Tasmanian Fishing and Boating News Issue 083 2009 December

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Issue 83 December 2009 - January 2010

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Print Post approved; PP 702512 00027

Great Lake - Midging and Sharks Silver Trevally from the Shore FO R 100% Very Slow Nymphing Tasmanian Brumbys Creek Fi s h i n g Arthurs Lake Tamar River

John Lyons with a thumping brown trout caught from Arthurs Lake. Read Joe Riley’s article on Arthurs Lake from page 28.

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CONTENTS

Very Slow Nymphing — Tod Lambert Midging Trout – Great Lake — Craig Rist

6

9

Jan’s Flies — Jan Spencer 12 Easy Summer Fishing — Marty Wells

9

13

Great Lake – Shark fishing the waves — Jim Allen 17 Penstock – How Stocking Works — IFS

20

Building on a Wild Fishery — IFS

24

Brumbys Creek — Simon Little

25

Arthurs Lake — Joe Riley

28

South Esk River Management — Daniel Hackett 31

17

Silver Trevally – From the shore — Jamie Henderson 32 Tamar River – Summer fun — Damon Sherriff

36

Tasfish.com St Helens Charity Grand Slam

40

Drogues — Peter Hayes 41

31

Sun Protection – The Facts — Peter Dixon

42

‘Yaking – Surf launch and retrieve — Craig Vertigan

43

Classified and Subscriptions 45 Fishing, Boating Services Directory

My Say It mystifies me how much you can tell people sometimes and they don’t seem to understand. In this magazine we go to great lengths to explain techniques so people can catch more fish.We don’t keep any secrets, because it generally doesn’t matter — anglers rarely follow our advice to the letter.

Mostly TFBN stories are written by people of vast experience. They are factual and will work if followed as explained.

However a lot of anglers either don’t follow it, don’t believe it or just read it and yawn.........

An example: I am a member of the Longford Fishing Club and they recently had a weekend competition at St Helens. I couldn’t do the whole weekend and just went for the Saturday. The President is Todd Lambert — a pretty handy angler, but he had never caught a silver trevally.

I picked him up on the way and promised him one — and even went as far as betting my boat on it if he didn’t catch one.

We have written about trevally and Georges Bay plenty in TFBN and I suggested to all the Longford anglers

that they should read the back issues on our website and bone up on the area and fishing before they went.

They mostly didn’t, but a couple of the more serious members followed us around. We caught trevally, big salmon and then more trevally. It was only when we physically showed others what to do, and where that they started to catch fish. It was great to see and they were excited too, but it does prove how good demonstration is.

We have some fabulous stories in this issue. Read them and try the techniques — they work. The Great Lake shark fishing article by Jim Allen is a ripper, but it takes considerable effort, conviction, confidence and persistence before you realise how good this style of fishing is. Believe me it is worth the effort.

By the way, the brownie on the cover weighed 11½ pounds and was caught on a black Woolly Bugger in Phantom Bay at Arthurs. You can try using one for the rest of your life, but I don’t think you’ll ever be as lucky as John Lyons.

Mike Stevens

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Fishing News - Page 3

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Fishing News - Page 5

Very slow nymphing Todd Lambert Spring is nearly over and as we head into what looks like being another long hot summer. I believe this season holds an anticipation amongst Tasmanian anglers not seen for quite a while thanks in large to renewed water levels in many of our impoundments due to better than average Autumn and early Spring rainfall.

Being part of a large fishing club like Longford brings with it many benefits, not the least of which is being privy to the many reports of how our fisheries are performing within our large membership base as fellow fisho’s bring forth reports of recent success or failure.

Up to mid November these reports have been mixed. For example lowland waters like Four Springs have gone quiet after an initial onslaught of success by our members. Those heading up to Arthurs and Great Lake, although rewarded with fish, are often disappointed in their overall quality and size for this time of year. That said, although the majority of fish are small, there seems to be plenty of them.

As the days get both longer and warmer there is also renewed hope for waters such as Tooms Lake and Lake Leake and it is perhaps a case of ‘when’ rather than ‘if ’ these waters will fire this season.

My first couple of trips to Lake Leake this season have found the water still a bit discoloured and the fish quality with a way to go, but that being said, on our most recent outing, myself and fly fishing guru John Dekkers found ourselves on the water just as daylight broke, the fish caught in that session were a lot better and a quick check of their stomach contents showed them gorged full of stick caddis, flying inchmen and midge, so based on that, the condition factor shouldn’t be a problem for too much longer one would think.

The hot spot

Woods Lake at the time of writing this article is fishing superbly with one of our Longford Fishing Club members

reporting recently that nearly everyone coming off the water seemed to have fish in good condition. Perhaps it is just reward for those braving the continually deteriorating road into it.

At the moment, whether it is stripping wets, casting plastics, trolling or bait, you have a great chance of being rewarded handsomely for your efforts.

Fishing at daybreak

With early Spring comes the stirring to life in the insect world, trout that have spent recent months shovelling around newly flooded ground or hanging deep in the weed beds feeding on scud and snail, start to look skyward for Slow nymphing works just as well at places like the inevitable early morning Brumbys Creek as it does in still waters. midge hatches and in the case of our lowland waters, the Nymphs – a deadly technique first of the mayfly nymphs.

Up at Arthurs, the stonefly hatch can be the first real dry As I have touched on being on the water at daylight to witness the continued bobbing up and down of a brownie fly action of the season and although sub-surface activity is locked in a feeding pattern can bring with it memories that still moving slowly and perhaps not visible, a bead headed last a lifetime. Waters such as Tooms Lake and Lake Leake in nymph fished under an indicator fly such as a Red Tag or large their prime used to virtually guarantee this event every calm caddis/stonefly imitation can often surprise.

I like the bead on the nymph to be a fluorescent yellow in balmy morning. If the waters mentioned above do get back to that this season, I believe both myself and many others will colour this time of year. Trout may even take it as a stick caddis, I don’t know, nor do I really care, as long as that indicator fly be out of bed well before daylight on a regular basis.

Sometimes you only get half an hour to experience this sinks and there is weight on the end when I strike.

Fishing this technique in the last weeks of December and before the sun rises above the horizon putting them down, but an efficient fly caster in the right place at the right time could early January onwards with the nymph a foot or so off the bottom can be some of the best fishing you will experience all well take his or her bag limit such is the experience.

Indeed often it was a case of ‘which fish to cast to first’ and season, the trick is not to take your eye off the indicator fly, you with the process of methodical brownies so workmanlike, it can guarantee the moment you do, the indicator will dip and was just a matter of putting your fly out in front and waiting the chance will be lost as the fish inhales your offering—and just as quickly spits it back out. for it to be consumed as the next in line.

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Fishing News - Page 7

A drogue is essential and one of the Hayes Super Drogues for about $120 (get the float kit as well) are the best. Slowing the boat’s drift over weed beds in around two metres of water seems is the most productive formula.

When the water is like glass, a long line cast blindly and just left lying in ambush of a searching fish often puts fish in the boat on the so called ‘dog days’ that plague us all at times. Of course you still need to pick your spots. Try areas that you have found productive in the past.

Wind lanes

Much has been written on this form of fishing and people better qualified than I offer great advice to the novice such as drifting down the side of the wind lane with your boat useing long casts etc etc.

I find that quite often the fish aren’t that obvious and it is quite easy to drive on thinking that they are not there, once again an indicator and a nymph fished mid water and to the side of the slick will often surprise.

I guess the hardest thing about this type of fishing if you haven’t done a lot of it, is having the ability to see the fish in these conditions, the spotting of a snout bobbing up and down in the ripple, or the tell tale sign as water ripples nervously, are skills that can only be developed through time on the water and gaining experience in this type of fishing.

In case you hadn’t sensed my passion for this—I just love it!

Other techniques

Whilst I have concentrated on fly fishing in this article, it is not a form of fishing that I am locked into. I go fishing to catch fish and if nothing is working, I will pull out a lure or soft plastic as quick as a flash.

A 3 gram jig head fished with a Yep Red Rascal or Gulp Pumpkinseed can be absolutely

Two favourite nymphs - the bottom one seems best early on in the season. deadly—especially if fished around submerged timber.

Recently, Jim Mckenna (a fellow club member) and my daughter enjoyed polaroiding hungry browns in the entrance to Cramps Bay, Great Lake. It blew us all away as we watched fish no further than a rod length come back numerous times before inhaling the jigged offering. The fish seemed oblivious to a boat and its three excited passengers yelling “he’s got it, no he hasn’t. Drop it back down. Yeeesss!” Fair dinkum, we were like kids fishing off a jetty for tiddlers.

This all happened at 9 in the morning, the session yielding 10 fish in no time at all.

Since we started using soft plastics as part of our armoury , the results speak for themselves on a regular basis.

My time, as with most people, is precious, and I like to give both myself, my friends and my children as many opportunities as I can throughout a session in order to achieve results .

Constantly moving, looking and changing techniques will go a long way towards improving your catch rate, believe me.

At the end of the day, sometimes we win sometimes we lose when catching bags of fish, but trout fishing, in all its forms is great fun, no matter how you approach it, especially in the summer time.

Todd Lambert

Slow nymphing is not just for lake - it is brilliant at Brumbys. This is a swirl from a nyphing trout. The water is only only half a metre deep at this spot so the nymph is fished about 20 cm down from the indicator.

Janet Lambert brings a Brumbys brownie undone.

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Fishing News - Page 8

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Midging Trout Great Lake Craig Rist

Early Morning Start

It was late October when Jim Schofield, Peter Broomhall and myself planned an early assault on the Great Lake midge feeders.

Jim almost missed the turn off down to the Swan Bay boat ramp in the thick fog that had covered the Central Plateau. It was very dark and the headlights did little to help see the sealed road in the dark, let alone the gravel road leading down to the ramp. There was no wind—the lake was flat calm and dead quiet. With the anticipation of an over night midge hatch we quickly launched the boat and slowly motored out into Swan Bay, checking the water for signs of

midge with a torch over the side.

Jim followed an old snail trail on the GPS from a previous trip to navigate his way across the Lake.

Without the GPS we would have quickly become lost out in the middle of the lake.

It soon became light enough to see a short distance through the fog. The lake was glassy calm and we could see midge and a few lady beetles on the water. We stopped the big outboard and put down the bow-mounted electric motor.

We sat motionless amongst the thick fog.

Everyone listened intently for the sound of a rise and scanned the water through the fog for any signs of a feeding fish. The unmistakable sound of a fish taking off the surface could be heard somewhere out in the fog, close by. It rose again giving us some idea of what direction to move the boat to intercept the feeding fish. Peter was the first to spot the fish as it came into view through the fog.

I stopped the electric as Peter waited for the fish to rise again before making the cast. The fish continued towards us with another head and tail rise. Peter delivered his version of a Chernobyl Ant with a splat well in front of the fish.

Jim and I looked on waiting for that magic sight of a trout gulping down a dry fly. Then just like we had witnessed a trout taking a dry fly a thousand times before, it was gone in a swirl. With the sound of the take still ringing in our ears Peter paused for a moment then set the hook into a solid fish. The fish fought hard and deep after being hooked at the surface. Slogging it out along side the boat until it was eventually led into the net. The first fish of the morning was a nice Great Lake brownie. Not a bad way to start the morning.

We managed to repeat that same scenario a few more times, first hearing the fish take out in the fog well before we laid eyes on it.

Like most days on the water, not

Catching midging trout in still, misty mornings at Great Lake is extraordinarily rewarding.

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Jim Schofield is a good friend of mine. His first impression of Great Lake used to be of a large barren unattractive lake that had no appeal to him at all. That was, until he was shown the view from out in the middle of the lake in the early hours of the morning.

The sight of tailing browns in seven metres of water and groups of rainbows charging up the wind lanes towards him feeding on midge have suddenly changed his opinion of this lake to one of the most beautiful and alluring lakes in the highland. The fact that all these fish can be caught using big dry flies, didn’t hurt either. That said, it was no surprise see Jim jump at the opportunity to purchase one of Al Garwood’s customised 14 foot punts. Powered by a 50 HP Yamaha and a bow mounted electric outboard. He saw the perfect Great Lake fishing vessel.

Jim’s boat has enough power to cover a lot of water to find feeding fish and the stealth that comes with an electric outboard to get close to the fish. Jim has never looked back.

So much so, he now has a hard time driving past Great Lake to fish any other water. It just goes to show, that a lake with feeding trout at the surface can quickly change your perspective of a lake.

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Fishing News - Page 9

every fish was converted into a hook up. On some occasions, the first sign of a fish was a splashy boil at the side of the boat signalling a spooked fish that had approached the boat, undetected. Others would see the cast against the foggy backdrop or simply refuse the fly all together.

As the morning drew out, the sun started to burn off the fog, revealing more of the lake. The lake was like a mirror and fish could be seen feeding well off into the distance. Using the electric outboard we moved over to where we could see two or three fish feeding close by. In these bright calm conditions the fish were a lot easier to spook with the movement of the boat. We found the boat had to be move into the path of an approaching fish well before it was within casting range. Quite often, while we sat there waiting for one fish to move closer, another would suddenly appear from a different direction. This situation allowed two people to fish at once with an imaginary line drawn half way through the boat, giving each person 180 degrees to scan the water. If an approaching fish was slightly out of casting range the person on the electric could move the boat a little closer to cover the fish. Throughout the morning we all managed to catch fish on the big buggy foam flies and the more traditional flies as well.

When and Where To Go

For me, midge-feeding trout in Great Lake starts in October. Before then, there are far too many trout tailing in the shallows early in the season to even think about what could be out in the middle of Great Lake. Calm frosty nights seem to produce the right conditions for the midge to hatch over night and into the morning. An early start on the water is essential if you want to make the most of the low light conditions. This is the time when feeding trout are at their most relaxed state, feeding right up to within a couple of metres of a drifting boat.

An early start to the morning for me is launching the boat while it is still dark and waiting out on the water for enough light to see feeding fish or midge on the water that may have fish close by. If the wind has come up over night look for fish in the foam lines and wind lanes. A reliable place to find these wind formations are down wind of points and islands. These areas funnel the accumulation of midge and other insects into the wind lanes, carrying them across the lake.

