Tasmanian Fishing and Boating News Issue 144 2021 February by Tasmanian Fishing

February 2021 – April 2021

TASMANIAN FISHING and BOATING NEWS — ISSUE 144

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Plenty of Trout

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Big Bream Tips Kingfish Tactics Bluespot Flathead Bluefin — All Year Round Searching for Wild Rainbows Nathan Huizing with a respectable kingy from a kayak. See page 23.

End of Season Fly Options — Craig Rist

Big Bream – Beginners Guide — Lubin Pfeiffer

Bluefin – All year round — Jonah Yick

Searching for Wild Rainbows — Kelly Mackenzie

Chasing Kingfish — Nathan Huizing

Drifting for Better Results – Casey Pfeiffer

River trout with Bibbed Lures — Scott Gray

Searching for Southern Bluespot Flathead — Jarvis Wall

Barbless is Best — Lubin Pfeiffer

Looking Back — Richard Sherriff

Recreational Marine Fishing News

he surprise this issue is NO King George whiting story. KGW have been prolific and have become a fish of huge interest — especially over the last 12 months. Most anglers who have taken this fish on as their main target are working our tides, locations and methods pretty well. Other, who are KGW virgins are still struggling, but I can assure you – once you have worked it out there will be plenty of good days ahead. Just as I closed off this issue I saw an 82cm KGW photo posted on social media. WOW. Jonah Yick has certainly worked it out with southern bluefin tuna and it probably the only person to catch SBT in Tasmania every calendar month. That is a mighty achievement – and I wounder how much that has cost? It is a lot, and progressing that, fishing is worth a huge amount to the economy when you think about the taxes and extra costs associated with purchases. Fuel cost on its own returns a huge amount ot government, GST on boats and tackle, registrations - and the list goes on.

However, fishing has been one of those things that has (almost) been a constant during the covid19 disaster that has thrown the world into chaos. Tasmania has largely escaped the very serious lockdowns that has been necessary in other places. We had a month or two of not travelling far, but now we have seen the benefits of the constraints. Fishers also realise the mental health benefits of fishing and outdoors — it is a necessary part of our lives — relieving stress and rebooting us. Fishing and outdoor activities, such as hunting, bike riding, mountain bike riding, bush walking and sight seeing have boomed locally and many Tasmanians have seen places they never thought to visit prior. International and national travel stopped and most are not itching to start travelling internationally any time soon. I often had a fishing trip during Winter to warmer climates, but I am not keen to resume travel. Tasmania, or perhaps NZ is fine for me - and it looks like we may get a NZ travel bubble in the not too distant future.

A member of a club I am also part of passed away recently at 58 years old. He loved fishing more than anything and the comradeship it afforded him was immense in his life. When these life events happen it does help focus. Make sure you do the things that are important to you along the way. There is not much at the end - if anything. The journey should be the reward. I wrote the foreword to a new Tasmanian book Island Catch - Seafood of Tasmania, a superbly compiled book by Grand Master of Photography and keen fisher Philip Kuruvita. This book celebrates fishing in Tasmania from trout to tuna, blue eye cod, whitebait and everything in between. It is a book full of inspiring photos and recipes and I encourage you to get a copy of the book, take a chapter at a time and cook each recipe. Available from any bookshop or online direct from Philip at www.kuruvita.com.au Mike Stevens

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 0r Field Editor Lubin Pfieffer - editor@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

Fishing News - Page 2

Mike Stevens talks fishing ABC Statewide Saturday mornings 6.40 a.m. Subscriptions go to www.tasfish.com, phone Mike 0418 129 949 with your C/C handy or by Paypal to mike@tasfish.com - Two years $48

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End of Season Fly Fishing Options Craig Rist covers his spots and methods at the tail end of the trout season.

s another brown trout season gets closer to the end on the Sunday nearest to the 30th of April, the amazing fly life that makes trout fishing in Tasmania so exciting is also coming to an end. But this doesn’t mean the end of fly-fishing for trout; it is just another prompt to change our fishing style and tactics to the ever-changing seasons. Lake flies and tactics start to revert to streamer style wet flies like the ones we were using at the start of the season. As the amount of fly life that is available begins to decline those fish that were once hard to catch during some of the more challenging hatches, become a little more opportunistic and more willing to take a fly. The behaviour of brown trout also starts to change as they near their spawning cycle. The males in particular start to become more aggressive and will hunt out any smaller rival that gets too close to a potential mate. This aggressive and protective nature can see them biting down on a streamer fly, just to get it out of their territory. Rainbow trout, on the other hand, are still feeding and behaving normally as the fishing season for rainbows doesn’t close until the end of May. These designated Rainbow waters offer a few more lakes to fish when the brown trout season comes to an end. Of course, for those of us that want to go trout fishing all year round, many lakes have no closed season. The IFS

web site, www.ifs.tas.gov.au/the-rules/season-dates-andtimes, will have all the up to date information on when and where we can fish throughout the year.

Western Lakes The Western Lakes is an amazing place to fish. For me, it's not a place I go to catch large numbers of fish regularly. It’s more a fish hunting experience where sight fishing is possible in an environment that makes you earn the fish you catch. I can choose to fish lakes that have many 2 to 3-pound fish or take the chance on having only one or two shots at a trophy fish. Towards the end of the season, it is still possible to catch fish on traditional dry flies and flies that suspend in the surface. Jassid dry flies often get a good response late in the season as do large black and orange foam stonefly imitations. One of my favourite flies to use early and late is the season in the Western Lakes is my EWB (Emerging Woolly Bugger). I like to use it on those overcast days where sight fishing is limited. This fly imitates a dying baitfish at the surface and it is a great fly to use for blind searching all the likely areas. When a fish eats this fly there is no mistake, the snout of the fish comes out over the fly, just the same as it does when a trout takes any large dry fly. Because of this, I still get to enjoy that visual aspect of a trout eating a fly from

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Fishing News - Page 3

the surface. This fly floats just beneath the surface and it’s only the foam head and the short Hi-vis post of this fly that is visible. Quite often, the only thing that lets me know where the fly is on a long cast is the rise of the fish-eating the fly or a by giving the fly a short strip to see where it moves on the water. Brown trout often move quite slowly towards this fly so as a general guide I like to wait for the expanding rings from the impact of the fly to extend out to approximately 1.5 metres in diameter before I move the fly or recast. I do this because the speed of the rings dissipating away from the fly is roughly the same speed a large cautious brown trout swims towards the fly from the same distance away. If there is no response after that time I will give the line a short strip to make the fly look like a struggling baitfish. If I still get nothing after that I make another searching cast along the shoreline or out over some submerged boulders that often hold fish. Just like at the start of the season, streamer style flies like Woolly Buggers and fur flies do a great job of representing the small native galaxias (baitfish) in these lakes. The Gibsons woolly bugger and the woolly bugger mark 2, work just as well late in the season as they do at the start. Zonker Rabbit fur style flies are also very effective in black and olive variations. When it comes to retrieves a medium to fast erratic strip can trigger an aggressive take, at this time of year. Brown trout start to pair up at this time of year and they can often be seen in very shallow water in the Western Lakes, as their attention moves away from food to the need to spawn. These fish can often be seen with their tails and dorsal fins exposed, as they hold in shallow water. Even though they look like they are tailing to feed they are really just waiting for an opportunity to spawn. Finding big fish in the shallow with their fins out can be both exciting and frustrating at the same time. At times they will take an EWB or a streamer fly stripped away from them, it just depends on their mood on the day. Sometimes it is just better to walk away and find a fish that still has food on its mind.

Lake Rowallan Lake Rowallan is managed as rainbow trout water so it adds another month on the brown trout season to fish. Fly-fishing along the shoreline can be quite good, with loads of fish-holding structure in the way of submerged trees and rocks. Sight fishing from the high banks on a blue-sky day is also possible and can be surprisingly good, especially for the Browns. Again streamer style flies work well with a constant double hand retrieve or a single hand strip retrieve. I like to mix it up throughout the day until I find what type of retrieve is producing the best results. Floating fly lines are all I use from the shoreline and a sinking line can be very useful when I’m fishing from a drifting boat.

Great Lake Yingina/Great Lake is opened all year with the exception of Canal bay, which closes on the 28/03/21. Some of my favourite spots towards the end of the season are Halfmoon Bay, Grassy Bay, Elizabeth Bay, Tods Corner, Muddy Bay and Canal Bay beyond the Fishing News - Page 4

closed limits of this bay, which are marked by the two white posts, one on each side of the bay. High lake levels can affect the fishing from the shore as it often floods over baron ground that has very little food for trout. I personally like to fish the lake when it’s at its lower levels because the food rich weed beds are much more accessible. I also like to use a boat that is capable of covering a lot of rough open water so I can access different parts of the lake quickly to find the best area and conditions to fish.

Mersey River The Upper Mersey System The upper Mersey River flowing from Lake Meston down through Lake Youd and into Junction Lake, hold only rainbow trout. The large impassable waterfall located directly below Lake Junction prevents the migration of brown trout from the Mersey River and Lake Rowallan below. This system is managed as a wild rainbow trout water so it also closes a month after the brown trout season. Lake Meston has the largest rainbow

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Above Lake Rowallan

trout of the system offering the potential to catch a real trophy-sized rainbow trout. The shallow sandy shoreline on the Northern end of the lake offers the best access for fly-fishing. Lake Youd and Junction Lake have smaller fish but in greater numbers. Blind searching these lakes with wet flies can be tough at this time of year but the spectacular scenery more than makes up for only catching one or two fish. The Mersey River

between these three lakes holds good numbers of small rainbow trout that can offer a unique alpine stream fishery. A small creek fly rod stashed away in a backpack is always worth bringing along to truly get the most out of these little rainbows. A short six or seven-foot rod like this is perfect to pull off some of those tight casts that are required to get under those overhanging trees along this magical stretch of the Mersey.

The section of the Mersey River that flows from Lees paddocks down to Lake Rowallan is also managed as rainbow trout water. This section of the river will have both rainbows and browns. The walk to Lees paddocks is relatively easy with a well-defined track. Small bead head streamer flies that sink down fast and have a jigging action work well in both lakes and the rivers. Black or purple bead head woolly buggers or Shrek style streamers are some of my go-to flies. The lower reaches of the Mersey River can have good streamer fishing late in the season with fish feeding hard on galaxias (baitfish) in the backwaters and shallow margins of the big slow pools. A small lightly weighted size 10 black woolly bugger or fur fly stripped back out of those shallow pools is a good

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way to get connected on this river, late in the season.

Small Creeks and Streams Dry fly fishing is still possible on many larger rivers but it’s those small creeks and streams that have the most willing trout to rise and take a dry fly. They are not always big fish but they are great fun on light rods and a trout rising to a dry fly never gets old. There are lots of small streams and creeks in Tasmania and they can be just as challenging as the larger streams at times. Find one close to where you live and have a fun day exploring a small stream or creek that has plenty of small browns or rainbows to give you multiple chances to find the right fly. You never know you might just end the season catching a trout on a dry fly. Craig Rist Fishing News - Page 5

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Fishing News - Page 6

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Fishing News - Page 7

Beginners Guide to Big Bream Lubin Pfeiffer shares his knowledge and methods to help you catch a memorable bream.

lack bream -Acanthopagrus butcheri have always been one of my favourite saltwater species to catch. They live in really cool places, are super cunning and take quite a lot of skill to catch consistently with lures. They fight well for their size and when you start to get Fishing News - Page 8

The first fish on a feathered jig!

fish over 40cm you can bet not all of them will make it to the net after they are hooked! Like many fishos in Australia, some of my first fishing experiences were chasing bream with bait. From there chasing big black bream has taken me to many parts of the country. While many of you reading this magazine would’ve chased bream many times, I know there are just as many that haven’t. So I thought it would be a good idea to run explain a bit about the black bream and cover some of my favourites techniques to catch them with lures.

