Tasmanian Fishing and Boating News Issue 149 May 2022

TASMANIAN FISHING

Slow Pitching lessons

Winter Squid

Stickbaits for SBT

Big snapper

Big Kingfish

Kayak Bream

Swimbaits

$5.95

Jarvis Wall give a slow pitching lesson. See more inside.

We have a new fisheries Minister.... After another cabinet reshuffle, Tasmania has another new fisheries Minister Jo Palmer - this time with little knowledge of the portfolio.

The previous Minister, Guy Barnett fished - in both fresh and saltwater, and did his best to understand what he was responsible for from the grass roots to the commercial sector. Unfortunately he didn’t do what I wanted him to do, but he did listen. I believe it is a loss. Much of this is due to a small pool of capable politicians capable of fulfilling Ministerial roles. Simply put we do not have enough qualified members of parliament.

Jo Palmer - a Legislative Councillor, will do her best and I wish her well. She has many advisers around her and they will also do their best. I hope she engages with recreational fishers at every chance and seeks to learn how valuable a sector WE are. It will be difficult.

Recreational fishers contribute an enormous amount to the Tasmanian economy and I think we are undervalued by fishery managers. When resource sharing arrangements are discussed it always seems to me that managers think the commercial sector should be first. I completely disagree.

First should be the environment, then indigenous and recreational fishers, and then the commercial sector.

In my opinion there should be more recreational only areas, particularly those areas close to larger populations. Some fish should be recreational onlyor the total commercial capture capped. These species could be King George whiting and yellowtail kingfish.

One very big area of ongoing concern to me is calamari and it is being very heavily fished by the commercial sector - particularly in the North. This is ongoing, and whilst there is a planned reduction and commercial licence arrangement to come in that will not happen this year. Undoubtedly the Northern zone will get very heavily fish again, with little to no constraint outside a seasonal closure. Managers and scientists know this area is overfisher and depleting, but are doing too little too late. This has been too common in Tasmania.

Rock lobster is also to the fore with arrangements currently under discussion. Once again is has had a huge reduction in biomass - much of that due to overfishing. There has been some effort to rebuild the

East Coast to above 20% of its original biomass, but this has had little effect and much more drastic action should be taken to do the stock rebuild quicker. It is unlikely any manager or Government will endorse a fast-track to rebuild to say 30% quickly.

But some good news. I am amazed at what Tasmania keeps throwing up. Recreational fishers are an extraordinary collection of talent these days and I think much better tooled up than ever.

In the personal toolbox is so much that helps anglers catch more these days. Think of bigger boats, better fish finders, better gear, braided lines, extraordinarily sharp hooks, Youtube, Facebook pages dedicated to every species, funky lures, jigs Navionics charts, GPS and more. This issue demonstrates how anglers these days use all those tools to have fun on the water and catch some cracking fish.

We have bluefin like almost never before, the best bream fishery in Australia, an emerging snapper fishery, the biggest King George whiting, great calamari, Tasmanian trumpeter and more.

Get out and fish this winter as it can often be better than summer.

Mike Stevens

Stick Baiting SBT

Challenging, explosive and rewarding Colby Lesko

Stick baiting Southern Bluefin Tuna is probably one of the best forms of sportfishing southern Australia has to offer. The action consists of a real visual chase with explosive takes and hard fighting fish. This makes for some of the most exciting and fun fishing I’ve had in the southern waters of Australia. After a few fish, the arms become sore and you’re left standing in the boat buggered but grinning ear to ear. Stick baiting tuna has taken off in Australia over the last 5 years and for good reason. Southern bluefin tuna show up in great numbers all along the coast of Southern Australia every year and are the perfect stick baiting target. Stick baiting SBT can be a real challenge at times while other days it’s the most effective technique you can use. This all depends on the conditions and the mood of the fish. But challenging fishing is rewarding fishing and it’s all worth it when you have that one great session!

Finding Fish

Tuna bust and break the surface when they are feeding most of the time, revealing their location. If the fish are feeding on whitebait or anchovy they will generally be jumping and splashing all over the surface as they move quickly smashing the small schools of baitfish. If feeding on bigger baitfish, such as yakka or redbait, the tuna will generally bail up a big bait ball of these fish and push them to the surface. They then follow this ball feeding off the edges of the school. The sea birds are also a dead giveaway and help you spot the tuna from greater distances. Look for sea birds diving into the water as they also feed on the baitfish the tuna, have pushed to the surface. In particular, the white Terns love to feed over tuna and by following these birds they will generally take you to the fish.

Sometimes when feeding on squid or krill the tuna will not break the surface as they feed but again generally the birds will find the fish. Large groups of sea birds sitting on the water or diving under the surface are a dead give-away. Sound over these areas and look for fish on the sounder if you mark solid arches under the birds stop and start casting. Seals, dolphins and even whales also all feed on the bait schools the tuna push up to the surface. Big groups of feeding sea-life generally signal bait ball action and if the tuna are in the area they will not be far away. The fact that tuna have so many visual signs makes them a great target for casting lures and means the number of casts you have to do are very minimal. Instead of blind casting into the vast ocean, you’re better off just spending your time looking for feeding fish to cast at.

One of many SBT caught casting lures during a great day on the water.

Whenever you are looking for tuna always have your sounder on and keep an eye on it for fish. Tuna will mark up as big solid fish anywhere in the midwater column and often in big schools. If you drive over any marks you think maybe fish mark the spot and give the area a few casts before moving on. If the fish don’t respond to the lures straight away this may be a good spot to return to in a few hours when the fish begin

to feed. If you are unable to find any signs of tuna at all but know they are in the area. As a last resort, you can troll a spread of lures until you get a hook up then cast stick baits in this area. This works well over the shelf in deep water where the tuna seem to do less surface feeding.

Once you find some feeding tuna it’s now all about getting your stick bait in the zone. Ideally, you want to

cast and land the lure exactly in front of the busting tuna. Swim the stick bait out of the bait school right into the face of the feeding tuna. Some days this is easy, you will get eaten most casts. But some days the fish move extremely quickly and only bust on the bait for a few seconds at a time before moving on. When it’s like this just try your best to get upwind of the fish and be ready for them to appear at any moment before casting your lure into the zone. If you can keep casting your stick bait into the feeding fish it’s only a matter of time until one eats it. The only time the fish become extremely hard to catch on stick baits is when they are feeding on micro bait only 10 or 20mm long. If the fish are feeding on bigger bait around the 6 to 10cm range, you should be in for a great session. Try to land the stick bait right in the area where the most amount of action and fish are, once the fish get competitive over the lure you’re bound to get a bite. I always approach the school of fish from upwind this way you get the best cast distance and also the best accuracy. Some days the fish will be really boat shy and once they hear the sound of the motor they will go down and stop feeding. If they are like this turn your motor off up wind of the school and use the wind to drift your boat within range. Try and be as quiet as possible when approaching the fish and idle into the schools from a few hundred meters away. Do as big as possible casts to give the tuna plenty of time to hunt down the lure and eat it.

Most of the time SBT will feed all day long and at any time of the day. Generally, they don’t really get feeding hard until the sun is up and may have a few breaks throughout the day before feeding hard again the last hour or two of light. By sundown, the fish seem to stop feeding on the surface and go down for the night. In certain conditions and when there is lots of bait around the fish may become more bite time-specific and only feed for a few hours a day. The mid-day tide change is a great time to be looking for feeding tuna when it’s like this. Thankfully this usually only happens on the odd really tough day.

You can find feeding schools of fish just off the rocky headlands and capes in 20ms of water or you can find fish out over the shelf in 2000m of water. The tuna schools are constantly moving and feeding in different areas. It’s best to follow a recent report of where the fish are but always keep your eyes peeled when travelling you will never know where the fish might pop up on the day your out.

Lures and Retrieves

My favourite SBT casting lure would have to be small sinking in the 9 to 16cm range. These sinking stick baits are the perfect baitfish imitation and will work in all conditions. Other great options are floating stick baits and poppers. Floating stick baits are a little harder to work especially in windy conditions but in certain scenarios, the splash from a floating stick bait really revs the fish up. Poppers are generally less effective for fish feeding on bait than stick baits but small poppers 9cm to 16cm do seem to work well when the fish are shut down or sitting a little deeper

Hooked up on the lure casting combo.

Tim Vincent with a great SBT caught casting a small sinking stick bait.

in the water column. Small metal 30 gram to 60-gram slugs can also be worth a cast if the fish are feeding on small bait. It’s worth having a range of lures to suit whatever bait and fish you come across. Rig your lures with inline single hooks, these hooks are much better for the tuna and give you a much more solid hook-up point than trebles. Trebles seem to bend out a lot on tuna whereas the single hooks rarely fail.

what the fish want on the day. When using poppers, small bloops and pauses work well while metal slugs just crank them fast. Speed kills with tuna and they are incredibly fast at times so don’t be afraid to get it really moving as fast as possible if the fish are just looking at the lures.

My favourite retrieve by far for stick baits is to do long fast sweeps of the rod so the lure darts around for a couple of metres before stopping for a split second then darting around again. This erratic retrieve seems to work wonders. However, some days a slow-paced constant wind with small twitches can be really good or a full paced constant wind. Mix it up a bit and see

Stick baiting tuna will require some specialist gear in the terms of long casting rods and spin reels spooled with braid. You only need one set up in the 10 to 15kg rated range with a 7 to 8ft casting rod matched a 10000-size spin reel to start. Spool the reel with 50lb braid and 100lb leader and you’ll be set to take on all sized school SBT. Cast distance and accuracy is important to go for a good quality casting braid. Casting at barrel SBT is going to require a heavier combo and specialist gear but this is more a task for very dedicated stick baiting anglers. Having the stick baiting gear rigged and ready for SBT is a must for me now when heading out on the Southern Ocean and I’ve always got the eyes peeled looking for tuna. Stopping off for a few casts at busting fish breaks up a day of bait fishing or trolling and is awesome fun. Most days if the fishing is good the trolling rods don’t even make an appearance now because catching them casting lures is just too much fun!

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A selection of lures perfect for casting at SBT.

Fish like this 30kg one are an amazing fight on the stick baiting gear.

Fine Tuning for Reds

Terminal tackle, baits and tips for Tasmanian snapper

Damon

Sherriff

In this article I will discuss terminal tackle, tackle, best baits and how to catch big snapper with some helpful advice for the novice and expert alike. Well it’s getting to the end of the season, and what a roller coaster of a season it has been, high water temperature, lack of bigger fish, plenty off smaller fish and fish not turning up in regular haunts. It’s certainly been difficult and believe me I struggled to find some decent fish during the first half of the season. I try to target the larger fish and had only landed two fish over 75 cm before Christmas which is not flash, when in 2019 my diary stated I landed over 15 fish over 75 cm to 86 cm before Christmas. That year my total tally was 273 which is pretty incredible.

