite spots and what an epic year it has been for fishing in Tasmania particularly for kingfish. Many people have had great success in catching kingfish in the south of the state especially around the Hobart area. The majority of kingfish being landed on boats which is awesome however I currently do not have a boat and therefore my focus is on land based king fishing which is such a rush when you land one. While it can be a rush catching kingfish on a boat or land base I find it to be a little tricky and more of a thrill catching them of the rocks. The thing I find the most frustrating is when they are there and don’t bite even when you throw everything but the kitchen sink at them. My Secret spots or not so secret anymore, are firstly under the bridge on the eastern shore, just Fishing News - Page 26
past Montagu Bay Primary school (Refer image 1). Off the pontoon is a really good spot and I have landed a couple of good sized Kingfish there. A couple of the times I have landed them there even when the conditions were poor and the weather was rough. My second favourite spot were I have landed a few is the bluff in Bellerive, I usually park the car in one of the little bays; and there is a little track behind the fence that takes you straight down to the prime location. (Refer image 2) I have heard of other people catching kingfish from other locations such as, battery point, Blackmans Bay and Kingston however I have not had any luck in these locations. When fighting a kingfish of the rocks so many things can go wrong one main thing that I find that goes wrong are the sharp rocks that cut your line and the kingfish love to find those rocks to escape and if that happens they do usually escape. One way that I find helps eliminate this risk is to fight the fish in deeper waters before bringing them in too close as it helps wear them down.
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Image 1 - My secret spot.
I find kingfish one of the most difficult fish to land as I have been trying to figure out their pattern and their favourite time of day or if they prefer high tide or low tide however I have not had any success as I have caught them over the last few years at all different times of day and different tides such as in coming and outgoing. Having said that I have had slightly more success on an outgoing tide in the morning however not enough to form a conclusive pattern. While you can catch Kingfish on any decent setup it is important to have gear that is strong enough to help you fight the kingfish as they are strong fish and if you fight them too fast and try and bring them in when they are green 9 times out 10 you will not succeed as I have learnt from loosing a few a couple years ago and it is seriously devastating after the rush of hooking up realising it’s a kingfish your heart starts rushing and you have to pace yourself and tire them out and the right gear will help you achieve this. If we are talking rods you would ideally want to use a 7-10kg Rod that is 7-8 foot long as lures can get a bit heavy and you don’t want to loose a good kingfish because your gear was a bit too light. I am currently using a Smithe GTK 77SJH Stick 110, don’t get me wrong you don’t need high end gear for the rats down here you can get a decent setup for around $300, I just find the Smithe is an awesome rod especially for casting. I also use a Stella SW 5000 HI gear with 300metres of 10kg J-Braid Grand it is very strong however nice and thin which assists with casting further which is really important when land based fishing for kings. The J-Braid paired with around 1.5 metres of 20lb fluro carbon leader is a great combo. Just a little friendly reminder to always ensure you put your gear in the car properly. The other day I got a text from a mate saying someone had just got one of the rocks at the Bluff. I quickly packed my gear put it in the back of the car along with my dog and forgot I had the rod leaning against
the car, when I got to the Bluff I realized the rod was not in the car and thought I had left it at home so went back to get it however as I was pulling into the driveway I saw it lying on there and when I got a closer look I saw one of the eyes looked a bit flat like a flathead, it was completely squashed. Luckily it was only the eye of the rod and not my Stella reel. I think my luck ran out that day, as I did not catch anything. So many people ask me what is the best way to catch them lures, live baits or plastics, however in all honesty you can catch them on any of the above. My favourite and what I have had the most success on is a popper. I like to use the Helco rooster popper with stripy colours usually the 80 or 105. A couple of other options I like to keep in my gear are; Shimono Colt sniper rock pop 90mm the pilchard and gold looking ones, stick bait and you also can’t go passed the old silver metal lures, I have had success with those as well. I find it is important to mix it up as one day you might hook up with one specific lure and the next day they might like something else. I also find changing the hooks to stronger hooks on some of the lures is important as I have lost a few due to hooks not being strong enough. My personal favorites are the surface lures such as the poppers and stick baits as it makes it a real visual spectacle when you see the kingfish take the lure. It really gets the heart racing and
blood flowing watching the schools of kingfish go after your lure on the surface. Another option is live baits as they can work well, such as fresh or live squid also try whiting as twice
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Fishing News - Page 27
when cleaning my catch I have found whole whiting in their stomach. I get all my gear from local tackle shops for a couple of reasons firstly supporting your local community is really important and secondly their knowledge is really handy and their knowledge can increase your chances of hooking up. Once you have landed the kingfish, the excitement and the pictures have all been done remember if you are keeping the fish to eat to ensure the best quality eating fish always bleed the fish asap and keep it cool if it’s a hot day. A couple of my favourite receipts for kingfish are tempura and Sashimi.