When travelling across wind to these destinations you will often pass over other wind lanes that have fish feeding in them. Spook a fish or find food in one of these and it’s well worth pulling up and taking a drift down the side of one of these feeding lanes. Fish can be found feeding in the calm slick of the wind lane, and several metres to either side of it, amongst the rough water where the insects are still being pulled into it.

When there is no wind and the lake is flat calm the insects and the fish are spread out across the lake. Finding rising or tailing fish in these conditions is easy, but a careful approach using oars or an electric motor is needed to get to within a comfortable casting distance. These flat conditions can be a lot more demanding, with very spooky fish travelling in different directions. When the wind does eventually show up, the fish are a little easier to catch, with most fish feeding into the wind and the waves hiding the presence of the boat and the cast.

1. Find the wind lane - often curling off a point.

2. Find the fish and get the fly in the correct spot.

Wet Flies

When the fish are totally preoccupied with midge pupa rising up from the bottom, wet flies allowed to sink and then drawn back up in front of a fish can work very well. Flies with a little extra weight will sink quickly and rise up when stripped back. Size 12 to 14 green nymphs and beetle patterns have worked in the past, fished in this way. The retrieve speed of the fly should vary, start slow and then speed up if the fish are not responding. Success usually follows when you can lead the fish, allowing the fly to sink and then swim it up in front of the trout’s line of sight. When all else fails, throw on a small woolly bugger and strip that in front of them, you might be surprised with the response.

Dry Flies

Fishing dry flies would be my first choice when fishing Great Lake. When it comes to fly selection you can throw away the match the hatch theory for 90 percent of the time in Great Lake. These fish are used to finding a mixed bag of insects that have found their way onto the water during the previous day or over night. Great Lake Trout are opportunistic feeders that will usually pass up 10 midges to suck down a larger insect that is going to give them more protein for less effort. This is great news for the fly fisher as it simplifies the Fishing News - Page 10

3. Simple really.

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whole problem of how to get a fish choosing your small midge dry fly over the hundreds surrounding it. Large size 10 and even 8, deer hair and foam flies such as the Cubit Mudeye, Chernobyl Ant, Foam Beatle and Craig’s Hair Chernobyl are very effective. All these flies sit low in the water, making them very obvious to the fish and have great fish pulling features with a heavy landing and those rubber legs that instantly bring life to a stationary fly. For the more traditional dry flies Red Tags, Bobs Bits and a variety of midge flies will catch fish with precision casting, but will usually be out fished by the larger deer hair and foam models that will get the attention of a fish from further away.

Boat Handling

How well the boat can be controlled plays a big part to a successful morning on the water. A boat equipped with an electric outboard or a set of oars to quietly position it, to set up a cast, will catch more fish. How fast the boat drifts in the water also plays an important part. If the boat is too light a strong wind will blow the boat too quickly in an uncontrolled way across the lake making it very difficult to make an accurate

cast and manage line.

A flat drogue set off to the side of the boat will slow it down and keep it broadside of the wind. Combine this type of drogue with a bow-mounted electric motor and you will find it very easy to reposition the boat to intercept a feeding fish without the need to pull in the drogue. By simply driving forward with the electric outboard the drogue will straighten alongside the boat giving little or no resistance to slow the boat. When the boat stops moving forward, the drogue will once again take hold and you can resume the drift.

A selection of flies the author uses on Great Lake.

When fishing three to a boat its far better to have one person dedicated to driving the electric outboard or controlling the oars than to have the third person trying to fish and position the boat. Do this on a rotation and everyone will catch more fish and have a lot more fun. Sit back and enjoy fishing as a team. The sooner you can get your mate into a fish, the sooner it will be your turn.

Fishing the midge feeders on Great Lake is an exciting option and a great way to start a day on the water, wave polaroiding or searching the shallow bays. If that’s not enough, you have the evening midge hatch to look forward to. A day on Great Lake can soon turn into a sixteen hour fishing marathon that will go past in the blink of an eye, so make the most of it!

Craig Rist

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Fishing News - Page 11

Jan’s Flies Jan Spencer

Well, what a season it has been so far! It started with water everywhere with flooded rivers and lake margins pushing back into the tussocks. This made a wonderful feeding zone for fish.

The dry fly started early. I took around twenty six fish in the first eight days of the Nineteen Lagoons being opened and all except one was taken on the dry fly. What was the fly, you may ask? What else, but a Red Tag. I saw my first duns and black spinners in the Bronte system on the November 3rd and the fish were on them. There has been some lovely warm weather in Tasmania’s Central Highlands, so I suppose it stands to reason the fly life will get underway early. First fish seen taking gum beetles were on October 31st. I know it’s hard to believe, but that’s how it was.

Yours truly has always been a great collector of any new fly tying materials. Just to tie a new creation and catch fish always gives great satisfaction. The new material goes by the name Swisher’s Wiggly Hackle. The long and short of it is that it is very fine rubber lengths much the same as rubber bands twisted into a centre fine wire. This can be used in a number of methods. The one I favour is to wind two turns around the front of a

The Worm Wriggler Woolly Worm pattern, this will give all the wriggle, jiggle and life to a fly one would ever want. The fly shown is tied as mentioned or a full bodied palmer back could be done also. Personally, I have not done this but the bugger with the front hackle ahs already caught a number of fish. The material mentioned is in experimental stages for a new beaut nymph. Swisher’s Wiggly Hackle comes in all the popular colours. The colour used on the shown fly is brown/olive. Just choose a favourite Woolly Worm pattern and add the chosen wiggly material. Fish this no differently to any other wet fly. It may be in the shallows or with some weight for deep water.

Hook: Heavy shanked hook size 10 – 8 – 6 Thread: Black Tail: Green marabou Rib: Fine copper wire Body: Green and brown variegated chenille Palmer hackle: Red cock Front hackle: Two turns Swisher’s Wriggly Hackle Tie fly in step by step as the materials are listed above.

The Swisher’s Wriggle Hackle is available from Essential Flyfisher in Launceston.

This will be the last issue for 2009, so I hope Santa comes to you all and do have a great new year.

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Fishing News - Page 12

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•

Do not park on or obstruct boat ramps.

ational Parks: Do not cut

It’s Summer time and the fishing is easy Lake Levels

Information on current lake levels for Lake St Clair and Lake King William including Metres from full and trend Marty Wells mal boat ramp at Cynthia (Rising, falling, steady) is available from: ical spotThe to difficulty launch a (or boat. www.ifs.tas.gov.au /Going to and check/Lake easiness) of a fishery is relative ramps, two atFishing/Things the northern end another at es at Cynthia Bay and Levels. and changing, a waterway may yield good results the southern end adjacent to the dam wall. Aside at the northern endfor of the one day but reasons unknown, completely from weather, which in this part of the world ted at Narcissus and • Report unusual algal sightings shut down theEcho next. There are however, a anycannot be fish reliedcaptures on to door anything but change, occupied by bushwalkers. immediately the Inland number of waters that consistently give up their thetowater level inFisheries the lake isService the biggest factor fishy inhabitants more readily. One thing these affecting fishing quality. The lake is managed by oat ramp situated Report illegal 000 waters haveatin common is a huge •population the activities hydro andto; theBushwatch outflowing 1800 water 333 is diverted t ButlersofGorge trout. which Most trout fishers are aware of the from the Derwent River into canals where it is Launching at the fact areas that the bigger the fish population in any fed through downstream power stations before sible from thewater, Lyellthe smaller the individual fish size. given Brown trout rejoining the Derwent further down the valley. e due toThis theishighly due to the finite amount of trout tucker The lake is allowed to fill in late winter and available in any given waterway. Unfortunately, spring, generally being at its maximum level unless larger fish have been stocked into a lake for the year in early summer. However, at the ited for these navigation: easier waters usually hold fish averaging time of writing, due to the exceptionally wet tance ofcloser 300 metres to one pound than two. Having said that, winter we’ve had the lake was spilling. At this Dam big fish can turn up anywhere at any time. level the water is inundating shallow bays that distance of 50 metres Lake St Clair have revegetated over the past year or so. This lair Dam flooding washes all manner of invertebrate Lake King William Rainbow trout rs boundedLake

by Clark life into the lake and onto the hungry trout’s King William is a large hydro n bank approximately menu. The best access point to enjoy this fast impoundment that is mainly fed by the e dam and a signRiver on the and frantic fishing is at the northern end of Derwent from Lake St Clair. When the y 100 metres upstream of the lake about five kilometres past Derwent lake was created, the retaining Clark Dam at Bridge. If you are an early bird these bays are Butlers Gorge was the highest in the southern reliable places to find tailing fish at dawn. If hemisphere. Lake King William has the highest g by accelerating you prefer a more leisurely start to the day, estimated gently catch rate per day of any of the nderwater wash ? from careful wade polaroiding in the deeper water central highland lakes.

Inland Fisheries have ? and mud.

This sediment ? will reveal numerous fish cruising around on estimated about four fish per angler, per day is ? ?? tive weed beds,Ifsmothers the lookout for an easy feed. Nondescript dry average. you? ?compare this to Arthurs Lake at ? h habitat. flies such as Red Tags will prove the undoing slightly over one? fish per angler day you can gain of most fish even when they don’t appear to an appreciation of the fishing possible on this L K be taking food the surface. If you don’t get extremely scenic lake. Lake King William Brown and has Rainbow trout illustrations Kristiioff Melaine T L Brochure design: Design Unit, DPIW response from the floating fly, try R a positive the added bonus of being open to Afishing year R A hanging a small brown nymph off the bend of round. The lake is well serviced by three boat

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the hook Laughing Jackon a short dropper. Trolling and Lagoon drift spinning are also deadly methods in Lake King William. Tassie Devil lures are all that’s needed to tangle with some of the lake’s feisty browns. Mixtures of green/gold/red seem to do the trick.

The recognized hot spot is in an area known as Guelph Basin. The basin has countless rivers and creeks draining in to it along with stands of dead trees.

These elements combine to create the perfect environment for hunting trout from a boat. The easiest access to the Guelph Basin is from the Clark Dam end of the lake via the Butler’s Gorge Road.

The Basin can be accessed on foot from Harbachs Road which leaves the Lyell Highway just past the Navarre River bridge. This road also provides a number of access points along the western shore of the lake, none are sign posted but exploration will yield rewards. Warmer days from late spring onwards will see trout feeding happily from the surface, sometimes in very close. As in other lakes windlanes will concentrate the food into particular areas and a boat is a real advantage, but, in past seasons I have enjoyed good sport polaroiding from the higher rocky banks that are prevalent around the south eastern shoreline.

The Pump Pond

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This regarded as one of the ‘easier’ waters in the highland region. The ‘Pond’ is a kilometre or so West of Tarraleah

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and is surrounded by tall forest. It remains sheltered in all but the very worst of winds. It is small enough to walk around in about an hour without fishing. Undoubtedly there are more catchable trout in the ‘pond’ than many of the big name waters nearby but the notoriously fickle brown trout are just as wily. The largest fish I have personally seen from the Pump Pond was about three pounds but I suspect there is some behemoths residing in the depths of the old river course. These fish would be best targeted with soft plastics fished deep off the dam wall. Traditionally fish taken from this dam have averaged 0.3-0.7 kgs, however the development of nearby Tarraleah as a tourist village led to the stocking of this water with a number of Arthurs Lake trout a few years ago. At the time of release these additional fish weighed between 1-3 kgs, add to this a small number of 4 kg+ monsters rescued from the adjacent canals when they are drawn down for maintenance and you have the makings of an interesting fishery. This small, heavily populated water lays a short walk from the Lyell Highway three kilometres to the Hobart side of Tarraleah. The shore is mostly made up of marshy shallows with the odd deeper shore, particularly on the eastern side of the dam. The pond has a swift inflowing river about halfway around from the dam wall. This river is difficult to cross, meaning the angler Fishing News - Page 13

make the choice of fishing either clockwise or anti-clockwise around the dam. For the right-handed caster fishing clockwise results in less arboreal action as the cast is made over the water. Fish rise consistently during warm, settled weather and tail all season long. Tailing is the description given to fish feeding in the extreme shallows, as a consequence of this feeding the foraging trout periodically expose their dorsal and tail fins, waving them in the air like miniature golden flags. Most, if not all, of the best fishing occurs from the shore. Rising fish take up station where the predominantly westerly wind blows terrestrial insects onto the water’s surface; however it pays to assess the prevailing wind direction when deciding which shore to commence fishing. Just about any size 14-18 dry fly will bring success, as always presentation is the key. Cast close to tailing fish or rising fish these flies often elicit a positive response. It is vital that the fish sees or ‘feels’ your fly land on the water. The canals nearby also give up their share of trout though are not nearly as attractive to fish as the Pump Pond. If you do fish the canals be extremely cautious around the edges, if you fell in it would be very difficult to get out. In the past people have drowned from this scenario.

Pine Tier Lagoon

Situated a short drive north of Bronte Park Pine Tier Lagoon is a headwater lake. This means, unlike lakes further down the system, the water level is usually relative to the amount of rainfall in the catchment area. The popular lake is well sign posted, with convenient 2wd access points from the dam wall, along the eastern shore up to the northern end. Pine Tier gives up good numbers of brown trout throughout the season to all methods of angling. The shallower northern end of the lake is preferred for the fly fishing, especially

early in the season when fish can be found in close gorging on food washed into the lake by the spring rains. Almost every fish I have caught in this area at this time of year have been absolutely bulging with earthworms. This evidence highlights the opportunities available to the astute bait fisherman, particularly when lake levels are rising. As the weather warms beetle falls provide exciting dry fly action and give the novice fly angler a good chance of snaring a fighting, wild trout. The key is to fish on shores that have the wind blowing along rather than onto them. This wind direction blows food along in a conveyor manner allowing the fish to hold station and wait for the food to come to them instead of constantly chasing individual beetles. Trolling is more popular in the deeper southern basin around the dam wall. Tassie Devils, Rapalas and other hard bodied lures all catch fish while working a soft plastic around the shoreline structure will usually result in some action.

While the average size of fish can be a little disappointing there is a real chance of hooking something big. As mentioned earlier double figure fish have come to trollers in the vicinity of the dam wall in previous years. With all the extra food entering the lake this year the chance of hooking that fish of a lifetime has to be increased.

