Tasmanian Fishing and Boating News Issue 148 February 2022

TASMANIAN FISHING

and BOATING NEWS — ISSUE 148

Tamar King George Whiting Winning a Flyfishing Comp.

Moving Dry Flies - Works

Gordon River - secret tips

Estuary Boat Setup Tips

Exmouth Expedition

Summer Trout - lures

Bass Strait Jumbo

Kayak Snapper

$5.95

Jonty Kruska with kayak snapper. See page 35.

Instagram and Facebook are extraordinary resources in fishing. It once was the realm of magazines like this to deliver the knowledge, but now ‘Instant Gratification’ is delivered as it happens. Follow the Tasmanian kingfish, King George whiting, fly fishing on many other pages to see the show-offs bragging about their captures. I say show-offs in the nicest way, because we are all grateful to see what can be caught.

I believe magazines are still a huge contributor to the fishing community as the stories can be much longer and with more detail, a flat battery does not affect them and a magazine can be picked up any time, so don’t write us of any time soon.

Prior to social media it was just word of mouth and rumours that would get you excited, now we can see fishing almost live, and whilst many don’t reveal the exact location it is often pretty easily worked out.

Fish finders are another game changer and side scan combined with the regular down scan GPS and Navionics will reveal things never thought possible. A good unit can be well under $1000 and no boat should be without one.

Likewise, electric trolling motors are also a gamechanger. The better versions have GPS spot-lock and an anchor can often been dispensed with. If you

find a good bit of reef, just hit the spot-lock and despite wind or tide the GPS will keep you hanging on the exact same location for as long as the battery lasts. No rattling chain, hanging over the front, no swinging on the chain, no wiping out the weed or reef an no reset to get the right spot. When the tide or wind changes on spot-lock you are still in the exact spot, but on anchor you could be in an arc 50 metres away. And when tide and wind combine on anchor anything can happen.

So I urge you to embrace the latest in technology, follow a few pages that give you a very targeted overview of your specialised interest and enjoy the results.

Estuary Perch

After the comprehensive article last issue on estuary perch and their vulnerability in Tasmania I had several discussions with interested people. Most interesting though was the Minister, Guy Barnett, did take an interest and I will be meeting with him.

This is perhaps the fish at most risk of becoming extinct in Tasmania. It seems to have a very low population and a environmental upset could see the end of them in Tasmania.

One expert I spoke to said - ‘I could easily grow them in a plastic swimming pool’ they are not a complicated

Tasmanian Fishing and Boating News

fish to breed. Victoria has been doing it for years and breed hundreds of thousands of them every year. We just need some one in IFS to take an interestafter all it is their job to protect our native fish. IFS has done the most extraordinary job eradicating carp, and if one tenth of that effort was put into an EP recovery we could have an extra and fantastic sport fishery in the future.

Kingfish

King George whiting have been so keenly caught over the last few years, but now it seems most keen sport fishers are chasing kingfish - including fly fishers. I recently saw some photos of a kingfish caught by a fly fisher from the Low Head breakwall on the lower Tamar River. Unheard of years ago, but now possible. We have not seen too many big versions in our estuaries, the far NE and NW do have monsters. Snapper are also being found in bigger numbers all around Tasmania. The article by Jonty Kruska on page 35 catching snapper from a kayak just shows what some determination can deliver.

Mike Stevens - Ed

Summer Trout

Lure fishing in fast water for great results

Adrian Webb

With the Summer weather well and truly here it’s time to change a few tactics fishing the rivers during these warmer months. Lower water levels and warmer water temperatures is something that the trout don’t like all that much. I have found the ideal water temperature for trout is between 11-18 degrees. Above and below these temperatures, catching trout can become quite tough at times, even more so in Summer if the water temp reaches above 20 deg then the trout tend to shut down.

Spin fishing with lures for trout during the warmer weather can be quite frustrating, you have to keep persisting to catch a few fish. There are so many insect hatches all over the rivers and lakes that makes it very tough fishing for the spin fisher. Great conditions for fly fishing though, the fly fisher will catch more trout for the majority of the time than the spin fisher when these hatches occur. You’ll see trout rising, sipping insects from the surface in most sections of long slow flowing runs. Then you will come across trout leaping from the river trying to snap up caddis, duns and black spinners that are hovering above the water. I have seen

some massive hatches of insects during my trout fishing days on rivers during the Summer. It’s these days on the river when you know you’re going to do it tough. That’s when the fast water runs come into play as these will still be holding both browns and rainbow trout, it will be your best chance of catching a trout with a lure. Fishing fast water is not easy, it is rocky, slippery and very hard going in most stretches in the rivers. Tough it out and you will be rewarded with some fine trout.

Tackle and Set Up

The rods, reels and line that I use for river fishing for trout all season are as follows: The rods are 1.8 and 1.98 metre Okuma ULS 1-3 kg coupled up with small Okuma 1000 or 2000 spinning reels filled with Platypus Super 100 or Platypus Pulse 2kg mono line to a swivel and anti-kink, from there it’s 400mm trace of 3kg Platypus Stealth mono with a snap swivel attached, followed by a Mepps inline blade spinner connected to a small snap swivel. An anti-kink to me is a must when using blade spinners as they stop line twist which occurs when spin fishing with blade spinners. I always fish as

light as possible and the weight of my most successful blade spinners are 1.5gms and 2.5gms. These are a variety of Mepps Black Furys, Aglias and Bug spinners. The hard body lures are mostly all floating models, 2-3gms in weight and range from 50-70mms in length. These are 0.5-1.2 metre shallow running minnow type lures in rainbow and brown trout patterns, plus I do have quite a few small mixed floating and suspending hard body lures of different patterns that get a go every so often. When using hard body lures the anti-kink is not necessary. I have used a variety of lures for close to 56 years now, but Mepps inline blade spinners and hard body lures are the only type that I fish with. The Mepps inline spinners being my first choice every time I hit a river for a spin session, 95% of the trout I catch are on the spinners. If you have a set up that you’re comfortable with then don’t change it, you may just need to change your line to 2kg and purchase some new lures, and a different approach to your river fishing. I’m only stating the ones that I use and have been successful for me, there are plenty of other models out there that will probably do the same job as mine. Remember the

Early morning fast water spin fishing.

lighter your tackle the better your catch rate will be. Call into your local tackle store, they will have the variety of lures for what you’ll require for fishing rivers and streams.

How and Where to Fish

During the Summer, I find the long slow flowing stretches of a river will rarely give up a fish unless you are on them at first light or very late in the afternoon when the water temperature is much cooler and the sun is off the water. Fast water sections always fish well during the warmer weather as there is more oxygen in it that’s created by water rushing over the rocky sections of the river. Trout will sit in small

pockets behind rocks that have small flat water behind them and will pounce on anything that passes by. Fish can be found in small flat waters along the river banks too. It is here that you will find Summer fishing for trout at it’s best.

I mainly use small #00 1.5g and #0 2.5g metal blade inline spinners and these work a treat in the fast waters, if the river is running hard and fast then I’ll go to a #1 3.5g spinner. It’s just a matter of casting the spinner up and across the river, then by keeping the rod tip parallel to the water surface, retrieve the lure at the same speed or a little faster if needed to the flow of the river and hopefully you will soon bag a trout. In shallow fast waters keep the rod tip higher, that will

stop the spinner from bottom bouncing on the rocky river bottom and snags.

Another way is what I call the cast and drift method, cast the spinner up and across the river, keep the rod tip 30-60 cms above the water surface (this depends on the depth, deep water 2030cms, shallow water 30-60+ cms), a slow retrieve, enough to keep the line tight and let the spinner drift downstream with the flow of the river. Once the line and lure has passed you when you’re facing the opposite side of the river, slowly retrieve the line at the same time giving the rod a light twitch, doing this produces many hookups. Many stretches of fast water that you fish you may not see a trout, this is just a part of what you

fish.

have to contend with when trout fishing fast waters. Do not bypass any water as you will be surprised where trout will be holding up. I have caught trout in water that many fisher’s would bypass, it’s been no more than 70mms in depth.

The Weather

On bright sunny days with clear skies I always use the spinners with a black blade because trout’s eyes are very sensitive to light, so you should not be using shiny or bright coloured lures in these conditions.

To catch trout and be successful in doing so, you really have to be in the river for the best results. By being in the river you’ll have more access to some of the best stretches of a river that will be holding trout. Then it’s just a matter of casting into pockets of flat water and working the lure across the river and back to you at the same speed as the water. If you retrieve the lure too fast it will more than likely spook the fish more rather than attract it, so getting the speed of the lure is quite necessary for a good catch rate.

If there are sections of the river where the sun is on it, then work the areas that have shade along them from the vegetation that grows along the river banks. These shaded areas regularly hold trout. Wide open spaces and slow flowing shallow runs rarely hold trout on hot, clear days, the opposite can happen on overcast days though when the trout venture into these sections of river more often.

Some of my best fishing in Summer has been on humid days with light drizzle, I have had many great spin sessions chasing trout in these conditions. It’s well worth getting a little damp being in the river in these conditions that’s for sure. This is when you can use a variety of spinners and hard body lures in different colours. Metal blade spinners in black, copper and gold will produce some very good catches of both brown and rainbow trout in this type of weather. Hard body minnow lures in the brown or rainbow trout patterns as mentioned earlier will also do the job on the trout, as will many coloured hard body lures, there’s plenty to choose from nowadays.