This season has started to improve at a rapid pace since Christmas and after a slow start it’s looking promising. Now since Christmas, my boat has taken another 8 snapper of fish over 75cm up to 87 cm. Which is pretty good fishing for Tasmania. It’s the end of March and my total tally is 154 fish since June. Most of the snapper have been eaten and a large percentage of

the frames have been donated to The Tasmanian Fish Frame Collection. Other fish have been released if they have been captured in water below 15m. I don’t like letting fish go deeper than that, they suffer badly from barotrauma. There is a very slim chance of survival even if the air bladder is spiked. Most look like they swim off but later on down the track they come back up some times hours after capture. So if you prepared to catch fish over 15 m. Be prepared to take your catch. Because letting them go, they will they more than likely will become food for the marine environment.

Technique

I only bait fish for snapper, I find it by far the most successful method to capture big fish. I know lures work and anglers in Tasmania are starting to have success with them. But I love bait fishing, I love the bait rigging, the casting, the waiting and the howling run of a big fish. I love looking at maps and finding new marks. Then fishing them and capturing a big fish from it. There is nothing more rewarding, I also

love the bait collecting, often a separate fishing trip in itself. It’s a great way to fish.

Timed To Perfection

Every mark has a code, but the code is never set in concrete, it can often change at any given moment, timing is the most important thing to get right when it comes to catching a big snapper. It allows you to cut your fishing hours back by fishing the peak bite time, which is affected by the tide, time of day, moon, and location you are fishing. I can’t tell you exactly when to fish because every spot is different. The only way in finding out the timing of a spot is by fishing it. If you have some success make a note of all the factors, time , tide and moon. Next time you head back to your spot try the same tide and timing, more than likely they will be feeding in the same area. Keep a diary too, especially if you have multiple fish spots so you can see what time of the year they hang around the area, because it’s never permanent. Fish and snapper have tails and the will move on eventually. Be prepared to

Damon Sherriff with a magnificent snapper caught in Northeast Tasmania.

change you timing as well. It can change quite quickly. I have had fish biting only on a run in tide change and only bite on the run in for a period of a few weeks. So don’t get comfortable and get stuck in your ways. It’s the worst thing you can do sometimes. Be flexible and be prepared to move if the bite goes cold.

Bait Collection

To be a good snapper fisher you must first become an expert at catching bait. This is by far the biggest advantage anyone can have. Fresh bait will out fish frozen bait, I have seen it time and time again, especially when chasing big fish. Yes sure, you will catch snapper on blue bait but most of the time they will be pinkies or schoolies under 70 cm. If to choose to target true big fish there is nothing better than fresh bait, it’s that important. I will not go snapper fishing with out it these days. It does not matter too much what it is, Australian salmon, whiting, mullet, garfish, cuttlefish and calamari all make excellent snapper baits and there are many more. Things that don’t look good to us sometimes are the best baits that work. Don’t get into the “shiny silver fish are the only ones that work” because snapper don’t see it that way. Big fish will often be full of toad fish, leather jackets and sea horses. I mainly use a bait rig or sabiki style rigs for collecting bait, you can buy them at your local tackle store. They only cost about five dollars. A squid jig is a must for a snapper fisherman. Brand is personal preference, but the Yo-Zuri ones are very effective.

If you are chasing calamari for bait, find a shallow area with a sea grass or ribbon weed bottom and drift over it with the jig a short cast out the back so it’s only a couple of foot up off the bottom. Hopefully eventually you will get a strike. Mark the spot with a land mark or gps so you can go back to the same spot because more than likely there will be others there. You will get plenty of baits off one calamari. If cut into rings it’s possible to get 10 to 15 baits out of a big calamari. Cuttlefish and octopus are also very good baits for snapper, but sometimes a bit harder to source.

Garfish are definitely one of my favourite baits. You can dip net them after dark with a prawn net and a flounder light or burley with bread and tuna oil and fish a small bait of bread dough or maggots under a float which is a great way to catch gars. You probably need about a dozen nice size sea gars for a session. I

cut them in half if they are large gars. The head half works particularly well.

Terminal Tackle

When it comes to the pointy part of snapper fishing the are many good quality hooks on the market, for me I only trust the best hooks money can buy. I have always used Gamakatsu Black Octopus hooks up until 4 years ago. I won a snapper photo competition on Facebook with one of my old photos of a 11 kg Tamar female snapper. The competition was run by Australian company Reedy’s Rigs which are based in Melbourne. The owner of the company Brett Read is an extremely passionate snapper fisherman himself and has gone to a massive amount of trouble in research in designing and manufacturing his own range of high quality snapper fishing hooks and rigs. Anyway, I won this pack of 25, 187 octopus hooks. I tried them and have not looked back. All of my snapper taken the last 3 season have all been caught on 187 suicides or Reedy’s Ultra rigs. They are a superb product and I can’t recommend them enough. One thing I must state with the hook is make sure they are 100 percent sharp at all times. Snapper have very hard mouths and a surgically sharp hook is a must, especially for big fish which have a tendency of crushing your bait and spitting out your hooks. Pre-made flasher style rigs are worth the money. There are plenty of different brands about and most are okay. But the Reedy’s Rigs Ultra rigs is are my personal preference. They have surgically sharp Japanese Dominator Circle hooks in them. Also they have been tied out of special UV flasher material which glows in the deep water areas. They are available at all BCF Stores in Tasmania.

Leader material I use is Platypus Hard Armour Supple Trace in 24kg. I used to use 28kg Jinki before that but it got a bit hard to get for a while but this also a good product. I like to use small ball bearing swivel especially in areas like the Tamar which have a fair bit of tide, these are hard to get as well now by themselves. You have to buy the coast lock ball bearing snap and cut the snap off. But if you are fishing an area with no or little tide flow crane swivels do the job. An ezy rig or sinker slider is also part of my rig. They allow you to change sinker weight without cutting your line. They also allow you to take your sinker on and off quickly for safe rod storage.

This male fish went 82cm on the brag mat.

Waiting for a bite as the sun comes over the horizon.

Sammy Sherriff with a northeast red taken on evening.

Rods and Reels

Once again they are many good brands available these days. We are very lucky to have such a choice of good tackle. Okuma, Silstar, Shimano, Daiwa, Abu Garcia all make rods and reels suited to snapper fishing. Being a bit of a reel collector, I like to use the reel my mentors used back in the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s. I use vintage Abu Ambassadeur overhead reels. I find the cast amazing once you have mastered them. They last for a very long time. They are capable of dealing with the big by catch you have to deal with when snapper fishing. And the best thing of all they are simple and easy to work on. I have been using them since back when I was a teenager and I can’t see me changing in a hurry. But everyone has their own favourites so stick to the brand that works for you.

Rods are once again personal opinion. I like to have a long 7.6 to 8 ft one piece, long butt casting rod which suits the abu’s. But for tread line user’s, it’s normal to use a shorter 6 to 7 ft rod which will also do the job. It is important for the rod to have a soft enough tip to dissolve the head shakes of a lightly hooked fish.

I prefer to use monofilament line for reds, it has much better abrasion resistance than gelspun lines. Also big

fish are often lightly hooked. Because of the snappers super tough mouths, they have very little fleshy bits around their mouths to hook into. Often big ones are foul hooked on the outside of the mouth, sometimes only by a small piece of skin in the corner of the scissors. Braid is too hard on fish hooked this way and you will definitely pull your hooks on these fish, where mono you have a good chance of still landing it. So mono it is for me.

Find Some Old Books

One of the best ways to learn for bait anglers is too read up. I used to buy and read all the old magazines articles and books when I was a young man obsessed by snapper fishing. There are many old tricks in these old books which have been long forgotten. Authors such as Geoff Wilson has written some brilliant articles of snapper through the 70s 80s and 90s. There are some valuable information in these articles and I highly recommend if you plan on targeting big fish you hunt them down. He is also too author of the world renowned Geoff Wilson’s Fishing Knots and Rigs Books.

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).

Lake Pedder

A huge expanse and endless opportunities

Daniel Deppeler

As we pulled onto the boat ramp that slips down into the gin clear waters of Hermit Basin on the eastern side of Lake Pedder, one thing instantly struck me. The empty carpark. Where was everyone? The weather was splendid with a bright blue sky, a gentle breeze and rising barometer. It was a strange almost eerie feeling. Having done the majority of my trout fishing in Victorian lakes including Purrembete, Bullen Merri, Toolondo and Eildon, the likelihood of pulling up to a deserted boat ramp on a spectacular day at a mainland lake brimming with trout is, to say the least, unheard of. Over the next two days we covered a lot of water and did not see a single soul. There is something about the solitude, isolation and loneliness of the Tasmanian wilderness that draws you in and provides a much-needed contrast to busy, modern day lives.

Where to start

The daunting prospect of choosing where to start, given that the lake covers 242 square kilometres, is the first challenge to wrap your head around. There are five boats ramps on Lake Pedder; with Scotts Peak and Edgar Dam

ramps located at the South Eastern side of the lake and McPartlan Pass, Teds beach and Serpentine Dam all located on the northern edge of the lake. We chose to launch at the McPartlan Pass ramp through no reason other than convenience, it is the closest ramp on the way in from Hobart. With the boat launched, car locked up and sunscreen applied the game plan was to troll a variety of lures around and see what we could learn in the process. We studied the sounder to look for fish, bait or anything else that stood out, chose lures of different colours and depths and trolled right through the Hermit Basin area and around to the main lake before finally getting the attention of a fish. A lovely little Brown trout of about 30cm which was released back to its home in no time. This fish was taken in close to a bank with standing timber so we thought we would stay in tight to the bank and try to find a pattern. We trolled a stretch of shoreline that contained a mixture of drop offs, flats, small inlets and stands of vertical timber, back and forth for the afternoon and picked up 6 Brown trout. These fish ranged from 30 to 45cm and most were in very good condition.

There’s plenty of sheltered bays to hide from the wind around Pedder.

A nice Brown trout that had been gorging itself on yabbies.

One of these fish in-particular gave us a real hint into unlocking this lake. Its stomach was full, almost bulging and when you touched it you could feel hard, pointy lumps and bumps. We decided that this plump fish would make a nice change from sausages, bread and onion for dinner and upon cleaning it I removed at least nine small Yabbies from inside its stomach.

Patterns began to emerge

A little habit that we have got ourselves into whilst trolling is to mark a waypoint on the sounder every time we get a strike or hook a fish. After catching 7 trout and an equal amount of hits for the afternoon, we turned to the Simrad NSS12 EVO3S mapping feature that revealing our tracks and waypoints. It showed clearly that several spots on the trolling run had produced multiple hookups.

The fish we had caught had taken a variety of lures, mainly diving hard bodies in several different colours, so to us it appeared that location was more important than the presentation. We had several hours to kill before we wanted to cast the banks on sunset, so we gently slipped the Yamaha 150hp outboard into gear and motored back to these areas identified to see if anything else stood out. Shallow, boring, barren areas in between the timber and drop-offs. Nothing to see here type of spots, wouldn’t normally stop and fish type of spots. Flat and featureless is how we described what we could see. Looking around I noticed the bank also changed colour in these parts and went from rock and pebble or timbered to exposed clay.

Then the light bulb moment. What was that fat trout full of again? What likes to live in clay banks? Yabbies.