A typical sized brownie from Lake King William.

While a ‘donut’ is possible anywhere, anytime, fishing these highly populated lakes ensures you have a good chance of catching one of Tasmania’s renown trout. I hope the information above encourages you to give trout fishing a go and helps you to be successful, especially, if in the past you have been put off fishing the ‘sweetwater’ by the prospect of returning home empty handed.

Marty Wells

A beautiful shore at the Pump Pond.

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Fishing News - Page 15

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Happy Days on Great Lake

Fly Fishing in the Waves Jim Allen

It is now well over a decade since Peter Wilson of the Great Lake Hotel, now the Central Highlands Lodge discovered the ‘glowing sharks’ in the late afternoon on the Great Lake while he took some time off from pub duties. Today a dedicated band of fly fishers watch the sky carefully every morning in the highlands hoping for a stiff northerly breeze and a cobalt blue sky.

Why Great Lake?

The Tasmanian lakes that are ideal for this fishing in the waves are the crystal clear and nearly blue water lakes like Lake St Clair, Dee Lagoon, Lake Echo and Great Lake and on the mainland some of the lakes in the Snowy Mountains like Eucumbene.

Water like Arthurs Lake and Bronte are more difficult but not impossible, because the water is clear but with an olive colour tinge. The real excitement is the sighting of the trout and casting with accurate presentations in the wind and the waves.

The actual catching and landing of them is nearly secondary. On a perfect day a dozen trout to the boat would not be anything else but normal.

The northerly breeze usually brings with it a warm day for gum beetles, ants and any other terrestrial insect to hatch and a bright cobalt blue sky is essential. The biggest danger is the dreaded whispy cirrus clouds that often makes from the west heralding the next southerly change. These clouds make sight fishing so much more difficult and most times impossible leaving the only alternative for the boat angler to drift a shore with a large Chernobyl Ant (nicknamed a thong on some boats!) as an attractor and a smaller beetle or hopper pattern a metre behind.

But when the weather is perfect there is much excitement and expectation over coffee in the morning in highland shacks with anxious faces peering to the sky every few minutes, waiting for the sun to lift high enough for polaroiding.

Tackle

The tackle required is a 9 foot stiffish rod for a six to eight weight line to cast in the breeze accurately and a weight forward line perhaps even a size heavier than that recommended by the rod maker to punch the line out fast. Leaders longer than 3 metres will cause problems and a 2 to 3 kg breaking strain point will be perfect in most circumstances.

Boat

The barra style boats with flat bottoms are best with a casting platform up front. I use a 4.35 metre Quintrex Hornet and it is perfect. Not too big and high out of the water for trout to see and yet not too small to get home reasonably dry in a breeze. I try to be careful and not get caught in a big wind at the wrong end of the lake. Each year there are boating accidents in the highlands and it is important to use some common sense. After all, we all need to live on… if only to fish another day.

Flies

Flies often don’t matter by comparison to accurate presentation, but a Gibson’s foam gum beetle has no equal. One mate of mine swears by a largish Royal Wulff because he can see it easily. I like my beetles a little bigger than lifelike—and at Great Lake the fish seems to like bigger flies too. In an earlier article I recommended John Fox’s Battleship which really is an overgrown Red Tag. I use a single fly because if you present it in front of a trout they will see it from three metres away. Some anglers use

Jim Allen says ‘when fishing the waves at Great Lake– there is no better fly that a Gibson Foam Gum Beetle.’

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Fishing News - Page 17

two or three flies and I don’t think it matters much, only sometimes speed is often of the essence and the more flies, the more tangles, particularly when landing a trout!!

This form of fly fishing is very visual and it is extremely important you can see your fly. Dark flies are harder to see than lighter coloured hackle flies as there is little reflection.

Hopper patterns are also excellent and it is amazing how many hoppers you will find in the stomach contents if you keep a couple for eating.

Method

Many anglers cruise just using their electric motors going across and parallel with the waves searching for the trout that are up in the waves. I still use my otboard motor as my 50hp Honda can go very slowly and quietly, particularly if I aim it slightly into the waves.

The important point to make is to use the sun and obtain the best vision you can and this angle of cruising can sometimes be altered because of a channel of cirrus cloud or angle of light at different times of the day.

On my boat we fish as a team with one angler up the front ‘on point’ with line laid out in the boat or over the side for a super fast presentation. The boat driver and angler on my boat usually compete with each other as to who sees a fish first. Angle of light can change dramatically through the day and it is important all on the boat are hawk eyed. I’m often amazed how the team member at the back of the boat sees a fish when it has been missed by the angler standing up front of the boat on point. I often wonder at how many fish are not seen at all!! We change anglers on catching a fish and depending how many fish are up we have two or three presentations and your off point and back driving the boat…so through a good day both anglers get a few casts at fish.

On sighting a fish the driver pulls the boat out of gear and glides to the fish or reverses quietly to stop the forward motion. Any revving of the motor will likely spook most fish. The aim is to sight a fish at a reasonable

distance from the boat!! Too close usually means a spooked fish but occasionally you will be surprised how close you can creep up on a fish particularly if it is looking away.

As far as the fish are concerned the time of day does not seem to matter. If there has been an early morning midge hatch the fish are ‘up’ from first light but in general terms the warmer part of the day seems to me to be the most successful and of course the light for polaroiding is best from about 11am to 4 pm. The vision is also helped by the increasing breeze from the north. Large beetle falls can be frustrating because the fish fill up quickly on a good fall and go down I suspect with a belly ache but it seems to me there will always be an odd fish up in the waves late.

The fish are often in patches and it is quite important to hang around an area where you’ve seen a fish or two and quite often we will stop and drift down a foam lane, particularly if we’ve seen a fish in it! Foam lanes to are really another form of wind lane and often have food in them. Both rainbows and browns will come up and it always amazes me that on some days mostly rainbows are on the surface and other days mostly browns.

I’ve yet to discover why… but that all part of the magic.

Steve Cohn with a rainbow shark.

Learn to cast

Fast accurate casting is important and often I find myself frustrated screaming at a fellow angler that they don’t eat the bloody fly with their tail. (They usually are still happy to have a beer with me at the pub afterwards because the fishing as been so exciting!). In wind the fly most times will fall back, even in the hands of a good caster and it is important to lead the fish so the fly lands in front so the trout can see it. It really is the fundamental point for successful fishing in the waves…. that is I repeat…. to put the fly in front of the fish. Sounds simple but it’s not always that easy! It is so easy to learn to cast well these days. Peter Hayes is a fantastic casting teacher - get a lesson.

A nice brownie taken close to shore.

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Fishing News - Page 18

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Some days are diamonds and some days the fish are spooky and difficult. I think this has much to do with how hungry the fish are! After a long spell of cold, cloudy weather, the first perfect day usually provides the best fishing. Sometimes the fish are in pods another day they are singles or alone. Each day is a little different and it is important to use every sense you have to make the best of the conditions.

In recent years the Great Lake has been very low and the weed beds or shrimp beds have redeveloped with the sunlight over many acres of shallow water. The fish have picked up in condition and some superb trout have been taken. However this year after heavy winter rains the lakes will be deeper and the weed beds may die back because of lack of photosynthesis and if there is not a lot of hot days I suspect the trout will go back in condition as they will rely on terrestrial food rather than the shrimp beds that developed over the past few years.

But they will still be good fish to catch. I’m sure it will be an interesting summer.

In the great wide world of fishing with a fly rod, fishing in the waves is another arrow to add to the quiver of things to do and certainly worth consideration if you have the use of a boat.

Jim Allen Jim has been for a long time been a very casual contributor to this magazine. He is the founder of the Compleat Angler group and at one stage owned Bridges Bros in Hobart and what is now known as the Great Lake Hotel. He has fly fished the world for permit, bonefish, salmon, and steelhead and for most of the legendary species of sportfish and today is still the proprietor of the Compleat Flyfisher in Melbourne as a retirement interest!! He informs the editor he is happier trouting in Tasmania through the summer than anywhere else in the world!!

Jim Allen sharing the boat with Julian NewtonBrown—and looking for sharks. Clouds behind are OK, but looking into water with clouds in front cuts vision dramatically.

A large, light coloured Bruce Gibson Beetle seems to work well on Great Lake—only one is needed—but get it in front of the fish, not behind.

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Fishing News - Page 19

Penstock Lagoon a stocking success Long touted as the jewel in the crown of Highland fisheries, Penstock Lagoon has been a consistent high quality fishery over the last nine years. Although only fly fishing is permitted, it has been ranked in the top 10 lake fisheries on an annual basis for the State since the 1999/2000 season, in terms of angler visitation. Given that it is a small water body and that only those fly fishing can fish there it is an extremely popular fishery. During the 2008/2009 season Penstock sustained a very high angler effort which was in part due to low lake levels and less than ideal conditions at a number of other popular fisheries such as Arthurs Lake. Despite this, the fishery has consistently produced good size and conditioned fish at reasonable catch rates.

Penstock Lagoon was formed in the 1930s to pool water for the Waddamana power station. During its operation there were good inflows to sustain natural recruitment of the rainbow and brown trout that the fishery was famous for. Once the Waddamana power station was decommissioned in 1994 the supply of water during the crucial times for trout spawning and fry development was cut. Trout stocks at the lagoon are now maintained solely through stocking by the IFS. During the late 1990s Penstock Lagoon suffered from poor water quality, both in terms of clarity and nutrient loading resulting in algal blooms. The reason for the decline in water quality was the change in status of the lagoon from a flow through system to a static water body, due to the water no longer passing through the lagoon on its way to the power station. The IFS (or IFC as it was in those days) and Hydro Tasmania were committed to re-establishing the lagoon as a premium fishery. By monitoring water quality and experimenting with various water levels an optimal water management regime was established that maintained the water quality and ensured improved conditions for fishing. For the fishing to improve it was vital that fish stocks were maintained at healthy levels as well. In the absence of the flow through regime that Penstock once had it was necessary to maintain fish populations through stocking.

At the end of 1998 the IFS commenced the restocking of Penstock Lagoon, firstly with rainbow trout fry that were hatched from eggs collected from lagoon itself. During 1999, to fill a hole in the population and to provide instant angling the

IFS stocked 250 adults from the brown trout spawning run at Liawenee. The stocking of adults continued with a peak of 750 being transferred annually in 2003 and 2004, this was reduced gradually till 2009 when only 100 were transferred. Since 1999s there has been an annual stocking of rainbow and brown trout fry and fingerlings since 1999 there has been less need to rely on Great Lake transfers.

By 2009 it has become evident that the juvenile stockings are now maintaining the fishery and the need for adult transfers has diminished to negligible.

The IFS undertook a tagging study in 2002 to assess the status of the trout populations at Penstock Many anglers do not realise Penstock Lagoon relies on Lagoon. The 500 adult brown trout transferred from the stocking from IFS for all its recruitment. Both browns Liawenee Canal spawning run and rainbows thrive in this food rich environment. were all tagged and released into the lagoon prior to the commencement of the 2002/2003 Penstock Lagoons recovery from the mid 1990s doldrums season. An electrofishing survey was conducted at the lagoon was to a large extent due to the recovering water quality just prior to the season opening showed a high recapture of and establishment of a regime that maintained conditions tagged fish relative to the untagged adult population of brown favourable to fly fishing. Water clarity is important to fly trout. Of the 500 released 167 were recaptured by anglers fishers and its improvement can result in better catch rates. after the season opened. This represents a high recapture This improvement is important to insect life and the steady rate and was indicative that the lagoon at this point in time appearance of duns during the 1999/2000 season would have was fairly reliant on the stocking of adults to sustain the made the trout more visible and catchable targets for the fly fishery. This electrofishing survey did show promise that the fisher. Table. 1 shows the number of anglers estimated to stocking program was effective as large numbers of juvenile have fished the lagoon for each season. These estimates are trout of both species were captured and or sighted. This was based on responses from the IFS Angler Postal Survey (APS) evidence that the stocking program was paying dividends as which has been running continuously since 1985. Following a a number of age classes of young fish were encountered and recovery from poor water quality during the season 1999/2000, whilst adult stockings may be required in the short term the significantly more anglers visited the lagoon than for the any IFS was confident that stocking of juveniles would eventually season during the 15 years prior. Despite a slight drop in sustain the fishery. In recent seasons this has definitely been effort during the 2000/2001 season angler effort has steadily the case. increased overall for all but the 2005/2006 season.

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Fishing News - Page 21

Estimated number of anglers fishing Penstock from APS

4000

Approx. 9km to Route A5 LOCATION

3500 N 0

3000

0.5

LAUNCESTON

Pulfords Bridge

1km

PENSTOCK LAGOON

HOBART

NO ACCESS

2500

BEYOND THIS POINT

Private road No public access

10 metre access easement Foot access only

No. of anglers

Access

2000

Anglers Access No fishing in canals above two white posts

Unsealed Road

1500

Vehicular Track

No

Foot Access Only

1000

at

g

an

hor

A WADDAM AN

2008/09

2007/08

2006/07

2005/06

2004/05

2003/04

2002/03

2001/02

2000/01

1999/00

1998/99

1997/98

1996/97

1995/96

1994/95

1993/94

1992/93

1991/92

1990/91

1989/90

1988/89

1987/88

1986/87

1985/86

Fly Fishing Other Symbols

5

Grassy Corner

Camping

NO ACCESS BEYOND THIS POINT

Private property No public access

PENSTOCK

Caravan Sites Car Park

C178

Hollis Bay

rainbow trout

Crisps Point

La

dy s

Day Use Only

1.4

Beginners Bay

LAGOON

Fosters Bay

NO MOTORISED BOATING ZONE

920 m Sh o

re

Shore

1

5

10 metre access easement Foot access only

Ro b

er tso

Tr ee

0.8

ns

1.2

0.6

NO ACCESS BEYOND THIS POINT

Private property No public access

W alk

FLY FISHING ONLY

1.6

Lily Pond

0.4

re

Sho in

gs

0.2 Day Use Only

0

Boating on Penstock Lagoon • A 5 knot speed limit applies to the whole lagoon.