I’m one who regularly changes a lure if the fishing is slow going, sooner or later one of them will start to produce a trout or two. Trout fishing is all about patience and perseverance, if you don’t

Trout zones to look for when fast water fishing.

Perfect overcast conditions for fast water fishing in Summer.

have that, then don’t go trout fishing.

Best Fishing Times

The best time to fish for trout throughout the Summer months is at first light up until around 9.30am or when the sun hits the water, after that you could be wasting your time, plus it’s too hot. If you’re not an early riser then do as I do nowadays and that is go late in the afternoon. I will hit the river after 5.00pm when there are shaded areas along the river banks and you can work those areas and runs until the sun gets much lower and the whole river is covered in shade. Both early morning and late afternoon are some of the best times to be on a river, especially the mornings when the air is crisp and cool. So if you want to catch a few trout over the Summer period, then follow my lead and I’m sure you will pick up a fish or two. A couple of other things is don’t bother fishing the small rivers and creeks at this time of year either, with

low clear water trout spook at the slightest movement. You may still catch a few but they stress very quickly in these conditions and their survival rate is very low. It’s best the small rivers are left alone during the Summer months unless there’s a decent downpour of rain that will freshen them up. Summer is also a time to be on the lookout for snakes and rivers are one of the areas they love to hang out, so be alert when walking along a river bank.

As the Summer draws to an end and the weather starts to cool, then it’s time to change a few of the tactics with river fishing. Trout will soon become more aggressive as Autumn approaches and they will take almost anything you throw at them. This is when you can use a variety of coloured blade spinners. With the hard body lures, well I’ll still stick with the same models and patterns that I use each and every trout season rain, hail or shine.

Adrian Webb

This shaded area gave up a nice brown trout..

Three trout were caught here.

PB brown 2.9kg, taken in a fast water run.

This shallow fast flowing water gave up two browns. Rainbow trout, a fish you’ll find when fast water fishing.

Extra ASSISTance helps

Gordon River Tip and Tricks

Daniel Deppler

On a recent trip to the Gordon River chasing big brown trout, a switch from trebles to twin assist hooks, mixing up small to oversized lures and sheer persistence resulted in an awesome trip for Daniel and Michael Deppeler.

With the side scan showing good numbers of fish cruising the drop off where the mighty Gordon River pours out onto shallow sand bars and into the vast expanses of Macquarie Harbour, we knew we were in with a shot at a good fish or two. After a full day of casting hard body lures up onto the sand bars and bringing them back over the drop-off, our ‘hookup to hit’ rate was sitting well below fifty per cent. We had landed several fish but the number of hits that failed to hook up or fish following the lure to the boat only to turn and swim away, left us feeling a bit deflated. Watching the other boats troll up and down the channel, enjoying a cold beverage or two and protected from the elements in their cabins, we did wonder if the sore backs and arms from 12 hours of casting were really worth all the effort.

However, we put it down to bad luck but were confident things would turn around for us the next day.

Something needed to change

We were back on the water at first light again spot-locking, with the electric bow mount, into the current and casting hard body lures up onto the shallow sand bar. After the first hour, our tally was two fish from eight strikes and we knew we needed to change something. As we were obviously getting the fish’s attention using minnow style hardbodies, we didn’t want to change our lures too much. With a couple of sets of twin assist hooks floating around in the tackle box that Michael had used in the past for finicky bream bites, we decided to give them a try and replaced the rear trebles on our lures with the twin assist hooks.

Second cast and BANG hookup, a nice rainbow trout was netted, followed by another, then a brown and then another. Our hookup rate went to almost one hundred per cent with this small change and the next few hours was a remarkable session, to say the least.

Assist hooks rigged up on the job. Some braid, a couple of size 8 hooks, some silicon skirt and a split ring.

Michael Deppeler with a cracking brown trout that ate a hardbody lure cast in less than a meter of water.

Why the difference?

Given the number of hits and follows we were experiencing, we put it down to the fish not being totally committed to eating our lures. While changing to assist hooks didn’t reduce the amount of fish following our lures and not eating them it most definitely increased our hook up rate when they did decide to whack them.

Another key learning was that not all lures can handle the change of hooks and some lost their action. I recommend spending some time testing your favourite lures out with twin assists so that if the time comes that you need to adjust you are not going through trial and error during prime bite times! I will certainly be spending some time playing with my favourite trout lures and trying different hook combinations.

Upsizing when things are slow

Trolling the river channel is probably the most popular method used by most anglers visiting the Gordon River. Although we spent the majority of our trip casting lures we did turn to the old reliable troll when our arms needed a rest, to cook up some lunch and to recharge our batteries. We started out trolling similar lures to what we had been casting, small minnow style hard bodies, focussing on sitting just of the drop off into the river channel. Using smaller lures we were getting plagued with small Aussie salmon.

After persisting through countless salmon and nothing else to show for our efforts, I decided to change it up and put on something that mimicked the salmon! We know there are BIG trout in the system so surely a 20cm Salmon is occasionally on the menu! Although most of my ‘trout tackle’ is of the smaller size I did have a Rebel Broken back lure that is one of my all-time

favourite Mulloway lures that mimicks mullet to perfection. This lure is 180mm long and I must admit confidence was not high when I sent it out the back of the boat for a swim. Well first run down the river channel it got absolutely smashed by what turned out to be about a five-pound brown trout. We put another couple of larger lures on and managed to get another two fish during what was a shutdown period.

So my advice would be, don’t be afraid to mix things up, just sometimes it can make all the difference.

Persistence, Persistence, Persistence!

The last key learning from our trip to the Gordon River was around bite times. There was no denying that the fish fed hard during bite windows and almost shut down outside of them. The hard part for us was there was no pattern that we could follow to try to target the bite windows. We had success in the middle of the day with full sun at times and went fishless in primetime dusk sessions at other times. We monitored tides, wind, barometric pressure, sun, but could not find a constant indicator to tell us that the fish would start biting. The sounder showed fish all the time so finding them was not the problem.

Basically, we fished and fished and fished, cast and cast and cast, trolled and trolled and trolled and then cast and cast some more until we hit feeding fish. I took the mindset that I hadn’t travelled 1500km kilometres

from South Australia, driven 300 km from Hobart and then 50 km by boat to the Gorden River mouth to relax for 10min and miss a bite window.

Summary

The Gordon River has to be one of the most incredible places to fish in this country. The adventure to get there, the panoramic scenery and the quality of fish are in my opinion second to none.

If you get the opportunity to fish this special place then my advice is to cover all your bases, pack lures that might be a little ‘out there, don’t be afraid to mix things up, adjust, try untried tactics. Maximise the time your lures are in the water and most importantly throw in some assist hooks!

Daniel Deppler

The big Rebel that got smashed on the troll and a couple of hardbodies that we were casting up on the flats.

Macquarie harbour scenery.

Daniel wih a nice rainbow nailed on assist hooks.

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Bass Strait Jumbo Tuna

Jarvis Wall

Sometimes fishing can give you some amazing memories that will last a lifetime and this is the story of one that will last with me forever. This isn’t going to be your normal article but more of an informative recap of one of the greatest experiences of my fishing life.

On the 12th of October 2021, my great mate James Smith and I had planned to head out of our home port of Devonport to go and drag some lures for one of the famed big Bluefin Tuna that this new fishery had become renowned for in the last year and a half. It was a normal working day so we wouldn’t have a heap of time to go out after work but we wanted to make the most of the opportunities we got. At around 3pm, James messaged me slightly concerned about the weather, as it was fairly windy and to be completely honest I knew it wasn’t going to be comfortable either. After a quick observation along Lillico straight on my way home from work I rang James up and pretty much tricked him into going by saying that it wasn’t really that choppy (which it definitely was). We met up with each other and set off from Ambleside with the big Navigator in tow and headed for the Devonport boat ramp. We had a nice easy launch and sat in ready for the bumpy ride out, which was certainly bumpy!

After making it out about 5 kilometres to the 35m line off the river mouth we thought bugger it we’ll put the lures in as we was could basically only go trolling speed anyway. A spread of 6-10 inch skirts went out, Blue lumo Meridian Saltshaker 4 in the short corner, Meridian Green lumo Ahi 4 in the long corner, Blue lumo Meridian Demon 4 on short rigger, JB lures micro dingo in a custom redbait colour on long rigger and on shotgun a Blue lumo Meridian demon 5. With the wind so foul and just the two of us on board, we opted to run just 5 skirts to make everything as easy as possible for us in preparation for chaos.

The fish dreams are made of, caught out from Devonport

On we pushed towards the 45m line where I had a plan to put in place. I remember saying to James on the way out that if we marked some bait we’d just hang with that rather than just blind drive around til dark hoping for a random strike and after about 15 minutes of trolling I found a massive amount of bait mid-water on the sounder and said to James I think we are staying here. There wasn’t a heap of bird life, just the odd mutton bird and gannet flying around but I was happy to be around bait and confident in my approach.

When a plan comes together

We battled on as it was starting to get on towards dark now. At around 8pm, I said to James “one more lap over this and we’ll start heading back”, sure enough as I came back over the bait that last time there was a very convincing arch on the sounder around 25m down which I said to James “that has to be a Tuna, we have to do another pass!” I swung back around and headed back towards the mark and just as I was starting to turn we hear a massive crack and as we swung around from our seats in the cabin, the short rigger absolutely exploded and the Talica 50 just begun haemorrhaging line out, there was no mistaking this fish, it was definitely a jumbo Tuna.