Where to Find Them Black Bream are endemic to Australia and can be found from Shark Bay in the country’s west right along the Southern coast, all the way to Mallacoota in Victoria. And of course in big numbers down here in Tasmania. Tasmania is without a doubt the best place to chase bream in Australia, in my opinion. They just love the estuaries and are also found in the coastal lakes. What I have found is the more structure to a river the better the bream fishing to be. They like fallen timber of all different kinds and as many city-based anglers would know, any form of man-made structure as well. Typically if it provides shade and cover there will usually be a stack of bream sitting around it.

Knotless landing nets help release the fish in great condition. Rock walls or rocky outcrops are also a favourite for the bream. While there is far too many locations to mention, I usually find myself fishing places like the Scamander River, Ansons Bay and the Swan River just to name a few.

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The Life of a Black Bream Black bream are a long-lived fish and can live for around 30 years. When you consider many are not more than two kilograms in weight it quickly becomes apparent how slowly they grow. Black bream have quite a few unusual features, one of which is that they can change from male to female depending on what is going to be more beneficial for spawning in the area they are living. Young bream spend their lives in the coastal rivers until they get to about five years of age where they can travel offshore to deeper reefs. The majority of older fish spend their whole time in the estuary as each year they need to complete their spawning cycle. This sees them en mass, cruising up the upper reaches of the rivers where the freshwater enters. After they have spawned the larva can then be taken with the flow of the river down through the entire estuary. I was unaware until I did some research but black bream lay about 3 million eggs each season, which is a fair effort! This ensures that many survive predation and other factors that limit recruitment. Last year in October while fishing the Swan River in the states east and was lucky enough to see the bream doing their thing way up in the top section of the river. We had a late start to spring and while I thought the fishing would’ve fired up by then I was struggling to catch or even see a fish in the usual areas. Quite often even if you’re not catching them you will see the odd few dart out from the river bank as you work along it. It wasn’t until I made my way to the very top section of river that I saw schools of hundreds of big fish all tailing and swirling around in the shallows on the edges of the river. While I had a few casts at them, they were all completely disinterested in what I was offering and it became quickly clear what they were up to. It was awesome to see as I hadn’t seen so many large bream in one spot ever before.

Tackle What is great about chasing bream is there is one outfit that pretty much covers every scenario you’re likely to come across fishing in Tasmania. That is a 2.1metre 2-4kg fast action spin stick with a matching 2500 sized spinning reel. Load it with 2kg brightly coloured braid and finish it with a fluorocarbon leader. Leader breaking strain should be dependent on the size fish you plan to catch or the locations you are targeting them. For heavy cover and large fish, try a 3.5 - 4.5kg leader. If you find you’re not getting bites or you are fishing in fairly open water you can go lighter. Doesn’t matter if you are land or boat based an outfit such as this will get the job done.

Techniques to Catch Them Bream fishing with lures has become a massive sport over the last decade. There are now lots of different tournaments you can fish for money and travel the country doing so. While I haven’t entered any of these yet I can see the challenge and reward in doing it. I come from a competition fly fishing for trout background where there is always a way to entice a trout to eat, and bream are the same. I’ll run you through my favourite techniques to catch them recently.

Light spin sticks make bream fishing easy.

Soft Plastic Baits

Nedrigs have been around a few seasons now and Without a doubt 2.5inch Zman grubs are my go to they are a fantastic fish catching bait. A nedrig is a lure while fishing for bream. These lures have become particular type of jighead that allows the plastic to sit the number one money earner in competitions right upright when it is at rest. This allows you to fish very across the country and after you’ve cast one at a bream long pauses in between moving the lure. The plastics you can easily see why they just love them. The motor I’ve been running the ZMan TRD bugs and TRD craws oil and blood worm patterns are very hard to beat. I like which are awesome yabby imitations. Using a plastic to use grubs around structure. Anything from sunken that floats is imperative for this technique. Once again timber, man-made structure and along rockwalls. The you have to be in contact with the lure without moving great thing about a grub is that you can skim the lure it, so it takes a little bit of practice to learn. I’ve had the underneath pretty much anything to get it sinking right most success with bloodworm and also green but I’m in the zone. While using a grub, I expect the bites to sure there are lots of other colours that would produce. be while the lure is sinking freely. Try to always select The nedrig jighead weights come in 2 - 3 gram which a jig head that gives you the most amount of sinking is great for getting them to the bottom in a range of time. I suggest using jig heads between 1.5 - 2.5 grams locations. You can now get a weedless nedrig head and change according to the wind speed and tide. If it’s blowing or flowing hard, go heavier, but as a rule always stick with the lightest you can get away with. While you will have fish that will just smash it and run off, to catch good numbers you’ll need to be in contact to feel every bite. Get the grub sinking as freely as possible but still have tight enough line that you will either see the line move or feel a tick when the fish grabs it. Usually, I just fish the first half of the cast before winding it back in and recasting. Grubs are also my number one choice for sight fishing flats dwelling bream. A selection of the authors favourite bream lures.

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Fishing News - Page 9

Sight casting the flats is a sensational way to fish! which would be amazing for many locations around Tasmania. I’ve had great success on the standard heads in open mudflats where the fish are mooching around and can be harder to tempt with other techniques. During one trip to Ansons Bay last year if you weren’t casting a nedrig into the sand holes you just wouldn’t be catching!

Bladed Lures For deeper water scenarios, blades are a fantastic choice. These lures in my opinion are best fished from the edge, casting into deeper water along drop-offs, not so much at structure. They’re slim and sink fast, and are a good choice for working the first couple metres of water off of the bottom. A simple lift and wind up the slack technique is all that I use. Because you can cast a blade a very long way they are a great-searching lure that can cover a lot of water, quickly finding any feeding fish that may be around. If I’m fishing a new location with not a lot of structure, a blade will be the first lure I will tie on. It’s important to fish the entire cast using a blade as they can follow it for sometime before they eat it. Bites can come on both the lift and the drop so stay in contact! Never sink the lure with a heap of slack line as you will miss at least half the takes. Small blades are best for bream, 50mm in length or less. Weight is an interesting one as the heavier 3.5-gram models more effective. Even though they sink quite fast the bream still get ahold of them and the heavier weights make them great for fishing waters deeper than two metres. Colour has never really been all that important when using blades but I do like black, green or gold as a starting point.

Bream love structure such as banks like this.

the very first cast. That day I landed just over fifty fish on the same lure. I fish a feathered jig in the same locations as to where I would grub, but the way you fish them is slightly different from the grubbing technique. Feathered jigs unlike grubs will not easily skim across the water so they are perfect for accurate casts at the structure. They land and sink exactly where you want them too. I find sometimes with grubs they tend to bounce when you don’t want them to, punching much too far into the timber and end up snagged. Feathered jigs have great movement in the water and sink very slowly increasing the amount of time they can be eaten. Just like the grubbing technique I only fish the first half of the cast before recasting and repeating the process. My preferred colours are olive and brown. These both have a mix of UV and red flash through

them. Because they are not commercially available you have to tie them yourselves! But I can assure you they are a lure worth having.

Other Lures Worth Trying There are many other lures worth trying for bream, including cranka crabs, bibbed minnows and crankbaits. All have their place in the lure box. While I don’t use these myself, they are certainly worth mentioning as they catch loads of fish down here in Tasmania. I can safely say that I’ll never get sick of catching bream, particularly casting lures at snags. It is just way too much fun. Hopefully, you can take away a few of these techniques and try them for yourself and see what the fuss is all about if you haven’t already.

Feathered Jigs What is important about a feathered jig in the bream scene is that it is different. This is very handy in pressured fisheries such as those close to city centres. The first time I ever tied up one of these and cast it at a snag in Tasmania an absolute brute nailed it on Fishing News - Page 10

A cast at a piece of timber in the Scamander resulted in this quality bream.

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Fishing News - Page 11

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A 140kg bluefin tuna caught by Helen O’Neill off Pedra Branca in late February 2018. Photo: Florian Devloo-Delva.

Bluefin All year round

times. However, over the last few years in Tasmania, bluefin have begun to be caught regularly at times of the year which could be considered “out of season”, much to the delight of game fishers around the state. Although some of these captures have been one off events, many others have resulted in consistent runs of fish, some of which were as reliable as the traditional tuna season! The timing of the run of tuna also appears to vary depending on areas around the state. E.g. the south coast seems to hold bluefin much earlier than the east coast (January onwards is usually quite consistent), while bluefin pop up intermittently year round along the west coast. More recently, barrel bluefin have also been caught off the north coast, which previously would have never been considered possible! The east coast generally follows the more traditional tuna season, which is mentioned further up.

Jonah Yick - Tuna Champions ambassador..

istorically, the Tasmanian southern bluefin tuna fishing season ranged from April through until July, give or take a month or so on either end. For many game fishers, this has always been accepted, and very little fishing effort would occur outside of these

Bluefin populations on the recovery It is amazing to see how prevalent bluefin have become over the last few seasons, especially when compared to the old catch records from The Tuna Club of Tasmania (TCT) in the early to mid-2000s. In 2003, 2005, and 2006 not a single bluefin was caught at any of the regular club rallies held at Eaglehawk Neck,

while the winning fish for the annual Eaglehawk Neck bluefin tuna competition in 2003, 2004, and 2005 were all albacore, due to the complete absence of bluefin. From the club rallies in 2004 and 2007, there was a total of three and four bluefin caught respectively. A stark contrast to the current day catch rates, where in particular over the 2015/16 season, the TCT reported a record breaking 799 bluefin tuna tagged over the financial year by club members. The following season gun charter fishing operator Stu Nichols of Personalised Sea Charters managed just over 1000 bluefin, with the majority released. Compiled with assistance from The Tuna Club of Tasmania Secretary Robin Banks. It is difficult to say whether this apparent increase in occurrence of bluefin is due to more game fishers prospecting, or whether it is due to an increase in overall bluefin tuna stocks. It could potentially be a function of both, with the CCSBT Scientific Committee confirming that southern bluefin tuna are now recovering strongly. Whatever the reason may be, hopefully this remarkable fishing continues over the coming years, and bluefin tuna remain in these quantities for many years to come.

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Fishing News - Page 13

Year round bluefin in Tassie With all of this information in mind, in December 2015 I embarked on a quest to target bluefin in every month of the year in my old 5.5m Savage trailer boat “Mustang Sally”. Eaglehawk neck was the main area of focus, in particular the inshore reef structures which fringed the coastline. While some trips did not result in any tuna, it was surprising how many actually did. On some days we had acres of fish busting up around us, multiple hook ups, with not another boat in sight! From December 2015 through until October 2016, my crew and I were able to catch bluefin in every month consecutively, with some tagged and released, and some kept. The size of fish caught throughout this period varied from approximately 10kg all the way up to 138kg. November was the hardest month to crack, and despite numerous trips and long days, we were unable to find a bluefin in November 2016. It wasn’t until November 2018 that I was finally able to tick off that month.