• Check your wash - if it’s white it’s all right - if it’s brown slow down.

• Fishing from a boat within 100 metres of an angler fishing from the shore is prohibited unless the boat is securely moored.

• Do not park on or obstruct the boat ramp.

Approx. 7km to Waddamana

Small trout just after release. regulations are another important factor.

Penstock Lagoon is managed with a low bag limit at three fish per day. The low bag limit has contributed to the maintenance of catch rate at this fishery as has the minimum size limit of 420 mm. By setting the minimum size limit at 420 mm young fish have time to grow to a size where they are meet angler expectation of the quality of fish expected from a premium fishery.

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With fisheries such as Penstock Lagoon reliant on stocking it is important to get the balance right when angler effort is increasing. Catch rates are important for monitoring the success or otherwise of stocking programs in these types of fisheries.

The catch rates for Penstock Lagoon can be seen in the Table 2. Whilst catch rate has been satisfactory at over 1 fish per day for both species combined on average, it is the maintenance of catch rate in the face of an increasing angler pressure that has been the key to the success of this water as a popular and fruitful fishery.

The harvest at the lagoon for rainbow trout has remained fairly consistent while for brown trout it has risen substantially. The trend shown from APS data indicates in spite of increasing angler effort that catch rate has not suffered and this indicates that trout stocks are not a limiting factor. This would not happen if the fish stocks were not at a sufficient level.

Stocking is only part of the management of the fishery, the implementation of fishing

10 metre access easement Foot access only

2008/09

2007/08

2006/07

2005/06

2004/05

2003/04

2002/03

2001/02

2000/01

1999/00

1998/99

1997/98

1996/97

1995/96

1994/95

1993/94

1992/93

1991/92

1990/91

1989/90

1988/89

1987/88

1986/87

1985/86

Table 2. Catch rates for Penstock Lagoon as calculated from APS. p pi

Sa pl

Catch rate (fish/day)

Breakfast Bay

5 knots in channel and lagoon

Penstock Lagoon catch rate as calculated from APS brown trout

Private property No public access

l

Boat Ramp

Table 1. Estimated number of anglers fishing Penstock Lagoon each season from the IFS Angler Postal Survey (APS) 1.8

W all

ne

Can

NO ACCESS BEYOND THIS POINT

Permitted Angling Methods

ch

al S

RO AD

No Access

0

in

e

Foot Access Through Access Easement

500

r th

bo

A small rainbow about to be released.

A minimum size of 420mm applies.

140InvermayRoad 6326 2900 Invermay For your nearest EXIDE stockist

Launceston,7248

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Penstock Lagoon continues to impress as a stocked fishery and reports from this current season (2009/2010) indicate that the fish are in good condition and at a size that would please all anglers that fish there. With the good spring rains lifting the lake levels at a number of other fisheries the pressure on Penstock should dissipate this season but in any event it will continue to impress despite the high angler pressure.

Inland Fisheries Service

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Fishing News - Page 23

Building Tasmania’s wild trout fishery

www.mustad.no/australia_nz

Since the first successful shipment of brown trout eggs to Tasmania in 1864, successive generations of wild Tasmanian trout have been harvested as eggs, grown to fry and fingerling stage and released back into lakes and rivers throughout the State. Each year for nearly 150 years, this has continued, resulting in a wild trout fishery of world class standard – a valuable legacy inherited by anglers and managed by the Inland Fisheries Service today.

The Service inherited this legacy from the original Salmon Commission which was established to oversee the introduction of salmonids to Tasmania in the mid 1800s. The Salmon Ponds at Plenty was built in the early 1860s and the first trout were hatched on 4th of May 1864 from a batch of live ova shipped from England. The Salmon Ponds became the birthplace of trout in the Southern Hemisphere.

The newly released brown trout flourished in Tasmania.

They quickly spread or were introduced to most rivers and lakes across the State, establishing sustainable healthy populations.

These wild populations were the source of additional eggs and the annual stock of juvenile fish used to grow the fishery, and live eggs were also supplied to mainland Australian states and to New Zealand to build their trout fisheries.

Later in 1898, the first live shipment of rainbow trout eggs was received at the Ponds, and the same strategy was used by the Salmon Commission to establish the rainbow trout fishery. Brook trout were introduced in 1962 and a small brook trout fishery was similarly established. Eggs continue to be harvested from wild rainbow and brook trout populations, grown to fingerlings in the hatchery and released to sustain the wild fishery for anglers.

The growing and stocking of wild juvenile fish is a primary activity undertaken by the Service in its annual management of the fishery. It is an economic imperative that the hatchery operation is cost-effective and that the annual stocking program

is successful in order to meet fishery management goals.

The importance of being able to control the rearing and production of wild trout is essential for this and led to the decision by the Service to redevelop its 150 year old hatchery operations at the Salmon Ponds.

The need to improve the fish rearing facilities at the Ponds had been identified by the Inland Fisheries Commission as far back as the 1940s. Difficulties in providing fish of adequate size and health continued for many years due to the combination of low water flows and reduced water quality, which resulted in production being limited largely to fry, with most fish needing to be stocked by December each year to avoid high Summer water temperatures, and leading to poor and unreliable returns from stockings.

Three years ago, the Service set about addressing these issues by investing significant capital in the construction of a modern hatchery facility at its new headquarters at New Norfolk, designed to complement the Salmon Ponds operation. The Service built a 25 tonne ‘state of the art’ closed system recirculation facility capable of growing 500,000 fish per annum. It was officially opened in August 2007 and is now in its third year of production.

The modernised hatchery signals a new era in management of the fishery with the use of contemporary aquaculture technology and better environmental practice. The new recirculation system reuses water whereas the Salmon Ponds uses a conventional flow through system. Being purpose built, it has enabled the Service to have much greater control over growing conditions by maintaining optimal levels of water quality, temperature, light exposure and dissolved oxygen. This has allowed the Service to significantly reduce mortality rates and maximise fish growth rates compared with the operation at the Salmon Ponds.

The capital investment in the new hatchery is now paying dividends for the Service with increased production of higher quality wild fish stock. Not only are these fish healthier but they can be grown to a larger size, so that their chance of survival in the wild is improved, resulting in greater stocking effectiveness.

Ultimately, this benefits anglers in ter ms of quality and quantity of fish, and places the Service in an excellent position to develop and enhance the fishery for future generations of anglers.

So the next time you catch a wild Tasmanian brown trout, remember that it is the genetic offspring of the original batch of eggs shipped to Tasmania and raised at the Salmon Ponds nearly 150 years ago. Its quality is guaranteed – based on a pure genetic bloodline dating back to the original 1800s – it is truly wild, disease free and 100% Tasmanian!

Inland Fisheries Service

Mature fish being collected from Liawenee Canal

Both rainbow and brown trout eggs are collected

Fertilised eggs are grown onto to fry and fingerlings at the IFS New Norfolk hatchery.

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Fishing News - Page 24

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BRUMBYS CREEK Simon Little

Access from Macquarie Street MA

CRESSY Brumbys Weir 3

B51

C515

Access upstream from Lees Bridge to No. 2 and No. 1 Weirs for approx. 4km

Brumbys

Weir 2 Access upstream from Lees Bridge to No. 2 and No. 1 Weirs for approx. 4km

Lees Bridge

CCR EE K K

Brumbys Weir 2

Access

Vehicular Access Permitted Angling Methods No Access Fly Fishing

D

UM BBRR

FISH

NO ACCESS

ERI

Artificial Lures Permitted Angling Methods Fly Fishing Bait Fishing

ES

LAN

Access upstream ERI E for approx. 1kmS LAN

Artificial Lures

Other Symbols

E

Bait Fishing

Toilets

Access upstream for approx. 1km

Other Symbols Boat Ramp Toilets

1km

0

0.5

1km

B51

Gate locked during closed season

B51

Gate locked during closed season

Boating on Brumbys Creek Fishing from canoes and small boats is popular on Weirs 1 and 3.

Boating on Brumbys Creek Boaters are reminded observe Fishing from canoes andtosmall the following: boats is popular on Weirs 1 and 3.

•Boaters Boatingare within 100mtoofobserve a Weir is reminded prohibited the following: ••Weirs 1 within & 3 fishing a Boating 100mfrom of a Weir is stationery prohibited boat is permitted ••Weir fromfrom a boat Weirs21fishing & 3 fishing a is stationery boat is permitted prohibited

NO ACCESS BEYOND THIS POINT

Please observe No Access sign NO ACCESS BEYOND THIS POINT

Please observe No Access sign

AD

RO

B51

0.5

B53

E

FISH

AD

k

0

ROAD

N

WWW.TASFISH.COM - Over 600 stories online. Get the knowledge–get the fish. C522

ree

N

D

YYSS MB

BEYOND THIS POINT

Boat Ramp

ANNA

ROA

NO ACCESS BEYOND THIS POINT

UM BBRR

Brumbys Weir 1

ROAD

B53 POWR

SY

No Access Foot Access Only

ANNA

Brumbys Access upstream Weir to 1 Weir 1 approx. 1km

CRES

Anglers Access

POWR

SY

Vehicular Access

YYSS MB

R

CRES

Foot Access Only

Access

RIVE

IE

NOTE: It is an offence to fish in trout farm ponds and raceways.

Penalties up to $500 apply.

Access upstream to Weir 1 approx. 1km

CCR EE K K

Anglers Access

AR

Lees Bridge

ROA

C515

R

NOTE: It is an offence to fish in trout farm ponds and raceways.

Penalties up to $500 apply.

Brumbys Weir 3

B51

RO

ekC

ROAD

SAUND

HOBART

Above the first weir Brumbys Creek is aBwide ru shallow pondage riddled with deep mbshallow banks and plenty of weed channels, yrus It is often underestimated and woodBstructure. munderutilized as a fishery and by anglers due bC

ys re

C516

TONE

RIVE

IE

Access from Macquarie Street

U

ELPHINS

RIDGE

BRUMBYS CREEK

CRESSY

AR

BRUMBYS CREEBRUMBYS CR EEK K

LAUNCESTON

ROAD

SAUND

HOBART

ROAD

CQ

RIDGE

BRUMBYS CREEK

C516

TONE

ROAD

LAUNCESTON

U

ELPHINS

MA

LOCATIONS Above the first (top) weir

CQ

Brumbys Creek is one of the best known and consistently fished trout rivers in Tasmania and this is not without good reason. On its day Brumbys can be surface busting fun in the sun and yet as with everything else in fishing, things can go horribly wrong.

The lowland fishery is located only 30 minutes short drive south of Launceston making it an easy morning or afternoon trip for anyone living in town. It lends itself well to almost all fishing styles, ranging from bait fishing with unweighted worms to bottom fishing powerbait, casting big hard bodied lures to wet and dry flies and my favourite, soft plastics. The river winds through low farm lands and is mostly comprised of three weirs and in/outflow water. Levels are controlled throughout the year by the hydro station and the quality of the fishing can be highly dependent on the volume of water moving through the system.

Brumbys Creek can be fished well right from the start of the season all the way through to the last day but in order to make the most of your time spent at the water you need to be able to work out where the fish will be and what they will be eating. With summer in full swing the weather will be warming up and for those who can get onto the trout the fishing should heat up with it.

Early on in the season when the weather is cold, rainy and overcast, the water level is high and clarity is almost a non-event, fish at Brumbys can be taken from backwaters and flooded banks using many various methods. As the water shallows out, drains away and clears up the fish’s feeding habits and locations will change. Changing your approach to suit the conditions will drastically enhance the results you can obtain.

C522

• Weir 2 fishing from a boat is prohibited Fishing News - Page

25

to limited boating access. Fishing from a boat is allowed but only while the boat is stationary. Access to the pondage is by Fisheries Lane, a dirt road that leads to the right of the main road approx two minutes drive past Lees Bridge. There is a gate as you turn off the bitumen that should always be closed once you are through it. Launching facilities are lacking and because of this and the nature of the pondage small tinnies, inflatables and kayaks are ideal.

Spinning along the edges of current lines and dry fly fishing the eastern shore above the weir seem to be the major highlights in a boat. There is also much to be said about working soft plastics around the protruding structure. On very still mornings I have found that some of the larger fish will swipe at a surface lure worked in close around the edges of anything that shows above the water.

Although fishing from a boat or kayak can be very advantageous, land based anglers are far more common and there are plenty of places where great fish can be caught from the banks. For me the highlight this summer will be polaroiding the shallow edge along the recently cleared banks adjacent to the dirt road that leads up from the weir along the eastern shore. We have snared several good fish along this section already this year and I’m sure there are plenty of bigger and better fish to be found.

Water temperature in Brumbys Creek does not vary a great deal throughout the year though water level can fluctuate daily.

In summer, rain will dirty up the water slightly but it doesn’t take a long time to clear up again. Wind features highly in the factors affecting water clarity and particularly it will cover the surface of the upper pondage with a patchwork of leaf congregations. Trout can often be found lurking around and under these temporary tarpaulins and once the wind dissipates, the leaves form together to show clear current lines and food flow patterns. It can be a road map to success.

Despite being more reputed as the premier fly fishing area of Brumbys, the first pondage can be fished with lures and baits until weed growth is stimulated by the warmer weather and the accessible water becomes more limited. Bait fishing is prohibited above the first weir.

Above the second weir

Below the first weir there is a wide flat expanse of shallow water. The bottom is muddy and weedy and fishing with lures is mostly impractical. Ultra-light soft plastics and surface lures can be worked to some success but without waders it is best left alone.

The outflow of this water is over a shallow weed bed which drops off into a long deep channel flanked by a sharp edge on the east and wide weedy flats on the west. The eastern edge directly below the weir has a small outcrop of land that is practically permanent year round. The outcrop creates a deep harbour surrounded by reed growth. In periods of short hard rainfall, in particular during summer, the south and eastern edges of this harbour will flood temporarily and there is almost always a good brown trout or two cruising lazily around in the shallows. It is well worth while approaching this area with some degree of stealth and scanning the shallows for fish.