I slowed the boat back to an idle and hit the autopilot function to keep us pointed straight while James jumped on the rod and I started to clear the deck. After a few minutes we knew this fish was a proper animal, it did not stop taking line and it was taking it fast. With half a spool of PE8 braided line out on the Talica we estimate this fish dumped around 550-650

metres of line. We slowly started to win some line back and as the light faded James settled in on the deck for the long haul while I battled the waves and trying to keep the big Navigator away from cutting the line. The fight was a fair stalemate for the last hour or so with the fish just finding it’s happy depth.

We tried planing the fish up with the boat but it was just far too stubborn. With the wind getting worse by the minute we tried to do circles over the fish but with the swell and wind how it was, this was extremely risky as we didn’t want to drive over the top of the fish and lose it, especially after the fight so far. This eventually starting to break this fish’s spirits and we started to gain line when all of a sudden there was a massive shift and it seems like the fish almost gave up the ghost and it just come to the surface. We were extremely wary as we both know all too well how hard these things are to handle boat side and with just us two in the average conditions we were extremely nervous. The fish then popped up on the surface and much to both our surprise the

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fish

Hooked up to a Bass Strait jumbo

had become tail wrapped during the fight. This had caused the fish to be dragged backwards which in turn caused the fish to drown.

It was a bit bitter sweet as we’d planned to release the fish but with the conditions it was always going to be difficult, so harvesting the fish because of events out of our control didn’t seem so bad. The big plus was we both love eating Bluefin and we knew none would be wasted.

After securing the gaffs in the fish we could see it was a serious beast and getting the thing over the side of the boat with just us two on board was going to be a nightmare. Looking back at the GoPro footage, what felt like a minute was actually nearly 15 minutes trying to get this thing on board. Just muscling it over the side was never going to happen, so we had to get out on the rear pod which in those horrible conditions was quite dumb now looking back on it! In the end we were both safe and under the 10pm darkness we finally managed to get this massive lump of a tuna on the deck.

As you can imagine we both lost it in excitement, we were absolutely spent but we were so stoked to have gone out and succeeded with it being just us two on board. After an examination of the fish we came to realise the clip to the lure had actually come undone during the fight and the lure trace could’ve come off at any moment, luck was definitely on our side! At the time it was hard to make a guess on this giants weight but we knew it was extremely big! We putted back to port very steadily and sat back just trying to comprehend what had just happened, it almost felt like some sort of a dream!

At this point it was around 10:30pm and we had to try and find some scales to

weigh the tuna, luckily enough the legend and founder of this fishery Glen Saltmarsh was awake and he was extremely keen to help out and get his scales down to us. We hung the fish up and got it weighed and the final result saw the fish pulling the scales down to 130 kilograms which was so unbelievable as we’d cracked our first Jumbo over 100 kilograms and done it out of our home port!

The next day we processed the fish and had people coming left right and centre to grab a share of this beautiful meat, it’s great to see something like this utilised and not have it go to waste, it certainly makes the bitter sweet feeling less bitter.

The gear we use

Running over the gear we used to stop this fish begins with the rod, we like to run all 37 kilogram rods, reel and line so a 37kg Shimano Tiagra Ultra 37kg rod was the stick of choice, as for the reel we couple the rod up with a Shimano Talica 50 2 speed which we have spooled with 1000 metres of Tasline Elite White PE8 braided line with about 100 metres of 37kg monofilament top shot. This is then joined to a 200lb wind on leader which follows down to our clip which in this instance was clipped onto a pre rigged skirt being a Meridian Tackle Blue Lumo Demon 4 on 150lb Fluorocarbon.

Thank you for reading and I hope this inspires you to get out and have a crack at finding yourself one of these amazing animals. We are truly lucky to have them right on our doorstep here and I hope that you can head out and use some of the information that I’ve shared and find one for yourself!

Jarvis Wall

The meat of the big bluefin was beautifully red and is never wasted.

The lure that got the bite.

The fish pulled the scales down to 130kg.

Pulling Dry Flies

A technique to explore on Western Lakes Trout

Logan Reid

Iremember a bluebird day, with only a few clouds in the sky, and just a slight breeze to put a small ripple on the water. We hiked 3 hours into a remote section of the western lakes to polaroid slow cruising brown trout from an elevated bank.

After walking along the edge for about an hour we found our first fish and it was a good’un! We were on a high bank and out of the corner of my eye I noticed a rather large fish in the water below me. This fish was hard up against the edge. I waited until the fish was behind a bush before I moved quickly into position. Whilst I was there my mate was still up on top of the hill, watching the fish moving up the bank sipping spinners and then turning to make its way back towards me.

I unhooked my little black spinner and stripped about a rod’s length of fly line from my reel. The fish was on the move and I put a cast out with the fly landing three metres off the bank the fish while the trout was still a little way away from me. The wind was blowing my fly in towards the bank and the fly was now about a metre off the bank. I wanted to recast the fly out further but heard the fish rise on the other side of the bush so I knew he was close and I decided to leave my fly there. This was a good decision with the fish slow cruising less than a metre off of the bank. As I saw the fish appear from behind the bush I started to move even closer to the bush as to conceal myself from the fish. He was right there in front of me in the water, I could see every spot on him and see how good

he was in condition. He was heading over towards my fly and it seemed he didn’t notice it there so I decided to add some movement to the dry just by lifting my rod tip, giving the fly a small bit of movement.

The fish saw the movement and headed over to my fly and sat under it for about three seconds which felt like ten seconds at the time. I started to worry I was going to get a big refusal but then this big brown softly sipped down the dry and started to head away from me. I set the hook and it came up solid. I was on! The fish took off with a couple of good runs and jumps, my reel was screaming and the line was cutting the water in half. After about 5 minutes of fighting this fish, he was tiring and I could get the net to him. He was a good five-pound brown and a great first fish out of the

Logan Ried and a very well conditioned brown trout.

western lakes. This memory will always stick with me but is only one of many great memories I’ve gathered from spending time in the area.

Inducing a take with movement

Trout are predatory fish and often look for movement. Sometimes a bit of movement in your fly will excite a fish and induce a take. There have been times on the river or lake that I’ve presented a dry fly nicely to a fish and had the fish swim straight under my fly without even acknowledging it. The fish either had not seen my fly or saw it and didn’t think it was lifelike enough, so adding movement to your fly will give your fly life and the fish will see and sense the movement of your fly. You can add movement to your fly if you have good line contact by just lifting your rod tip slightly so your dry skates across the surface of the water. Another way to add movement to your fly is to strip a small amount of line which will again give your fly movement. Moments later the fish you have cast to has charged over and inhaled your fly.

Fly Selection for the Western Lakes

Lakes in the western lakes that have good weed beds will get good hatches of duns and spinners in them in the warmer months. Caddis and stoneflies can be found in lots of the lakes up there. The evening caddis hatch can be a big event bringing lots of fish to the edges. Terrestrial insects such as grasshoppers, crickets and beetles are also on the menu for western lakes trout, so it is about matching the hatch on the day when you’re up there. Some of my favourite flies for the western lakes are foam or dear hair beetles, small parachute black spinners, possum fur emergers and elk hair caddis

Setting an ambush fly

Sometimes on pressured waters or with a very wary fish, you won’t be able to cast if the fish is anywhere near you. They will spook from your line being in the air or landing on the water, and especiall from your fly rod or line flashing in the sun. You want the first thing that the fish notices to be your fly and not your fly rod waving in the air. If the fish are like this your best shot is to put out an ambush fly. To do this you’ll need to watch a particular fish for a while to find its beat (The area that a fish feeds in) By observing a fishes beat you will be able to put together a plan and set an ambush fly in its feeding line. By doing this you are not casting over a fish or disturbing it with your line. By the time the fish comes back around, any ripple or disturbance your line may have made will have dissipated and you now have a perfect trap of fool wary brown trout.

Small dries and light tippet

Big trout big flies, make’s sense, right? Well yes, big trout will take big flies but often for trout to get to a decent size they need to have something going for them, a bit of a sixth sense, knowing you’re near or just really picky in what they will eat. So throwing a size #10 hopper or a big stimulator won’t be the best

Be prepared to walk to find less pressured waters.

option for a wary old brown trout. So to downsize your fly and use a light tippet may be the way to fool these fish. With a small and fine fly, you will be able to present your fly nice and softly without spooking a wary fish. Using a two or three-pound tippet on a big fish may sound crazy but a 6-pound fish doesn’t actually pull six pounds of pressure when he takes off. Having a light drag on your reel will also protect the light tippet. With a large fish, if you have a high rod tip and a light drag it may seem difficult to steer a large trout but using low side pressure will help steer a large fish and change its direction so you can land it. All you need to remember with side pressure is if a fish is moving to the right and for some sticks, you will need to put some low left side pressure onto the fish to change its direction and vice/versa if you want to change a fish going to the left.

Getting There

The Western Lakes is a huge area covering approximately 140,000 hectares with thousands of lakes and tarns (tarns are a body of water not connected to the main flow of water until the area is in flood) with huge trout being found in some areas. Being such a big area there are many ways to access the western lakes. One of them being the nineteen lagoons. Access to the area is via Liawenee and Lake Augusta Road which lies on the western shore of Great lake and is one of the most popular areas of the western lakes. Some of the most popular lakes in the area are Lake Botsford, Lake Ada and Lake Augusta. If you are travelling from Launceston to the Nineteen Lagoons it will take you about an hour and 50 minutes to get there and two hours and 15 minutes from Hobart. Other areas of access are from Lake Mackenzie up through Devils Gullet which is about an hour and 40 minutes from Launceston and three hours and 40 minutes from Hobart. The Walls of Jerusalem National Park is an hour and 40 minutes from Launceston and is three hours and 40 minutes from Hobart.