The final piece of the puzzle

A 138kg bluefin caught out of Eaglehawk Neck in October 2016. This fish was part of a triple hook up off “The lanterns”, Eaglehawk Neck. Photo: Sam Nichols Fishing News - Page 14

Located 26 kilometres below the southernmost point of Tasmania, lies an isolated island in the southern ocean known as Pedra Branca. Measuring approximately 270m long, 100m wide, and 60m above sea level, this rocky islet has a formidable reputation amongst serious game fishers and big wave surfers. Due to its remoteness and exposure to the elements, the opportunities to access Pedra Branca, especially from a small trailer boat can be few and far between. On occasions this area can be unfishable for months at a time, much to the frustration of many anglers. Therefore when the stars finally align and a suitable weather window appears, it’s a case of dropping everything and packing the boat. After hearing of a decent barrel bluefin bite in early November, the hunt was on for a weather forecast suitable enough for my old 5.5m Savage Ensign “Mustang Sally”. Eventually, the dream weather window finally materialised on the 29th of November 2018. At first light, we had the boat in the water and began the almost 40km run south, to the desolate spec on the horizon. After an hour or so of slogging through a sloppy south east chop, the rock began to materialise and take shape, and before long we had arrived at our destination. As the spread of lures were set out the back, it was amazing to see the sheer number of birds flying around and roosting on the rock, which mainly consisted of hundreds of albatross and gannets. The fishing Intel gathered over the past few weeks suggested that the wash zone around Pedra Branca was the most consistent area for hook ups, so we trolled the edges of the island tirelessly. Round and round we went, trolling as close to the white wash as we dared, and keeping a close eye on the breaking reef edge and powerful swells. Everything looked good, with the sounder showing plentiful amounts of bait over the rocky reefs, although most appeared to be sitting fairly deep. On the fourth hour, as one of the six inch pushers ran through the foam for what seemed like the 100th time, it suddenly disappeared in a spectacular explosion

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of water. I watched in excitement as the 37kg outfit in the shotgun position slowly bent over in the rocket launcher. The Tiagra began to howl as the weight and momentum of the fish begun to take up the slack line. Strangely, after a short and fairly slow 80 metre run, the fish began to swim towards the boat, giving the impression it was potentially a smaller model. Another 10 minutes passed, and the line began to angle up to the surface, followed by the second dorsal fin and the upper tip of the tail breaking through the surface of the water. At that point we confirmed it definitely wasn’t a school-sized tuna. The big barrel cruised slowly just metres away from the boat, lulling me into a false sense of security that it could be all over soon. How wrong I was. For the next hour it continued to slug away on the surface stubbornly, maintaining a short distance from the boat. There were no big runs, instead it appeared to reserve its energy by maintain a slow, steady speed. Every time we tried to sneakily close the distance between us, it would pull away then sink down into the depths. At the two hour mark, things started to get interesting as the big tuna begun to wake up. As I desperately tried to pump the fish closer to the boat, I watched it make some enormous head shakes before it porpoised out of the water then charged away. It took a blistering run, almost ripping off the whole 300m monofilament top shot in a matter of seconds. As the run began to slow and the knot between the monofilament and braid began to appear, disaster struck when suddenly the spool seized and the line came tight as it felt the full momentum of the tuna. Somehow the line had bedded down onto itself, and despite frantically backing the drag off, I could not free the line. Panic ensued, as I realised my only option was to push the lever up to sunset drag pressure, and to begin to chase the fish as quickly as possible. Luckily we were able to make good headway with this strategy, and after a tense few minutes, we had regained almost the full spool. Knowing what was under all those wraps of line, I knew I had to work the fish hard on heavy drag to ensure it didn’t take us back to that weak point. At around the three and a half hour mark the fish began to show signs of tiring, and I was finally able to turn it’s head and begin to crank it closer and closer. As the wind on leader reached the rod tip and began to run through the rollers, the call was made for the gaffs, then the tail rope. Both the gaffs found their way home, then as the tail rope was pulled tight and

hitched off to the cleat, a huge sense of relief came over us. Although this was not my first, or the biggest bluefin tuna caught on board my boat, it was definitely the hardest fighting specimen I had ever encountered. We were all in awe at it’s beautiful condition, and it ended up pulling the scales down to 122kg. This capture was even more significant given it was the final instalment in a personal quest to catch a bluefin in every month of the year.

Locations to try

Six inch skirted lures are ideal to target both school and jumbo bluefin in Tasmanian waters. Black Magic Tackle have a great range of lures and colours in this size range. Photo: Jonah Yick

As I am based at the southern end of the state, I can speak from experience that Eaglehawk Neck, Cape Raoul, Dart Bank, The Friars, Pedra Branca, and the Maatsuyker Island group are all good locations to try your luck at an off season tuna. Any oceanic location with substantial reef structure which is able to hold bait is worth a try. This was also recently proven in bass strait where some keen anglers thinking outside the box came across barrel bluefin over these offshore reefs, despite many naysayers and sceptics saying it was a waste of time. Any reef structures on the west coast would be worth exploring at any time of the year when the weather allows, with tuna reports coming out of Strahan and Marrawah fairly regularly. St Helens, Schouten Island, and Maria Island are all areas which would also be worth putting time into dragging lures about. Generally speaking the continental shelf is also worth a troll whenever you are out there, given tuna probably use this area like a highway, and could be coming backwards and forwards down the coast at any time. I have often caught patches of tuna trolling over the shelf at random times of the year (including a 90kg fish in December 2019), and more often than not it is usually a blind strike first thing in the morning, with nothing else for the rest of the day.

Gearing Up A sounder shot of a school of barrel tuna following a school of bait. If you see this on your screen you know there is a chance of a hook up. Photo: Jonah Yick

Seals, dolphins, whales, and birds feeding on a baitball are all promising signs that there may also be tuna lurking underneath them. Photo: Jonah Yick

Over the years, I have caught jumbo tuna (in the range of 80 to 142kg) over the months of January, February, March, April, June, July, October, November, and December in Tasmania. Given there have also been confirmed captures of big tuna in May (very consistent!), August, and September, it is evident that jumbo tuna are as much of a year round target species, as their smaller “schoolie” counterparts. Southern bluefin tuna breed from September to April in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean, south east of Java, Indonesia. Given the broad 8 month breeding period, it is likely that these large fish can be travelling backwards and forwards past Tasmanian waters at almost any time of the year, as they make the most of the food rich coastlines around our state. With significantly less boat pressure on the water during the off-season, theoretically your chances of hooking a monster tuna are higher, if you are lucky enough to find a patch of these fish. Therefore if you do get that hook up, you want it to stick, and you want it to count! I’m not going to cover how to set a spread of lures, i.e. the basics of tuna fishing (there have been plenty of great “how to tuna fish articles” covered over the last few years in past issues of TFBN, and the reality

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Fishing News - Page 15

waters, e.g. redbait, juvenile mackerel, small arrow squid. I run a spread of four 5-6inch Black Magic tackle skirted lures, as well as a single deep diver, to cover any tentative fish which don’t want to rise right up to the surface. Although other anglers do run bigger lures in the range of 8-10inches (Victorian gamefishers regularly run skirts up to 15inches), if I am fishing in the off-season I am usually happy to hook any sized tuna, and I know the 6inch size will get hit by both small and large tuna, which Always have a spin rod setup ready to cast when fishing in may not be the case with some of the larger skirts. the off season. You never know when you may encounter a school of fussy bluefin tuna. Photo: Tom Srodzinski I usually fish heavy tackle 24/37kg overhead gear when tuna fishing, but I can’t emphasize how important this is in the off season. With the stakes even higher during this time, and the slim chance of hook ups, I like to give myself the best possible chance of landing the tuna. Especially given the chance of encountering a big fish is almost higher, with the reduced boat pressure. I also avoid trolling spin rods to reduce fight time, and the fact that you can put more hurt on fish using heavy overhead tackle. Some may find this unsporting, however given the number of big fish I have encountered during this period, heavy gear puts the odds slightly more in your favour, especially if the angler on the rod is inexperienced, or mistakes are made in the final stages of the fight. Obviously if you are interested in light tackle sportfishing, or record chasing, ignore this last paragraph! Going back to the spin rod, although I may not have one in my trolling spread, I never go tuna fishing without a spin rod rigged up, with either a stick bait, soft plastic, popper, or live bait hook ready to go. If you are lucky enough to stumble across a school of busting An image of sheer persistence.. Trolling in the same spot for 10 hours can be very mind tuna but they refuse to take a trolled lure, carefully drifting up to them and either casting with a lure or a numbing, but when that 100kg tuna finally decides to come up for a look at your spread, dead/live bait can be deadly. As mentioned previously, if you do this make sure your gear is up to scratch and you soon forget about all those hours when suitable for the fish you are hoping to catch, especially the reel starts screaming. A full day working if you think you see barrel tuna busting up! “The lanterns”. Photo: Jonah Yick As with all styles of fishing ensure all your gear is in impeccable condition, and make sure every bit of is that if you haven’t learnt the basics of tuna fishing your gear is rigged to handle that fish of a lifetime. during the peak season, you will probably struggle to Your line should be run out and checked for scuffs fish effectively in the off-season, or battle with putting and nicks (and replace if necessary), leaders should also the techniques into practise. However I will mention be inspected/replaced, hooks should all be sharpened, a few points on tackle which I feel are very important and all reel drags should be scaled. Use a good quality when searching and fishing for tuna in the off-season. leader which can stand up to the punishment of the Use a spread of lures which you are confident in tuna’s teeth, without going too heavy to hamper the running during the season. I have found in Tasmanian action of the lure. I use 200 pound Black Magic tough waters, six inch skirted lures are very effective on trace which is not only abrasion resistant but isn’t too both school and jumbo bluefin tuna, and imitate the heavy or stiff. Ensure you have two gaffs (one short, average size of bait which are encountered in offshore Fishing News - Page 16

one long), and some kind of tail rope. It is also worth purchasing a Black Magic Tackle Equalizer Harness and Gimbal pack. It may sit in the side pocket of the boat for months without use, however if you hook that fish of a lifetime, it will make the job much easier and put the odds of landing it in your favour.

Off-season strategy I am a big fan of prospecting and trail-blazing, basically heading out on a whim to chase tuna without going off the back of other reports. Sometimes the best tuna bites are when you are first to find the initial patch of fish, as they can become finicky or cautious as more boats begin to drive over/around them. However, don’t write off using reports to your advantage. In this day and age social media can be a powerful tool, and it is sometimes worth heading out if it appears that other rec fishers have managed to find a patch a fish somewhere. With the increase in commercial rod and line tuna fishers around the state, these guys are usually first on the tuna in the off-season, regularly posting up photos of fish caught at random times of the year. Use this information to your advantage, as where there is one tuna caught, there is usually more (depending on whether they are passing through an area, or sticking to an area due to the bait). Once you are on the water, look for the usual signs of life; birds, seals, dolphins and whales feeding are all positive signs, but don’t always mean that the tuna are also there. Look at your sounder, if you happen to mark a school of tuna, then start to put the time in and work the area systematically. This is especially important if you can identify them as big fish, as they typically will stay close to the bait for the whole day (and sometimes weeks at a time). You may need to work on them all day, going around and around until one finally comes up to take a lure (and even then they might not!). I like to call this “grinding”, and it can be incredibly mind numbing spending all day in the same spot. But with sheer persistence, the rewards can be great. If the tuna are fickle, the best bite periods are usually first light and last light, so try to fish one of these windows, or both. This applies more to the big barrel tuna, although I have caught big tuna in the late morning and throughout the middle of the day. Weather always plays a big factor, and the number one priority is to fish within your experience and boating limits. There is no doubt that a big south west front can turn the tuna on, and many anglers will either fish the start of the front, during the front, or the calm days following it. For big tuna I have personally never found the weather makes much difference, with all the fish over 80kg caught in calm (sometimes glassy) conditions. So if the weather is good enough for your boat and you can get the time off, go and have a look. Most importantly be realistic about your expectations fishing in the off-season, and what you are likely to catch. Make sure you take crew who are also on the same wavelength as you, and are keen for the hunt, but realise the reality of a donut day is probable. In saying that, if the conditions look good and you are keen to commit to a day of tuna grinding, then stick to it. If not, make sure you have a Plan B, e.g. bottom fishing.