The fast waters directly below all three weirs are often considered as hotspots for lure casting but don’t be tricked into thinking that these are the only good places to flick a hard body or soft plastic. Downstream of top weir, where the water runs off the shallow weed bed into the deep channel, large browns will congregate and smash any small fish, insects and food that come within a bulls roar of them. On clear, bright, sunny days the entire channel holds big and small fish all the way down to the second weir. Targeting these fish can be difficult but it is still much easier than trying to find them in the shallows when the sun’s out and about.

Most strikes will come from down around the bottom of the western edge drop off. You can clearly see the drop off on the western side of the channel. It is almost essential that the lure is working down deep along the bottom here and a good tactic can be to cast just over the edge to the flats and work it down the face of the drop off. Access along this stretch of river is limited by trees and blackberries but there are still plenty of places between them where you can fish comfortably.

The water widens as it approaches the second weir and although I have heard of many people having success directly above it, I myself have not experienced any exceptional fishing there. The road to the right directly after Lees Bridge leads all the way up to the second weir and from there Anglers Access signs and stiles mark the way upstream.

I might mention also that for most of the first and second weirs, waders are an excellent choice. The growth around the edges can get pretty excessive and a lot of the banks are too soft and mushy to walk in shoes. Fishing from a boat is prohibited between the first and second weir.

Above the third weir

Brumbys is a hard fishery, but has some fantastic brownies.

The fast water below the second weir is a productive place to fish lures and is easily accessed from the road. The cleared banks make it very comfortable fishing almost all the way down to the bottom weir but the last 500 meters or so is pretty hard to get to.

Most fish in this stretch of the river seem to be smaller than the other sections but the ease of access makes it a popular choice for a lot of people. Although I very rarely fish baits for trout, this area of Brumbys is one that can be well

Stealth and thorough attention to both the main and side channels will bring results. worth a lazy day. Bait fishing is generally most productive in the poundages above the weirs but there are spots all the way along that can yield the goods. The slower sections of river, especially if they are downstream of a run-off, can be fished really effectively with the age old worm on a hook method.

One of my friends, who frequents Brumbys on a more than regular basis, has become quite proficient at producing fish from the start of the trees along the eastern shore downstream of Lees Bridge. The flow breaks up in a few places below Lees Bridge and there are some marvellous backwaters and offshoots of water on the western shore but most of these are difficult to access. There is a distinct joining of two flows around 20 metres along the tree lined bank and he fishes the confluence with a running sinker rig and worms. He also uses a secret ingredient on the worms but refuses to tell me the recipe.

Much of the river below the second weir flows over shallow weed beds and can be difficult to fish with a diving lure or heavy jig head. Covering the more defined gutters and drop offs is the best way to extract a trout. There is a lot of scope for fly fishing along this section but it is generally unremarkable compared to the uppermost pondage.

Access to this section of river is by foot on the western shore and by the road directly after Lees Bridge on the eastern shore. Fishing from a stationary boat is permitted in the pondage and it can be a valuable asset for covering some of the less fished water.

Below the third weir

Brumbys Creek flows into the Macquarie River downstream of the third weir and the banks are easily fished for a long stretch. The road leading east after Lees Bridge leads all the way to the weir itself and access from there on is by foot. The fast water directly below the weir is productive and escaped rainbow trout from the commercial farm often turn up on

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lures. The river between the third weir and Macquarie River is fairly generic and plain. It consists of one main channel with few gutters and some typical weed growth.

Although it does not have the appealing looks of the upstream pondages and channels it can really fire up and generate a great days fishing. It can be fished well with lure, fly and bait. Fishing from a boat is prohibited.

METHODS Fly fishing

Because Brumbys Creek is maintained at a reasonably even level and water temperature throughout the year, hatches are not as intense as many other lowland fisheries though they do occur over a long period of time. Fishing can fire up very early in the season and carry through right to the last days before close.

During warm, humid weather, red-spinner duns during the day and adult spinners at dusk really stir the fish up and the best hatches will occur late spring and early summer. Some more mild hatches will continue through January and February and probably will re-occur right at the end of the season.

Tailing fish appear from the beginning of August and usually continue right through into January. Most people will find tailers in the top pondage during the early morning or late afternoon and sometimes throughout the day when the weather is more overcast. Once summer is in full swing and when the wind is dead still, sunrise trips can lead to some excellent catches of smutting fish along the edges of current lines.

Best dry fly fishing at Brumbys occurs on warm nights just as the sun dips below the horizon when fish will rise to a huge variety of insects. Large dry flies seem to excite more fish in the last minutes of light and smaller flies are the ticket during the day.

Lure fishing

I think Brumbys is under-rated as a lure fishing water. We have been able to consistently produce not only good numbers but also good size fish throughout the season on soft plastics but the trick is to know the when and where on the day.

On a bright sunny day when the water is fairly clear and the wind is fairly still, lure fishing is best along the deep channel that runs between the first and second weirs. The big browns will often hold up in the deepest, darkest pockets of water and will only strike at something that comes close past them.

Although slow, if you do get a fish doing this it will most often be a solid catch and many of ours have exceeded 4lbs.

After a heavy rain when there is likely to be a lot of food flowing down the river, anywhere from the bottom of the first weir down to the confluence with the Macquarie can yield results. Targeting run-offs and recently submerged banks is a key element.

If there has been a light shower and especially during one, the fishing along the eastern shore above the first weir fires up and a lot of bigger fish show up on lures. Fishing in the rain in summer can be a fantastic way to snag lots of fish and/or big fish on lures and seizing the right moment can provide spectacular sport. Brumbys fishes particularly well in

A kayak is fantastic way to snoop around Brumbys. less than favourable weather. For soft plastics and hard body fisherman alike, putting up with a drop of rain is well worth the duress.

If you have a boat, early morning and late afternoon trips are excellent for retrieving vibes along current lines in the top pondage. Big numbers can be taken on MF40s and blades with natural colours being most effective. Although the fishing can be fast and furious, I haven’t caught many really big fish using this method. The average is probably around 1½ lb.

In terms of size, colour and style, for soft plastics, a paddle tail in the fast water and a minnow style in the slow water.

When the water is clear brown and tan colours work well and when it is murky, especially after a heavy rain or intense wind then bright green and purple have been my colours of choice. If I use hard bodied lures I opt for bibbed minnows and cobras for the fast water and vibes/blades/MF40s for the pondages.

This is really the only water that I fish where I will use this combination of lures and soft plastics and it’s just a developed pattern from hours of trial and error. For specifically targeting big fish the 3.5 paddle tails are a great option matched with a 1/16 oz jig head with a #1 hook. On the hard bodies I will go for around a 10 cm floating lure that dives fairly quickly and one that I can maintain at the right depth without surfacing or pulling bottom. Most often I will only use the larger soft plastics and bibbed lures in the current lines of the upper pondage or in the deep water between weirs one and two.

In terms of gear, a long rod is handy for the pondages as it allows for a good long cast to avoid getting close and spooking fish. For the more overgrown sections and where casting accuracy is required a shorter rod will make life a lot easier.

Most of Brumbys Creek contains very little real snag structure and I find that light lines and drags are no trouble at all. It gives the fish plenty of room to move without pulling

out the hooks or spitting them in the air and does a little less damage as you bring them back to the boat.

Bait fishing

Bait fishing is prohibited above the first weir in Brumbys Creek but the rest of the river contains plenty of other places where they can be fished to great success. I will admit that there is actually some small art to consistently producing good fish on baits at Brumbys. Some people have it sussed out and regularly come home with a good feed or photos and some people spend hours watching a motionless rod tip.

The most successful method I have found is to cast an unweighted worm upstream and drift it along edges or structure. In this way I can cover a lot of water and bring the game to the fish rather than sit and wait. For those that prefer to set a rod and watch for the bite, worms and wattle grubs fished under a float in the pondages can find cruising fish.

The other method a lot of people do well with is to sit a sinker on the bottom in eddies and slower sections where two flows meet. Anywhere downstream of Lees Bridge can turn up a fish depending on prevailing conditions and experience will tell you where the fish might be lurking.

Brumbys Creek can be a lot of fun and with experience and learning it can become a great place to consistently produce solid fish from. I have a program for the computer which I log all my fishing trip data into and our average for last season was very impressive compared with a lot of the nearby rivers.

Some fish have exceeded 5 lbs and there are plenty more in there still. As the summer comes on and the weather warms up go get cracking and catch a fish at Brumbys. You might be surprised.

Simon Little

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Fishing News - Page 27

Arthurs Lake

Refreshed from Winter rains Joe Riley When it comes to brown trout fishing, as Tasmanians, we are spoilt for choice. As a whole we have a lake fishery for wild brown trout that is unparalleled, fish that are plentiful, that come in many size ranges depending on the lake you care to angle and fish that can come to the fly with ease or at times be as challenging as going five rounds with Daniel Geale.

Arthurs Lake has recently been affected by low water levels, but the wettest winter for many years has seen the water re-possess famous areas like the Cowpaddock Bay, and lesser known hot spots like Jones and Fleming bays.

All but dry 12 months ago these areas are now flush with water again and brown trout are returning to them. As the season progresses and insect activity begins to peak in these shallower bays we will see them reclaim their former glory.

Regarded as premier loch style and dry fly areas, the shallow bays around Arthurs Lake are ready to once again provide exciting and visual top of the water fly fishing.

A large water with 6 to 8 metres of depth around the Sand Lake, Morass and Pumphouse bays, Arthurs provides plenty of fish holding areas, and despite the recent low water levels the brown trout have not suffered a noticeable loss of condition. More than anything the lessened pressure on Arthurs resulted in some awesome fishing last season.

Large bags of up to 20 fish for a morning were the norm, wet fly fishing over known weed beds predominately accounted for most of these fish which were holding areas of water that were deeper in previous years, but the low water levels made these fish more accessible.

As November moves towards December the mayfly dun hatch is underway and black spinners are showing around sheltered shores on bright warmer days and trout start looking to the surface for food. Don’t expect the duns to be thick in the shallower bays this year, I expect this will take a year or so for the nymphs to re-populate the shallow bays as the weed beds regrow, however the nymphs are still in the deeper water and will continue to move into shallow areas and subsequently take their risky swim to the surface to hatch. Look to the outer areas of bays where they drop back into deep water for the thicker hatches.

Captain of the English Youth Fly Fishing Team,Lisa Isles, loves Arthurs Lake brownies.

Arthurs Lake has risen quickly from very low levels in June 2008—April 2009 to the current high as shown.

Fishing News - Page 28

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Fishing News - Page 29

It is often worth a look close into the trees.

These areas will provide activity during the dun hatch, and depending on the wind, the duns could be funnelling out into foam lines over deeper water or up into shallow bays where they will still collect on mass.

Fishing a static mayfly pattern is an enjoyable and successful way to fly fish, the level of success you can achieve with this method is almost directly related to the conditions you are fishing on the day. On calmer days when you can see fish moving being able to put the dry fly in front of a rising brown static dry flies are super effective. On a windy day or where there are millions of duns on the water, something is needed to make your imitative offering stand out and that is movement.

I’ll take an indulgence into one of the more memorable sessions of fly fishing I’ve experienced because it is to the point with regard to moving the fly. I was poking around Arthurs

Arthurs is one of Tasmania’s most productive lakes. If you find the fish in a particular place, or at a certain depth work the area and depth well.

Lake one day in Tumbledown Creek Bay looking for a dun hatch. There weather was heavily overcast and a few duns were popping up here and there, but not much was happening. I moved over to the entrance to Jones bay just as lightning and thunder began to strike and a sudden heavy downpour hit the northern end of the lake. I put the tinnie to shore and picked what I thought was the lesser evil, huddling under a tree, rather than being in a metal boat on water holding a graphite lightning conductor, until the lightning passed. The wind dropped out and the rain, thunder and lightning eased so I returned to the boat and moved into Jones Bay in humid overcast still conditions. When I got into the bay I saw a massive dun hatch in a glass calm bay. There were literally thousands of duns all hatching through the surface in a flat calm in humid conditions.

These duns were stuck on the water as their wings weren’t drying in a hurry and every trout in Jones Bay was making

the most of it. There were browns of all sizes up to 4½ lb with their snouts out of the water chomping duns in zig zag patterns all through the bay. At first I threw static duns in front of the trout with little success, there were simply too many duns on the water. A change to and English hopper and two soft hackled wets slowly drawn across the moving trout soon turned the tables. The slowly moving fly in the surface was irresistible to these fish, a trigger to get their attention and to take advantage of their gluttony resulting in them taking the fly quite aggressively, purely because it was going to get away.

The take from these trout was so exciting I got to the point of hooking a fish, then turning on the electric and heading towards the next one, not really worrying whether I ended up landed the one I just hooked or not. The action lasted for just on an hour and saw 13 browns up to 4½ lb landed in that time and probably a similar number lost, it is still the best session

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with stiff thick hackles that stand the fly high in the water or parachute hackles are best suited to static dry fly fishing and this is their niche. Flies such as English Hoppers, Elk Hair Emergers, and soft hackled wets are ideal for moving as their thinner softer hackles and general form lend them to being moved.

Arthurs Lake presents opportunities of all sorts and one of the real attractions is the ability to poke around and find fish in all weather conditions. Brighter warm weather will see gum beetle and other terrestrial falls.

Most of the shore around Arthurs is lined with Eucalyptus trees, they provide protection from the wind and food on the wing in the form of beetles and leaf hoppers. Some of the best dry fly fishing is located downwind from large strands of trees on these days, the sand lake and the morass area are top locations, especially as beetles drift out into deeper water. Foam lines carry the food and fish

are up in the surface. Much like the revered ‘shark’ fishing on Great Lake, big browns can been seen up from deep water on blue sky days during hot northerly wind seeking out the beetles.

If the beetles aren’t falling en masse, or the wind is light, poke around the shore line a bit more, again concentrating on where the beetles are likely to fall. Fish among the dead, drowned trees close to shore as there are usually trout looking for black spinners and beetles along the shore. It is amazing how you can stumble across a localised fall of food onto the water with trout up and feeding if you pay attention to the subtleties of the wind, and weather.

One pastime time I used to enjoy (but rarely find time to do these days) was a quick drive up to Arthurs for an evening with a good mate, leaving Launceston at 4 pm and being on the lake fishing before 6 pm. There is no

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Three flies that work for the author: Elk Hair Emerger, English Hopper and soft hackled wet. of fly fishing in a mayfly emergence I’ve ever experienced.