Casting the Clay Banks

That evening we dropped the Motorguide iX5 and cruised the clay banks, sitting in about 3m of water and casting right up into the shallows. We used mainly hardbodies and soft plastics and found that they needed to be worked along the bottom for the best results. By using deep diving hardbodies we could get them down to the bottom and bring them along banging into the mud every so often. The soft plastics we fished with a slow roll along the bottom. Colour choice again didn’t seem to matter with fish being taken on gold, black, redfin pattern, green and orange. I would have loved to have tried some small black vibes but unfortunately, I didn’t pack any in my lure boxes.

I have read about trout fisherman targeting Yabby feeding trout and

mud banks up at Lake Eucumbene. Our experience at Lake Pedder confirmed that these areas can be prime feeding zones for hungry trout. We enjoyed a fantastic session catching countless trout ranging from 20-48cm in length. As seems to be often the case, we felt the best fish we hooked were also the ones that pulled hooks! The gear we were using were light spin rods in 1-3kg range and 2500 sized reels. These were spooled with 6kg Tasline and we fished 4kg fluorocarbon leaders. Whilst fishing Pedder you will almost certainly at some stage came up tight on some timber. Normally I would fish 2-3kg leader for Trout, but we increased to 4-5kg because of the timber. We lost a few lures to snags and I can highly recommend having a lure de-snagging device on hand. It saved us a few dollars that for sure.

Just before dark we gently pulled the Extreme boats Game king into one of the many white sand beaches for the night. After a stretch of the legs, we were soon eating crispy skin trout fillets with garlic salt and lemon, washed down with an ice-cold beer. Then the swags were rolled out on the boat deck and alarm set for another early morning assault on the Yabby beds. If you are looking to camp for a few days, then there are three good campsites close to the lake. Teds Beach and The Huon campgrounds are managed by Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service and require a Parks pass to access. Edgar Campground is managed by Hydro Tasmania.

Surface Bite Then Shutdown

We were back on the water and cruising the clay banks just as the sun started poking its head up over the awe-inspiring mountains to our east. There was a stiff breeze blowing and the clear skies had been replaced by dark, billowing clouds during the night. I had purchased a couple of OSP bent minnow lures before this trip and was very keen to give them a run.

Drone shot looking down the Hermit Basin into the main lake. The scenery is incredible to say the least.

All the trout were in great condition and eager to smash lures.

It was evident by little swirls and sips that there were trout working hard up on the bank, so I sent my Bent minnow right up in the shallows and began its erratic retrieve back to the boat. Casting again this time bouncing the lure off of the rocky bank, I knew I was in the zone and several winds later, crunch, the bent minnow was engulfed by a beautiful early morning brown trout. We continued casting for another hour or so with nothing more to show for our efforts but the strengthening wind gusts, water chop and growling stomachs soon saw us back into our sheltered bay for breakfast and to come up with a new game plan. The incoming clouds and rain soon made our minds up for us and our Pedder trip had sadly come to an end. We motored back to the ramp and noted just how quickly this lake can chop up and become dangerous to small watercraft.

The Wrap Up

It never ceases to amaze me how much you can learn each and every time you go fishing if you pay attention to detail and take note of everything that happens. Trying to understand and unlock fish and their movements/feeding patterns is ultimately as much fun as buying new lures, rods and reels. The lessons we learnt in one afternoon at Lake Pedder have shown me how important yabbies can be to trout in lakes with large yabby populations.

75–115hp FourStroke

Next time I visit Lake Pedder (I hope it won’t be to long) I will be packing a lure box full of Yabby imitation lures. I have no doubt that dark vibes, small lipless crankbaits and Yabby imitation soft plastics would all do well on the clay banks.

Unbridled power, unexpectedly compact, uncompromising reliability, unbelievably fuel efficient. Mercury’s 75–115hp FourStroke Range. Unlike anything the world has ever seen.

If you haven’t fished Pedder for a while or ever before I thoroughly recommend you give it a go. It is remarkably beautiful, and would no doubt have many trout that have never seen a human or a lure!

A simple selection of gear to catch the Lake Pedder trout.

•Winner of Yellowstone Anglers 2020 5wt Shootout “Best Overall Rod” with 30 plus 5wt rods tested

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•A skeletonized aluminum reel seat, double uplocking rings with nylon bushings and burled blackwood inserts

•Moderate-fast action, multimodulus blanks constructed with G-Tec platelets over a glare-resistant platinum color with G-Armour coating

•AAAA flor-grade cork

•Section alignment dots featuring rod line weight

•Powder coated aluminum tube and plush moisture wicking rod sock

•Lifetime Warranty on all Douglas Fly Rods

Photo: Logan Summers

“The Douglas Sky G is astounding. I’ve been y shing for over 50 years and own more y rods than I care to admit. I’ve thrown just about every brand rod there is, but I’ve never used a rod that has the characteristics that this one has. I can carry a ridiculous amount of line in the air and reach long distances e ortlessly. It is a joy to sh.”

SKYG89049’0”#84B

Dave Townsend

SKYG 6904

Best 6 weight - Yellowstone Angler

Slow Pitching

A technique that is catching on in Tasmania

Metal jigs are no new revolutionary pieces of fishing equipment but as angling progresses with new innovations we find ourselves tweaking and customising some of the original lures and techniques. A relatively new technique which has been dubbed slow jigging and slow pitch jigging, is a new take on metal jig fishing. Where instead of your standard metal slug or knife style jig, the slow pitch style is designed to be fished vertically and give more action with less movement. This allows you to target your slower moving and usually much tastier demersal fish species.

Types of slow jigs

Slow pitch jigs: slow pitch jigs are a small oval like shaped jig which is flat on one side and convex on the other, this shape when sunk down creates a falling leaf motion which is extremely enticing to bottom fish species and gives you maximum chance to have fish bite on the drop as it takes a little longer for these jigs to fall. They can be fished super slow which works perfectly when your target species are a little bit lethargic on those tougher days.

Occy/tentacle jigs : this is a group of a few different sorts of jigs that I’ve rounded in to one to simplify it as they are all fished very similarly. This group contains

Jarvis Wall

the like of the Shimano Baku-Baku, Shimano Lucanus, Vexed Bottom Meats and any of your squid style jigs as well. These jigs are extremely effective and very underutilised as they can get bites out of fish that are not normally encountered on your traditional metal jigs. I have been lucky enough to have caught King George whiting out in 48 metres on a slowly worked Baku-Baku before so you just never know what’s going to come across next! Snapper absolutely love these styles of jig as well. The Bottom Meats are deadly on deep water reefs as they come in very heavy weighted heads. These heads work perfectly for bombing the depths where you can encounter the fine eating Striped Trumpeter or even out over the Continental Shelf where Blue eye Trevalla, Gemfish, Hapuka and Blue Grenadier are all realistic targets, just be prepared to do some winding!

Choosing which jig to use

A great principal to go off when choosing which size or weight jig to run is to know what depths you’re going to be targeting your desired fish in. Ten grams for every ten metres is generally a pretty safe equation to go by. For me if I’m heading out into bass strait to target species like Snapper, Nannygai, Morwong and Swallowtail, I generally use a 60 gram slow pitch jig in

either a pink and silver colour or blue, silver and pink. This is mainly because my usual depth I find these fish in is 45-60m so I’ve found that a 60gram jig works just fine. I have mixed it up trying slow occy jigs and the likes, these definitely do work as well and very often do bring in unusual species. For another example if I was fishing off either the East or West coast for Striped Trumpeter in 90-140 metres I’d opt for something like a 100-150 gram Vexed Bottom Meat or a 120 gram slow pitch jig of your brand of choice. I haven’t found that any particular colour works out in these depths but it’s always a confidence booster to have some luminescence or UV on your jig to help draw in fish in the darker waters as the silver off your normal jigs won’t be picking up and reflecting much light down there.

Retrieves

There isn’t anything too technical about the majority of your slow jigging but on tough days implying some different movements into your jigs can change your results from being skunked to having a good day.

Slow pitch jigs : usually the best retrieve for your slow pitch jigs is to kick it up off the bottom maybe 1.5-3 metres with some short sharp stabs or long upward draws of the rod tip. This will vary depending on the

The holy grail of jig fishing in Tasmania - a sensational trumpeter.

fish’s mood on the day. Then the main ingredient to success is to make that jig fall as slow as possible but still impart some natural action on its fall. This will give the slower moving bottom fish more time to eat it as the won’t pick it up off the bottom and very rarely have the confidence to hit the lure on the rise up. On the tough days just hovering the jig a metre off the bottom and slapping your rod butt which basically just makes the jig shake and dance around on the spot can get your jig bit.

Occy style: If I was to introduce someone into slow jigging I would definitely encourage them to try this style as they’re extremely simple to use and there isn’t much user error that can go wrong as they are literally fishing themselves whole time for you. A simple slow lift off the bottom and pause at the top of your lift is all you need. Fish will have no issues hitting one of these styles of lures stationary.

What Area To Look For

A good quality sonar is imperative to being able to do this style of fishing, you will still find success blind drifting a reef but being able to pinpoint your fish and dropping on them makes it a thousand times easier. The quality bottom fish you target over the reefy bottoms will congregate together and always show up in a big thick patch either on or just up off the bottom. Positioning yourself to be able to drop into these masses of fish will improve your catch rate immensely. You don’t always have to be on hard reef either, it pays to scout around as a lot of the time fish will be just on the edges of reefs or on rubble patches, if you are on any of these areas and you see something on your sounder screen, definitely drop on it and you may be surprised with the results. A lot of the time

fish will be on a significant rise or what we call pins in the reef where the bottom spikes up which is an attractive bit of structure to bait and predators. These areas can hold some excellent fish and a lot of the time it’s where big fish will hang out as it’s a happy hunting ground for them.

Gear

I like to run two seperate rods for different applications. If I’m doing my light slow pitching in the Strait I’ll use a 6ft pe1.5 rod in an overhead version coupled up with a 200 size overhead reel. This is just perfect for working the lighter jigs and doesn’t suck the fun out of catching generally smaller fish like your pinky snapper, nannygai and morwong. I like to run 15kg braid and a 15kg fluorocarbon leader, fish can get line shy at times so I’ve found 15kg is a good base to begin with for a days jigging.

For striped trumpeter work, I beef my rod up to a 6’2 pe3 overhead rod and couple that up with a 300 size reel although I have used my 200 size and it’s fine, line capacity does become a worry though. For this style, I run 20kg braid and an 32kg fluorocarbon leader, this leader is mainly used as with the bigger fish and deeper depths the line can get knocked around a bit. It’s just that little bit extra insurance!

As for jigs I mainly will use the Little Jack Metald Addict range of slow jigs, these jigs are extremely lifelike and offer an irresistible action on the drop to a lot of fish species. These jigs perform excellently in Bass strait on everything from nannygai, snapper, morwong, swallowtail, silver dory and many other species. If I’m targeting trumpeter, I will still opt for a Little Jack Metal Addict jig but the occy style jigs are my preference such as the Vexed Bottom Meats, these are deadly effective as they can be fished extremely slow down in the depths.

I hope this insight will get you excited to try this form of fishing, it’s super fun and makes collecting fish for the table so enjoyable! Even better there’s no need to buy stinky bait ever again and it’s such a clean way of fishing. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you out on the water jigging up some fish!

Overhead setups are great to use while jigging and very effective on these beautiful nannygai.