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Looking after your catch From the moment the bluefin hits the deck, the clock starts ticking on the shelf life of the meat, and how you treat it in the next 24 hours will define how it tastes, as well as how long it lasts. Be aware that you can harvest a lot of meat from a single 20kg bluefin, so if you don’t know many people who like eating fish, have limited freezer space, or don’t have a vacuum sealer, consider just taking one fish. It is easy to get carried away if you come across a patch of school bluefin, especially with multiple hook ups. It can be hard to consider in the moment, but before you start sinking gaffs left right and centre, think about how much fish you need to take for yourself, friends, or family, and the time required to clean each fish carefully, as well as storing them in the fridge and freezer. Don’t wait until you have a pile of 20kg tuna flapping about and bleeding on the deck. Have the conversation with your crew beforehand, or while you are fighting the fish. If you do decide to take a tuna (or multiple), make sure you kill and bleed it promptly, then gut it ASAP and ice it down either in an esky or fish bag. I personally prefer bluefin fresh, and like to eat it in the first five days after capture, however if you choose to freeze some up, ensure that you vacuum seal the meat into meal sized portions beforehand. If you decide to release fish which are excess to your needs, know that tuna release very well if handled correctly, and if you want to contribute towards tuna research, consider getting involved in tagging.

Photo: Juliet Reid

You’d be surprised how much meat you can get from a single southern bluefin tuna. Photo: Dave Mossop. It can be even more overwhelming if you end up being lucky enough to land a big jumbo sized tuna, because suddenly you have to work out how to deal with carving up approximately 80-100kg of meat sitting on the deck. Follow the same processing procedures as you would with a school tuna (as mentioned above). However as you probably won’t have an esky big enough to hold the whole fish, and if you don’t have a XL fish bag, gut the tuna, fill the gut cavity with ice or frozen bottles, then head straight back to the ramp. Don’t continue to fish if you haven’t got the fish properly iced down or it will begin to deteriorate. You also need to ask yourself if you did happen to hook another big tuna and it dies incidentally on the line, are you prepared and able to deal with all the additional meat without it going to waste? Ensure you have an adequately large and sharp knife to process the fish, as the skin of barrel bluefin are notoriously thick and tough.

Photo: Jonah Yick

For more detailed information on all the various aspects of dispatching, processing, and handling tuna, check out the Tuna Champions website at: www.tunachampions.com.au So there you have it, the full run down on targeting tuna in the off season. So next time you are sitting at home in early Spring, and think about how much you are looking forward to the upcoming tuna season, pull the cover off the boat and get out there and start searching. As a wise man once said, there are no fences in the ocean! Jonah Yick

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Fishing News - Page 17

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Searching for wild rainbows By Kelly Mackenzie

had been in Tasmania, fishing and working, for a few months when I stumbled across a unique story. About 70 years ago, fisheries planned an aerial drop of rainbow trout into Lake Adelaide, a reasonable sized lake situated within the Walls of Jerusalem National Park. The weather was bleak and visibility poor, so instead of being dropped into Lake Adelaide as planned, these fish were mistakenly dropped into Lake Meston. It was here that they continued to thrive, establishing their own population of what we now consider, wild rainbows. These rainbows now inhabit Lake Meston and its immediate sister lakes, Lake Youd and Junction Lake and from there - winding its way down - the upper reaches of the Mersey River and beyond. This is a special region for these rainbow trout, being exclusive rainbow water which is inaccessible to the below browns, and one I thought I would be very interested in taking a closer look at.

The serenity, breathtaking scenery and size of some of these wild rainbow trout are all lures for the keen hiking angler. I have read about the inaccessible banks around Lake Meston and thought this trip would be more successful if I took my packraft and hence, that is what I did! There was a long weekend approaching and the weather was looking pretty amazing. I managed to convince one of my best friends to come and join me on the adventure. Laura does not fish, but I think slowly I may convert her. I lured her in with the talk of towering pencil pines, the wilderness and the chance of not seeing another soul. It didn’t take long and she was convinced and off we went to pack. Tent, two rods, three reels, flies, packraft, paddles, food supplies, sleeping supplies, clothing, first aid. The list seemed endless. You are wondering why in a bag that nearly weighed half my body weight, did I need two rods and three reels? - who knows! I was about to find out!

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Fishing News - Page 19

I had no idea what to expect from the Walls of Jerusalem National Park. I had seen various posts on social media and in tourism outlets boasting of its vast mountainous, alpine landscapes and spectacular peaks with historic pencil pines. Despite spending some time in Tasmania, I had not yet had the privilege of experiencing its wonder. Having done a little walking in other regions of the Western Lakes, I mistakenly somehow imagined the gentle sloping, open plains of the Chudleigh region. I was soon to learn that my imagination had led me very far astray! The route we had planned was as follows: Moses Creek Track Junction Lake - Lake Youd - Lake Meston - Lake Myrtle - Jacksons Creek Track. We had three days to take on this marvellous adventure.

Day One We started along the Moses Creek Track about mid-morning. A steep incline, almost a little too early to be welcome, made me question my array of rods/ reels. Maybe I really did only need one. At this point, the stunning alpine scenery and towering trees had Laura convinced that this was a good idea. As we progressed along the track, we spotted the impressive deciduous beech, or Fagus, a tree unique to Tasmania. It is Australia’s only cold-climate winter deciduous tree and during the autumn, puts on a stunning show of vibrant sunset colours before losing all its leaves. We had planned to do some detours to nearby waterfalls, but the inclining nature of the terrain kept our minds on our destination (and a break). We could hear the crashing of the falls nearby as we came upon the turn off for Junction Lake. From this point onwards, the track veered down and progressively became more and more camouflaged. ‘What was track vs what was wombat’, became a fun game. Thankfully, our GPS map had this track marked, and luckily, very accurately. The overhanging trees, shrubs and grasses almost consumed the track of what I once imagine was a more frequently trafficked path. As the day went on, we got closer and closer to our first night’s destination - Junction Lake. We had planned to stay in the Junction Lake hut, but a very clean waterproof jacket I picked up along the way suggested that we might not be alone. As we approached Junction Lake, my excitement levels rose. I was just as excited about Junction as I was for Meston. We began to see the lake with the beautifully elevated hills with stunning purple blooms, sloping downwards before they met with the water. There was a gentle movement in the air and it was prime time for casting a fly. I realised by the time we returned the jacket to the hikers in the hut (yep, they were there - three kind men and one very grateful one) and set up our campsite, I would be fishing in darkness. I set up the packraft and was on my way. I fished around the banks near our camp, casting out and quickly stripping in my dark coloured streamer. I tried for a short while, however, saw no fish and got no takes, so using the moon as my GPS, made my way back to our camp.

Fishing News - Page 20

Day Two With my spirits only mildly dampened from my brief attempt the night prior, I set off early onto the lake in the packraft again. It was low light and a gentle mist covered the entire surface of the lake. There was no evidence of any surface action and with the mist and low light, there were not any polaroiding opportunities - so I pulled out my good old friends, the streamers. The day was like one from a dream. There was not a breath of wind and I could effortlessly paddle myself around the entirety of the lake. I began casting my way around the bank, and with little sign of life, decided my best efforts would be best focused on the small inlets located on the opposite side of the lake. As I approached the small stream, I silently let down my makeshift anchor (rope, lingerie bag, rocks) and began casting into the regions where I was sure an unsuspecting trout would be waiting for a decent feed to float by. It only took two casts before the line went tight and I hooked into what felt like a decent little rainbow! My heart was absolutely racing. Not only was I potentially about to catch a wild western rainbow, but this would also be the FIRST fish caught in the packraft AND the first fish caught on my new Sage rod! Not to mention, on a home tied fly! I was thrilled to have even hooked up, nevermind the smile on my face and squeal I let out when that little beauty was safely in my net! While on the small side, this fish was one of the most impressive rainbows I have ever seen. The densely packed spots and luminescent sheen of rainbow radiating off its small body, it was a sight to behold. With my dreams achieved already so early

into the trip, I was a happy girl. I continued to fish my way around the remainder of the lake, only hooking one other smaller rainbow that managed to throw my fly during its acrobatic show. Happy with my Junction rainbow, we packed up camp and forged our way onto Lake Meston. Now, this is where I explain my thought process behind the two rods and three reels - x1 5wt, x1 3wt nymphing rod, x1 floating line, x1 sinking line, x1 nymphing line. My original plan was to euro nymph the Mersey River that joins Junction to Youd and Youd to Meston. Unfortunately, to do this properly and not completely irritate your non-fishing hiking companion, it is critical to plan this for a journey with a bit more time to spare. Realising we were time poor, we walked straight to Meston. We arrived at Meston early afternoon and were greeted by two hikers who had come from an alternate route. Thankfully, space allowed this time and we were able to share this special hut. Constructed from the surrounding pencil pine timber in 1969, this hut was an architectural beauty and a greatly appreciated warm spot for the night. Lake Meston, as expected, was an enormous and incredibly impressive spectacle with large pencil pines hugging the banks for as far as the eye could see. I didn’t waste any time in setting up the packraft. I launched the raft just a short walk down from the hut and a little disappointingly, soon realised how much the wind had picked up from the day prior. There was nothing effortless about my paddling today. I struggled my way against the wind, paddling up along the bank, trying to let out the anchor to aid with the fast drift (I decided

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I also need a drogue). This lake is unimaginably deep only a short distance from the bank, and still being cold, it did make me nervous. I mixed it up by fishing some of the deep water with my sinking line and the shallows with the floating. The Galaxia were present, so a chose a similar colour and sized bugger to try and entice fish into taking my offerings. The wind made my life difficult and this evening it was Meston 1 - Kelly 0. Day Three The next morning I woke early to gentle bird chirping and thought this was my best chance to beat the wind. To my dismay, I reached the bank and was greeted with the same gusting from the day before. I cursed the wind and told it again, as I have many times before, how it truly is the worst element. Despite this, I proceeded to launch the raft. I could have almost cried as I quietly placed the raft into the water, hopped in and started to gently paddle, only to have spooked a monstrous rainbow sitting in the shallows only a short stone’s throw from me! I paddled onwards to the deeper water, hoping not to spook any more Meston monsters. I cast repetitively into the shallows, only to be met with snags and a distinct lack of fish. Ultimately, the wind brought my fishing to an early end - the lake being too deep for my anchor and the inability to slow my drift made it almost impossible to land a cast where I wanted it (who knows whether or not there were fish in said locations). So, with the Meston monsters evading me, we packed up our things at the hut and set off on the remainder of our journey. As we passed by Lake Myrtle we admired its beautiful, clear yet somehow aqua tinged water and ample shallow wading opportunities. I can only presume that this lake is devoid of trout, otherwise, why would no one be fishing this picturesque location? We swapped over to the Jackson Creek Track, a path not marked on all maps anymore and ambled our way through the fire-ravaged terrain. Fortunately, taking this path out means that most of the way home was downhill. Happy to arrive back at the car after a surprisingly challenging downhill journey out, we began our two-