Back to the point, when the wind is blowing on the water and duns are on the surface, they are not static , their wings are up sail boat fashion and they are gently being pushed by the wind. A static dun imitation sitting on the surface is anchored by a leader and fly line and is not moving. Slowly pulling the fly and imparting a bit of gentle movement can get the attention of rising trout and be a real trigger for a take. Some patterns are better than others for this style of fishing, patterns

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shortage of midge hatches, caddis hatches and spinner falls of an evening around the shore lines of the lake. If things are not happening with dry flies, pulling wets near the surface with a floating line just on dark in a nice ripple or wave nearly always results in action.

There are formal boat ramps at Jonah Bay, Pump House Bay, the dam wall and a less formal ramp around at the Morass, this makes accessibility to the whole of Arthurs Lake quite easy. If the wind decides to blow hard, there is always a piece of sheltered shore that can be accessed on Arthurs Lake. With a massive head of fish, recently reclaimed bays full of water and a bit less pressure due to other lakes like Woods fishing well, Arthurs Lake is still firing and offering plenty as probably the best all round fly fishery in Tasmania.

Joe Riley

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Fishing News - Page 31

Silver trevally from the shore Jamie Henderson I am sure you have all read a few articles and reports on how BIG the silver trevally are on the East Coast and how good the fishery is these days, hell I have even done a couple myself, but for the most part they are based more on fishing from a boat around Georges Bay and being able to find schools of fish and target them specifically. Owning a boat these days is quite often low on the list of priorities for the family man with many other commitments. So being able to maximise your shore fishing opportunities and make the most of your feet is as important as the tackle you use to do it with. Now just because you don’t own a boat it doesn’t mean you can’t catch some quality silver trevally and St Helens is the perfect area to base yourself from. The following article and photo’s will prove beyond a reasonable doubt the fish caught shore bashing are everywhere as big and hard fighting as those caught from a boat and can offer the wandering angler some of the best light tackle sport fishing this state has to offer.

Locations

Georges Bay has a good variety of shore fishing options from sandy flats to rocky shores as well as the many small jetties around the bay and these offer a great place to start.

On any given day around St Helens the jetties have a band of local ‘old blokes’ that are always worth a chat with. They will usually have a fish or two in a bucket and are a wealth of knowledge and anecdotes on the fishing at the time, always a good source of what’s being caught in the area. Many good trevally have been caught off these jetties so don’t overlook them by any means.

Good areas to look for are the drop offs into channels on the outside of the shallow mud and sand flats. As a land based angler the tides play a huge role in accessing these areas. As the tide falls the flats dry up allowing you to walk out to the deeper edges where it drops into the channels and cast your plastics into the deeper water. The trevally schools will patrol

along the edges looking for food being funnelled along the channel with the water flow coming off the shallow areas. In some areas you can be standing in ankle deep water casting into 15 feet of water in front of you where there is a concentration of fish.

A couple of popular areas around Georges Bay at low tide are the beach along the southern shoreline of the channel just inside the break wall.

This can be accessed by parking in the Blanche Point cark park and walking over a short track in the sand dune where an old ladder aids your climb down the bank. Once at the base of the bank, normally covered in water at high tide but dry at low tide, you can walk along the shore fishing into the main channel on the outgoing tide. This can be a hotspot for big trevally as the schools of fish become concentrated in the channel as there is less water.

Another little hot spot is to drive around to Dora Point and head right to the end of the track. Here there is a small car park and a short track through the scrub which brings you onto the sand flats on the northern side of the channel. Once again at low tide there is a great expanse of sand flat high and dry and by walking west toward St Helens for a couple of hundred metres you can stand on the edge of the sand and fish into a large hole on the northern shore behind the Oyster lease that is midway down the main channel. Here some big trevally reside nearly all the time and quite often there will be boats up in the back chasing fish, however at low tide very few can access this area as its surrounded by shallow water.

The Kirwans Beach jetty, since rebuilt from the photo shown here, is one of the best places in Georges Bay to catch a good sized trevally.

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There is a good drop off at Akaroa Point and a walk out on the Stockyard Flats at low tide can also be productive. Beuaty Bay and Kirwans Beach are favourites as well.

Other areas close by St Helens are the many coastal lagoons, Grants Lagoon at Binalong Bay being one of the more popular ones. This lagoon is easy to fish, easy to access and suits the land based angler extremely well with half of the lagoon covered by sand flats that drop away into deeper water. Some excellent trevally have been caught here along with many other fish as well so expect some variety.

Techniques

By far the best method for chasing silver trevally from the shore is to use soft plastic lures. This style of lure has revolutionised fishing in the last few years and many new anglers to fishing plastics comment all the time that they have never caught as many fish as easily as they have once they started using soft plastics lures.

Techniques and retrieves for trevally depend greatly on the area being fished, if you are in a location that has a lot of current such as the main channel area in Georges Bay then begin by casting up current using an appropriate sized jig head weight for the conditions, enough to get the plastic to the bottom but still let it drift along the bottom, and let it bounce along naturally with the current back to the boat or section of shoreline your fishing from. Small lifts and drops and twitches imparted with the rod tip as the plastic drifts back toward you work extremely effectively to imitate a small creature or food item being swept past by the current. If after a few casts you have had no indication of a fish showing any interest try a mid

water retrieve by not letting the plastic sink to the bottom and work it through the mid water area a little quicker as quite often the trevally will be up off the bottom. The bite from a trevally can at times be very subtle and requires a bit more concentration from the angler to strike at the right time, small ‘tap, taps’ are sometimes all you will feel then by just lifting the rod you should connect with a solid hook up. Sometimes the largest fish can give you the most timid bight so don’t discount any takes as not worthy of intense concentration.

If areas with little or no current are being fished lighten the jig head weight to allow a more natural flutter to the bottom, this will enable the plastic to be effective throughout the whole water column and not just plummet to the bottom. In this type of terrain I like to use a plastic with a little more action of its own such as a wriggle tail or single tail grub style.

Tackle

Because the silver trevally are such a hard fighting fish, targeting them with soft plastics requires good quality rods and reels and whilst this is no time to skimp on tackle just try and purchase the best you can afford. Rods need to be sensitive enough to detect the often subtle takes, have the ability to cast long distances with lightly weighted jig heads but still retain the power in the butt section to soak up the head shakes, lunges and huge runs and wear the fish down. High modulus, lightweight graphite rods of 6’6”-7’6” in 2-5kg weight ranges are perfect as they give a good combination of casting distance, feel and power and are still light and agile enough to cast all day. Rods such as Shimano’s series of Catana (the new 6’8” model is great…!!!), Starlo Stix, Raider and Starlo Stix Tournament Pro

Silver trevally are a great sport fish and good to eat as well.

Dora Point

Grants Lagoon has some smoking big trevally.

Michael Haley lost two bigger fish before he landed this one on a Squidgy Flick Bait.

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Fishing News - Page 33

are all good choices, cover a wide price range and they are all designed specifically for soft plastic lure fishing. Also check out the range of G Loomis rods. These are more into the premium range and are a joy to use.

Match any of these rods up with a good quality spinning reel in the 1000-2500 size range making sure that the reel has an adequate drag system that will cope with a fish that takes long fast runs. Reels such as Shimano’s Sienna, Sedona, Symetre and Stradic models are some of the few that have features and a quality drags capable of dealing with a large trevally also the Penn Applause and Affinity reels are all good choices.

The reels need to be spooled with a quality line, while a monofilament of 6-10lb could be used I favour a good braid or gelspun line due to its characteristics of high strength, finer diameter for better casting distance and low stretch to better detect takes. The number of different brands of GSP, braid and Superlines on the market these days is quite staggering and can be very confusing to the new purchaser; there are two lines I prefer to recommend for soft plastic fishing, Berkley Fireline and the Rapala Titanium Braid and Sufix. These lines come in a variety of sizes however 4-6lb is a good place to start.

Because the trevally put up such a hard fight and can quite often be located near structure such as rocks and pylons leaders of 6-8lb in a quality fluorocarbon should also be used. The fluorocarbon line has superior abrasion resistance to the equivalent standard monofilament and can be dragged across rocks and around pylons and still hold up. I regularly fish a 6lb leader using Line Systems Fluorocarbon material and it’s amazing just how much pressure I can put on a fish without breaking. The best knot for joining your leader to the braid is the double uni knot; I have

very rarely had this knot fail on me when tied correctly.

You will need to have a variety of jig head sizes to cover as many scenarios of water depth and current being fished; 1/20th ounce through to 1/12th ounce or 1.5gm through to 3gm in hook sizes #2, #1 and 1/0 should cover everything. I use either TT-Lures heads or Squidgy Round heads depending on the plastic being used. 1/16th ounce, 1/12th ounce and 3gm are all good sizes for deep water or fast flowing current where 1/20th ounce, 1.5gm and 2gm are all good for shallower water or water with very little movement, choosing the right weight is vitally important as its allows the plastic to have a more natural action in the water and stay in the strike zone.

With the huge range of soft plastics available in tackle stores today it can be difficult to choose a good pattern for targeting large Silver trevally. Some of the best plastics I have found are the 80-100mm Pro Range Squidgy Wrigglers in Bloodworm, Wasabi and Evil Minnow colours and the Squidgy Pro Range Lobby in Lava and Evil Minnow.

Other plastics proven to be effective on BIG Silver trevally are the Yep Tassie tackle 3” Minnow, the new Strike Pro Reaction Baits in the 3” Minnow and 6” Worm and always a good standby the Berkley 3” Power Minnow in Pearl Watermelon. Many other plastic patterns will work at any given time however the ones mentioned above all appear to be very consistent at producing quality fish on a regular basis.

A small tackle pocket sized box with various compartments is all that is needed to house a handful of different sized heads and various soft plastic lures. A pair of scissors for cutting line, forceps for removing hooks and a spare spool of leader material is all the

Like father - like son. Joel Haley gets amongst the trevally. basic requirements for successful shore fishing for silver trevally. A pair of waders is great for staying dry if needing to wade out to the edge of drop offs but during the summer months a pair of shorts and some good footwear is all that is needed. Keep it all simple and travel light and you will get some great bang for your buck and it also allows you to easily drive to few different areas during the session without having to pack up lots of gear and tackle.

The Silver trevally is a hard fighting fish never willing to give up for a second and tests light tackle and angler’s patience and skill to the limit. They are easily targeted in and around Georges Bay with many areas holding

good schools of fish and offer the angler a solid sports fishing alternative to some of our more romantic species unavailable to the average fisho.

They are also quite a reasonable table fish for anyone seeking to take home a feed for the family. Dispatched and bled quickly, placed on ice, filleted and eaten that night will certainly please the family and guests at a BBQ. Next time you are on the coast stop in and see me, Jamie, at St Helens Bait & Tackle and I will be happy to give you all the hints and tips and point you in the right direction of one of our regions premier sportfish.

Jamie Henderson

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Fishing News - Page 34

Local guide, Michael Haley relaxes after a day on Georges Bay chasing trevally at Grants Lagoon.

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This the coolest fly fishing accessory going around. Like many great innovations and inventions it is simple. The Shark Tooth is a cutter within a plastic outer attached The Baitrunner Family Is to an elastic band that snugs around Complete!

It’s not often that the introduction of you tippet material. The really neat thing a product changes the way we fish or though is the line comes out a hole behind heralds a new age of fishing the way the cutter: to cut of some tippet the line is Shimano’s Baitrunner did over 20 years brought around the plastic cutting blade ago. Shimano’s 3 new Baitrunner ranges and a light tug cuts the line—then the really offer anglers choice for their respective cool bit is it leaves a tag of about 30mm fishing applications whilst utilising the very ready for next time. So you can spend more time fishing and less time getting ready with latest in reel technology available.

The ‘ST’ range features two models the all-new Shark Tooth. No more wasted (2500 and 4000 sizes) constructed from time searching for nippers or using your A5 Flyerteeth.

- frontThe smooth cutting action leaves Shimano’s XT-7 material - delivering the perfect amount of tippet exposed and an amazingly strong and durable body eliminates tippet waste. Reusable from whilst maintaining a low weight. Each spool to spool. model is equipped with Dyna-Balance, Available for small and large spools for Super Stopper II, Floating Shaft II, Power about $10.

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The ‘DL’ range was designed to take advantage of key Shimano technologies whilst being offered at a price that is right. All models feature the trademark smooth Baitrunner drags that can only be found in Shimano reels. Couple this with lightweight graphite body, aluminium die-cast spool, Power Roller, Super Stopper II and Vari-Speed oscillation system and you have a range that offers unprecedented value for money.

The Baitrunner D is the paramount range of the new Baitrunner collection, boasting the best features of the previous range (B) and boldy combining them with new Shimano technologies and design to deliver the best Baitrunner yet.

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Each model has a water-proof drag system, Vari-Speed oscillation (Aero on 12000), cold-forged aluminium spool, lightweight yet strong graphite body with metallic black finish, Power Roller III, Super Stopper II, Dyna-Balance and Propulsion Line Management system so that your reel can cope with the increasing popularity of using such reels with braided super lines such as Power Pro. Website: www.shimanofish. com.au

Vision is a European company that concentrates on fly fishing. I have been using one of their 6’6” #3 weight rod for some time and love it. I was reluctant to try the NEW and improved two piece 6’6” #3 Nite model. I just figured it couldn’t be a better rod, and I must say it isn’t much better. It is a little faster, casts further without overloading, but for the most part it is just a sweet rod.

So after trying it I bought one. Didn’t need it, but had to have it.

Then I tried the 9’ #6 weight four piece - also in the Nite series. This is something else—none of the poking around little stream stuff, but a serious lake and river fishing canon. It is as good a rod as I have ever cast, and not that I am an expert caster, but I know what I can do. This rod is better than me.

Fishing short it loads nicely, but when the big cast is necessary, or you have a sinking line strung up it handles all that with ease.

It is not a super fast ‘casting’ rod, but a fishing rod. I can’t believe how good a rod this is for around $350.

There is quite a range of Nite rods from # to #8 including 10’ versions in #5 and #7. All apart from the 6’6” are four piece.