Tempura Recipe
½ cup of Cornflour ½ cup plain flour 1 egg, Beaten ¾ cup cold soda water Put cornflour and plain flour in a bowl, add the egg and soda water, mix until the flour is all comined and the mixture is smooth however do not over beat as you will loose the bubbles from the soda water which will make the tempura heavy and you want it nice and light. Coat the fish in the batter and put straight into hot oil as soon as it is Crispy and very lightly golden take out of the oil. It really only needs a couple of minutes or the fish will over cook. Salt and pepper to taste.
Ceviche
500 grams fresh kingfish cut into 1 cm pieces. Juice from 5-6 Lemons ½ red onion 3 celery sticks thinly sliced Red and yellow capsicum 2-3 chillis 6 Spring onions A hand full of coriander Salt and Pepper to taste Cut fish into 1cm cubes put into large bowl, cut all fresh ingredients into small cubes add them to the bowl of fish squeeze the juice from all lemons add salt and pepper and set aside to marinate for around 2 hours to cure the fish. People ask me what the secret is to catching a kingfish however in all honesty there is no secret, not like a snapper I can tell you straight up go at dusk and get some good fresh bait. However I don’t think there is a secret with kingfish, I just say follow the three p’s persistence, preparedness and patience. Half the luck is being there when they come past. We are so lucky to have this new species of fish in the Derwent and they are an awesome sport fish however if we want to ensure the species flourish and is available in years to come we need to ensure we remain sustainable by fishing responsibly.
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WOODS LAKE Fisheries Performance Report Extract from Inland Fisheries Service Technical Report - October 2018
Introduction
W
oods Lake was originally a natural lake that was enlarged in 1911 with the construction of a levee across the upper Lake River. This remained until the establishment of the Arthurs Lake dam in 1962 that resulted in cessation of natural flows into Woods Lake. Consequently, to meet downstream irrigation requirements, a seven metre high rock fill dam was constructed, substantially increasing the size of Woods Lake to around 1 250 Ha.
The lake is an important brown trout fishery with around 4 000 – 5 000 anglers fishing this water per season. It is presently the second most popular freshwater fishery in the State. Brown trout naturally recruit from the upper Lake River in the section of stream between Woods Lake and the dam at Arthurs Lake. The lake has never been
stocked with brown trout. Evidence from this survey and bycatch collected during the annual monitoring for galaxids, suggests consistent annual recruitment maintains a healthy and robust fishery. The fishery has, until 2006, been accessed primarily by a high clearance 4WD track. During 2006-07, this track was upgraded to an all vehicle standard. Fishing effort has since increased substantially and is on average three times the long term average pre 2006. The Woods Lake fishery is regulated with a minimum fish size limit of 300 mm and a daily bag limit of 5 fish, consisting of only 2 fish over 500 mm. The fishing season opens on the first Saturday in August and closes the Sunday nearest the 30 April in the next year, with the lake open to all methods of fishing.