Bottom Dwellers

hour drive home, giving me time to reflect on the past 3 days. I am ecstatic to have caught my first western lakes rainbow and look forward to managing some more! I have a lot I want to do next time around. I want to euro nymph the river! I would like to give Lake Youd a shot at producing some nice rainbows. There is a sandy shallow, wadeable bank at one end of Meston which I did not make it to this trip, which I hear deserves a visit. Overall, the Walls of Jerusalem National Park is an unbelievably

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beautiful part of Tasmania and despite my continual complaining about the wind, I do feel very privileged to be able to experience this special part of the world so intimately. I am thoroughly excited to plan my next trip into these lakes (once my body heals) and hopefully, that will be when the gum beetles are falling and I can get some dries out! Kelly Mackenzie

Fishing News - Page 21

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Chasing the king Tasmanian yellowtail kingfish By Nathan Huizing

owards the end of each year the water surrounding Tasmania’s coast line begins to heat up as the warmer waters of the East Australian Current (EAC) reach our state. This is an event that many anglers around the state look forward to and for good reason. As things heat up it gives anglers a chance to give species like trout and bream a rest and focus on some of the more sort after seasonal visitors. The mighty yellowtail kingfish is one species that has found its way onto the bucket list for many anglers not only in Tasmania but around the world due to its ability to test even the best of fishermen both physically and mentally! Here in Tasmania, the kingfish has earned a reputation for being quite elusive. In this article I’ll share some tips and tricks that will hopefully help you in the same way they’ve helped me in catching these fish along the East and South East coast of Tassie over the last few years

Locating Kingfish The first piece of the puzzle is knowing where kingfish are likely to be and when they’re going to be there. Starting with water temperature - Kingfish are most comfortable in water temperatures of around 18-22 degrees, however they can tolerate temperatures as low as 13-14 degrees before they need to seek warmer water. Due to this, kingfish will

usually start showing up in late November with the arrival of the EAC and will generally hang around until the end of May when they will begin their journey back up the coast following the warmer waters. When the kingfish arrive in East and South East Tasmania they can pop up just about anywhere but they tend to favour the more sheltered and shallower bays where water temperatures tend to be a couple of degrees warmer. From North East to South East; Georges Bay, Coles Bay, Spring Bay, Norfolk Bay, Derwent River and North West Bay are some of the more popular areas amongst anglers in which the kingfish take up residency for the warmer months. Some of these bays are quite large but there are some key things to look for in your approach to help narrow down the search. Despite being a pelagic that is known to occasionally cruise open water, just like most fish, kings are drawn to structure. Whether it be moorings, wharfs, shellfish leases, salmon leases, reef or rocky outcrops - Using Google Earth and your sounder to locate and the inspect these things can really pay off. However it is important that you don’t just rely on technology. When out on the water, stay on constant lookout for things such as hovering/diving birds, nervous bait rippling the surface, bust ups or even just subtle bow waves which can all be the sign of a kingfish’s presence!

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Fishing News - Page 23

A nice fish taken on half a squid head. Chasing kingfish at certain times of the day is also something worth paying attention to. While kings can be caught at any random time throughout the day, first light and last light have definitely been the most productive times to be on the water for me. Late afternoon in particular can be a good time for finding active fish as the surface temperature will often rise an extra degree or two throughout the day after a bit of sun. Tides can also be worth studying, particularly in areas that are more influenced by stronger currents such as the channels of Georges Bay and various rocky headlands located around Coles Bay, the Derwent and Norfolk Bay.. When the tide begins to move, kings can often be found lurking on channel markers or in close to rocky ledges waiting to pick off any prey items that might swim past.

Gearing Up Kings are well known for their ability to have a decent scrap and will quickly exploit any fault they may find in your gear so it’s important that everything is up to scratch! Majority of the fish you’re likely to come across in these parts of the state are widely referred to as ‘rats’ which is basically a name for kingfish of a smaller size class, typically under 75cm, so you don’t need ridiculously heavy gear. Lighter gear of decent quality will hold up just fine on these fish and can be great fun to use. The outfit I use most often consists of a 3000 size reel (4000 is good too) spooled up with 7-10kg braid and matched with a 3-6kg or 4-8kg rod around 2.2metres long. When choosing a leader size I often go with 15kg. Although it can pay to beef your leader up to 20-30kg when fishing around structure such as wharfs as kingfish are known to fight dirty. Kingfish can also be a bit wary at times as well, this is when you may have go the opposite way and down size leaders to 7-10kg to help get the bite. Fishing News - Page 24

Bigger kingfish tend to be a little bit more elusive in these parts of the state however you certainly can’t rule them out. The gear I’ve already mentioned is capable of landing these larger fish with a bit of skilful angling and a bit of luck on your side although if you’re being serious about it, I would recommend the use of heavier gear. Something like a 6000 or 8000 size reel and 2427kg braid matched with a 10-20kg rod around 2.4 metres in length would be ideal.

Lures & Baits You’ve probably seen videos of kingfish being super aggressive and crash tackling big stickbaits at high speeds - and they will certainly do this at times. However, kings can be extremely temperamental and fussy fish and because of this I always take a variety of offerings. Kings also have a tendency to only hang around the boat for a short period of time once you find them so it also pays to have multiple rods rigged with a selection of offerings so you don’t need to waste time tying something on if they don’t respond well to your first presentation. Soft Plastics - Jerkshad style soft plastics in 4, 5 & 7 inch sizes are great options when searching for kingfish. Rigged on a 3/8 or 1/2 ounce jighead they can be effective for searching the water columns. I often use these when fishing around moorings, shallow reefs or rocky headlands. Casting in close to the structure and allowing the plastic to sink to the bottom before ripping it up through the water columns with a fast wind and spasmodic twitches of the rod tip has accounted for a good number of the kings I have caught. There are some great jerkshads to choose from in the ZMan and Daiwa Bait Junkie ranges.

A couple of kings from a crazy session under the Hazards in Coles Bay. Stickbaits - Both sinking and floating stickbaits work well particularly in sizes up around 125mm long. Stickbaits give off a great silhouette that perfectly mimics the smaller fish that kings often predate on such as mackerel and garfish. These lures are also great for searching water quickly as they’re built to cast a long way and can be fished effectively on a fast retrieve. When fishing with a stickbait I like to make long casts across likely looking areas and retrieve them with either a fast wind and lots of little twitches or long slow sweeps of the rod tip with short pauses while winding the slack in between sweeps. Stickbaits are a great option if you’re fishing land based off rocky headlands or if you’re trying to sneak up on a bust up or bow waving fish without spooking them from a distance. Poppers - There have been a number of trips where poppers have really saved the day for me. These things really have the ability to stir things up on what would otherwise be a quiet day. The loud and obnoxious commotion these lures create can often provoke a kingfish into biting when nothing else will. Poppers have been most effective for me when fished around surface structures such as moored boats, shellfish leases and salmon leases. I like to make a long cast parallel with the structure and retrieve the lure with short downward jabs of the rod tip while winding at a medium pace. The occasional short pause can also trigger a bite. Another thing worth noting with poppers is even the smaller poppers can create big commotion

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and I’ve found poppers around 95mm long such as the Nomad Chug Norris to be the perfect bite size snack for a kingfish whilst still causing a ruckus on the surface! Baits - While lure fishing is definitely the more exciting way to catch kingfish sometimes they just aren’t interested. This is why it can pay off to collect some fresh baits on the day of or the day before your trip. My favourite bait without a doubt is squid and the most effective way I’ve found for fishing it is by using the head of the squid. Personally, I like to cut the squid head in half length ways. For the rig all you need is a 4/0 bait hook tied straight to the leader and maybe a small running sinker depending on depth. Take the 4/0 and pin it through the back end of the head just behind the eye just once. Lightly weighted the squid head should sink slowly with the tentacles trailing. This can either be fished by pitching it at likely structure and allowing it to sink for a while before retrieving it with a slow and steady wind or just leaving it hanging out the back of the boat allowing it to sink just out of sight. If a king grabs it,

it is important that you free spool your reel quickly and give them a chance to eat it for a couple of seconds before setting the hook. Livebaits - I’ve experimented with livebaits a number of times and I’ve never had a kingfish actually eat one but thats not to say they don’t work, because they do. Due to most of the kings being relatively small, it’s important that your livebaits aren’t too big as well. Slimey Mackerel, calamari, cocky salmon and yakkas are all great choices. For the smaller fish baits you can get away with just a single 4/0 through the nose. For slight larger fish baits and calamari I’d suggest two snelled 4/0 hooks - one pinned just behind the head and the other towards the tail end. It’s important you don’t pin the hooks too deep through the livies as this will quickly turn them into not livies. Try to pin the hooks just under the surface of the skin if you can. The bonus to using a livebait is that they will often attract kingfish to the boat even if the kings don’t eat them. This has happened to me a number of times and quickly switchbaiting them

A range of the author’s favourite lures. with a bit of squid or a soft plastic will often result in a hook up! Overall, keep mixing it up with your lures and baits until you find what works on the day and if you find kingfish, pay close attention to their behaviour and

how they’re reacting to your offerings. If they don’t seem overly interested within the first couple of casts, switch to something else before they disappear! Nathan Huizing

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Fishing News - Page 25

Fishing the drift for better results By Casey Pfeiffer Fishing News - Page 26

ly fishing has many different facets and being confident in all forms of the sport will ultimately lead to more fish finding the back of the net. The last few years, I have made a more conscious effort to spend more time boat fishing on lakes. This is because I realise that lakes can offer fantastic oppor-tunities for large fish, as well as the option of fishing a large variety of techniques. Drifting lakes in the boat is by far the best way to cover these large areas of water efficiently.

Getting Setup Selecting a rod is often a tricky decision when fishing in rivers, however fishing from the boat makes life simple. My first and usually only choice is a 10ft 6wt fly rod. A 10ft fly rod allows better casting and more control over your flies and the fish once hooked. The extra length will also make landing fish from the boat a much easier task. Weight is a matter of personal preference, however the best allrounder for Tasmania would have to be a 6 weight. A 6 weight rod

A 10’ #6 weight rod give you better control from a boat. has enough grunt to cast three large flies with tungsten beads, and fight large fish, but is also light enough to cast all day long, and multiple days in a row without much fatigue. Some great anglers I know prefer to fish a heavier weight, but I have found that the stress on

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Drogues are a Must! Tactics for Floating Lines

A drogue will slow and also allow you to steer your drift. my arm is not worth the extra few feet I might get in a cast. Reels are still an important part of this set up, even if you are rarely fighting the fish on the reel. They need to be large enough to house larger size fly lines, and they need to have spare spools readily available for the multiple lines needed.

A good drogue set up is the most important aspect of drift fishing on the lakes. For those that don’t know, a drogue allows you to slow down your drift for the optimum fishing speed. A well set up drogue also allows you to steer the boat for the perfect drift every time. Whether its following a weed bed or manoeuvring through trees. There are a few commercial drogues, some are made of PVC fabric, but the best ones are heavy shade-cloth type material with floats in the top and chain in the bottom. Essential Flyfisher has them. The drogue should be set up on the starboard side of the boat, allowing the boat driver easy access to steer the drogue without having to move around much. It is best set up with one continuous loop of rope that allows you to pull the drogue in the direction that you want your boat to drift. Drogues that are fixed on either end will drift straight, but this means uncontrolled drifts.