Mike Stevens.

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Fishing News - Page 35

Land Based Tamar Summer Fun As I am sure that you know by now that the Tamar is my favourite estuary in the state. In my opinion the Tamar has got the lot. Close proximity, Very deep channels and shallow feeding bays. This is a great combination for a night and day fishery. Also living beside this beautiful river is a pleasure. The beautiful vineyards and farm lands that surround the river are very easy on the eye. Summertime is the best time to enjoy the estuary. You can go fishing, skiing, sailing, sightseeing or tying up to the Rosevears or Beauty Point pontoons and going to the pub for lunch or dinner.

Which other estuary could you do this!

I could brag about the river for hours but in this article I am going to talk about fishing in the summer.

There are many different spots that fish well through the summer. There are also many different species that enter the estuary when the water temperature warms up.

1. Garden Island

Garden Island is a man-made rock wall that is found in between Clarence Point and Kelso. It is a great fishing platform and gets used by anglers all year around. Through the summer months more species can be caught off it. At the northern point of the Island there are two sides which you can fish from.

You can drive your car right up to where you are fishing which is also a great bonus. Off the Kelso side of the northern tip some good fishing exists. You are casting into a shallow sandy bay where there are many fish feeding

in the quieter water out of the current. The main species you will catch here are Australian salmon, flathead, yellow eye mullet and the occasional silver whiting.

On the other side of this point some good fishing also exists. Because of the strong current and snaggy reef which runs parallel to the shipping channel, bottom fishing is hazardous. Lure fishing is probably the better option. The main species caught off this side are Australian salmon, couta, snook, wrasse, sweep, mullet and the occasional yellowtail kingfish. If you wish to brave the bottom you could catch one of these species: wrasse, sweep, leather jacket. If you have a surf outfit and can cast over the snaggy reef you might catch a gummy shark or even a sting ray, but remember that the Tamar is a complete shark and ray nursery and must be released unharmed.

At the Southern end of Garden Island there are some great spots as well. There is a bay which is definitely worth a look on a balmy summer’s day. The bay is quiet deep in the centre but most of the shore line is relatively shallow. Most of the bay has a mud base. Some people believe that the bay is a great fishing spot because of the nearby abalone farms outflow pipe which runs into it. This creates a natural burley trail and attracts the fish. The main species that you are most likely to catch in the bay are garfish, mullet, silver trevally, leather jacket, flathead, Australian salmon and snook. During the winter months this bay is a red hot spot for snotty trevally when they are running.

2. Red Bill Point

Red Bill Point spit is situated in West Arm which is a fantastic summertime fishing spot for the whole family. This spot can only be fished around the bottom of the tide. My cousin and I used to wade out to the spit at

A nice snapper—Jack Sherriff with the great prize of the Tamar RIver half tide running out to get an early start on our fishing session. We had many memorable trips to the sand spit. The spot itself drops into very deep water. Many different species can be successfully targeted off the spit.

Australian salmon, couta, snook, flathead and many different types of rays and sharks. elephant fish are also a regular catch in February and March. Very occasionally pinky snapper are taken here as well. Just remember when the tide starts running in that you are on the highest point where you are fishing and the tide will come in behind you. Don’t get trapped or you might have a wet trip home.

Vehicle access is available through the Red Bill Point caravan park but remember to obey its speed limits.

3. Swan Point

Swan Point is a great land based fishing spot and it is also a great spot for swimming and many other water sports. If you fish off the beach around two hours before high tide you could catch a wide variety of fish including mullet, salmon, tailor, silver trevally, gummy sharks, rays and the odd sea run trout.

It is a safe spot for the kids because it is only shallow and doesn’t have a strong tide. It’s a good spot to go for flounder as well. You will need to bring a fishing rod holder as there are not many spots where you can lodge your rods. Bait fishing and lure fishing are both recommended. The bottom is a mix of gravel and mud.

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The George Town Pier pontoons are fantastic. They are right in town, near a tackle shop and protected from prevailing northerly winds.

4. Hillwood Pontoon

The Hillwood Pontoon is another excellent land based fishing platform. Many different typed of fish can be caught from here.

Through the summer months they include silver trevally, mullet, garfish, salmon, couta, pike, cod, flathead and the very occasional snapper. There is a shop nearby so you can buy bait and food within walking distance from the pontoon. The bottom at the end of the pontoon is not snaggy and is a mud base.

Both methods such as bait and lure can both be used successfully. Soft plastic lures are definitely worth a shot especially when there are cocky salmon about. Good soft plastics to try would be Yep Tassie Tackle 3 inch minnows in the colour Whitebait, Squidgy Wriggler size 3 in Silver fox and Berkley 3 inch

minnow grub in the colour Emerald Shiner.

Halco Slicers, Norstream Sluk Whitebait lures and Viva Slicers in the weight around 10 to 20gm are also worth a go.

5. George Town Pier

The Pier pontoon at George Town is another good land based fishing spot during the summer. It has a good tackle shop nearby and plenty of food outlets as well. The fishing can be red hot at times. arrow squid, southern calamari, garfish, couta, flathead, silver trevally, luderick, zebra fish, goat fish, slimy mackerel and the occasional snapper can all be taken by anglers. The best tides seem to be around low tide but high tide can be productive as well especially for the southern

calamari and the arrow squid. There are quite a few shopping trolleys lying around the bottom of the pontoon so it can be a bit snaggy in spots. Make sure you have a bit of extra tackle with you. This pontoon is quite sheltered from prevailing northerly winds which makes it quite comfortable to fish. It also a pretty little bay and easy on the eye.

There are many great summertime spots along our gorgeous estuary. Instead of travelling to your next fishing destination why not try what we have in our own front yard.

It might surprise you.

Damon Sherriff

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Fishing News - Page 37

South Esk River Draft Management Plan

Help save the river - Have your say now Daniel Hackett The South Esk Draft Management Plan was released in October, and has since taken all my spare time; the South Esk River is Tasmania’s greatest river fishery, yet it is set to be destroyed under the Draft Management Plan which closes for public comment early December.

A summary of the major issues are as follows:

• The Draft Plan ignores the advice of the Government’s own scientific advisors and recommends a continuation of the current minimum cease to take flows of 40ML/Day — this is more than 60% less than the recommended 100-160ML/Day environmental flows required to maintain and enhance the environmental conditions, and required to facilitate angling throughout the summer. The only reasoning that DPIPWE staff have given is that 40ML/Day is the status quo, and that irrigators would have to build their own dams for the collection and storage of high flows if their summer takes were reduced.

This is a shocking justification, owing to the fact that trout population dynamics and invertebrate populations are being harmed 3 out of 5 years under the status quo, and Lake Trevallyn at the end of the South Esk in Launceston, has been closed for all water sports over the past two to three summers because of toxic algal blooms. The public needs to demand that the environmental flows recommended by the experts are adopted and enforced by the Plan, so that the environment

of the river may recover, be maintained and/or enhanced.

There are huge amounts of water available for irrigation, but it needs to be captured outside of summer and stored off-stream.

• Irrigators were the only stakeholders consulted in the formulation of the Draft Plan—Northern Tasmania’s Natural Resource Management body (NRM North) were relegated to observer status without input, anglers were left out in the cold (even though up to 3000 anglers fish the river per year), and other recreational users of the river and Lake Trevallyn weren’t even considered.

• The prescribed environmental flows are to be gauged at Llewellyn, along the Fingal Highway. This means that there is no environmental flow being guaranteed or monitored for the lower third of the river system, from Llewellyn through Glen Esk, Nile, Evandale, Longford, Hadspen or Launceston (into Lake Trevallyn). This is unacceptable, and environmental flows need to be guaranteed for the end of the river system.

• During Summer low flow periods, the South Esk flows emanate from one large aquifer – this aquifer is now being used to grow in excess of 15,000 hectares of new tree plantations in the headwaters, using more water than traditional standing

forest or agricultural land. Under the Water Management Act 1999, evapotranspiration (water use) by trees or plantations is not considered a water use, therefore the authors of the Draft Plan have not accounted for the increased consumption of these baseflows. What the water managers can do however, is plan to manage for reduced baseflow availability, which we need to ensure is accounted for. Without this allowance for decreased baseflows, the Draft Plan is incomplete.

In a nutshell, one of Tasmania’s most popular rivers will be destroyed by the Plan in its current draft state. The Draft Plan fails to meet its own listed Environmental Objectives (2.2.1 (a), (b), (d)) and Social Objectives (2.2.3 (a), (b), (c)) (from page 9). The Draft Management Plan also fails to meet its requirement to ‘ensure that environmental water receives a greater level of security than consumptive water’ (from page 34). I ask that any concerned anglers, recreational users or clubs view the Draft Management Plan here and have your say by making a submission to: Contact: Water Management Planning Officer Henry Maxwell Water Management Planning Officer 1 Franklin Wharf HOBART TAS 7000 Phone: 03 6233 4807 Fax: 03 6224 4977 Email: Henry.Maxwell@dpipwe.tas.gov.au

For those of you worried about losing access through private (irrigated) property by speaking out against ludicrous aspects of this plan, have a think about this: if the plan goes through, the river will die a death of a thousand cuts, and there will be no river fishery left to access. The future of the river is in our hands – will you speak out, or let it die through a lack of action?

The deadline for written representations is 11 December 2009.

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St Helens Charity Grand Slam

And just to help things along a bit we are even going to tell you where to catch the fish and what to use as well.

Fish 1 - Australian salmon

23 January 2010 The first Grand Slam, the brainchild of Mike Stevens from Tas Fishing and Boating News fame, was held in January 2009. This event (which really is just a day of fishing madness, mayhem, silly banter, skullduggery and good times loosely disguised as a fishing competition) was run on the fish rich waters of god’s own estuary, Georges Bay St Helens, during the annual Regatta Day on the Australia Day long weekend in January.

The weather for the first event was rough, but 30 teams competed and all the money from entries, amounting to $1500, was donated to Canteen—supporting young people with cancer.

The Competition will again follow the same guidelines, and once again all entry money will go to charity—the year the Leukemia Foundation.

The rules are: To be fished with artificial lures or flies only, no berley and three different fish will make up the Grand Slam.

The fish are Australian salmon, silver trevally and bream and the idea is to catch these three species, measure and photograph each on a ‘Brag mat’ supplied, and add the lengths together for a total length in centimetres. This will be your points.

A twist though is the ‘Rogue’ species, and there are lots of those in the bay. Every additional species gets you an extra ten centimetres (ten points). You might catch an extra five species, so that would give you another 100 centimetres/points.

The rules are simple.

Brag mats will be supplied by sponsors.

You must supply your own camera and it must have a removeable card. Please empty the card so only your fish from the day are on it.

Entry will $50 per team and its all designed to be a bit of fun. If you can't have fun, don't enter. All the entry money goes to charity.

Start time will be 8 am and fish through until 11.30 and then stop for a sponsored lunch. Fishing will resume at 12.30 pm and go through until 4 pm. followed by a get together for the presentation. These times will be confirmed on the entry forms - available on www.tasfish.com (mid December) and from tackle stores.

There are no big prizes nor is there any prize money, but some nice trophies and the top finishers would be covered in glory....and maybe some confetti...and streamers...maybe even a photo or two.

The salmon tend to roam the bay following the bait so they can pop up just about anywhere, but likely spots to start are the main channel leading out to the barway and the Moulting Bay area, all the while keeping a lookout for hovering birds and pelicans on the move. If adopting this searching technique doesn’t work for you then you can always just follow the big blue boat with “Gonefishing Charters” written on the side, fair bet says he will lead you to some fish.

Lures such as Halco Slices and Twistys, Raiders, Snipers and Norstream Sluk lures in the 15-30 gram sizes work wonders especially if retrieved at high speed, even skipping the lure across the surface can attract savage strikes from hungry Salmon and makes for exiting Visual fishing.

Soft plastic lures such as Squidgy Fish in Black and Gold, Evil Minnow and Silver Fox and Squidgy Flick baits in Evil Minnow and Pilly are all deadly on Salmon. When the Salmon are marauding a bait school simply casting out a soft plastic and letting it sink down slowly will usually result in a hook-up if not either a straight retrieve back to the boat or a twitchand-drop retrieve will be effective.

Fish 2 - Silver trevally

The silver trevally is probably one of the most prolific species in Georges Bay and can be easily caught by pretty much everybody.

Jig heads in the 1/16th to 1/8th size are perfect for chasing trevally and by far the best plastics are the Pro Range Squidgy Wriggler in Bloodworm, Evil Minnow and Wasabi, Squidgy Flick Baits in various colours both with S-Factor scent added as well as Berkley 6” Sandworm in Natural and Berkley 2” Powergrub in Pumpkinseed.

A popular spot to try once again is the main channel leading out to the barway, drifting the channel with the incoming or outgoing tide along the edges and around the pylons seems to consistently produce fish.

Just simply cast the plastics out and let them sink and sit on the bottom for a moment, quite often the fish will pick it up off the bottom, then a slow lift and drop all the way back to the boat, simple, easy and effective.

Fish 3 - Bream .... this will be the tough one

Georges Bay is home to large schools of quality bream which are great sport but can prove a tad more difficult to catch than the salmon or trevally. The bream love to hang around wharves, jettys, moored boats, oyster racks and any other sort of structure. By far the most productive areas for holding fish are the expanses of sand and mudflats exposed at low tide. They feed heavily on the rich barnacles, mussels and small crustaceans that abound in these areas and grow fat and powerful. General rule of thumb here is anywhere out of

Bream could be the tough fish to catch. the water at low tide, once covered with a couple of feet of water at high tide will have fish all over them.

Targeting them with soft plastics and hard body bibbed lures is the perfect technique for these areas. Plastics such as 80 mm and 100 mm Pro Range Squidgy Wrigglers in Wasabi, Bloodworm and Evil Minnow and the new 50 mm Flash Prawn in Wasabi are all dynamite on Georges Bay bream.

The Berkley range of Gulp has always been a great bream lure as well. Try the 6” Camo Sandworm, Pumpkinseed 3” Minnow or 3” Fry in a variety of colours.