Fisheries Performance Assessmen Technical Report Woods Lake – October 2018
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In-Lake Population Survey
During 3-5 October 2018, 80 box traps were set each night for two nights (total of 160 box trap sets) with all habitats around the shoreline surveyed. All fish were identified as female, male or indeterminate/immature and weighed to the nearest 10 grams and measured to the nearest mm (fork length). Captured fish were not marked but were released away from the trap site after being processed. At the time of the survey the lake level was 0.4 metres (737.37msl) from full supply.
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Since 1986, the Service has conducted a postal survey seeking information about anglers’ catches. The survey comprises a form sent to ten percent of all categories of anglers, asking set questions about their angling (catch of trout) for the past season. This information is entered into a database and information on catch per day, harvest and angling effort is extrapolated. This provides a long term overview of individual fishery performance in addition to characterising effort. In this report, only records post 2000 are analysed.
Results
In-Lake Population Survey 2018 During 3 - 5 October 2018, an in-lake survey was conducted at Woods Lake to examine: • Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) for brown trout, • population structure and, • the condition of fish.
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Fishing News - Page 29
P
Catch Per Unit Effort
In total, 368 brown trout were captured from 160 box trap sets. This equates to a CPUE of 2.30 fish per trap. Woods Lake has never been surveyed for trout previously, consequently there are no results to compare this data with.
Weight and Length Information
The total catch consisted of 39% females, 34% males with the remaining 27% being immature or indeterminate fish. On average, male fish were significantly heavier than female fish by around 204 grams. The average weight for all fish, including immature/ indeterminate fish was 724 grams. The average weight for fish over 300 mm was 804 grams, with 88% of the catch being greater than 300 mm length. The average weight of fish over 500 mm was 1.34 kg, with 19% of the catch being greater than 500 mm The growth of fish appears to be good with all fish showing a consistent increase in length overtime. The linear growth equation parameter of 2.8 is similar to other fisheries eg. Little Pine Lagoon. Moreover, 19 percent of fish had grown to over 500 mm, with these fish not displaying any signs of being underweight. There was however, a significant proportion of fish that recorded a lower condition factor i.e. below 1.0 k-factor. There was strong evidence that recruitment of brown trout has been solid across several years with multiple length classes present. Of particular interest is the very large grouping of fish in the 260-420 mm length range and the signature of 1+ year old fish in the 120- 200 mm range. In addition to this information, a survey of the galaxiid population during 28-29 November 2018, showed the presence of a strong cohort of young of the year brown trout fry (30-50 mm length), indicating a further strong recruitment year in 2018. In general, the overall condition of brown trout was below expectation, with an average k- factor of 0.98 for all fish captured. There was no suggestion that larger fish were in any poorer condition than smaller fish. This appears to be a function of fish being slow to put on weight early in the season rather than any wider systemic environmental issue.
The average daily catch rate was 2.6 brown trout with the daily catch rate never falling below 1.7 fish. The highest daily catch rate of 4.1 fish was recorded for the 2005-06 season and is related to the initial upgrading of the access road and the take up of latent fishing effort. The average number of days fished by anglers within each season has fluctuated over time around the long term average of 3.8 days and had little effect on angling effort.