Snapper absolutely love a well worked micro jig.

Brightly coloured jigs are an effective choice.

A very tasty mixed bag from a jigging session. Check out those fish.

1.15 metre Donkey

A kingfish of a lifetime

Daniel

They say fishing is a game of luck and back in early February during a quick and spontaneous outing to the treacherous waters that flow past Woolnorth and into the Indian Ocean, Dad and I made perhaps one of our luckiest and memorable captures to date.

Woolnorth itself is a place here in Tasmania that has become a paradise for anglers chasing snapper, kingfish and arguably the largest King George whiting in the world. The beautiful turquoise coloured water, green pastures and Vestas turbines on the rolling hills of Bluff Point and Studland Bay make Woolnorth one of the most picturesque places in the state.

We’d already had a pretty successful day before this particular trip with some good-sized kingfish and a few smaller snapper coming aboard but after hearing on the grapevine that a pair of talented young local anglers in Sam Spinks and Nathan Huizing had encountered some absolute monster ‘hoodlums’ earlier in the week, we decided we’d head back up for another look.

Paull

Daniel Paull with a magnificent Tassie kingfish.

Big soft plastics in the current has been the best technique.

After arriving back up at Woolnorth later in the afternoon on a Saturday just as the tide began to turn and rush back out to sea, we quickly found ourselves connected to our first kingfish for the day. This was a quality fish of approximately 80-85cm and in the same sort of league as fish we’d encountered the day prior. A quick couple of piccies ensued and the solid specimen was speared back into the drink to fight another day. It was a bright start to the day!

It didn’t take long for us to find our next target. Dad and I had both been smoked on bigger fish the day before so I opted for a slightly heavier outfit for this session. Using a Shimano Twinpower 10000/Grappler Type-C combination loaded with 50lb Powerpro braid and 50lb Ocea fluorocarbon leader, the decision would ultimately provide the additional grunt to defeat the next opponent.

A pod of about three enormous kingfish materialised behind a quickly worked soft plastic and with some quick thinking and an open bail arm, I was able to hook the fish leading the chase. The torpedo-like ‘hoodlum’ veered off to the left and pealed a heap of string off the reel in a blistering run reminiscent of a big tuna strike! As the fish ducked and weaved in and around just about every length of kelp in the area, we slowly managed to settle into a bit of a rhythm and began to inch the beast closer to the boat.

After drifting out into some more hospitable bottom and away from the pressure waves whipped up by the outgoing tide, we finally got our first view of the animal. It was a right proper donkey and far too big for the net we had. We made several unsuccessful attempts at trying to haul the fish aboard in rough conditions by trying to lead it headfirst into the net and grabbing at the tail but it just wasn’t going to work.

We finally managed to get the fish up over the gunwale by using a small lip gaff and holding onto the animal’s lower jaw. We quickly rolled out the brag mat and lowered the fish down gently to get a quick measurement. Gazing in absolute awe at the 115cm fork length Tasmanian kingfish, we knew we were extremely lucky and fortunate to be in the presence of such an awesome example of nature.

Too magnificent a fish to catch the once, the fish was promptly returned to the water after some back-slapping, handshakes and some photographs that’ll no doubt be cherished for years to come. With the sun setting and the tide slipping away for the journey back to Montagu, it was time to head home for a couple of well-earned frothies. You just never know when you’ll run into that fish of a lifetime!

Since that memorable session, we’ve managed a few more big Tassie kingfish. Fish ranging from 80cm and 90cm fork length have been prolific and we’ve even struck gold once again with another solid donkey measuring 112cm.

How good has the fishing been lately here in Tassie? We’ve got bluefin tuna seemingly all around the state, the snapper and kingfish are still in great numbers and the elusive broadbill swordfish are starting to reveal themselves more frequently.

This fish measured 112cm on the brag mat.

Kingfish of this size are absolute powerhouses.

Have two rods rigged so you make the most of every opportunity.

Winter squid

Big, fun and great to eat

Lubin Pfeiffer

Squid would be the one fish that I’ve targeted ever since I first started fishing but still enjoy catching them as much as I did many years ago. Regardless of your age or fishing ability, squid would have to be one of the most fun fish we have available in our waters. There’s something quite refreshing about the predictability of squid fishing, knowing that if you target a particular area, during a low light period of the day, pretty much in most similar areas across the

state, you’re going to catch a few. Squid living such short lives are always on the hunt and usually very willing to eat a well-worked jig. While I like to target squid any way I can get them, either land-based or by using a boat, it’s the latter that I do most. A boat gives you access to less pressured areas and allows you to cover lots more water and in most cases enjoy more successful fishing. Although in saying that, Tassie has stacks of good land-based platforms where you can

tangle with a squid. In this article I’ll run through the locations, gear and processes I like to use while chasing these tasty critters. Now is the prime time of the year to get out and catch a feed, so if you’ve never tried your hand at squid fishing then now is the time to do it! In Tasmania, we have some of the biggest squids in the country and also some of the most beautiful locations to catch them in.

Where and When To Fish

Most of my fishing is done around the northeast and northern coast of Tassie, where there are loads of areas to catch a feed of squid. I like to find an area of weed beds in water that is from two to around five metres in-depth, without too much current ripping through there during the tide. Also, areas of shallow reefs are well worth a cast too. There are plenty of spots along the north coast that have shallow reef with undercuts that the squid seem to haunt in mass. I’ve had great squid sessions along the stretch of coast at Bridport, where there are huge areas of likely ground to cover. My other favourite location would have to be Coles Bay. Coles bay has plenty of all-weather options as usually, the bay is pretty sheltered from the wind. I’ve had a couple of good sessions at Bicheno but find I prefer to squid where there is less swell as it makes the whole process a bit easier and far more enjoyable easier. From what I’ve been told they catch some whoppers off the stones on dark at Bicheno though! If you’re a land-based angler looking for somewhere to catch a squid just pay attention to the colour of the platform you’re planning on fishing. If it’s clean then obviously not a lot goes on there but if it is covered in black spray marks then it’s definitely worth a shot! Timing is hugely important because the squid will feed much better during the low light periods of the day, I think first light would be my favourite time to fish if I had to choose. There’s something about the mornings being a very reliable time to catch a fish. From my experience, it’s better to have some tidal movement, so I try and fish either during the run-in or run-out tide. When the tide is dead low or high the bite seems to slow down.

Gear to catch a squid

The process is fairly simple really but being simple seems to be the best way to catch most fish species consistently. I run two rods, one for casting and one for the rod holder. Each rod is 2.1 metres long around 3-6kg rigged with a 4kg brightly coloured braid and a 10kg fluorocarbon leader. I have recently been using a specifically designed EGI rod, which is awesome and fun to use but not completely necessary to catch a squid. The difference between a specifically designed EGI rod to a standard rod is firstly the length. EGI rods are usually over 2.4 metres in length which allow for long casts and make working the jig vigorously easier for the angler. Some days the squid will be shut down and working a jig with long rips creating a fast lift is the best way to get them to bite. Short rods are much harder to get the jig to move with any sort of real pace. They are also a parabolic action which is less likely to rip the candles off a squid when the jig is being ripped fast. The EGI rod I have is an Okuma EGI special which is 2.5 metres long and rated PE 0.6-1.2. It’s a well-priced rod if you are in the market to try something different with your squid fishing. As I said it is not completely necessary but I use mine a lot and prefer it over a standard blank for casting jigs. Both my rods are rigged with size 3.5 squid jigs, ones brightly coloured and one darker one to mix it up. I without a doubt always start with a hot orange jig and

usually the darker one I select is a straight black one. White is a great colour for Tassie waters also and usually gets a run during the squidding session. I think one important piece of advice I can give is don’t be arias to spend a few extra dollars on a squid jig. I used to use the three-dollar bargain bin jigs and while they will catch a few squids, they won’t last and also have inferior pins on them. When the squid are being lazy they will just lightly touch the jig and not fully commit. This is where having razor sharp sticky pins will catch twice as many as a cheaper jig.

Technique

Squid will always bite better when there’s not too much wind about and the water is nice and clean, less wind also makes doing drifts at the right speed easier as well. Drifting will cover a lot more water and find more hungry patches of squid. Using a GPS can be handy to see where you’ve drifted and where you’ve found patches of squid. I like to start my drifts, depending on what way the wind is taking you, from deeper water, in about four to five metres, and then work my way in shallow. Finishing in water about two metres deep and then moving out and repeating the process. Sometimes you’ll find the squid in a particular water depth and covering different depths will help narrow down which is the best on the day. Once I’ve completed a drift I’ll head back out to the deeper water but move across a few casts worth and restart the drift.

A feed of squid ready to be cleaned.

Specifically designed rods are a joy to use.

Once I’ve found a patch of squid I can then concentrate efforts in that zone. One of the rods I will sit on the rod holder and leave the jig sitting just off of the bottom. This needs to be adjusted as the drift depth changes. The other I will actively fish casting around all directions from the boat. It is amazing sometimes how just the jig fished static in the rod holder will catch more squid than the moving jig so I find it always makes good sense to have both presentations. I think as well plenty of squid will follow the moving jig to the boat but not commit to eating it. As they see the jig sitting static it gives them plenty of time to consider their choice and ultimately gets the better of them. Another important reason for having an extra jig is when you are reeling in a hooked squid and they will quite often have others following the hooked one. Having the jig sitting ready to go in the water means you can fully maximise these opportunities. For the jig I’m casting, I like to use a rip, rip then sink retrieve. Good positive rips will not only see the jig move enticingly in the water but also makes for good hook-sets when a squid grabs the jig as it’s sinking. As much as possible I try to cast ahead of the drift so that I can control the jig all the way to the

boat. Casting behind the drift can sometimes mean the cast takes forever to retrieve and you’re not covering the same amount of water effectively.

Care for your catch

In Tasmania, you’re allowed to keep ten squid each which is enough for a fresh feed and a few for the freezer. Please note they do freeze well, and some people argue it is better - or equally as good as fresh squid.

Sometimes with the really big squid just a few is more than enough to take home. When you land the squid use your hand to give the squid a quick sharp chop in-between the tube and the back of its head. If done correctly this will instantly kill the squid and then you can put them straight on ice.

If you haven’t tried it before considered getting yourself a scaler bag for cleaning the squid on the way back to the boat ramp. I remove the heads and place the squid in the bag before chucking it out in the boat wash. I’m amazed at how well this cleans the tubes and saves so much time at the end of the trip.

Cooking the catch

Cooking squid is simple. Cut the squid into strips, not rings, lightly cover them in flour and then fry them in shallow oil. This is far quicker than any other way I’ve prepared and cooked squid and tastes fantastic! The best squid I have eaten though is by the master himself Joe Reily who has a particular way of skinning the tubes and scoring them. He then crumbs and deepfries them to perfection. I’m still yet to work out how he consistently gets the pieces to curl perfectly and doubt I’ll ever come close! I think the best thing about calamari is there are plenty of options to prepare it for the table, and when it’s fresh and well cared for there’s not a lot you can do wrong however you like to cook it.