Logan Reid

Bringing the flies to life with movement was the undoing of this beautiful brown.

You’ll find trout cruising the shallow margins of the western lakes.

Scanning the lake edge for cruising browns, although this stance might be a bit obvious.

Inshoreestuary boat setup?

Setting up a boat to suit my fishing

Jack Gillespie

It is the age-old question that has spread from bars to campsites all over the country. What is the perfect boat setup? How should you set your boat up?

I am sure we have all come to the realisation that these are questions with no right answer. In the following article, I will do my best to share with you my personal views on what is right for me when fishing inshore waters and estuary systems in the hopes that it may help you in some way to get the most out of your boat and ultimately improving your fishing experience. In my personal opinion, the perfect boat isn’t full of complicated gadgets or cluttered with fancy rod holders or bolt-on sensations. Whilst these may meet the requirements of some, I tend to opt for a clean and practical boat. The following are some of the items that I find to be essential to my fishing platform.

Sounders

In recent times the technology being implemented into sounders has progressed in leaps and bounds. Gone are the days of a black and white screen with a picture of a fish floating by every so often leaving users wondering if it is a fish, or if the sounder just telling tales. We now have the benefit of much more accurate sonar technology essentially giving us a bird’s eye view of the bottom of the waterway. Add to that the introduction of side scan and live view technology that most manufacturers have brought to the market and we are spoiled for choice. With the market being one of a very competitive nature between manufacturers the buyers have truly become the winners here. A basic unit can be picked up for little more than $200 with features that certainly aid a day on the water. Moving up in price range to sidescan units, which can be purchased for less than $1000, really are a game-changer in my opinion. I rely heavily on side-scan when fishing inshore and estuaries, especially in areas that I have not fished before. Being able to see beyond the surface of the water to what is happening both beneath and around the boat can be key in tracking down your target species. Side-scan can help

you to hone in on fishing areas that you may not have known were even there! With all of the features that a lot of the sounders on the market are now packing they can be a daunting tool to learn for the new user but fortunately, tools like the internet and YouTube really can help even the novice fisherman master their sounder.

Bow Mounted Trolling Motors

If I was told that I could only fit one accessory to my boat, it would be an electric trolling motor. Whilst I do not actually use my bow mount electric for trolling as the name would suggest, I can hands down say it is the one accessory that has been fitted to my boat that I use the most when fishing. Bow mounts really open up a world of opportunities when lure fishing inland lakes and coastal estuary systems. Many of the fish I target are often found lurking along shorelines and hidden in snags- my bow mount electric motor allows me to be able to control the boat and access these areas with ease, without having to rely on my main outboard engine. This allows me to quietly approach an area without spooking fish and also enables me to control the boat during the fight- using both the rod and the boat to move the fish away from any snags.

As with sounders, bow mount trolling motor technology is continuing to improve and push what we really thought possible. For the price-conscious, a trolling motor can be picked up with the basic forward,

Screenshot of 2D and side-scan revealing a rocky ledge and some holding fish.

Preparation is the key to success.

reverse, left and right features that will make life on the water easier. For those looking to get even more from a trolling motor many brands now manufacture GPS units that can lock the boat on the spot, map and replay tracks, hold your boats travel speed with cruise control and even link up to your sounders for a great integrated system. The spot lock feature can be quite handy when you want to hold your boat in a particular position to really fish the area and I also commonly use this feature when launching and retrieving my boat when fishing solo. With manufacturers competing to have the latest and greatest products on the market we are again the winners when it comes to choice!

Storage

Generally speaking, many inshore/estuary boats are limited in size. Commonly most boats in this category will range in size from 4-5 metres with some, of course, being both smaller and larger. This is where setting up your storage can make or break your fishing experience. Making the most out of your boats unused space is one of the most important things you can do from my experience. Whilst having a thousand and one places to put gear is always an incredibly handy feature to have, it always pays to be mindful of the layout and weight distribution. Having all of your gear in the right location will greatly improve the ride and handling of your boat. When deciding what to take on an outing will always depend on what species you will be targeting. After all, a day of bream or trout fishing will mean that taking the tuna rod and gaff is nothing more than a waste of time and space!

Limiting the amount of gear that you take to the essentials will also mean less clutter and stress when the fish are on and you won’t be throwing gear all around the boat searching for a knife or pliers in a hurry. Some boats can be very basic off the showroom floor and offer very little in the way of storage. Fortunately, many boating and tackle shops have a large range of items available to help maximise the potential of storage in your boat. With the internet at our fingertips and all of the options available to us, we are only really limited by our imaginations on what can be done when it comes

to fitting a boat out with storage areas.

Add-ons

Let’s face it. There are hundreds if not thousands of “add-ons” you can fit to any boat. With this in mind, I certainly believe it is possible to get carried away with bolting accessories onto a boat. Keeping your setup as simple and as clean as possible is, in my personal opinion, the best way to go about it. When considering what accessories to add to your boat, be sure to take into consideration what kind of fishing you plan on doing and whether or not certain accessories are actually going to be beneficial to you.

Some of the other accessories I have added to my boat, in addition to the above mentioned, are:

A bilge pump on the off chance I take a bit of a wave over the side of the boat or forget to put the bungs in at the ramp.

Deck wash systems so I can keep the boat clean of fish slime when on the water. This has proven to be a handy investment enabling me to clean as I go and ultimately saving me a lot of time and energy scrubbing the boat when I get home.

A rod locker to ensure that the rods are kept safe and secure during transit both to and from the ramp as well as when on the water. The rod locker allows me to keep my rods safe and out of the way until I am ready to use them, minimising clutter and tangles on the deck. This is also incredibly useful when camping as I can lock the rods up at night.

Deck lights. These don’t actually get used for fishing but more so in the late evening/early mornings when getting ready to hit the water or packing gear away. I tend to have a few last-minute jobs to do the night before an outing and the addition of deck lighting means I do not have to pull out the torch once the sun disappears behind the horizon.

The best piece of advice I can offer would probably be this - make sure the boat is always ready!

Some of my most memorable trips have been planned on very short notice. Keeping your boat and gear ready to go at the drop of a hat will always produce

The use of modern technology will greatly increase your catch rate.

some very enjoyable and memorable fishing adventures. This includes ensuring that you always have all of your safety gear on board, in date and regularly inspected. Making sure that your boat is checked annually by your local marine service specialist will ensure that you make it back to the ramp at the end of the day.

Sometimes the last thing we want to do after a big day on the water is to reorganise our gear ready for the next trip but it really can be the difference between getting to your destination and one the water as quickly as possible without burning time that could be betterspent fishing!

Jack Gillespie

A deck-wash will save you time when returning to land.

The use of spot-lock will keep you amongst the action.

Casting decks will get you plenty of space to fight those big fish.

The author’s boat ready for another early morning.

Nymph Under Dry Fly

Bascic techniques that will bring results

Casey Pfeiffer

Nymph under dry or dry-dropper is not only an effective fish-catching technique, but it is also an extremely pleasant way to spend a day fishing. Although it is a relatively simple technique, there are many ways to tweak your nymph under dry fishing to produce the best result. This technique works in any river, on almost any day so it is a must-have in any fly anglers arsenal.

Why a nymph under a dry fly?

While all trout anglers I know would like to see a fish sip their dry off the surface every time, the reality is that trout do a majority of their feeding subsurface, so by fishing a single dry you limit your opportunities. Nymph under dry offers the best of both worlds, allowing you to catch fish on either fly. It also works in water types that often a single dry does not, broadening your range and making more water fishable to you. Most anglers don’t have the luxury of waiting for the perfect conditions for an insect hatch and need to take the opportunity to fish when work a family allow, and this technique gives them a far greater chance at

catching a fish when conditions are not ideal.

Rod and reel

Rod choice really comes down to personal preference, but a good all-around option for nymph under dry in Australian and New Zealand rivers is a 9ft 3wt or 4wt with a medium action. This is a great option because it is light enough to cast comfortably all day long but heavy enough to land most fish you will encounter in a lot of waterways. If you are fishing in tight, overgrown creeks regularly you may want to opt for a shorter rod, but a 9ft is still versatile enough to fish even these. Any reel with a smooth drag for fighting fish will do for Nymph under Dry.

Line and leader

A 3wt floating line is ideal for fishing nymph under dry in a lot of circumstances. I like to remove the welded loop and create a much smaller loop by doubling over just the braid core of the line, so a non-stretch braided core line is a must for me. At the end of this, I like to use a 3x 9ft tapered leader, but I remove 30cm from

the butt end of the leader. Once tied on with a clinch knot this connection is far slimmer than a loop to loop connection, which makes it easier to land fish should you need to pull the leader into the top guides of the rod. On the end of the tapered leader, I like to use a 2mm micro ring. This saves your leader from becoming shorter each time you need to change your tippet and saves you time and money in the long run. Make sure you buy a quality tippet ring from a reputable brand, as cheaper options tend to have a sharp edge and have the potential to cut your tippet.