Floating lines offer the option of fishing both dry and wet flies flies. A trio of dry flies can be deadly on the water in a hatch scenario, just as fishing multiple unweighted or lightly weight flies ‘nymphing’ can be outstanding when the fish are looking for nymph sized morsels to gorge themselves on. When fishing three flies per line, my preference is a 6wt floating line, with tippet tied directly onto the fly line. My tippet section is 4.5 metres long, with droppers tied at both 1.5 metres and 3 metres. This length allows a delicate landing without being too difficult to cast, even if the breeze is up. Fly selec-tion is a matter of matching the hatch if there is one, but dry fly confidence boosters for me are a claret para dun with cdc post, possum emerger, and cdc sedge with an orange indicator. Having one fly with a coloured indicator allows me to easily identify where my flies have landed, even in bright conditions. Whilst dry flies are most commonly fished static, twitching dries can also be very effective. Twitching is just a matter of letting your flies land, waiting several seconds, making a few short retrieves and then letting the flies settle again for several seconds, and this is repeated throughout the entire retrieve. One of my favourite tips on fishing dries is to use muscilin on the last few feet of your fly line as it helps your line to float on top of the water. This allows you to easily pick

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Fishing News - Page 27

Sandro Soldarini displays great control while slowly retrieving a team of nymphs

Like most techniques new to the country it was introduced by competitive anglers after seeing the tech-nique used in international competitions. Suitable flies for nymphing are often unweighted, but sometimes light beads are used to help get the flies down faster. Weighted nymphs are particularly good on days that are a little windier than ideal, as they sink faster, you get to fish more of your drift in the correct water column, despite the boat drifting faster. Retrieves for nymphing are varied. On still days a favourite of mine is to fish static. These means only retrieving your line just fast enough to stay in contact with your flies, while allowing them to sink slowly without being pulled. Takes are detected by watching the bow of your line between your rod tip and the water, sometimes a take can be a subtle tick, other times the fish slam your flies and there is a quick and distinct pull as the line straightens. Strip striking while keeping a low rod tip is most important when nymphing, if not the fish will almost always be lost. It pays to vary your retrieves between long slow pulls, short twitches, and figure eighting at different speeds until you find what the fish are after on any given day. As with any lake fishing, the fish will often eat the flies as the sink, so after every cast lands a few pulls to straighten the line and get in contact with your flies will give you a much better chance of hooking and landing a fish when it decides to eat.

Going Deep A selection of lines and flies for Tasmanian lakes.

Big rainbows love fast stripped flies on sinking lines. your line up off the water to recast while creating minimal disturbance on the surface. Another great floating line technique is nymphing. Since the majority of a fishes diet is subsurface, this can be a great way to go when fish are looking up, but there is not a lot of action on the surface. Tasmanian lakes are a classic example of great nymphing water, as the fish seem to be looking up a vast majority of the time, even if they’re not rising. This is a technique that has been popular for a long time in the United Kingdom, yet was extremely uncommon in Australia until recent years. Fishing News - Page 28

Sinking lines are ideal for almost any lake because you can use them in any type of water. If you can find where the fish are holding, sinking lines give you the opportunity to catch those fish, without depending on a hatch or perfect weather conditions. Lakes with weedy bottoms, drop offs, or soaks are ideal because they give you a great idea of where to start your search for fish. These areas are known to hold food, while also providing cover for the fish, which makes them perfect areas to tar-get. The most important information to understand about sinking lines is how the sink rate system works. Lines can be found in weight classes to suit the rod, but the sinking rate is measured in Di. Which is the inch rate that the line sinks per second, with no interference from flies. These meas-urements are made in inches, not centimetres which pays to keep in mind. So a Di 5 sinks at 5 inches per second, and a Di 7 at 7 inches per second. Simple once you know! Sinking lines also come in intermediate, fast intermediate, and sweeps, which are a totally different kettle of fish. An intermediate line is designed to sink very slowly, and sit just beneath the surface of the water. A fast intermediate sinks slightly faster than the

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intermediate at a rate of around 1.5inches per second and is suitable for depths up to 1.5 metres. Sweep lines can be found in Di 3 to Di 7. The sweep line sinks at the rated inches per second in the middle, but the tip of the line sinks at about half the pace. This makes them ideal for fishing over weed beds where flies are likely to get caught up regularly, and impact your time spent fishing dramatically. The ideal lake box will include each of these lines on spools, with one or two reel casings to make for easy changeovers. Most times I will keep my the same flies tied on, and just snip my tippet off at the fly line loop, change over spools, thread the new line through the guide, and tie the tippet with flies back onto the loop. Often I see anglers not chang-ing lines because it will take too long, but with this set up I can change lines and a minute and be back in the game with a greater chance of success. Tippet set up for pulling on sinking lines is very simple. As the tippet section is quite long, there is no need for a tapered leader, and using one will actually make casting much more difficult, particularly in the wind. My typical set up is for three flies, however these can be tied with longer tippet sections and two flies if necessary. I start with a tippet section tied directly to the braided loop on my fly line 4.5m long, I then tie on two droppers. These droppers should be tied at 1.5 metres and 3 metres from the loop. I prefer to tie my tippet in one long section, with droppers tied onto it rather than tying on in sections. This is because I find it twice as fast to tie, and I also find it to be stronger. For any lake fishing tippet size should be determined by the size of the fish in each lake. My go to is 0.20mm, but often I will fish lighter if the fish are finicky, or heavier if I know the majority of fish in the water a very large. Not all tippets are created equal, so do some research, and try a few out and until you find the one that is right for you. In my opinion confidence in the product is often more important than the product itself.

Get Drifting Weather will always play the most crucial role in what technique is most effective at any time of day when drifting the lakes. Whilst having good gear, and being able to punch out long casts is im-portant, good decision making will ultimately decide whether or not you are successful. Trial and error and getting out on the water in any and all conditions is for sure the fastest way to learn, but any-time you’re on the water, you’re in with a chance of getting the right drift. Casey Pfeiffer.

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Fishing News - Page 29

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Fishing News - Page 31

River trout with bibbed lures By Scott Gray Fishing News - Page 32

pinning with bibbed minnow patterns can be as simple or as technical as you like. Sure you can just tie on a lure and throw it around relentlessly until you get a strike, but by learning some simple techniques and carefully selecting your lure you can efficiently increase the number of fish you encounter and catch. There are essentially 3 different models of bibbed minnows that I use regularly these include floating, sinking and neutral suspending minnows. Each model has a different application Floating diving lures are fantastic tools to use in running water and are my favourite selection. These lures are ideal for fishing the shallower runs and riffles or on smelting fish in open pools. They can be cast upstream past a likely looking rock or log then floated over the structure and retrieved. As these lures dive when retrieved you can reach down into the deeper pocket water where the fish will hopefully be holding and search the water. To work these lures simply dip your rod tip towards the water to help the lure dive and if you come across some shallow rocks it is just a matter of pausing on the retrieve and letting the lure float up and over

the object. This reduces the likelihood of snagging significantly and allows you to thoroughly work the water. Alternatively to make the lure swim close to the surface simply hold you rod tip high in the air and retrieve. In the open pools, they are effective on smelting fish because they float, they won’t snag and all you need to do is cast out the lure where you see the fish moving, let it sit and wait until the fish comes up before retrieving. While I spend most of my time targeting fish in the moving water by walking and casting upstream (as the fish face into the current) fishing lures downstream and across is also very effective as you can let the current impart action to your lure as it swings across the river. All you need to do is cast, hold the rod and let the current do the work. When the lure has finished swinging across the river you can slowly retrieve it back to the rod tip along the bank. Sinking minnows can be fished in a similar way to floating lures, however, they give you the versatility of allowing your lure to sink. These models are ideal for fishing the deeper holes or drop-offs when you need to search the water column to find fish. They often weigh

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more than floating lures too so they are ideal for use in windy conditions or where long casts are required. Neutral or suspending minnows are ideal in the clear pools or to temp fussy fish and can be twitched to impart action, left to sit and then twitched again. This action can fire up the fish. Probably one of the best attributes of this model is giving the lure more time in the strike zone. If you pause the retrieve the lure won’t look unnatural by floating back to the surface and it won’t sink into the rocks or weedbeds and get snagged either. Many suspending lures on the market these days also come fitted with a rattle which can make them more attractive to fish. This can be particularly effective when fishing in dirty or discoloured water and helps the fish find the lure a bit easier. The downside to this is that in clear shallow water ultra spooky fish may find this too noisy.

The Strike Getting a good hookup on the initial strike is important because once the hooks have found their mark they should stay in. Most fish I lose these days are from fish jumping straight into the air on the strike and throwing the lure. There is not much you can do in this situation as it usually happens very quickly. Try and avoid lifting your rod tip too quickly into the air and if the fish is jumping erratically keep the rod tip down if possible. To get a good hookup ensure that your drag is set tight enough to set the hooks and it’s a good idea to test it before you head out. After a hookup, I always back the drag off a little while the fish starts thrashing around. You are always going to miss a few fish, but it is very important to get those hooks in properly on the strike.

A perfect section of river to work with bibbed minnows

Lure selection

Terminal connections

Matching the size and colour of the baitfish is probably the most important factor when selecting your lure. Colour selection is more important in clear water than discoloured water. When the water is dirty, I prefer a contrast between light and dark colours to create a silhouette as the lure moves. As a general rule though, if you stick to natural colours and patterns you will never go wrong! Usually, the fish are more opportunistic in discoloured water so visibility and action are more important attributes. In dirty water, I prefer to use larger 7-9cm minnow lures and usually downsize to 3-5cm in clear water. If there are solid fish around I’ll usually persist with larger lures.

The use of braid in moving water for spinning has been revolutionary. It’s easy to cast light lures long distances, there is plenty of sensitivity and less drag on the braid in the current which ensures that your lure looks as natural as possible. For general use 2-3kg braid is ideal for spinning in the rivers and streams. I always use a shock leader connected to the braid of about 1.5metres in length. I prefer fluorocarbon to monofilament shock leader for its strength and abrasion resistance. I’ll downsize the breaking strain in smaller streams with clear water or in open pools with little structure remembering that fluorocarbon is more visible to fish in freshwater than brackish or saltwater. Ultimately you need to select your tackle to the size of the fish you are targeting. Trout don’t have sharp teeth, but a big trout has a fair set of teeth that can damage fine leader when they role around when hooked. To connect the shock leader to the braid I double the braid over and tie a back to back uni knot with at least 4 wraps in the fluorocarbon and at least 10 wraps in the braid. Once the knot is tightened it can be trimmed neatly and will run through the guides smoothly. Ensure you trim your knots properly as if they are a bit rough repetitive casting through the guides can lead to knot breaking due to friction. Make sure you don’t find out your knot has become weak when you hook-up! Lure fishing is not rocket science, but by putting a few different lure models in your tackle box you have every situation covered on your next trip down the river. Scott Gray

Customizing and Maintenance

Small clips make lure changes quick and easy.

A selection of suspending minnows.