With the Trout season coming to a close it’s the perfect time to look for squid. Many of you are already aware of how fun a good squidding session is. Tasmania is home to so much amazing coastline and squid are the perfect inshore target to get started fishing the ocean. You won’t need to venture far either, with most of the productive locations being a short run from the boat ramp. So grab a few jigs, check the forecast and get out there!

Look for clean water to ensure successful fishing

Tasmania is famous for BIG squid!

Quality jigs have sharper pins and will catch you more squid.

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!

Big ‘Yak Bream

Targeting trophy North Coast estuary bream

Jonty Kruska

The estuaries scattered along the central north coast of Tassie are arguably home to some of the biggest bream in Australia and targeting them from a kayak is a great way to find success. These trophy fish can be found in a range of estuaries, from the smallest of systems that virtually dry up at low tide to the mighty Tamar River. For many of these smaller systems a kayak is the only suitable option and for the larger estuaries kayaks are still a great way of getting into the shallow, hard to reach places where big bream love to feed.

Areas to target

Targeting shallow sand/mud flats, reef and rock edges from the kayak is without a doubt my favourite and what I have found to be the most productive method for targeting big bream in the northern estuaries. Not only can this method be a very visual form of fishing,

but it also produces some great results. When targeting big bream on sand flats I have found anywhere that differs slightly from the majority of the flat will generally hold higher numbers and better quality fish. No matter how barren the flat looks, normally if you look close enough there will be some features that hold fish. These features can be as subtle as a slight change in the colour or texture of the bottom, or as obvious as rocks, oyster beds, gutters and drop-offs. The mouths of creeks and backwaters are also a favourite spot of mine. Scanning the bottom for any signs of bream digging in the area is another great way of determining if you are in the right location. The three main types of hard structures I fish are large boulders, rocky rubbly edges and isolated reef patches on flats. When fishing to large boulders I like to target the eddies on the side that is sheltered from the current. When fishing rock/rubble

edges I generally find fish seem to hold and feed within a metre or two of where the rock meets the sand/mud, this is also the case for patches of reef on sand flats. My theory behind this is that these rocky edges trap and collect a lot of the sediment in the water and allow it to settle which creates a softer, muddier bottom for the bream to dig for crabs, worms and molluscs. Having said this, fishing directly over the top of the rock or reef can also be very productive. Using google earth to find these locations is a great way to get an idea of where to start looking. Identifying these areas before launching is even more important when kayak fishing as you don’t have the luxury of covering lots of water scouting for likely looking spots. Sometimes driving an extra 10 minutes to a different launch location closer to the area you intend on fishing will save you thirty minutes of paddling to get there.

The flats can produce some absolute brutes, such as this one.

Timing - tidal movement and weather

The north coast estuaries have fairly large tidal movements and can completely transform from low to high tide. When fishing the flats, I like to fish the three hours before and after the high tide. During these periods of tidal movement the fish tend to be concentrated in channels, gutters and along edges making them easier to locate. I have had better success in the systems I fish on an incoming tide. I’ve found fish are usually more eager to feed when they are first moving up onto the flats on the incoming tide rather than the runout tide when they have already been feeding for 4 or 5 hours. Having said this the run out will often produce some great results. An analogy I have heard in the past and somewhat agree with is, “If you were offered complimentary spring rolls when entering a restaurant you would probably say yes. However, if they were offered when leaving, after a big meal, you would be more likely to decline”. Timing can be very important and there can often be areas that fish well for a half-hour window in the tidal cycle and can then appear fishless. Spending time on the water and getting to know the system is the only way to work out which areas fire best at different stages of the tide. Having a plan of which areas are best to fish at each stage of the tide is particularly important when fishing from the kayak as you can’t run back and forth between spots without wasting prime fishing time. During the peak of the tide when there is not a lot of tidal movement the fish tend not to be moving along edges or through channels and are instead spread out feeding. This is often where focussing on obvious structures such as reefs and also using your polaroids to look for schools of feeding fish can be the best approach. As for weather and time of day, I have found that the fish bite better during periods of low light and overcast conditions, with a slight wind. However, this makes spotting fish difficult so if you want to polaroid look for sunnier days.

Advantages of the kayak

The two major advantages of fishing from the kayak are stealth and the ability to access shallow areas which are difficult to reach in a boat. Also, some estuaries are simply inaccessible for anything bigger than a kayak. This allows you to access areas where fish have received very little fishing pressure in the past which can make for some great fishing. The areas I like to target big bream are very shallow and very clear, having less of a visual presence in the kayak helps to not spook these flighty fish as easily. This is especially the case in calm, bright conditions. This coupled with how quiet a kayak is makes them extremely stealthy. Fish will often spook from right beside the kayak as they haven’t seen or heard anything until you are almost on top of them. Drawing barely any water and being able to travel through very shallow areas is another advantage of the kayak. During the incoming tide, I like to paddle as far up a backwater or creek as I can and then turn around and fish back towards the mouth as the fish are moving in towards me. This technique is much harder in a boat.

Rod, Reel, Line and Leader

The tackle I use for chasing bream in the kayak is pretty stock standard bream gear. The rods I use are 2-4 lb, 6’ 8” and 7 foot Bk Custom rods. These rods are super light, comfortable and extremely sensitive making them perfect for the style of fishing I like to do. I’ve found rods around the 7-foot length are perfect in the kayak, any longer and it becomes harder to net fish and any shorter makes it difficult to reach around the front of the kayak when fighting a fish. This length also makes for easier storage and management when fishing from a kayak. My reels are all 2500 size, spooled up with 6 lb braid and a long 5lb fluorocarbon leader of around 6-8 metres. I find using a long leader is a good middle ground between the forgiving stretch and stealth of straight through and the sensitivity and casting ability of braid. A long leader also means that even in reasonably deep water if you get snagged and have to snap a lure off most of the time you can reach your leader meaning you don’t have to waste time retying and you don’t leave line in the water. On some occasions opting for a lighter or heavier leader may be beneficially, but generally, I find 5lb is a good middle ground between strength and stealth. I use a penny knot to attach my lure to the leader and an FG or carrot knot for my leader to braid

connection. I will normally carry three setups with me in the kayak each with a different lure.

Lures

The lure that I use 90% of the time when targeting big bream on the flats is the Cranka crab, in both the heavy 50mm and 65mm sizes. The great thing about the crab is its versatility, it is just as good in a depth of 30 cm as it is in 3 metres. Most colours will work well however my favourites are the more natural colours being brown, olive and spotted. Most of the time I will opt for a heavy 50mm crab and there are a few reasons

Light spin outfits are the go-to choice fishing from the kayak.

Cranka crabs are the authors favourite big bream bait.

for this. One reason is that when cast, the 50mm crab creates less of a disturbance when it lands compared to the 65mm, therefore is less likely to spook fish in shallow, clear water on calm days. The heavy 50mm model is less prone to tumbling and keeps a better posture in strong current when compared to the light model. It can also be cast a little further. Also, I have found even the big bream are less hesitant to have a go at the smaller profile when they are very spooky and not actively feeding. I have found hook up rates tend to be better on the 50mm as fish often just inhale the whole thing as opposed to pecking at the claws. Alternatively, on overcast, windy days sometimes the bigger profile of the 65mm crab can be an advantage. This is particularly the case on large, barren flats as the presence of a 65mm crab can be heard/felt from further afield. This enables it to potentially draw fish in that would otherwise not have known your lure was in the area. When fishing directly over rock I will often tie on a 65mm crab as I find they scuttle across the top of the rocks better and are less prone to falling into cracks and getting snagged. Also having a slightly larger treble hook allows for putting a bit more pressure on fish to get them away from gnarly structure without the risk of the hook straightening. On another rod, I will have either a hardbody minnow or a crank tied on ready to fish any areas that are too weedy or oyster encrusted to fish the crab without getting snagged. In most cases, I will opt for a Cranka minnow in any natural baitfish pattern, my favourites being smelt, hardyhead and jollytail. In areas that are very shallow or weedy, I will tie on a Daiwa presso minnow in any natural baitfish or prawn colour. Being a floating lure the presso can be fished in slightly shallower water without snagging up. As for a crank option, my go-to is a Cranka crank in smoked

prawn. This can be a greatsearching lure allowing you to effectively cover a lot of ground. On my third rod, I will often have a soft plastic rigged up for use in deeper areas with high current or a particularly snaggy bottom. This is usually a 2.5-inch baitjunkie grub in mud blood, motor oil or bloodworm, rigged on a 1/12th or 1/8th jig head. My choice of colour for each style of lure will come down to the colour/ clarity of the water and also matching the hatch in the particular estuary I’m fishing.

Technique

In most situations, I like to position the kayak so that I am fishing into the wind and current so that I can control the speed at which I move through an area. Using the Hobie mirage drive to hold position in the current allows me to make multiple casts in likely looking areas and then move quickly through less productive patches. Having said this, sometimes drifting with the tide/wind over large open expanses of flats can be a better way to cover more water and locate where the fish are feeding. Once in position, I make a long cast towards any noticeable features, allow the crab to hit the bottom and then begin the retrieve. On the sand flats, the retrieve I use for the crab is similar to that of a crankbait, just slower. It involves 3 or 4 slow turns of the handle (feeling the crab working along the bottom) followed by a 3 or 4-second pause, repeated all the way in. Sometimes a longer pause is required and sometimes a burn and kill retrieve will fire them up, it is all dependent on the mood of the fish on the day. Generally, the calmer and sunnier the weather, the slower I will retrieve the crab. When fishing around rocks

I generally fish a bit slower and try to leave the crab in the zone for a bit longer before beginning the retrieve. If I feel a bite whilst winding, I will stop immediately and pause the crab for a few seconds normally this is when a fish will come back for a second go. After getting a bite I prefer to wind the fish on rather than striking. I find more often than not, striking hard will pull the crab out of the mouth of a fish that hasn’t been hooked yet and spook them. This method is also useful around structure because you can often hook a fish, turn their heads and get them a metre or two away from the structure before they even realise they are hooked, giving you a very handy head start. Another method I’ll use when I know a fish is looking at my crab is to just shake the rod tip and cause the crab to shimmy on the spot. This gets the claws moving and can often trigger a bite from the fussiest of bream. When fishing the hardbody lures my retrieve consists of two or three gentle sweeps of the rod whilst winding up the slack and then a 3-4 second pause. With the soft plastic, it is just a classic let it hit the bottom, two or three small hops and let it hit the bottom again repeated all the way in. All of these retrieves can differ from location to location and day to day so experimenting a bit to find what is working on the day is very important. Once I hook a fish I like to use the kayak to move away from where I hooked it to hopefully avoid spooking any other fish in the area. This can often allow you to catch two or three fish from the same area as opposed to just one. Using the kayak to reverse away from the structure once a fish is hooked is also a great way to avoid being busted off.

A kayak is a perfect tool for getting out, exploring and fishing some of the north coast’s pristine estuaries. Throwing lures at the trophy bream that inhabit these shallow, crystal clear waters can be a very visual and exciting style of fishing, especially when you cross paths with that fish of a lifetime.

The author with a brace of big Tassie bream.

A selection of Jonty’s favourite lures.

Nothing gets kings worked up like a popper.