Tippet selection

Fluorocarbon Tippet is a great option for nymph under dry, as you want the nymph to sink to depth quickly whilst fishing a relatively light nymph. The size of the tippet will always depend on the average size of the fish in the waterway you are fishing, but I like to have the option of sizes from 0.10mm to 0.20mm on me so that I am prepared for anything. My preference is to fish the lightest tippet possible to get the most natural drifts, while still giving myself a

Casey Pfeiffer with one of many trout for the session.

very high chance of landing any fish I hook. Tippet length depends on the depth and speed of the water you are targeting. An average rule of thumb is 1.5 times the depth of the water you are fishing. This can be altered to allow for the speed of the water, particularly in slower waters where the nymph will reach depth quickly and potentially get caught up on the bottom if you don’t shorten the tippet slightly. Trial and error is the fastest way to learn, so don’t be afraid to tie a new tippet section and add or remove some length.

Nymph under dry on a Euro-line and leader

If you already own a euro nymphing set up it is worth trying nymph under dry on your euro rig. Keep the same coloured leader set up and just alter the tippet section to suit the depth of water. This technique (sometimes called duo) is a good option when the wind makes keeping contact with one or two nymphs difficult, in very tight waters where a low water cast is necessary, and even when the fish are finicky and want the most natural drift possible. Because your leader remains completely off the water there is no drag on the dry fly or on the nymph which can often tempt fussy feeders in pressured water.

Where to fish nymph under dry

Although you can fish nymph under dry in most water types, some areas are more suitable than others. In slower moving water like the back half of a run, nymph under dry is always a good option. In this water, I like to choose a smaller dry fly with a good chance of getting eaten, that way you cover both surface and subsurface feeders, effectively doubling your chances of getting an eat. Nymph under dry is also suitable for fishing glides and shallow runs where the water moves a little faster. Here you may want to change to a nymph with a little more weight so that it sinks faster. In this kind of water, I like to pick a dry with better visibility, whether that is from being a slightly larger size, or from having some sort of high vis post. Nymph under dry is also ideal for fishing in complicated water like tight quarters or

under/between tree branches. You can make short casts using either a water loaded cast with a rod angle parallel to the water, or a bow and arrow cast. I highly recommend practising these techniques in more open spaces before attempting them in difficult areas to avoid losing too many flies to the trees.

Fly selection

Dry Flies - As an angler with an impaired vision I often need to fish a larger fly, a fly with a high vis post, or at the very least a fly with an upright wing. They also need to float well enough to hold up a weighted nymph. Although you can use patterns like large stimulators and hoppers my preference is to use a dry fly more likely to get eaten. My top three patterns are a size 16 Tabanas with an orange high vis post, a size 14 CDC Sedge and a size 16 CDC Split wing. Once CDC fibres are flooded they sink, so if you intend on fishing CDC a fly kerchief is a must. It’s a little like a chamois cloth and almost instantly brings a fly back to its original condition after being drowned. It not only works on CDC but hackled flies too.

Nymphs - You can use any weighted nymph to fish nymph under dry, however by using a tungsten beaded nymph you know exactly what size/weight you are fishing, which makes it easier to change flies to suit the conditions. Brass beaded nymphs are ok for very shallow water, but tungsten is a far better option. Every angler has confidence flies that they prefer to fish, but my top three are a silver beaded pheasant tail, pink beaded hare and partridge and a copper beaded orange tag. I like to keep these in a range of sizes so I can change the weight as required.

Making the most of all water types

Fly fishing in rivers can require many different techniques to get the most from each section of water. Nymph under dry is the perfect option for getting extra fish into the net where other tactics may struggle. If you haven’t tried nymph under dry yet, I can strongly suggest giving it a go as the results can be pretty amazing in the right water!

Casey Pfeiffer

Brown trout love to sit in soft water on the edges.

Hooked up in the Russel River in Tasmania’s south.

Hare and partridge is an author favourite.

Karen Brooks fighting a large rainbow trout.

Both rainbows and browns will eagerly take nymphs suspended under a dry.

Expedition to Exmouth

Covid shift from Cape York to WA pays off

Jayden Donohue

For three years now, Craig Rist and I have been planning a fishing trip to Cape York. It was originally planned a year in advance but we couldn’t travel once COVID was introduced and lockdowns started. This year was much the same, we had our Spirit of Tasmania costs paid for in advance, but in the closing weeks to our departure date, we concluded that the Cape York trip wouldn’t be happening once again.

My partner and I were both invited for dinner a week or two before we were due to leave. Craig said across the table “what do you think about flying to Exmouth?” I then replied, “let’s do it”. I was eager to get North and do some saltwater fly fishing. I’d been dreaming about it for long enough, it was time to put a bend in my rod. Craig took care of all the hire and accommodation bookings, while I started thinking about organising my fishing gear, I only had an 8 wt and a 10 wt rod. My 10 wt was stuck together on all 3 sections, so how am I going to get a rod that’s stuck

together across to Exmouth via a suitcase? I didn’t. I was fortunate enough to borrow one from Craig’s mate Simon at the last minute, which I’m very thankful for. I was very nervous at first, having used a rod that size only a few times before and that’s been practising on grass for most of that use! Now I would be casting the 10wt day in day out for the length of the adventure. Also with much bigger flies than I’m used to, with sizes 10, 12, 14 and 16 being my normal every weekend use. Now I’ll be casting 4/0 and 6/0 flies some even with a sinker added in the perfection loop. It takes only one bad cast and I could’ve shattered Simon’s rod, lucky for both myself and Simon his 10wt Sage come back in one piece.

What was I expecting?

From all the Youtube videos I had been watching, I was seeing all the great fish available in the area such as Marlin, Sailfish, Queenfish, Coral trout, Mackerel

and Giant trevally. The main fish I expected to catch relativity easy would be Queenfish, Coral Trout, Tuna and Spanish Mackerel. I didn’t exactly know what I’d be in for or what to expect. I was just excited to be going fishing non-stop for three and a half weeks.

The first week

Arriving at the Learmonth airport Craig and I booked a shuttle that would take us to Exmouth hire where we had our hire car booked. Exploring Exmouth for the first time, I soon realised this place was nowhere as remote as I was first thinking, the place was buzzing, it was full of campers and fishers. We gathered some essential supplies for our stay and set up camp in a caravan park that we had booked beforehand. We got everything set up at camp and then decided to set our rods up and have an explore of some areas we’d seen on Youtube in the Perth airport. Almost straight away we polarioded some big Blue Bones milling around some

Our hire boat “Wood Duck” gave us access to some amazing flats.

flats from a distance. We had to get in and wade after the fish, from memory we had a legitimate shot each but they were quite flighty and didn’t want what we were offering. We had our first few days in Exmouth without a boat, after those few days we had a boat for every day after. We spent the first few days just exploring the shores wading, seeing what Exmouth had to offer. Mostly we didn’t see much, Craig spotted some tailing Golden Trevally but they were out of sight before a fly could be presented. I managed to hook up to a small bream sized Spangled Emperor, which gave a fight for its size but other than that land-based fishing wasn’t what I was hoping for at that time.

Finally, the day arrives that we get our little 4.2 metre hire tinny ‘Wood Duck’.

Where to go and what to do? We had come up with a plan the night before, searching some flats in the Exmouth Gulf we had read about earlier. The day was quiet until from a distance we notice two large Queenfish chasing bait on a shin-deep flat. This was incredible to witness, it was what I’ve come to see. We were never able to present a fly to those fish as we saw them motoring away with purpose. Later that afternoon I was at the bow of the boat polaroiding and I spot three sharks around a stingray, I sing out “Hey there is three sharks over there Craig” and the response was “BIG COBIA” so I immediately got somewhat of a cast

out covering the fish, they weren’t interested, we were too close. I never thought I’d be crossing paths with a Cobia, I’ve got that memory imprinted in my head and I swore to myself that I won’t make that mistake again. Hopefully, there will be a next time.

First sailfish

Craig and I had a six-metre hire boat booked for our first weekend in Exmouth. The plan was to try and raise a Sailfish in the hope of getting a cast with a fly rod at them. It was a beautiful day and everything was feeling good, just a light swell and a blue sky day. When we got close to the area on the back of the Ningaloo Reef, Craig ran through some different scenarios as to what may happen and who will do what job to get the fish teased up and close to the boat, then the fly fisher can proceed to make the potential cast with the boat out of gear. I was at the helm trolling only for around five minutes and I hear “fish at the back of the boat” I couldn’t believe it, I raced to the back of the boat to do what we had just planned. Craig had teased the Sailfish in and clicked the motor out of gear, I then made my cast. Unfortunately, my fly got wrapped around an anchor point, and the fish was down at this point. I gathered my fly, cleared my line and put another cast out hoping the fish was still in the area, it came back up and ate my fly. I let the fish run, then pulling hard,

First sailfish on the fly was a dream come true for the author.

I struck the fish and set the hook strongly. The fish started to power off quickly and as soon as I got the fish on the reel the hook drops out! I wound in all the slackline, only to see I had rolled the hook point on a hard part of the fish’s bill.

We resharpened the hook and reset the spread. Back to trolling around! About an hour later I hear the same thing “fish at the back of the boat”, this time there was two Sailfish at the boat and they were hungry. My first cast was good enough, when the teaser got pulled and the boat was out of gear the Sailfish smashed my fly on the surface. I let the fish run and I did the same thing as before, gave the fish a strong hookset which gave my fingers line burn, then sang out to Craig, “I’m on yeeeaahhh”. The Sailfish did not like the hook and was going completely berserk! By the time I realised this one is hooked good, I turned to high five Craig who was already on the wheel ready to chase the fish. I looked down at my reel to see that the backing was fast disappearing. The fight was on, the fish was a long way off and still running. It had five or so really big jumps from the water shaking its head, making every attempt the throw my fly and escape. After wearing the

fish down slowly we were getting close to landing. The only problem now is that two big sharks were hunting my fish for an easy feed. Craig did an incredible job driving the boat and avoiding the sharks. When the Sailfish was in range, he got the leader and made a quick lunge for the fish. This moment was a very nervous time for myself and no doubt Craig. I could see the fish starting to flap around on the edge of the boat as Craig sang out, “got him, I got it mate!”.