When you buy a lure it will usually swim correctly straight out of the box, but if you think that the hook and split rings aren’t up to the punishment they are likely to receive then it’s a good idea to change them. There’s nothing worse than putting all of the time required into landing a good fish only to have your tackle fail. You are only as strong as your weakest link! If you do customize your lure just check to make sure the lure retains its action with the modifications. Check your lure carefully after landing each fish or snag and if the lure has become tangled in the net there is also a good chance the hook may have been bent or blunted. I always carry a small sharpener, micro split ring pliers and pair of forceps to adjust or customize the lure if required. To tune the lure just use gentle pressure with a pair of pliers on the nose of the lure. Be careful as the adjustment can usually be made without any visible signs of the nose ring on the lure appearing bent at all. Test the lure to make sure it swims properly before casting.

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Fishing News - Page 33

Fishing News - Page 34

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Searching for southern bluespot flathead By Jarvis Wall

A trophy sized Tasmanian bluespot.

n recent years blue spot flathead are becoming a regular catch for anglers in the know. While some Tasmanian’s often don’t realise that they even exist, the Southern bluespot Flathead is a species that needs recognition by all as they’re an excellent sport fishing prospect and can grow to very large sizes.

The Species Southern bluespot Flathead is the second largest species in the flathead clan, growing to lengths of up to one metre and well over six kilograms. They’re unique as the spots on their topside often have a blue hue to them which sets them apart easily from your more traditional sand flathead which is a much more common capture by Tasmanian recreational fishers. The blue spot flathead also has an enormous girth which gives them large amounts of power to exert through their big fan-like tail. Although having the potential to grow to enormous sizes they’re much more common at a size of 40-60cm with 70cm fish showing up on the regular occasion.

Locations to Start the Search Inshore : Knowing where to look for blue spot inshore can change your sessions from average to epic in a short matter of time as they are usually confined to specific habitats where they’re found in good numbers. On the Northern coastline from Woolnorth to Petal Point, I have found that any depths from one and a half to six metres to be productive. The best locations have thick eelgrass with big or small sand holes in the grass beds, these often hold good populations of the blue spot. Rocky areas aren’t to be turned away from either as the edges of rock bars and reefs can also hold some of the biggest blue spot flatheads.

Rivers and Bays : This is where you can mix up your techniques as the flathead move around quite a lot with the tides. All along the North coast right round to Georges Bay on the East Coast, there are very productive estuarine

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Fishing News - Page 35

systems that hold healthy populations of blue spots. If you’re up shallow it’s always worth looking over a weed bed that’s around a metre deep at high tide. This is an excellent hunting ground for flathead as it has the cover for them to ambush prey. That’s a flathead’s primary weapon to get a meal and shallow weedbeds are riddled with all manner of baitfish and crustaceans that are very appealing to a big Bluespot Flathead. Even wide-open sand flats can hold some really good numbers of blue spots, a good indication for this is if you’re seeing mullet and especially black bream you’re in the right area. If you’re looking at fishing a little deeper, the drop-offs that fall away into the deeper channels that run through our estuaries and bays are also very good areas to work over when hunting blue spot flathead. If you position yourself to work into the tide with your electric motor and cast ahead then work your soft plastic or vibe back along the bottom you’re in with a very good chance of finding one.

A selection of the authors favourite baits.

Techniques to Catch Bluespots The most successful technique is dependent on where you’re fishing, being able to make adjustments based on conditions and habitats can increase the catch rate immensely. While scouting the shallow sand flats I like to fish with hard-bodied minnows ranging from 60-80mm in length. Colour isn’t a major factor but I certainly much prefer generic black bream colours like silvers, golds and prawn patterns. Having your hard-bodied tuned so it suspends is paramount as the longer you can keep your minnow in the flatheads strike zone the better, they generally won’t move too high up off the bottom to grab a minnow. I have found a slow draw of the rod tip followed by an aggressive twitch and then a relatively long pause to be the most effective way of luring the flats for them. It’s a much different take to a bream, you get a weird sort of weight rather than the aggressive pluck. Usually, they’re hooked outside the mouth or under the chin or around the head. It pays to have very sharp “sticky” trebles on your lures for this reason!

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While searching out over the ocean weed beds, the most effective way I’ve found to fish these holes are to cruise along slowly on your electric motor. You can then sight the sand holes and position yourself where you can best cast into them. This will keep your soft plastic or whatever presentation you’re using in the sand hole for as long as possible. The Flathead will lay in wait for anything to swim into the hole and then pounce on it like it’s their last meal. The same principle applies when you’re fishing around the rocky areas, just position yourself with your electric motor or work out your drift so that you can cast parallel to the rock edge and have your lure be in the strike zone as much as possible. Short aggressive little hops up off the bottom followed by a short rest on the bottom are what I’ve found to work best. The Flathead take is hard to miss, they sure do clunk it. Remember to always make contact with the bottom and when you feel that tap through your rod strike fast! If you’re wading or walking a bank in hope of tangling with some bluespots, make sure you check the tides. I like to wait it out until the tides three-quarters of the way out and fish the last and first quarter of run at the bottom end of the tide. This enables you to get closer to any drop-offs where they’ll hold out waiting for an easy meal. Fish with the same principle as I explained for fishing channel edges in the estuaries from a boat, it’s the same idea you’re just on the other side of the water!

Tackle and Set up When it comes to hunting flathead on artificial lures your gear plays a very big part in fishing them to their full potential. When fishing up shallow on the flats and weed beds, I like to fish with a 2.1 metre long fast tapered rod rated around the 2-4kg range. You need this longer rod and faster taper to whip the small hardbodies out far enough from the boat. A spinning reel of a 2000 or 2500 size is best suited for this application. I spool mine with 3-4kg braid which does the job nicely. A leader of 4kg fluorocarbon is perfect for this application. My favoured exact set up is a Majorcraft Works Truzer Mebaru 7’4 3-8lb with a 2506 Daiwa Exist which is then spooled with Unitika Bream Super Pe 3.6kg braided line. Choosing the right hardbody can be daunting but if you base your decisions off what you’d use for bream you’ll be on the right track. My personal favourites are the Bassday Sugaminnow 70SP in the HM03 colour, Jackson Athlete 7SP in the HBS colour and the Atomic Jerk Minnow 65 in the Silver Wolf colour. While fishing off the coastline and channel edges in slightly deeper water you can beef your gear up a bit. Once again around a 2.1-metre rod is my go-to. You can fish a slower actioned rod here if you’d prefer as the taper doesn’t make too much difference as you’re only really imparting small bits of action into the soft plastic or vibe. Braid of around 3-6kg is fine and I like to beef my leader up here running 4.5-7kg fluorocarbon. I like to use a 2500 sized reel in this application as it allows for more line control while staying in contact with the presentation you’re using while it drops. My

Masters of disguise, flathead can easily blend in with the bottom.

Left: Wading the flats is one of the most rewarding was to catch a flathead. Above: Target the channel edges as this is where flathead wait to ambush prey. exact set up is a Daiwa Certate 2500LT spooled with 5.4kg Majorcraft Dangan braid which is then paired with a Samurai Infinite 7ft 3-8lb rod. An 80mm soft plastic with a paddle tail in Black and Gold or Pink colour seems to be my most successful. I fish these on a 1/4 ounce jighead with a 3/0 sized hook.

There are endless locations along Tasmania’s coastline to search. Fishing News - Page 38

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So next time you’re wondering what to target in the warmer months, consider targeting some bluespot flathead as they’re a great sport fish and are readily available for anyone keen to get out and have a go. Just keep in mind the pointers I’ve made and hopefully they help you find some of these awesome fish!

You’re an Angler, and no matter how many times you go fishing you’ll want to go again and no matter how many fish you catch (or nearly catch) it will never be enough. There will be days when the fishing is better than one’s most optimistic forecast, others when it is far worse. Either is a gain over just staying home. You’re hooked, along with us.

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Fishing News - Page 39

nymphing Rods With fly fishing tactics constantly changing to meet the demands of the world’s most competitive environments, the rods used to master these specialized techniques must evolve too. Without compromise, every Douglas nymphing rod brings the angler the most advanced combinations of balance, control and sensitivity. Light tips load effortlessly at short ranges to accurately place weighted fly rigs into the current and manage drifts with pinpoint accuracy. Douglas’ proprietary carbons and nano-resins transmit every bounce and tumble of the flies until the angler intuitively detects the strike.

Fishing News - Page 40

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Fishing News - Page 41

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Barbless is Best A view of fishing with barbless flies Lubin Pfeiffer There is no limit to the size fish you will land making the change.

here have been many changes in the fly fishing world over the last decade. There’s always new gear becoming available to anglers, new techniques to master and too many different gadgets to list. While some of these are a fad, and come and go as quickly as they arrived, there is one that is here to stay and with good reasons. That is using barbless hooks. In this article, we’ll take a closer a look at how barbless hooks made it on to the fly fishing scene, why they are the superior option for both anglers and fish, and the reason why they are here to stay on the fly fishing scene for good.

Where did Barbless Originate Like most new techniques or methods in the fly fishing world today, barbless hooks originated from competition fly fishing. FIPS Mouche made a ruling that all flies must be dressed on barbless hooks to be legal in a fly fishing competition many years ago. Fips Mouche regards fish health as a huge part of their competition regulations and will disqualify any fish that isn’t able to be released in good health. So moving from barbed hooks to barbless was a no brainer. Anyone that has caught a fish with a barbed hook will know if that hook buries deep or finds some hard bone it can be a real issue to remove from the fish in quick time, even with the use of forceps. Even worse when that barbed hook finds its mark anywhere in the gill region, that is pretty much a death sentence for the fish as removing it is almost impossible without damaging the fish. I think personally that in this new world of catch and release angling, for the most part, barbless hooks were always going to be a natural progression. We are still able to catch fish for a feed but by using a barbless hook the fish that we do release are in the best condition they can be.

Why Barbless and Not Crushed Barbs I’ve heard many anglers talk about losing many fish because they are starting to crush the barbs on their flies in an effort to go barbless. This is a great move as it is better for the fish but I can sympathise with them as crushing a barb on a barbed hook takes away the effectiveness of a barbed hook greatly. Which does lead to many fish lost. The reason for this is a barbed hook is designed in a way that the barb is the part of the hook that secures the fish. Whereas when you move to a factory-made barbless hook, they are designed in such a way to retain the fish without the use of a barb. This means that the barb is not the only part of the hook that’s going to keep the fish attached. I’ve experienced this first hand as my competition career has spanned over the time of the crushed barb hooks (as this was the only option) to manufactured barbless. Having used both types extensively, I can tell you that manufactured barbless is the only way to go.

Availability Over a decade ago when the crushing of barbs started to become a regular occurrence with both competition and recreational anglers, there were very little options on the market for anglers looking to use manufactured barbless hooks. I can remember a friend of mine who used to import Knapek hooks which were the only ones I can remember offering a barbless option. These hooks had all sorts of different curves in the hook point which were supposed to replicate the holding ability of the barb on a hook. They were handcrafted, as the demand for them was so small, and no two were ever the same which meant it would be quite a lucky dip when you received your order of them! These days numerous manufactures are offering all styles of quality barbless

hooks off the tackle shop wall. I’m feeling old writing this but I could remember the days when Kamasan was pretty much it on the tackle shop wall and now there are many different brands of barbless, not barbed, hooks taking their place. Many commercially tied flies are now offering a barbless range in their flies which is proof of the rise in popularity with the angling community. With the rise in availably, there is no better time to start using barbless in my opinion.