Discussion
The Woods Lake trout fishery appears to be robust and performing well. Based on CPUE, the lake supports a moderately high abundance of brown trout across a range of length classes. At present, there is a high proportion of fish (51%) in the 260-420 mm length range that are dominate in the fishery. Consequently, the
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Average fishing effort in the period 2000-18 was 8777 angler days per season, with a low of 1033 days in 200001 and a high of 18,994 days during 2017-18 (see figure 4). Overall, the increase in angling effort post 2005-06 is related to the upgrading of the access track to an all vehicle standard. The increase in fishing effort during 2008–10 is likely a consequence of drought conditions during 2006–08 affecting other major fisheries. During this time, a large influx of anglers elected to fish Woods Lake and Little Pine Lagoon. The drought broke in 2009 and anglers have continued to fish at Woods Lake that has provided favourable fishing conditions. A significant increase in angling effort was recorded for the 2017-18 season at a high of 18,994 days and resulted in a record high estimated harvest of 52,088 brown trout. This high harvest was essentially driven by increased fishing effort assisted by a continued improvement in water quality. Fishing News - Page 30
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average weight for all fish surveyed was 724 grams. systemic environmental or ecological issue, as no fish of brown trout tripled to around 30,000 brown trout. Nonetheless, there still remains a significant proportion showed any signs of being abnormally underweight. It Despite these increases, the daily catch rate has typically (19%) of fish over 500 mm length (average 1.34 kg). is likely there is significant competition occurring within fluctuated around the long term average of 2.6 fish The average weight for fish over the legal size limit of the trout population that is limiting early season weight during 2000-18. These figures suggest that prior to 300 mm was 804 grams, with 88% of the catch being gain but at present, this is not a major concern as the 2006-07, there was significant latent effort in the fishery. greater than 300 mm length. Additionally, indications annual harvest is correspondingly high and limiting the This effort is now being fully exploited and careful are that recruitment from the 2017 and 2018 spawning population size. management of the trout fishery is required to maintain is substantial and likely to continue the dominance of In relation to catch and the harvest figures, there is a acceptable angler expectation levels. smaller fish in the lake. significant increase across most results, which correlates Current bag and size limits are expected to assist The condition of brown trout was on average lower with the upgrading of the access road during 2006-07. in sustaining the fishery but ideally, in the long term, than expected and was apparent across all fish lengths. For the period 2000-06, fishing effort was around 2 a reduction in overall angling effort is desirable. This Performance Assessment Report – Woods Lake Oct This appears to be a function of fish being slow to put Fisheries 600 days, while for 2007-18 this increased to around Technical is especially relevant to periods when recruitment of on weight early in the season rather than any wider 11,500 days (342%). Consequently, the annual harvest brown trout is lower than presently occurring. 20000
Total fishing effort (days)
18000 16000 14000 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000
2017/18
2016/17
2015/16
2014/15
2013/14
2012/13
2011/12
2010/11
2009/10
2008/09
2007/08
2006/07
2005/06
2004/05
2003/04
2002/03
2001/02
0
2000/01
2000
Total fishing effort 2000 – 18 (dotted line indicates long-term average).
5
Average days per angler
4
3
2
2017/18
2016/17
2015/16
2014/15
2013/14
2012/13
2011/12
2010/11
2009/10
2008/09
2007/08
2006/07
2005/06
2004/05
2003/04
2002/03
2001/02
0
2000/01
1
Number of days fished per angler for each season 2000 – 18 (dotted line indicates long-term average).
Harvest numbers - brown trout
60000 50000 40000 30000 20000
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2017/18
2016/17
2015/16
2014/15
2013/14
2012/13
2011/12
2010/11
2009/10
2008/09
2007/08
2006/07
2005/06
2004/05
2003/04
2002/03
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2001/02
0
2000/01
10000
Season
Figure 6: Estimated harvest of brown trout 2000 – 18 (dotted line indicates long-term average).
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Fishing News - Page 31
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In summary, the Woods Lake fishery has a moderately high abundance of brown trout across a wide range of sizes. The condition of brown trout was on average lower than expected across all fish lengths, nonetheless the growth of fish over time was good and similar to comparable fisheries. The annual harvest relative to fish abundance is substantial and reliant on consistent annual recruitment to maintain the fishery at acceptable levels. Current bag and size limit regulations are in part assisting in maintaining the sustainability of the fishery, however a reduction in total fishing effort over time is desirable.
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The trout fishery at Woods Lake continues to be managed by way of adjustment to bag and size limits. At present, the minimum size limit of 300 mm with a daily bag limit of 5 fish consisting of only 2 fish over 500 mm length is sufficient. However, it will be necessary to monitor ongoing fishing effort and annual harvest. Monitoring of future angling effort and harvest will be achieved by angler feedback and assessment via the annual postal survey. The full report can be found at www.ifs.tas.gov.au
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