This was a completely epic capture, one that will live with me forever.

First queenfish

This one was special, mainly because I was expecting to catch Queenfish quite easily and I’d now spent close to two weeks without fooling one. We’d had a lot of near misses with plenty of fish chasing and turning

Siglon PE, is made from EX-PE fibres and offers a tightly woven braid that provides superior abrasion resistance, a very thin diameter and minimal stretch. Available in 8 carrier PE (PEx8) and 4 carrier PE (PEx4).

Big flats queenfish are spectacular on the fly rod.

at the boat, or swirling around our flies with no success. Craig knew local Exmouth fly fishing guide, Brett Wolf, from Tasmania, he had been guided by Brett some years ago on the Ningaloo Reef. We went and had a few beers with Brett and he gave us some tips on what flies to use and some different flats to look at. We went straight to the local shop Tackle World Exmouth after that and bought what had been recommended, a 4/0 black brush fly. We then went to some fresh flats in search of new Queenfish. Craig had tied the black brush on with a perfection loop as I soon spot two big Queenfish moving in from a distance around 30-40 metres away. I got myself ready with line stripped out and double hauled a cast as soon as the fish was in my casting range. The fish notices my fly and I stripped like crazy, the fish was nosing the fly the whole way, it chased right up until my leader was in the rod tip and ate right at the boat. As I strip strike setting the hook, my lines slack and the fish is gone. I’d broken off a fish on 24kg fluorocarbon, the knots slipped. I sat down and took the moment in. Time to rig back up, I’d lost the only black brush we had but I had a black bucktail 1/0 deceiver that was similar, so I tied that one on my tippet with a perfection loop. It wasn’t long before I found another Queenfish that I could present the fly to. I cast and start striping as quick as I possibly can, the fish boils all over my fly and the fly disappears. I quickly rip the line strip striking setting the hook, but yet again my knot had failed! It was time for another knot, Craig showed me the Homer Rhodes Loop knot he used on flies for Giant Tarpon. I then used that knot on a Mullet imitation that Craig had also used for Rooster Fish in Mexico. We drifted to the last section of the flat and came off into a channel. I could see Queenfish in numbers, so I quickly made a cast before they

spook. I started stripping instantly, even before the fly hits the water. The fish chased and engulfed the fly without any hesitation, I instantly strip strike the fish then wait until it was turned and hit it again, making sure the hook is deep. The rod is completely loaded and the Queenfish takes a lot of line, jumping and finding ways to charge across flats, I could hear my fly line cutting through the water. It was everything I’d hoped for, this was the moment I’d been wanting! I finally gain control of the fish bringing the big queenfish to the net, it was a metre plus trophy. I did it tough for a few weeks, it’s definitely worth it now, looking back on those memories is incredible.

What would I change?

For me, when I think about how I’d improve next time, there is so much that comes to mind, number one would be casting. I thought I wasn’t a bad cast coming from a trout background but Exmouth and sight fishing permit sent me back to reality. Seeing my first big permit come cruising straight at me, my nerves got the better of me and I completely butchered the cast. Or when I was leading permit too closely in spooky conditions and the fish fleas. There were times when I thought I cast within a metre to a permit on a flat in choppy conditions but the fish never sensed the fly because the cast wasn’t perfect. On the last day, I had a big pack of giant trevally heading my way in strong wind and I couldn’t punch the cast out far enough so I watched all the GTs swim off. I feel like every trip will have things to improve on but trying to push yourself to get these things right or at least improve will definitely improve the percentages of catch rates.

Jayden Donohue

Happiness is a successful days fly fishing!

The final stages of the fight of a big flats queenfish.

You soon learn how little time you have to clear the line when a fish goes berserk when hooked!

Craig and Jayden enjoying some spectacular fishing together.

My competition journey

Persistence and a well thought plan brings success

Finn McDowell

The preparation for a fly fishing competition or any competition for that matter is one of the most crucial things to ensure that you perform well. Round two of the Tasmanian Fly Fishing championships was different as it was not common for a state round to consist of two formats (rivers and lake/loch style) within the one comp. I had previously fished the national fly fishing championships and there is a lot to think about preparation wise as you have to prepare for both formats and whatever the day might throw at you.

For this comp we would fish the Mersey River on Saturday and Little Pine Lagoon on Sunday, fishing two sessions each day. Due to only having a short time to fish, river sessions were two hours and lake sessions were 3 hours, you really have to make the most of your fishing time and not mess around with things that can be done before the comp. With this in mind, I made sure I had all the correct flies, lots of leaders pre-made, all my gear packed into my chest pack so I knew exactly where it was. Coming into the comp I was confident about the venues as I had done lots of fishing on them in the past, which made the preparation a little easier.

First Session - Mersey River

For my first session on the Mersey, I drew beat eight, a part of the river I had never fished. The beat

was the water below Kellys Cage bridge and I was keen to get a look at this new section of the river. After the first inspection of my beat, I was happy with the type of water that I had drawn. A nice run leading into a deep, flat pool, which is always a hotspot for high concentrations of fish. Then, followed by a long straight, shallow glide above. A shallow riffle section sat above the glide, also a hotspot for those smaller, easier to catch fish. My thought process coming into this beat was to bypass the deep pool and fish the large run flowing in and move up the beat after that, picking the best water to fish.

Before too long my session was underway, after casting to a few caenid feeders rising in the soft pocket next to the run and having no success, I thought rather than wasting time on harder to catch fish I would Euro Nymph the run, knowing it would hold easier to catch fish. I went with my favourite nymphing set up for the Mersey, that being the Primal 10’ 6” 3 weight paired with the trusty cheap no-name fly reel. I like this reel due to the smoothness in the drag which I find, alongside many other anglers, a major factor when choosing a Euro nymphing reel.

I opted for a double nymph rig and tied on my confidence flies, pink bead orange tag nymph and copper beaded pheasant tail nymph with a dark coloured soft hackle, both in size 16. I also set up a

standard rod for Dry Fly and Nymph under Dry, this being my a Sage Z-Axis 9’ four weight. In my eyes possibly a little bit fast action for the light tippets and small fish, but a great rod to fish with. I had that paired with another no-name fly reel and a 4 weight, weight-forward floating line.

The first cast into the inside edge of the run produced a nice little brown to kick things off. Landing your first fish of the session is always a big relief. After fishing the

My successful river flies.

Nymph under dry played a big part in my win.

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run thoroughly and landing a good two-pound brown and a rainbow, the run went a little quiet. I didn’t get the amount of action that I had hoped for out of that run. Instead of getting bogged down trying to catch the fish that could be in there, I moved on up the beat.

After reaching the glide I noticed a large amount of fish sitting in schools feeding on caenids, I managed to pick a few on a small size 18 plume tip, one of my go-tos for caenid feeders. Ultimately, I could have approached this water a little better which could have resulted in a couple more fish. By this point, I was over an hour into my two hours and only had five fish to show for my efforts.

I seriously needed to find some more fish if I was too, in my mind, get a good score. I knew I’d be able to find some numbers in the shallow riffle above the glide so I returned to euro nymphing and managed to pull another three fish, one being in the last minute out of a small tail out pocket. I was happy with my score of eight considering how well the beat fished overall.

Looking back at this session and returning to the same section of the river after the comp, I probably could have approached the water better than that, the techniques I used and where I positioned myself to fish the water. The more and more comps you fish the better you get at being able to define the good water from bad and how to fish it, that’s when the real numbers start to come.

Second Session - Mersey River

My next beat was number 10, one I was very familiar with as I had fished it in the Nationals held at the end of last season. To me, this was an advantage as I already had an idea of where the good water was and how the beat fished.

Like my last beat, it started with a large, deep pool and a solid run at the head. When I fished it in the nationals I didn’t get a touch in the first run and spent about an hour trying to get one out of there, so I knew

not to get stuck on it if the run was fishing poorly. For this session, I made no changes to my setups apart from switching out the plume tip to a CDC sedge, another favourite fly for the Mersey.

After scouting the beat, it was time to start my two hours and try to make something happen. I started fishing the little riffle that flowed in next to the major run with the CDC sedge with no success so I went straight into nymphing the run and within a few casts I picked up a small rainbow just as I pulled the nymphs out of the dead drift into the swing.

After missing a few more I moved up to the next section, a small glide and fished nymph under dry to land a few browns in the tail out. After watching Garth Jackson clean up on nymph under dry in the slow water when I controlled him in the morning session, I knew I had to give this technique a bit of time. I then pushed up into the next section of my beat, a large chute with soft water on either side, tapering off into a slack hole. The first cast in the slack hole with a nymph under dry resulted in an angry brown coming up and slashing at the dry without me watching and was late to the hookset. Luckily for me, I had luck on my side to hook and land it, a wise comment coming from my controller for the afternoon, Jason Garrett, “you’re meant to set the hook when they eat it”.

I managed a few more fish, fishing the chute including being obliterated by a large rainbow. By this time I had 30 minutes to go and six fish on the board so I legged it up to the run right at the top of my beat. Not even bothering with the slow tail out below the run, I put my ‘nymph under dry rod’ up on the bank and started madly nymphing. By the end of my session I had landed six more fish, my final score equating to 12. A result that I was very much pleased with. After consulting with other anglers after the days fishing I had gone better than I had thought.

