TASMANIAN FISHING

Mental Health goes Trouty

Amazing Tuna Research

River Spinning Basics

Swim Baits for Bream

Striped Trumpeter

Small Stream Fun

Backyard Boats

Four Springs

$5.95

Anyone notice the rubbish we have been delivered as far as the weather goes recently?

I love my small stream trout fishing as you will see opposite. So far this season I have barely even seen a small stream - they have been raging torrents. There is a very small creek I have never noticed called Poatina Creek part way up Poatina hill. It overtook the road and caused a landslide that has closed access to much of the Central Highlands, so it is the long way round at the moment.

Another creek on Augusta Road on the way to Nineteen Lagoons was also blown out and has closed access to the Nineteen Lagoons and Western Lakes. So trout anglers are feeling helpless, hopless and deprived. However, prior to the huge dump I did have some great fishing for tailing fish as you can see from the cover shot.

There are many rivers as well that have been virtually unfishable, but there is some good news. As lake levels rise there is and already has been some great fishing. Arthurs in places you can get to it has fished well, Great Lake will probably be the best for many years and places like Lake Echo should do well too.

There won’t be a farmers dam in Tasmania that is not full and this should ease the pressure on our rivers a lot over summer.

Unrelated to this has been a huge focus and effort that anglers have put into Lake Crescent where many fish have been caught over the magic ten pound mark. Some anglers catching more than one of these trophies in a day.

Four Springs continues to be an outstanding fishery as had seen huge numbers of anglers getting out whenever there has been a break in the weather, and if you look on the bright side - when Four Springs starts to drop off the Highlands should be accessible again.

Little Pine Lagoon when rising in the first days of the season was extraordinary, and subsequent flooding events there has had some good tailing fish. Likewise before road closure the Nineteen Lagoons was fantastic and a break might do the area some good.

My best advice for the coming trout season will be to fish any lake where the water is rising - and in the past Great Lake has often done this until Christmas time. It is probably the most underfished lake in Tasmania. It does not matter how you fish - bait, lure, fly, trolling early morning or in the dark - Great Lake can turn it on. There is plenty of access and both rainbows and browns are in good numbers.

We have some great stories for you this issue. There story by Grant Wilson on boats that will put a smile on your face. It is a beautifully written anecdote that everyone will enjoy. Scotto James is a deep thinker and if you are a bream fisher. Read it slowly and take it all in. This article started out at well over 5000 words and would have filled 8-10 pages. It lost nothing in the cut, and is full of great advice. The tuna story is incredible - about a fish that was tagged in 1993 and caught again in 2022. What a marvelous opportunity this became for scientists and fishers alike. Amazing that the tag and fish survived that long.

Striped trumpeter also featured and it is terrific to see fish targeted in different ways these days. No one ever would have thought of jigging for these, snapper or other reef fish, but now it is common and young anglers along with incredible fish finders and GPS make it so much easier.

Mick McCallum writes about ‘The Fly Challenge’. Read it even if you don’t fly fish. This is a story about how a mental health program helps those that can often have trouble reaching out. In this instance it is done through fishing. Matt Tripet has developed this program and I applaud him enormously.

You too can help a mate without doing anything more than taking them fishing. You can have fun, talk, walk, boat and just listen. The result of the fishing might be no fish, but it may help a mate enormously. If you suspect a mate is struggling take them fishing.

Look on the brightside this summer - take every opportunity that comes your way - try some new fisheries, techniques and target a new species.

Mike Stevens