Hook styles for Fishing Styles As we move into the finer details of barbless hooks, we can now start talking about different hook points for fishing styles. Not everyone fishes the same on the water and having different hooks styles to suit the angler is a great thing. Gone are the days of the multicurve Knapek being the only barbless hook available. You can now get a straight point, curve point, spear point or a combination just to name a few. I’ve been amazed at the difference such a little change can make, but I assure you it is well worth trying a few different ones to find out which suits your fishing style the

Every good fly shop now stocks a big range of quality barbless hooks.

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Fishing News - Page 43

best. For me, it is a straight All you have to do is see point all the way. Whether how easy it is to remove I’m using a streamer hook in a barbless hook from a the lake, nymphing a river or fish. This is the same for casting a dry fly at a rising fish anglers when receiving somewhere, I always prefer a hook into any part of to use a straight point hook. the body can ruin a days While my wife Casey will fishing, particularly if always rather fishing with a it’s into a nerve heavy curved point, as this suits her fingertip or the like. fishing style better. There are When I guide I always different levels of curves as use barbless hooks as well depending on the brand its just a simple pull the you choose to go with. What A selection of dries for Tasmanian rivers all hook out process rather I have experienced is that if than a catastrophe which tied on manufactured barbless hooks. you get it right you will stay can result in having to connected with more fish. That is why it is important use the line pull trick to pull out a deeply embedded to try ta few and find out for yourself what works barbed hook from a client. An event such as this for best for you. Being a fly fisher you are part of a big someone who is just starting to fly fish can have long community and there is nothing better than helping term negative effects. each other out. If you and some of your angling friends are looking at moving to barbless hooks, why not each Striking Fish with Barbless tie some flies on different style barbless hooks are share One important aspect to fishing with barbless hooks them around, this is a quick way to find out which is I learned is that you need to strike the fish effectively to better for who. Rather than having to buy an entire stay connected. While this may sound simple enough, packet of each style of hooks just for yourself. Better many anglers simply are too timid with their hook sets yet, why not head to one of the many Fly Fish Australia and this can often be the reason for the fish falling off competitions a get the chance to converse with other during the fight. With a confident hook set, you can anglers who have had years of experience with different let the line completely slack and the fish will still be styles of barbless hooks. connected with a barbless hook.

Better for you and the Fish There is no doubting how much better barbless hooks are for the fish we choose to catch and release.

Make the Change Like most new things in fishing, it takes quite some time for anglers to get on board and give it a try. While

Your catch rate won’t change going barbless. barbless hooks have been around for ages now, I know many of you reading this will have not tried them yet. Rather than just crushing the barbs on your existing hooks, make an effort to try the real deal as I can assure you differences are huge. Just like the feeling of casting a quality fly line, using a quality manufactured barbless hook is no different. I can tell you that 15 years ago I would have lost all confidence if I tied a fly on that didn’t have a barb, and now days not one single fly in my fly box has a barb on it. I’ve landed many hundreds if not thousands of fish on barbless hooks and can strongly suggest if you haven’t done so already, there is no better time to make the change!

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Fishing News - Page 44

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Looking back

Top left: THEN - a Tamar Heads kingfish caught in the early eighties. Above: NOW - Forty years later the author with a Tamar Heads calamari.

A lifetime of fishing Richard Sherriff

very angler would most likely remember catching their first fish, the sudden aggressive pull of the hooked fish and it’s that feeling that can hook anglers into a lifetime obsession. The rush that comes with the hook-up is often addictive and keeps the angler going back regardless of age or experience. Add to that, the challenge of adjusting to weather and water conditions and trying new techniques and gear.

My First Fish My first fish was caught on a deadline in the small creek that wound its way through my Nan’s front yard behind Oxley Richards (Unc) garage in Mole Creek. We spent many memorable hours playing and fishing in that creek. Nan was a daughter of the late George and Alice Lee, a well-known pioneer cattle family and original owners of Lees Paddocks. Nan’s husband Gloster Richards owned the first car in Mole Creek and was a very keen fly fisher. I think this was an influence on my mother who always encouraged us to spend time fishing. Every school holiday I would spend time, often with a brother at Mole Creek with Nan who was very generous with pocket money — if we helped her in the huge garden around her house. Nan would fill our palm

with two bob pieces and for a short time we felt rich as we headed up to Uncle Fred’s general store to buy fishing gear, or firecrackers in May for bonfire night. Life compared to today was simple. The most exciting thing at Mole Creek was at midday when the steam train from Deloraine pulled into the station with local freight and letters for the Post office. The gear we used was a green corded line, sinkers and hooks. Worms were plentiful in the garden and the rod a nice flexible branch from a willow tree that was hanging over the stream.

The Passion Grows From there my brothers and I progressed to licences and rods for fishing in the Meander River at Deloraine. The rods were seven-foot bamboo sticks with the guides being screw-in curtain eye design. Reels were side wind and spooled with green cord. We called the reels clackers due to the noise the clutches made whilst stripping line onto the ground making way to cast the heavy sinker and worm baited hook out, most trying to hit the bank on the other side. Everything those days was done on I’m better than you basis - look at that good cast. The longest cast I remember was when the line jammed in a rod guide, the heavy homemade

sinker parted company and disappeared into the bush on the other side of the river. Had it hit an angler they would have been seriously concussed. As our passion grew so did the tackle selection. Mitchell and Ambidex spinning reels along with catgut (mono) line and a range of coloured Jarvis Walker fibreglass rods in Yellow, Green and Blue with the baby whale logo. Add to that the range of spinning, celtas and wobbler lures including the silver Halco blue water lures. Our fishing experiences took a huge step up as we now fished fast-moving waters at the Deloraine dam and rapids in the Barratts Bridge section of the river. More rod technology followed with the introduction of the Black Queen rods. These were a must-have status symbol item, there is still an original in good condition in my rod range, many older anglers would remember owning one. Due to time spent fishing we learnt to cast lures accurately into small pools at a distance, which were at times very productive. Retrieving celtas down narrow rapids whilst wading in shorts and sandshoes was also productive. Trout was always our target species with redfin perch being seen as a nuisance fish. There was a tench pond in the river at Deloraine and that was a

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Fishing News - Page 45

place to avoid like the plague, although a few used to enjoy fishing it. I guess they may have liked the taste of muddy tench.

Returning to a Love of Fishing

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Tasmanian Tagged Trout Promotion 2020-21 Angling Season

Before the start of the 2020-21 season five tagged brown trout were released into lakes around Tasmania. One each into Arthurs Lake, Lake Burbury, yingina / Great Lake, Lake Pedder and Lake Rowallan. The tags are blue and have unique identifying details. Each tag is worth $10 000 to the angler that returns the fish to the Inland Fisheries Service (*conditions apply). For more information and full Terms and Conditions, go to www.ifs.tas.gov.au

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Fishing News - Page 46

On leaving school, fishing started to take a back seat with a concentration on competitive sports of football, cricket and basketball, and time working on the mainland. However, when later back in Tasmania and marrying into a commercial fishing family (my late father-in-law Jack Button of St Helens had built in the late 70’s the Japara fishing boat which sadly caught fire and sank off Three Hummock Island in October 2017) my fishing passion was re-ignited and blue water and fishing boats became part of that passion. It was decided that we needed a boat and a decision was made to purchase a 5 metre Van Dieman Seaman aluminium boat from LIW in Launceston. Cousin Tony McGuire a keen angler was experienced with boats and I became his apprentice, quickly learning the art of launching and retrieving the boat from various ramps and locations. Ramps were not up to the standard they are now. This boat was ideal and used both in blue water, rivers and lakes. My first overnight trip to Schouten Island with Tony was productive boating Stripey Tuna, Morwong and Flathead. The boat handled a very rough westerly wind chop on the way back to Swansea, albeit the trip was a wet one. We joined Tony over several years to compete in the Swansea annual Classic Fishing competitions with my brothers and father crewing my boat, they were fun times. Georges Bay St Helens was a favourite holiday spot and we spent a lot of time there. The salmon fishing was always good. Other trips involved fishing for yellowtail kingfish at Tamar Heads in the days they were a best-kept secret. On a day trip to Waterhouse Island, we ran into a school of them, boating several — making it a great day. We used surface poppers and plenty of patience on these fish which have cat-like cunningness. Matt was starting to grow up and would join me at times driving the boat at a very early age and showing a real interest in catching fish. We both did a lot of estuary, lake and river fishing together until he headed off to WA to work at Kalgoorlie. The fishing did not stop there and a new boat was on the horizon and many more fishing adventures, but that’s for another day. Richard Sherriff

Matt amongst an Australian salmon bust-up at Georges Bay in St Helens.

A nice Arthurs lake trout

Matt with sister Angela checking an early morning catch.

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RECREATIONAL SEA FISHERIES NEWS FEBRUARY 2021

Summer Fishing Clinics well attended

ishcare volunteers and staff were kept busy in January running over 20 fishing clinics at jetties across Tasmania including Stanley, George Town, St Helens, Coles Bay, Hobart and Eaglehawk Neck. All the clinics were well attended by children and families who were new to fishing, and some more experienced fishers wanting to brush up on their skills and learn more responsible fishing techniques. The weather was unpredictable for some of the earlier events, but sunshine prevailed in later January and overall the clinics were very popular in both city and regional locations. It’s great to see kids getting hooked on fishing and learning skills that last a lifetime. Rods and gear were provided, and newcomers trying fishing for the first time learned skills like casting, knot tying and rigging, as well as responsible fishing practices, such as measuring, handling and releasing their catch.

It was fantastic to see many fish caught with popular locations including the twin pontoons at York Cove George Town, where King George whiting, wrasse, Australian salmon, mullet, squid and flathead were caught and Coles Bay which saw wrasse, leatherjacket and even a yellowtail kingfish caught! Fishers at these events are taught responsible fishing methods, most importantly the use of circle hooks and how to handle an undersized fish so that it is returned to the water in a healthy condition. New fishers were also reminded of the 3 important Fishcare messages • Measure your catch. • Put the little ones back. • Only take what you need for a feed.

Thank you to our dedicated volunteers who always turn out reliably despite strong winds, rain and sunshine to pass their skills on to young fishers. If you are interested in holding a fishing clinic for a school or community group, or becoming a Fishcare volunteer, please contact us at fishcare@dpipwe.tas.gov. au or ring 6165 3039. Need more information? • Get a copy of the Recreational Sea Fishing Guide from Service Tasmania • Download the Tasmanian Sea Fishing Guide app • Go to www.fishing.tas.gov.au or www.facebook. com/FisheriesTasmania • Phone: 1300 720 647 or 03 6165 3233 • Email: fishing.enquiries@dpipwe.tas.gov.au

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Fishing News - Page 47

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Fishing News - Page 49

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Life Jackets must now conform to AS 4758 These will display the following levels: Level 150 and above Level 100 Level 50 Level 50S (Special Purpose) There are some life jackets, mostly inflatable, that may be in excess of Level 150.

Tasmanian Fishing and Boating News Issue 144 2021 February

Articles inside

Drifting for Better Results – Casey Pfeiffer

Searching for Southern Bluespot Flathead — Jarvis Wall

Chasing Kingfish — Nathan Huizing

River trout with Bibbed Lures — Scott Gray

Searching for Wild Rainbows — Kelly Mackenzie

Barbless is Best — Lubin Pfeiffer

Bluefin – All year round — Jonah Yick

Big Bream – Beginners Guide — Lubin Pfeiffer