Third session - Little Pine Lagoon

I had practised on Little Pine a few weeks before the comp in blue sky, windless conditions. Every angler

Pulling flies accounted for most of my lake fish.

The Mersey river rainbows are always full of fight.

A cracking Mersey river brown taken on the Euro rig.

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knows this as treacherous conditions to fish Little Pine and only caught one that was 200mm long. Inadvertently this made me not as confident for this leg of the competition. However, I drew from previous knowledge and formed a plan.

Due to the competition draw program on the computer not working, boat partners were pulled out of a hat. It just so happened that I drew Mark Links as a boat partner for both sessions. When I rolled up the lake on the morning of day two there was a strong north-easterly blowing, with patchy cloud cover. Ideal conditions for pulling streamers.

In the previous season I had done well with either a big Magoo or Shrek on the top dropper, so that would be my first fly of choice. On the middle dropper, I tied on a Gold sparkler another top fly for Little Pine. I was then advised by Jason Garrett that he had been catching fish on a Tommo recently in Little Pine, so I tied that on as my point fly.

For fishing out of the boat, I use a Loop Q 10’ 6 weight rod I’ve really enjoyed using, paired with a Lamson liquid that I have multiple spools for, with different lines on each. For the beginning of the first session, I chose to use my fast intermediate line, always a good starting point.

For the morning session, Mark and I drew the southern end of the lake, after talking, we both decided that we would start a drift just off Senators Rocks. We steamed over, set our drift and the session started.

Towards the beginning of the drift, I hooked and lost my first fish - not a great start. However, it was a start on trying to work them out. I kept changing up my retrieves, casting long, casting short, and letting my flies sink to different depths. Before too long another chance came and landed my first fish within 12 minutes of the session starting, a cracking 515mm brown that took the Shrek on the top dropper.

I then replicated the same retrieve, cast it long and ripped it back in with a combination of stripping or roly-poly. For the next hour and a half, it was consistent action, I even had a fish try and eat the furled loop on the end of my fly line. The action was good, however, the fish were not fully committed and were often coming off after a couple of seconds or not hooking up at all. Despite this, I still managed to boat four fish in the first half of the session.

In the second half, the wind decreased and the sun started to come through, this made me worried as the day was turning into the practice session I had previously. This made me think that the fish are probably going to hide down deep in the weed when this sun shows through. So I opted for my type 3 sink to see if I could get the flies to run just above the weed to entice a take. This paid off and I boated another two fish in the last half of the session, overall bringing my total to six, which I knew couldn’t be sneezed at considering the conditions. The theory was proven when my boat partner Mark picked up a wicked brown on a nymph with a 3mm tungsten bead sunk right down into the weeds.

Fourth Session - Little Pine

Lagoon

I went into session four confident, this time at the more familiar northern end of the lake. The wind had picked up again, so Mark and I decided to try and set a drift on the other side of the island and follow the old creek bed, a highway for fish. Again picking one up in the first 15 minutes and receiving multiple hits and slashes on the hang I thought we were in for another good session.

Then the wind dropped out and the action went quiet. I kept flogging streamers for the next two hours, hoping for a chance, however, a chance did not come. By this point, I was looking for my next chance and the only logical thing I could think to do was to switch over to static nymphing. I changed to my floating line and tied on a size 14 claret cruncher on the top dropper, followed by a size 14 flashback pot scrubber nymph again in claret and a standard brown nymph with a 2.5mm copper tungsten bead as the point fly.

The confidence in my decision was boosted when a few caddis and mayfly started to hatch. I persisted nymphing, knowing that this would be the best technique to match the conditions we were presented with. Then, in the last 15 minutes, as I was starting to give up hope of another fish, I felt my line pull slightly tight and strip set into the weight.

My excitement lowered when the weight felt like weed, so I brought my line in quickly to remove it and

The lake patterns that worked for me during my Little Pine session.

make another cast. To my surprise, rather than weed, a fish no bigger than 200mm at best was hanging off my point fly. I quickly popped the fish out of the water and caught it in the net, knowing all too well how easily small fish can bounce off. I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to land such a small fish. Motoring back to the ramp I was unsure whether my performance would stack up against other competitors’ scores.

Further discussion at the ramp would suggest that there was a very small margin between the top anglers and would have to wait until the scores were released later in the week. I’m sure you can guess the anticipation over the next coming days waiting for the scores, luckily all the stars aligned and I was victorious.

Finn McDowell

Changing tactics during the river session.

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.

WE ARE TONIC!

Kayak Snapper

A whole new level

Jonty Kruska

There is no doubt that a kayak is perfectly suited to chasing bream and trout in the estuaries and lakes, but it can also be a great tool for exploring coastal waters in search of the mighty Snapper. Throwing soft plastics from the kayak may not be the most conventional way to target snapper but it can certainly be very rewarding. Although it can be a bit daunting taking the kayak out onto the blue water, with a bit of planning it can be done fairly easily and can produce some great results. Despite some close calls my current stats are, zero flip overs and only three shark sightings which is not too bad in my books.

Preparation and planning

When planning a Snapper mission in the kayak the most obvious thing to take into account is the weather. Although it is largely dependent on the location and direction of the wind and swell, generally heading out when the swell is below half a metre and the wind is less than 20 km/h will keep you pretty dry and comfortable in the kayak. Finding a nice sheltered location to launch and retrieve the kayak can be easier said than done at times, but it is definitely worth having a look about. Even if this means a little extra paddling/peddling to get to your intended fishing location. I don’t read too much into tides and moon phases, if the wind and swell are good enough, I’ll go. Having said that, a couple of

hours on either side of high tide have produced the best results for me. An early start to the day is definitely worth it, I’ve found that most bites tend to come before 10 o’clock. This time of day is also generally the calmest and most comfortable time to be out in the kayak.

Kayak setup

After using a few different kayaks since I began kayak fishing, I’ve now been using a Hobie pro angler 14 for a few years and it is by far the best kayak I’ve ever been in. It is super stable and can handle some pretty rough conditions. It also has heaps of room for all the gear you need and the mirage drive pedal system is a game-changer. If you are in the market

Jonty Krushka with the rewards of an early morning paddle.

for a new kayak, I recommend having a look at the Hobie range. A decent sounder is a very useful piece of equipment when chasing Snapper from the kayak. I run a Lowrance elite 7 Ti but any sounder with side imaging and GPS capabilities will do the job. Side imaging is great for finding reefs and likely looking bottom, whilst a good GPS is very useful for marking these areas and helping to create an accurate map of the structure in the area you are fishing. I also like to create a GPS point everywhere I catch a fish and take note of any patterns that begin to emerge after a few trips. The sounder is powered by an FPV 17.5 ah battery which provides ample run time. It is also very compact and lightweight which are important features for any piece of equipment when fishing from a kayak. Another piece of equipment that comes in handy in the kayak is a deep, long-handled net. There are a few reasons for this, one is that the long handle makes it much easier to net fish in the kayak. Another advantage is that having a deep net makes it a lot easier to net Snook which is a common bycatch for me when Snapper fishing. Snook are very toothy fish that are often up around 80 cm in length and thrash around like crazy when beside the kayak. A large, deep net makes it a lot easier to get them under control and results in a lot fewer bite offs besides the kayak. This means less lost gear and less prime Snapper fishing time wasted retying. A deep net also allows the fish to be easily held in the water while

setting up to take a picture or getting the scales and brag mat ready. This is better for the fish and also easier for the fisherman not to have a fish kicking around everywhere while trying to set things up. Some quality kayak wheels also make launching and retrieving much easier.

Location

Often the most challenging aspect of kayak fishing is not having the luxury of being able to run between spots if the fishing is slow at your first location. However, the added level of stealth associated with fishing from a kayak can make up for it when targeting Snapper in clear shallow water. Most of the Snapper fishing I do takes place in between 5 and 8 metres of water which is often crystal clear. I focus my attention around the edges of reefs and over areas of broken bottom. In my experience casting too close to the reef will result in catching nothing but Wrasse and too far away from structure often results in only Flathead and Gurnard. Finding the right bottom and knowing where to focus your efforts will go a long

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way to catching a Snapper. This is where using the sounder to find structure and marking these points is very useful. Creating your own map of structure in the area allows you to come back and target specific areas without having to go over the top of them and find them on the sounder. This coupled with being in a kayak greatly reduces the chance of spooking any fish in the area. As mentioned earlier I also like

The Hobie kayak has been a gamechanger for the author.

to create a waypoint wherever a fish is caught. These marks, coupled with the structure marks can paint an interesting picture of the area you are fishing. After a few trips in my local area fishing at Bridport, I began to notice the points of every fish I was catching fell in a straight line. After a little more sounding around, I realised this straight line fell within a corridor of sandy/shelly bottom with patches of reef running up either side. I can now set up to drift through the middle of this corridor and ensure my plastic is spending as much time in the zone as possible. Noticing little patterns like this can improve your chances. Now that I have the area mapped, I rely a lot more on my GPS than the sonar or side imaging.