Top Water Tactics

Techniques for targeting Tassie’s top fish

Nathan Huizing

Yellowtail Kingfish

When it comes to fishing there is an endless list of methods and techniques that can be used but for me, there isn’t much, if anything, that beats topwater fishing. Not only is it a very engaging and at times a highly productive style of fishing, but the visual aspects are also second to none. The excitement of seeing that bow wave approaching your lure as a fish hones in on your presentation is one of the most addictive things you can witness. Tasmania has several great species that will readily take a topwater lure. In this article, I’ll cover a few of my favourites and some of the things I’ve learnt while chasing them!

One of, if not my favourite fish to target on topwater. Seeing a pack of hungry kings mow down a surface lure definitely gets the heart racing. From late November through till about the end of April, kingfish turn up in many of the bays and estuaries around the state and can also be found offshore around things such as floating kelp rafts and the several fish attracting devices (FAD’s) deployed around Tasmania.

Kings would have to be one of the most temperamental fish and at times fussy feeders you can chase. Because of this, I like to have a reasonable variety of lures with me when fishing for them. Some of my favourites include

the Nomad Chug Norris 95, Dartwing 130, Riptide 125F and the OSP Bent Minnow 130 SW.

When searching for kings I like to concentrate my efforts around structure. Kings love hanging around things such as boat moorings, wharves, channel markers and salmon farms. These are all great places to start looking, although it pays to stay vigilant and keep an eye out for disturbances on the surface in open water. Even the slightest little ripple is worth investigating as these fish can often be found slowly mooching around sunning themselves just under the surface. Approaching these likely spots with stealth is also important and

using an electric motor is great for this. Upon arrival at a spot, I like to cruise in slowly from 50m away and begin to work my way around the whole area thoroughly making long casts towards the structure and trying to draw any fish away from the structure with my retrieve.

As I mentioned, kings can be very temperamental and fussy so I like to mix up my retrieves and swap between lures every half hour or so until I find what they want. For example, there have been times when I have started with a stickbait and almost been convinced there were no fish in the area. Changing over to a popper and casting over the same spot I’d just been fishing for the last 30 minutes has quickly revealed that there is indeed fish there and something as simple as causing a bit more commotion with the lure is all it takes to provoke a strike. Other days, the opposite can have the same effect and the fish will react better to a more subtly retrieved lure. Another thing to pay attention to is how the fish are coming up and reacting to your lure. If they come up aggressively swiping at it, don’t change up your retrieve. However, if they come up and hang back behind the lure, mix up your retrieve. This is usually when I’ll pause the lure for a second or two and then twitch the lure aggressively for a couple of metres and repeat. The size of the gear you’re using really depends on the size of the fish you’re chasing but generally, the majority of kings you’re going to come across will be in the 50-70cm size class, particularly along the east coast. For these fish you don’t need much more than a 3000 or 4000 size reel, 3-6kg or 4-8kg rod, 10-20lb braid and 20-40lb leader. The lighter stuff is great for open water and the slightly heavier is more suited to fishing around structure.

Trout

Topwater Trout fishing is certainly nothing new and many anglers have heard about the monsters that used to be pulled from locations such as Lake Pedder many moons ago by fishermen using fish cakes of a

night. While fish cakes still hold their own with many fishermen still using them successfully, over the last decade or so there has been a good variety of other great surface lures make their way onto the trout scene in Tasmania. Small cicada style lures, bent minnows, pencils and prop baits just to name a few. Topwater fishing will get results on all bodies of water from small stream s to larger rivers, lakes, dams and even on sea trout in the estuaries.

When fishing the smaller rivers and streams I usually opt for smaller lures in the 40-70mm range. Bent minnows and cicadas are great for this as they can be worked effectively with a steady retrieve downstream. Typically, I like to make a long cast upstream from where I’m standing and retrieve the lure at a speed that is just slightly faster than the water is moving. Bent minnows require a bit of rod movement to benefit from the erratic action they’re designed for. For this, I like to keep the rod tip low and apply a constant whippy action through the rod while winding steadily. As for the cicadas I’ve found a raised rod tip to help keep the line off the water while winding steadily gets these lures crawling nicely across the surface. When fishing these systems there are things you can do to increase your chances such as identifying likely ambushing spots for

the fish. Things such as undercut banks, overhanging willows and submerged logs are all great spots to work your lures around.

The same lures, as well as pencils, prop baits and wake baits can be used when chasing trout in larger rivers, lakes and estuaries. Personally, I like to fish slightly larger lures in these systems. Offerings in the 70-120mm size will often be met with aggression from both large and small trout. Regardless of whether the water is flowing or you’re fishing still water, I think the key to topwater trout during the daytime is to keep your lure moving. From my experience, unlike some other species, trout will more often than not shy away from a surface lure if it is paused. That being said, I’ve found that a short pause in your retrieve at night time can actually encourage a strike, so it is worth experimenting! To add to that, topwater fishing at night is a great way

Solid kingfish on the Bent Minnow 130.

Skinny water trout off the top.

Little rainbow on a cicada.

to get yourself connected to larger fish that don’t often show themselves during the day.

Another thing to keep in mind is that trout are quite messy feeders when attacking a surface lure and

will often swipe and headbutt your lures which results in a rather average hook up rate. Due to this, some lures can benefit from having the trebles replaced with assist hooks. However, the exciting visuals of a trout smashing your topwater lure is worth the poor conversion ratio in my opinion!

Bream

Another great light tackle option, bream love topwater lures and the best part is they can be caught on topwater all year round! During the warmer months, my favourite way to target these fish is by searching over the large sand flats and oyster racks which can be found in a number of estuary systems around the state. A few of my favourite topwater bream lures include the Bent Minnow 86, Nomad Dartwing 70 or the Maverick 68. When fishing the flats, if possible, set yourself up to drift with the sun behind your back. Add a decent pair of polarised sunglasses in the mix and you’ll be able to get a great view of your surroundings beneath the surface. When searching the flats, make long casts to cover as much water as possible. With the rod tip down, wind steadily while flicking the rod tip in a downwards motion to get the lure moving. This should get the lure zig-zagging across the surface. In most instances, the key to lure fishing for black bream is to incorporate

several pauses into your retrieve. This is nearly always when the bream will grab your lure. I like to work the lure no more than a metre or two between each pause. It is worth experimenting with your pauses until you find what the fish want. Sometimes a short 2-3 second pause is all that is needed, other times a pause as long as 5-6 seconds can be what it takes to encourage a bite. When working your lure pay close attention to the water surrounding it. When a bream is interested in your presentation you will often see a bow wave forming behind the lure as the fish approaches. Other times a small boil will appear beside your lure as the fish investigates from beneath. When fishing things such as oyster racks, undercut banks or rock walls, try to cast parallel with the structure. This will keep your lure in the strike zone for the majority of the retrieve.

During winter and spring, the bream tend to congregate in smaller systems where they school up in large numbers. Although topwater fishing in winter is often less productive it still works nonetheless. In these smaller systems fish will usually school up along undercut banks and around fallen trees. As it comes into Spring these fish will begin to spawn. This is when they’re often found in the higher reaches of these systems. Applying longer pauses and working your lure slower is one of the main keys to success when fishing topwater in the cooler months. Pauses as long as 6-7 seconds and only moving your lure 30-50cm between pauses is what I’ve found to be most effective at this time of year.

Generally, when chasing bream on the surface I will fish with a 6lb leader over the flats and 8 or 10lb around structure such as oyster racks and timber. That being said, bream can be quite easy to spook at times, particularly in calm sunny conditions. This is when downsizing your leader to 3 or 4lb can benefit your catch rate.

Even small trout are great fun on surface lures.

Skinny water bream on the Maverick 68.

Sight fished bream on the Maverick 68.

Bill Beck

A salute by a maurading highlander

Jim Allen

On New Year’s day word came through that well known trout guide in Tasmania, Bill Beck had died. He was in his early 80s, a good innings!! No one could claim he didn’t enjoy his life around fly fishing. He lived life to the fullest and one night, some years ago declared it’s better to live 75 good years than 85 miserable ones, as he lit another cigarette and lifted his glass of wine. We knew he wasn’t traveling well when earlier last year he was diagnosed with a heart problem which would be extremely dangerous to operate on. He was told he might last a few more years or be dead the next day. I think he decided to take the risk.

Bill and Alan Felmingham were partners and were two of the original trout guides in Tasmania. The late Noel Jetson had been the very first. Bill and Alan came next and in the early days, specialized in the magic fishing on the newly flooded Lake Pedder.

Lake Pedder, when first flooded caused an explosion of mud-eyes (dragon fly nymphs) and galaxias (native minnows) as the waters rose and covered new ground. Huge Brown trout, some in excess of 20 pounds were caught in the height of the trout fishing boom that followed. Ten pounders were spoken of as quite common!!!

Sometime later Bill purchased the remnant business from Felmingham and started his own guiding operation from his shack at Little Pine Lagoon and a caravan down at Pedder. His shack was affectionately called Hiccup Hall. For this writer trout fishing with a fly rod is as much about the characters, as it is about catching trout. Bill was without doubt one of the best-known charismatic characters in the highlands of Tasmania.

He was well known for his commercial fly tying through winter for many of the fly fishing stores around Tasmania as well. His “Cat fly”, made from the fur of feral cats, was possibly one of his most successful flies. Fished as a wet on grey windy days it excelled both black and olive coloured. Today’s modern fly fishers colloquially describe wet fly fishing as “pulling flies”. I don’t think Bill ever used that expression but I’m certain his Cat fly will live on and be pulled for years to come as will many of his other flies.

Bill’s boat, a half century old De Havilland Offshore called the Highland Spinner was regularly seen all over the highlands and in later years more often at Little Pine. Fishing in it would be Bill and his “victims”. He, sitting low in the middle. His clients at each end.

Bill carried this photo in his wallet of a Pedder monster he caught in the glory days.

Photo by Mike Stevens 2015.

A contemplative Bill in 2015 at Four Springs Lagoon.

Photo by Mike Stevens.

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Some described him as a trout fishing companion and not a guide. Bill didn’t care, he fished with his customers calling out the rising fish and offering each the first cast. A poor presentation then found Bill’s fly in the perfect position a few moments later. A few ‘victims’ never came back. Most did because he was fun to both be with and fish with. In later years his dog, a terrier called Punter never stopped barking at anglers, other boats and fish. Life on the highlands with Bill was playing cards, drinking good wine, eating the finest Tasmanian beef from barbecues and of course fly fishing with a very knowledgeable angler.

Back at his shack he was the true entertainer. Regaling fishing yarns of previous anglers from past years at Lake Pedder, Lake Sorell, the mayfly fishing at the Lagoon of Islands, the Arthurs Lakes and many others. It didn’t matter if you were the Prime Minister, Governor General, business tycoon or just the bloke somewhere else with an ordinary job. In the company of Bill Beck all were treated the same. Around the card table if you became a frequent attendee, you received an appalling and irreverent nickname. This writer was named “Marauding”. He “Limping”, then there was Wheezing, Smelly, Poppy Growing, Entomologist, Dunny Brush and many many more.