Gearing up

When chasing Snapper from the kayak I like to take two outfits with me. A pretty standard Snapper outfit and also a much lighter outfit that I would usually use for Bream. My go-to Snapper outfit consists of a 2.1 metre, 3-6kg rod matched up with a 3000 size reel. The reel is loaded up with 8kg braid and a 4-4.5kg leader of around 3-5 metres. Jig head weights will vary depending on wind, current and depth but they are generally between one-quarter of an ounce to a half-ounce, with a 2/0 or 3/0 size hook. Light wire jig heads are great for pinning smaller fish and finicky bites, however, they can straighten on a better fish so I generally use a more heavy-duty jig head. I’ll generally use this outfit first up when the light is still low. Once the sun is a bit higher in the sky or if the bite is really slow I will opt for the lighter outfit. This consists of a 2.1 metre, 1-3kg rod matched with a 2500 size reel. The reel is loaded with 3kg braid and 3kg leader of around 3-5 metres. The jig head I use on this outfit is generally a one-sixth or one-quarter of an ounce, with a size 1 or 1/0 hook. I use an FG knot to connect my leaders and a penny knot for tying on jig heads. Both rods I use are BK Custom

rods which are super light and sensitive, yet powerful enough when needed. They are also really comfortable and cast well which is handy when making repeated casts for hours and hours. As for which plastics to use, I’ve caught Snapper on everything from a 2.5-inch grub to a 5-inch jerk shad. My favourite brand at the moment would have to be the Daiwa baitjunkie range. They have a great range of colours, great action and are quite durable. Squid, wrasse, leatherjackets, snook and barracouta are all fairly common in the areas I target snapper and will tear some of the other brands to shreds. Having said this, the Berkley gulp range has worked for me in the past if there aren’t too many other toothy critters about. The plastic I have had the most success on recently has been the 3.2-inch baitjunkie minnow in the bloodworm colour. This is a great size to start with, as both small pan size fish and the slightly larger models will happily inhale it. Generally, I’ll use the larger plastics on the heavier outfit and opt for the smaller sizes on the lighter setup.

Technique

Once I have made it to the area I’m planning on fishing I will usually paddle upwind of the marks on the sounder and drift back over them with the wind at my back. There are two main reasons for this. The first is simply to make longer wind-assisted casts which can make a difference in shallow water on a calm sunny day. The second is to help keep in better contact with the bottom. However, if there is a certain area where I have sounded fish, had bites or caught fish I will fish it facing into the wind so that I can make multiple casts and fish it thoroughly, without drifting over it. The technique is fairly simple, after making a long cast I wait until I make contact with the bottom

then give it two or three hops and let it sink back to the bottom. I then repeat this all the way back to the kayak. Once hooked up to a fish the waypoints marked on the sounder come in handy once again. Knowing where the structure is located around you means you can let the fish run if it’s headed for open water or put the brakes on if it is making a run for the reef. This can be the difference between landing a solid fish or getting busted off in the reef. The 180 drive in the Hobie is great for this, allowing you to reverse away from the structure and tow the fish out to open water. It is always worth focussing a few casts around an area where you have just caught a fish as you will often be able to pick up another in quick succession. If you catch a couple of fish in a certain area and the bite goes quiet it can definitely be worth resting the spot for half an hour or an hour and then coming back and giving it another go.

Although chasing shallow water snapper on soft plastics from the kayak may not be the easiest or most productive way of targeting them, it provides a great challenge and is very rewarding when it all comes together. Not to mention a heap of fun.

Jonty Kruska

Searching for snapper in glorious conditions.

Light spin outfits will get more bites when chasing Tasmanian snapper.

A selection of plastics perfect for getting a bite.

King George Whiting

Low Head and Tamar River

Richard Sherriff

For some time, a King George Whiting trip had been planned with the Minister for fisheries, Guy Barnett, MHA with a view for him to firstly catch one of these prized fish and to see for himself what’s happening in this emerging fishery. Guy is well known as a keen freshwater angler and some light tackle King George experience will add to his fishing skills, honed annually whilst fishing in Georges Bay St. Helens and Tuna Fishing wide offshore.

Pick the tides

Planning a trip to Low Head on the states north coast in a 6-metre boat is not that simple due to both wind and tide direction and strength. Ideally, a smaller boat with an electric GPS spot lock motor offsets the need for such in-depth planning. A large boat tends to swing around a lot, making it impossible to target those small sandy bottom spots which are critical to successful whiting fishing. The added frustration of a moving boat is trying to stay out of the weed where wrasse and leather jackets will quickly seize onto baited hooks, and either chop your hooks off or drag your line into weed. Hence, I usually plan my Low Head king gorge whiting missions around an incoming tide with a northerly directional wind or a southerly wind for an outgoing tidal flow. This way the boat will be stationary enough at anchor to methodically target

the sand patches. As is the case with most species, king gorge whiting will go off the bite during high and low slack tide and that’s a good time to have your morning tea or lunch.

Where to find Low Head whiting

On any given day it’s not unusual to catch ten wrasse to each whiting or lose gear to Noah the friendly ray that does a swoop around particularly during slack tide. Always have a few extra rigs at hand to avoid fishing downtime. Whilst burley can be helpful it also attracts some of those annoying rig stealing species.

It’s important to target the sand patches, that’s where whiting scavenge for sandworms and other favoured food items that lurk on the bottom. There are untold amounts of those sandy patches where they feed, but of course, King George are not in the one spot all the time, which means you need to be prepared to move about a bit.

They tend to swim around in schools, and when they come on the chew it’s not unusual to bag out in a matter of minutes with all crew members rods going off together. Of course, all the time keeping an eye on your boat sounder and GPS as what may look like a navigable area half an hour ago may have had a reef sticking out of the top of the water as the tide runs out. I have heard of anglers being stranded on

reefs or close inshore bottom for hours waiting for an incoming tide to float their boat off. Tide heights and lows vary significantly at times.

The larger King George whiting at Low Head seems to be closer to the seas entrance end of the channel and whilst I have not fished for them out past Black Reef, I am reliably told there are some good spots out further to sea. Bright sunny days make finding these patches easy due to the colour variation caused by the reflection of the sand showing as bright blue on top of the water.

If you have success pin the waypoint on your GPS for those days which are cloudy or overcast. A catalogue of sand hole waypoints is also imperative for early morning starts when the sunlight angle makes finding your favoured spot difficult.

One favourite spot at low tide usually has a metre of water under the boat, but with tides varying I have had the boat sitting on the bottom during a very low tide event.

Before heading out fishing be sure to double-check the tide movement and depths for the day ahead. Boat fishing at Low Head does require a bit of local knowledge and unless you know the area well for boating, keep to the channel and required depths shown on your depth sounder. Once you have a feel for the place, you can then venture further away from

A Successful day on the weather for Richard Sherriff.

the channel where some of the best whiting fishing takes place.

Pictured is the type of bottom one needs to look for to maximise the opportunity to hook into some whiting. Clear patches of sand surrounded by weed with some reef in amongst it all. This has all the ingredients that whiting love. Places to feed while still having cover to move to if they need it.

Many shore-based anglers successfully target Whiting in the George Town and Kelso areas, and no doubt with local knowledge they know some good sand patches amongst the weed where to cast a bait or two.

Gear for a day on the whiting

Most of the whiting encountered can be caught on medium size spinning outfits. A good option is a 2.1 metre 5-8kg spin stick with a fast action that will help you feel the bites. The more you spend on a rod the nicer it will be to fish with but cheaper options will definitely get the job done. A 3000 or 4000 size reel with a smooth drag loaded with thin 8-10kg braid that’s brightly coloured will be more than capable of stopping large whiting headed for the bottom. A brightly coloured braid is perfect for knowing exactly where your line is at the time, particularly when the light is low or it is an overcast day. Tie a rod length of leader to the end of the braid, usually, 10kg breaking strain is about perfect. You can go lighter if the fish are being fussy or heavier if you happen to get busted off. The leader can be attached with either an Albright or uni knot, both of which are easy to tie. Fresh or frozen Squid makes very good bait, as it stays on the hook longer. Squid will also survive many wrasse catch and releases. Number two or three hooks are an ideal size for a whiting’s small mouth and make sure to not overload the hook with bait. This way they will be able to get the bait in their mouths and the hook can find its mark. Replace any hook that gets bent out of shape due to stress of snagging on the reef or from unhooking wrasse. The last thing you want to happen is for a fatigued hook to snap when a monster whiting grabs the bait! Have a good net at hand for securing

the whiting as they near the boat. Remember to always take care of those small fish under 35cm that must be returned to continue their growth life cycle. Take care when handling them as they are powerful and slippery with a risk of them escaping your grip and the second hook jagging your hand as the fish falls free. A wet towel is a great way of controlling the smaller fish and using one will reduce the amount of protective smile you remove while unhooking them.

Tips from Todd

Continually work your rods, wind them in to check for weed, rebaiting because toadies denude the hooks so much, and cast to different spots – you need to be on the sand, but near the weed. Keep searching all the time.

Run four rods if you can, and if the whiting come on pull two out, ready to cast back behind the hooked up fish. There will be more there.

Fishing as dawn breaks and a little later on a tide change will improve you success rate enormously.

Ensuring a fishery for the future

It’s important to respect the legal sizes and bag limit of five fish. Firstly, to help sustain the fishery and of course, avoid a steep fine as it’s not unusual to have the marine police check your catch both on the water or back at the ramp. Sustainability is something most are concerned about with little known or publicised at present on spawning grounds and timing of such. I am told by authorities that most of the King George Whiting are caught around Flinders Island. However, I am not aware if that catch is recorded as commercial or recreational.

Finally, the good news is that the Minister had a successful day, upstaging myself and my mate by bagging out with some nice King George whiting!

Richard Sherriff

The sort of area you should be looking for while whiting fishing. Tony Mcguire with a great catch of King Gorge whiting.

Guy Barnett MHA with a good catch of Low Head whiting

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