Card playing nights often ended at the first light of dawn and the few miles drive back to Miena was fraught with blurred vision but no one was ever caught by the local constabulary, nor did they fall off the road or end up in the Ouse river!! Amazing when reflecting back!!! In later years after Hiccup Hall was burnt to the ground and a new shack built on higher ground, perhaps his guests might’ve been a tad older and a little more responsible.

As an aside Bill liked to sit low in the boat. I am sure he thought the trout came much closer than those that sit high on seat poles which are popular today on many other more modern boats. He also started out the day and fished with his Krystal Flash nymph under a good floating dry which he called a Battleship, which was really a well hackled Red Tag. If and when the nymphs started to move and thereby a few trout looking for them. Bill often pre-empted the dun hatch by switching

to two dry fly dun patterns. He claimed the best of the dun hatch was at the very start of proceedings and lastly at what he called the mopping up period after the main hatch subsided. He claimed the fish were too bloody intent on only the naturals in the middle of the hatch. He often called the peak of the hatch “the bloody impossibles”!

The “Spinner” was often out on the lagoon quite late as he claimed some very good fishing was to be had after most of the boats had departed in this mopping up period and also commented quite often the largest fish of the day would be caught late. If Little Pine calmed off at dusk on a warm evening Bill would be back out in the afterglow picking up a few midge feeders too. The trout tracked the midges and there was some very exciting fishing, usually along the road shore. Those that fished with him often let him make the rules depending on weather and wind conditions. His decision making was well respected by mainland anglers who came back year after year, some even flying from California to be with him.

I think I’ve written before of another long-departed angler giving me a lecture as a young teenager. He commented that “one only lives about a thousand months son. Don’t waste the trip. Life’s a bit like a stone cast upon a pond, at the end the waves will eventually subside. Be a bloody big rock.” Well Bill Beck, you certainly were a larger rock than those skittleballs that flew out of volcanoes many millions of years ago at the north end of the lagoon. The waves from your life will live on in the annals of the history of fly fishing in the highlands of Tasmania for many years to come. We, who knew you well, are warm in the knowledge of having had a great mate and enjoyed many hours in your company. We who remain will seize the fly fishing days left for us, in your memory. Vale Bill Beck.

Postscript: Bill left us worried about the lack of mayfly in the highlands of Tasmania in recent years. His family have started a fund to discover the cause. The website is www.tinyurl. com/billbeckmemorial for further information.

Jim Allen

Postscript by Mike Stevens.

In 2015 Mike Stevens and Peter Hayes spent a day fishing Four Springs Lagoon with Bill Beck. It was his first - and probably his only time fishing there. I do not remember if we caught a fish, but probably we didn’t as there are no photos

of fish on that day. However I clearly remember sitting with Bill and Peter on the shore reminiscing - especially about Little Pine Lagoon and his love of that fishery. The interview and article from that day can be found here: https:// issuu.com/stevenspublishing/docs/tfbn118-2015-oct

Peter Hayes with Bill at Four Springs Lagoon - September 2015.

Bill was a terrific fly tier and tied for a few Tasmanian shops. Many of his patterns have been copied and are commercially available.

Discovering Swimbaits

Tasmanian fish are tasting something new

Scotto James

Every now and then something comes along on the fishing scene that changes the way you think about fishing. For me that has been jointed swimbaits. These are the most effective and versatile bream lures I have used - and by a significant margin. They are also incredibly effective on Trout. These iconic species are two of our most notoriously fickle lure targets and in general terms have not been associated with Swim Bait success in this country. These are fish that tend to bite at, rather than engulf lures. Now, throw into the equation more aggressive species like barramundi, smaller native perches, Murray cod, flathead, mulloway and a long list of pelagic, reef and estuarine species. Many of these fish feed in the same essential manner associated with the initial swimbait target species and thus a new lure phenomenon is set to rewrite lure lore and take Australia by storm.

The thunder already has begun!

Origins

Research indicates swimbaits likely evolved in the United States in the late 1980s via two separate sources near Los Angeles and in Texas respectively. The L.A. stream appears better documented. Allan Cole is attributed to be one of the first, if not the first swimbait designer and the creator of the A.C. plug. These lures were reportedly relatively basic rainbow trout patterns of around 22/23 cms in length, carved from wood and jointed in the middle with a rubber tail. Their targets were the large Striped Bass of Lake Pyramid near L.A. and the Large Mouth Bass of Lakes Castaic and Casitas. The lures were built to imitate the stocked trout of these waters. The lures reportedly accounted for impressive numbers of very large Bass and found fish for anglers struggling to come to terms with other lure patterns. In fishing terms, they were simply ‘the bomb’. These lures created a near instant following and as the swimbait craze began to develop, new players such as Mike Shaw entered the fray with the M.S Slammer in 1993. The following year, the Castaic Hard Bait, developed by Ken Huddleston and Chomp Joseph

What defines a lure as a swimbait?

A swimbait has its own physical attributes and forces that make it ‘swim’ with a very fish-like action. Where many lures only imitate a fish, a swimbait tries to replicate it; think of it as impressionism verses realism. A swimbait can be any size and work anywhere (floating, suspending and sinking) in the water column. A swimbait is almost always multi-segmented, being three or four (and sometimes more) pieces hinged together with metal or sometimes fabric, such as Kevlar. After all, it’s this design that is responsible for providing its unique full and tight S-shaped swimming action. It’s not ‘tripped’ by, or reliant on, a bib (lip or bill) for action … that’s a crankbait if it dives, or a wakebait if it’s super-buoyant with a high bib angle. Even if it’s jointed, if it has a bib, it’s not a swimbait.

From Hooked Up Magazine - Australia.

The flouro coloured swimbaits are deadly in discoloured water.

further improved design with more realistically visual patterns. These were said to be near exact replica’s ! Despite a price tag of 60 to 70 dollars in the mid Nineties, the lures were moving and apparently accounting for thousands of big fish.

The next advancement in design came from R.T Custom Lures who began pouring moulds with plastisol, thus moving away from traditional wooden manufacture. The lure incorporated a weighted hook harness and a ‘Lexan Wing’ was placed toward the back of the offering, initiating a realistic swimming action. Lead impregnation to the mould allowed these lures to be fished at the depths the angler required.

Lure development continued through Optimum Swim Baits who also incorporated lead into the moulding process of generic fish shapes allowing this lure to also be fished at a variety of depths. These lures were available for 8-12 dollars. Design advancement was now comparatively rapid and aimed at an ever increasing consumer base. Quickly moving forward to today, will reveal continued developments in swimbait technology with some of the original manufactures still major players within this field. Many designs attempt perfect replications and paint jobs are mint.

As to the argument of where the first swimbait was actually fabricated appears a bone of some contention, as the link to Texas and the first trials on fish at Lake Texoma appear real and may have in fact preceded the Californian strain of lures. Research would support that the early refinement of lures from humble beginnings to the masterpieces produced today, did however, take place in California. For us in Australia and neighbouring regions, their exact origins from the 1980s may seem a moot point, but trying to relay an accurate history of the lure style should be seen as important and necessary to pay homage to the individuals and companies involved .

Swimbaits In Australia

Small Swim Baits from brands like Izumi were available in Australia from retail outlets for a comparatively long time. (at the time of writing unavailability is unknown; supply will be addressed shortly) They caught some bream, bass, trout and an assortment of others but never really went mainstream. In many ways the second coming of swimbaits is poised to mimic the second coming of soft plastic lures and the history models are near identical. It was assumed Australian fish were a bit too intelligent to eat plastic, despite the lure style accounting for almost everything with fins within other world fishing circles. Enter, a couple of Australian fishing legends and a producer with some foresight and courage and the landscape of accepted lure fishing styles and techniques was changed overnight: well almost!

For my two bob’s worth, there is at least three major factors why swimbaits were not an initial and over whelming success on bream. The first probably has roots in our somewhat obsessive view of minnow style hard body lures and what many perceive as a shape and action necessary to catch them. Coupled with this are

time frames to development literal techniques. It takes a while and it can be difficult to move away from patterns that work. Secondly, a lure without a bib needs an angler to bring it to life. It has no inherent directional orientation created by design, and this too mimics the luke warm acceptance and perceived limitations of early plastics, like Vibrotails and Mr Twister’s.

Thirdly, and perhaps for the most incredulous of reasons, swimbaits arguably swim more naturally and more realistically than any lure design ever made. As an aside to this, there is also zero feedback to the angler (on small swim baits) that the lure is ‘working’. There is no strong vibration emitted that we have become accustomed to with lure styles like bibbed minnows, blades, vibes, bibless fish imitations, metals and more. Comparisons to plastics are again inevitable. Swimbaits perform at their best when ‘fished’. Not simply retrieved!

Coming Terms With Perfection

The most obvious reason why swimbaits have not gained a strong following in this country is their action. Sounds weird right? If you haven’t swam a quality one, please do. They’re a near perfect visual imitation and swim as realistically as the fish they imitate under no duress. So folks have been casting and retrieving, marvelling at the action and finding modest or poor results. There are no bells and whistles, and most smaller offerings are without bearings. They’re a silent killer. But unless they pass fish during a peak feeding period, they’ll often return to one’s rod tip unmolested. Let’s try and create a visual analogy.

Many people have seen footage of sharks in the water that aren’t actively feeding. Cruising about through and around schools of fish. Interestingly, the fish appear not threatened by the shark. Nothing can feed 24/7. There are long periods of any day when both prey and predator co-exist in a complete harmony of nature. Slow rolling a swimbait is not imitating a distressed animal. They swim as a healthy fish is supposed to. Now throw a writhing, struggling, dying fish into that same equation. The shark is going to eat it and we pretty much all know it will. If the sharks stomach capacity is at its limit it will still attack the dying fish, even if it forces the shark to regurgitate what it’s just eaten.

The shark is simply programmed to react to specific stimuli. This action may well be closer to reflex than instinct. The ‘death flutter’ is what swimbaits replicate better than any other lure. Imagine once again in your mind what a dying ,writhing bait fish looks like. With imagination and a little practice these delicately multi jointed presentations will behave in exactly this fashion. In fact, they’ll behave in just about any way you ask them to. What may be seen as another hint regarding how to present these lures effectively is on the back of some swimbait packaging. The directions ask us to fish them this way. Not slow and simply wind them in.

Yet another benefit of these lures, and likely the most important is the ability to actively fish them on the drop. A very natural sink rate, not a lure plummeting to the bottom. No other hard body fish pattern can die this realistically on the way down. Science tells us approximately 70% of dying fish sink. Only 30% float. So the ability to work this lure on the drop puts

Plenty of forty centimetre plus fish have fallen victim to these lures.

it in a class of its own and imitates what predatory fish are programmed to react too. Before swimbaits found their way into my tackle box, ‘shut downs’ due to a variety of factors were common enough and finding fish on tough days was indeed tough. Diligent experimentation fishing for several hours and throwing every ‘go to’ successful pattern at bream and drawing blanks have regularly been turned into fantastic sessions by the ‘Shad Alive’ in 50mm. Not just a fish or two. Really dynamic sessions!

There are also no real depth design limitations with swimbaits and the entire water column is at your disposal. The same brand in the 80mm also produces great results in the right circumstances and they catch large fish. Of course ‘shut downs’ will and do occur. They always will. My definition of one has changed somewhat through the use of these little gems. ‘Shut Downs’, for the most part are simply fish not responding to the more mainstream lure types we’ve been throwing to them. Many ‘shut downs’ are fish shut down to the presentations available to us. Not necessarily fish with complete lock jaw. Passively feeding fish and filter feeders in ultra passive modes can be undone with these lures and effective presentations. It doesn’t really matter whether its an instinctual reaction to a perceived death, an uncontrollable type of reflex action or any of a million other reasons. The simple truth is bream will often bite at or try to eat 50 to 80mm swimbaits whether they’re actively feeding or not. At this point in juncture another branded swimbait apart from the Izumi has not been trialled. It hasn’t been necessary. These things have been flogging big bream with such regularity that the simple joy of catching fish, learning and experimenting with techniques and trying to absorb and understand the opportunities provided by this lure style has taken all available time. As mentioned, there are many other brands. Trialling with those has not yet began.

In the beginning

All journeys have a start point. Picking up a lure in a junk box for 6 dollars in Queensland in 2012, with the goal of trying to temp a trout on an untried pattern, is a very long way away from its emergence as an extremely versatile black bream lure. A million

to one shot. Obtaining a property in Tasmania’s East Coast Highlands was a dream 20 years in the making and finding a property at Lake Leake, a terrific mixed brown and rainbow trout fishery, turned that dream into reality. The lake also has a robust redfin (english perch) population. At this point in time, footy commitments were being honoured on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast over winter. A great catch up with lifelong mates and some respite from a harsh winter climate up in the hills of Tasmania. Pulling on the boots whilst ‘trying’ to coach the Pomona Demons Masters side and attempting to get this broken body up for first grade, when required, are challenges that shape lives, minds and bodies alike! Contact sport after 50 isn’t easy.

It was indeed a long list of co-incidences and good fortune that saw me again with old friends at Davo’s Bait and Tackle in Noosa when a nonchalant rummage through a ‘specials bin’ whilst chatting all things Tasmania, revealed a perfect, multi jointed redfin imitation. With knowledge of Leake’s perch population the lure was very quickly added to the bag of goodies already at hand. So it came to pass the lure was clipped on one bleak afternoon at Lake Leake, casting to the ridiculous amount of structure on the lakes aptly named ‘Big Woody Shore’. They’re a good choice over

structure as the lure’s depth is easily governed. Again good fortune came into play as it was an afternoon brown trout were on the chew. In fact, and despite a life obsessed with browns and travelling this country to find them, it was the most remarkable response to any single lure experienced.

A quick call the next morning to Davo’s back at Noosa and a box of 10 was ordered. The price was a bit of a shock after the initial purchase, however regardless of this, these perfect little redfin patterns were finding their way back to Tasmania. Over the next 12 months the lures produced a stack of browns but as often happens with fishing, other techniques were evolving on my home water and without conscious thought, these diminutive little swimbaits slowly entered the back of my mind and the bottom of tackle boxes. Moving along to mid 2017, and a young mate, Jarvis Wall and I were chatting regarding him chasing some really big redfin. He was trying to go beyond 50cm and was already very close to that mark with some huge hulking fish. The young man is something of a prodigy and the water he was fishing contained copious weed. Good presentations were not easy. Because swimbaits offer the angler total control of depth, and vertical descent, they were discussed and some photos of the lure’s were sent to him.

Sea bream eat swimbaits with relish too.

But instead of that lure going back to the box it came out of, it went into my small ‘go-to’ box that resides in the front pocket of my waders. More coincidence at play. There was no reason to do this. It simply happened. Anyone who’s tried to take a pack sack off in waste deep water will understand the associated problems and probably have a little box secreted in their wader pocket or carry a waist bag of some description. The next bream mission was to an East coast micro system. Throwing lightly weighted grubs, which normally work well there was drawing blanks. Fish were following the plastic to the rod tip and despite every form of manipulation possible, success could not be found. There were small schools of half a dozen good fish milling around the lure. There were no erect pectoral fin’s or other sings of agitation. It was casual interest at best. If they wanted to feed it was time to try other things.

From there, several of the most successful hard bodies on that water were tried without success as the session progressed upstream. Weed totally prohibited more general bottom fishing. It was almost home time and a single strike had not been registered.

On the return trip back and approaching the area where the plastics drew attention earlier, another was presented for the same result. Two or three casts later and after again witnessing fish under the rod tip, the follows ceased. Whilst taking the plastic off and placing it into the small box from my waders the redfin pattern was observed. After such success on trout all those years ago the immediate issue of sink rate came to mind. So did the fact it was a freshwater English perch pattern. Was it worth a crack? Or just continue home?

The 50 mm ‘Shad Alive’ was quickly clipped on and a fish secured second cast. The next two hours were chaos with over twenty bream making it to the net before counting become an ordeal. The fish were left biting. That afternoon a lot was learnt about how sink rates can effect apparently shut down bream. As was the difference between horizontal retrieves and vertical ones. But the most important factors were most definitely sink rate and action. No other hard bodied lure can attract that response. In many ways it was the afternoon that should not have happened. A crazy divergence of observation, luck, years of impossible coincidence and opportunity. Bream fishing just got changed forever!

Summary

After that initial session, which proved no more than the lure had huge potential, it was time to refine techniques and just play with these lures and enjoy the benefits of catching fish that were not willing to accept other lures presented in time honoured ways. And time honoured techniques are already very effective. Aware, that at least where trout are concerned, some techniques are most definitely location specific, many months were spent travelling and fishing large rivers, tiny creeks, land locked lagoons and everything in between. The tiny swimbaits continue to deliver but its their ability to find really tough fish that continues to delight. Maintaining the thought that these lures were primarily designed to catch fish that create a vacuum when feeding, by opening their mouths and engulfing prey, the realistic proposition of them being used on Australian species that feed exactly that way should lead to swimbaits being a huge lure

50 mm Izumi swimbait in gold.

Typical swim bait hook up with both hooks outside bottom jaw.

trend in the 2020s. The potential really is that big. The U.S models drew an initial cult following which very quickly went mainstream.

The success of these lures isn’t about design features for specific species. It’s a design feature developed primarily to accommodate a feeding behaviour. With this knowledge, all species world wide that feed this way are prime targets. A yardstick where brilliance and simplicity meet. The basic fact that predatory fish with small mouths and diverse diets are also engaged by these lures is an accurate testimony to the unique actions available to the angler. Their success on Murray cod and barramundi is already being acknowledged (larger Swim Baits) and it is imagined this success will continue to grow as anglers play with technique. Their effectiveness on flathead has already been explored and lizards love them. No surprises there. Having them pull luderic , mullet, leather jacket’s and flounder was

surprising to begin with, but everything in the estuary appears keen to have a crack at them. Unfortunately tailor take them with relish too. Not a great thing on light leaders. Pelagic’s are taking far bigger purpose built models that can be trolled at speed and here a lifelike presentation is more readily accepted. To put it simply, If your target species eats fish, they’re going to eat a well presented, well designed and appropriately sized swimbait!

Supply

At the time of writing Izumi Swimbaits seem unavailable in shops, though this will hopefully change promptly via demand. Don’t feel disparaged by some lures carrying European freshwater bait fish profiles/ colours. They work! The redfin pattern, for example, should be viewed like any other black/green shaded lure with a dash of red on it. Golds/yellows the same. The silvers/blues the same. The red head, white body

Gone Fishing Charters

colouration has been a mainstay in lure lore embracing just about every lure type or format. It may not have been associated all that directly with bream in the past, but it also works well. So do the brighter patterns when conditions demand. They are similar in shape and size to the perchlets that frequent estuarine environs and just as similar to varied species like bream, luderick, snapper and trevally in their juvenile stages that reside within bream habitat. A quick look at mainstream hardbodies that work on bream will reveal they don’t look exactly like a 5 to 7cm whitebait. Predatory fishes react to a range of stimuli. The fact that these swimbaits don’t try to replicate an exact Australian prey item is irrelevant. It would be expected ,however, that Australian designs will follow. Put simply. The time for swimbaits has arrived!

It’s the lure fishing revelation on the verge of revolution.

RECREATIONAL SEA FISHERIES NEWS

Rock lobster changes proposed

Proposed rule changes for the Tasmanian rock lobster fishery and options to rebuild stocks on the East Coast are now open for public comment until 30 May 2022.

These changes are intended to improve longterm stock health and fishery management, ensuring the fishery is sustainable and resilient.

Proposed rule changes

The main proposal for all fishers is introducing regional size limit zones that align with rock lobster growth rates and maturity sizes.

Proposals for recreational fishers include:

• Group sharing of catch from pots;

• Future reporting of recreational catch;

• Zone transiting provisions;

• Phone and electronic reporting of lost or irretrievable pots; and

• Allowing recreational lobsters to be held on unattended vessels.

Proposals for commercial fishers include:

• Mandatory vessel monitoring systems;

• Expanding the 60-pot area;

• Changes to transiting and reporting provisions;

• Changes to personal possession provisions; and

• Changes to some quota monitoring arrangements.

East Coast policy

Serious stock challenges on the East Coast remain and the current rebuilding plan is due to end in 2023. Your views are sought on:

• Stock rebuilding and biomass targets;

• Monitoring catch;

• Future management and catch share scenarios;

• Translocating lobsters and stock enhancement options; and

• Recreational only areas.

Have your say

The public consultation paper and information on how to have your say via the online form or email is available at: www.fishing.tas.gov.au/ rocklobster-review

• fish cleaning tables, bins, tables, shelters and lighting;

• toilets near fishing facilities;

• paths, steps, walkways or other access routes to fishing locations; and

• other facilities directly associated with recreational shore-based fishing.

Small grants - available to incorporated notfor-profit organisations (including community groups and fishing clubs) municipal councils and other land managers are eligible to apply.

Better Fishing Grants now available

Under the $2 million Investing in Improved Facilities for Recreational Fishers and Local Communities commitment, the Tasmanian Government is continuing to provide grants to make recreational sea fishing more accessible to Tasmanians.

Grants of up to $150,000 are available for facilities that improve recreational sea fishing opportunities in Tasmania.

Funding for both large projects (up to $150,000) and small projects (up to $15,000) is available.

These may include installing or upgrading:

• pontoons, jetties or other structures for recreational fishing;

Large grants - applications are open to public land managers where facilities are proposed to be located. Individuals and organisations with project ideas are encouraged to contact Recreational Fisheries, NRE to liaise with land managers on their behalf.

For more information and to apply, go to: www. fishing.tas.gov.au/better-fishing-grants Need more information?

• Get a copy of the Recreational Sea Fishing Guide from Service Tasmania

• Download the Tasmanian Sea Fishing Guide app

• Go to www.fishing.tas.gov.au or www.facebook.com/FisheriesTasmania

• Phone: 1300 720 647 or 03 6165 3233

• Email: fishing.enquiries@nre.tas.gov.au

CHECK BEFORE YOU BUY. CHECK BEFORE YOU BUY. BOATWISE? BOATWISE?

ARE YOU DODGY BOATWISE? ARE YOU DODGY BOATWISE?

CHECK BEFORE YOU BUY. CHECK BEFORE YOU BUY.