There are many ‘Rogue’ species to catch in between time too, leatherjacket, flathead, mullet, mackerel, squid, tailor, whiting, snapper, wrasse and many others but the word is that anyone who catches a yellowtail kingfish automatically wins.

As far as tackle is concerned so long as it’s a legal form anything will do, no need for specialised gear just use whatever you feel comfortable with, spin rods, boat rods, soft plastic rods even a handline if you are that way inclined.....might even be bonus points for fish caught on a handline...!!

Whatever the case its all about a fun day fishing on the water with a bunch of like minded people and a bit of light competition thrown in.

So get active, get motivated and get down to St Helens on and have a ball catching fish in Georges Bay, for anymore information call or email Mike Stevens at Tas Fishing and Boating News (all details supplied in the front of this issue).

The full details and entry forms will be available online at www.tasfish.com by mid-December.

Jamie Henderson.

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Drogues Slow your boat down and catch more fish

When I first started guiding 16 seasons ago our business was entirely lake based. The highland lakes of Tasmania are well know for windy conditions. The wiser, more experienced local anglers all used drogues to slow their boats so I purchased the biggest drogue I could find. It was the conventional windsock type of design and was a flouro yellow colour.

After just a week or so of business I was sick and tired of pulling it in every time I wanted to move the boat. I often moved up to 100 times a day, sometimes just 15 metres to line up a fish or a structure. After a while it did not take a rocket scientist to work out that if I put an additional, and longer rope, onto the tail or small diameter end I could pull it in with this rope and use a fraction of the effort of pulling in the fat end. I advise all anglers who own a conventional drogue to go and set it up like this now. One day on the water you will thank me for this simple concept.

I still had the problem of towing the thing under load when I needed to move off. This was solved when a Scottish, or maybe he was Irish, client hinted to me that someone he fished with many years ago used a rectangular underwater sail to slow the boat. Again, I am no rocket scientist but I was once a design engineer so I started what turned out to be a three season process of developing the HAYES Superdrogue.

I am proud of the fact that this simple and effective idea has spread throughout the state such that this drogue is now the standard used in most Tasmanian boat fishing situations.

Many mainland angler are also using these drogues for both fresh, and saltwater, fishing. The fact that they are often copied is a compliment. Our design has changed markedly over the decade and a half so beware of imitations of our older designs.

I am equally proud that the Hayes Superdrogue was chosen by the 2007 New Zealand World Fly Fishing Championship Committee to be the drogue that all competitors used in the World Championships. This is great Kudos.

Drift Spinning

Superdrogues are becoming increasingly more popular among the soft plastic drift spinning fraternity. These anglers

too are quickly realising the benefits of moving more slowly and carefully through the higher production areas of lakes and estuary systems.

Electric motors are used to fine tune the drift without working against the pull of a conventional drogue.

Benefits of the Superdrogue design.

They are more effective in slowing the boat in big winds due to their resistance area.

If they are adjusted correctly you can move off in either forward or reverse without towing the drogue under load.

The darker colour reduces the potential fish spooking like the bright yellow and Orange colours of a conventional drogue.

By adjusting the bow and stern rope lengths you can actually steer the boat The latest model with optional float kit which downwind (you don’t have to go in exactly does help ‘set’ the drogue more easily. the wind direction) This is handy when there are other boats to avoid downwind of you, or the shore you Get yourself two good anchors and use them at the bow and are following, is at a different angle to the wind. the stern to glue the boat to the spot. The stationary boat They are easily pulled in by motoring forward until the gives much better control of the fly line resulting in better drogue comes along side then simply reach over and lift it bite detection when nymphing. aboard.

4. Set up your drogue ropes through an eye bolt fore and aft. Then use cam cleats to lock off the length. The cam cleats can be mounted amidships to achieve a single adjusting Fishing tips.

1. In my opinion the greatest error that most people make point.

5. When I guide two or three anglers from the boat I rarely when using drogues is that they are used too often. It seems that it becomes habit to throw them over the minute you stop. use the drogue. This is because with three rods going hammer In calm conditions a drogue is not necessary and it will simply and tong we can still easily cover all the drifting water with high boat drift speeds. However, when I guide a single angler sink to the bottom and foul.

2. Catch more fish! I can assure you that if you find a I Always use a drogue – even on the lightest of winds. This productive area of the lake you are better off not putting the is because it takes the single angler a lot of time to cover the drogue through it. Go over several times without the drogue entire drift width.

Hayes Superdrogues are available at good tackle stores and you will catch more fish than the same number of drifts or can be mailed ordered directly from Peter Hayes’ website with the drogue out.

3. Another error is that in really excessive winds you are www.peterhayesflyfishing.com Peter Hayes often better off using two ‘heavy galvanised drogues’ - anchors.

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Fishing News - Page 41

Tasmania’s sun can be deadly get protection Tasmanian fishermen and boat enthusiasts are in danger of irreversible eye damage and contributing to the Australia’s reputation for the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world. This can be avaided by taking some rudimentary precautions Australia’s has a unique climate with extreme levels of Ultra Violet Radiation (UVR). Our the love of the outdoors, and reluctance to embrace the ‘Slip Slop Slap’ mantra of the anti cancer council means two out of three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the age of 70. You are four times more likely to be diagnosed with skin cancer including melanoma than any other cancer.

Suitable protection of the skin against UV damage and regular skin checks can reduce the incidence of these cancers and early diagnosis can dramatically improve the outcome once diagnosed!

UV Radiation

Ultra-violet radiation is emitted from the sun. The majority of UVC is filtered by the ozone layer and has very superficial penetration of the skin. UVA penetrates deep in the skin and contributes to premature aging. Glass provides no protection as UVA penetrates windows.

UVB is absorbed superficially in the skin and causes sunburn. UVA and UVB both contribute to skin cancer development.

Importantly UVR cannot be felt and is separate from the heat felt when in the sun.

Cloudy days in summer do not reduce UVR and windburn is not from the wind. UV damage is by direct exposure and reflected rays from sand and water which magnify the damage.

The levels of UVR are increased: 1. In summer 2. In the middle of the day 3. At altitude and 4. When reflected off water and sand UV forecast and alerts are available on the weather page of Australian daily papers. These charts should be referred to when considering outdoor activity particularly with children and sun sensitive individuals. One is shown on this page.

Sunscreens

SPF ratings are indicative of the level of sun protection with 30+ filtering 96% radiation.

However the term broad spectrum provides protection against burning but not necessarily UVA. Unfortunately the only way to know about the UVA-blocking ability of a sunscreen is to look for at least one of these ingredients octinoxate and zinc oxide. The old fashioned zinc cream as popularised by the Australian Cricket team is a bright beacon when stalking trout, consequently it is not popular. It is very effective though. Recent nano technology has created micronized zinc oxide that is invisible once applied to the skin.

A combination of sunscreen plus the application of a Vitamin C solution provides optimum skin care. Vitamin C reverses UV induced free radical damage to the skin.

Clothing

Not all clothing fabric is equal. Look for a labels with a SPF rating of 30-50 protection factor rating to be sure.

When choosing clothing for sun protection— choose shirts with a collar or wear a bandana.

Dark colours of the same material absorb more UV and are therefore more protective.

Loose fitting clothing will be cooler in the heat.

Why hats?

Common sites of excess UV exposure are the neck, face, ears, lips and nose. These areas are constantly exposed to the elements and therefore, generally receive more UVR than other body parts.

Akubra style hats with a brim of at least 7.5cm and legionnaire-style hats reduce the amount of ultraviolet (UV) radiation reaching the head and neck. Baseball caps are not adequate.

Preventing eye damage

Repeated exposure to the eyes can contribute to serious long term as well as short-term strain symptoms. Cataracts and growths on the cornea (pterygium) are related to UV exposure.

Sunglasses are subject to Australian standards and when choosing eye protection choose well fitting wrap around style sunglasses with an ‘Eye protection’ rating 9-10 which filters out most rays. Avoid fashion spectacles.

Essential Facts

Sun protection should be used when the UV index is above 3.

Skin cancer is related to the number of severe sunburns–particularly during childhood and adolescence.

An individual’s lifetime accumulative exposure can place them at a higher risk of skin cancer including Melanoma and most definitely cause premature aging.

There is no such thing as a safe solarium.

Fake tans provide NO protection.

Sun protection does not contribute to Vitamin D deficiency.

Beware the magnification affect of reflected UV damage from sand and water.

Have a regular skin check up and report any non-healing sore or change in a mole to a medical authority experienced in diagnosis of skin cancer.

Apply sunscreen 20 minutes before going outdoors. Re-apply sunscreen every two hours or more often if you are swimming or perspiring.

Apply sunscreens generously—adults should use about a teaspoon for each limb and ½ teaspoon for the face, ears and neck.

Use specific UV protective sticks to the lips Appropriate clothing hats and sunglasses completes your sun protection.

Facts from www.sunsmart.com.au

Two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the age of 70.

Over 1,700 Australians die from skin cancer each year.

Peter Dixon–Surgeon and Australian Fly Fishing Team Captain.

Fishing News - Page 42

Bad hat and no protection for neck or ears.

Good hats and sunglasses. Note one angler has sungloves as well.

A daily UV index can be found at www.bom.gov.au (under products) and also in most daily newspapers.

Not all sunscreens are equal - and price is no guide.

Look at the active ingredients least one of these; octinoxate, oxybenzone or zinc oxide.

The three pictured all have zinc oxide are 30 +, UVA-UVB broad spectrum and 4 hours water resistant.

They ranged in price from $8.69 for the Cancer Council Sport to $10.69 and $11.69 for Natural Instinct at a discount pharmacy.

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Surf launches and landings Craig Vertigan

Now that the weather is warming up it’s time to start getting out on the beaches and launching through the surf zone to go fishing for Tassie’s bread and butter species of flathead and salmon and a plethora of other species that are available in our coastal waters during the summer period.

Safety on the sea

When you’re heading out for a fishing session in the open waters of the sea, safety is a major concern. Make sure you have a good quality PFD and wear it all the time. Check the weather before you go. Tell someone where you’re going. And even better go fishing with a mate or two. As well as a PFD some of the other important and useful equipment to take include: • A UHF or VHF radio (preferably waterproof) for contacting someone if you get into trouble as well as keeping in contact with your mates to tell them where the fish are. Keep it attached with a lanyard so you don’t lose it overboard.

• Your mobile phone in a waterproof bag.

• A GPS unit and a compass. It’ll stop you getting lost and also can be used to track where you’ve been and mark spots where you’ve found fish.

• At least two litres of fresh water to keep your fluids up while you’re out there paddling away with the sun beating down on you.

• A whistle in your PFD in case things go sour and you need to get someone’s attention. Also a signal mirror is a suggested item to have in your PFD. These should be attached to a lanyard which is attached to your PFD so if you drop it you don’t lose it.

• A waterproof torch, strobe or other lighting in case you’re out when the light is fading. A boat will have a hard time seeing you at dusk without some lighting on board. Also recommended is a PFD with some sort of reflective material sewn in, which will reflect any light pointed in your direction.

• A small utility knife with a serrated edge inside your PFD. This may be needed in a hurry to cut away ropes if you got tangled in them after falling overboard.

• If you plan on going a long way off shore other safety items which you should take are flares and an EPIRB or PLB (personal locating beacon). Satellites have now switched over to 406Mhz, so old 121.5Mhz EPIRBS are no good. You can hire an EPIRB from Service Tasmania shops.

• A first aid kit and a bottle of sunscreen. Don’t forget to reapply sunscreen regularly. There’s not much worse than sunburnt skin to ruin your day.

• If you have a sit inside kayak then you should take a manual bilge pump.

This might sound like a lot of gear to take out with you, and some of it can cost quite a bit, but it’s worth it if it saves your life.

Launching through the surf

Before you even consider launching into a decent sized set of waves make sure you have some paddling experience under your belt. You need to feel comfortable and confident in your kayak and know your own capabilities. Once you’ve been paddling for a while tackle some smaller waves before working your way up to the kind of waves that could flip you over and spill you and your fishing gear into the sea if you haven’t got your wits about you.

You should make sure you protect your gear, considering the risk of losing gear overboard. Make sure all your gear is attached with a leash or inside a container that is strapped down. In lighter surf you could get away with keeping rods in rod holders and attaching them with rod leashes. But in big surf it is advisable to collapse your rods and stow them in a forward hatch, or if they don’t fit in your hatch then strap them down to the deck. You can protect your reels by putting them in a waterproof bag until you are past the surf.

If you own a Hobie with a mirage drive you’ll need to either lock the fins in the up position or take it out and stow it strapped down.

Keep your rudder in the up position when launching.

If your rudder has a keeper cord to hold it down during transportation, remember to take it off so that you can easily deploy the rudder once you’re past the surf. It’s pretty annoying to have to jump into the water or come back to land to unclip it.

Before you commit to a spot on the beach to start your launch, stop and observe the wave activity for a while. Just the same way you can observe the waves to work out where the channels are when surf fishing, you can watch the waves and find the areas where they don’t get as big or break as heavily.

Waves generally come in sets of around six to ten or so waves including two or three bigger ones at the same place in each set. After observing the wave sets for a while you should be able to judge when the last of the bigger waves will be and how long you have until the next lot. This is your window of opportunity to make the smoothest possible launch. Drag your yak down to the water with everything ready to go and wait for the set to roll in. Position yourself in the water where you can easily get on the kayak and start paddling. Assuming you’re using a sit on top kayak you can position yourself in calf to knee-deep water. If you’re using a sit inside kayak you’ll need to get in the kayak first and then push yourself out with your hands across the sand for a metre or so until you start floating. When you see the last of the bigger waves come in and can only see smaller waves behind it get ready to go. As that big wave crashes and loses power jump on your kayak and paddle out into the waves. If the waves are breaking a fair way off shore you can actually get on the kayak and paddle to hold station while you watch those wave sets. But if it is a shore break you probably don’t have the room to do that and will need to quickly get into the saddle and paddle away when the time is right.

Take the waves on directly, facing into them and riding over them. You don’t want them hitting you side on and turning you around, sending you back towards the beach or worse tipping

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Fishing News - Page 43

you over. If that does happen and you feel the need to bail out, try to do it on the seaward side of the kayak so that the wave doesn’t then wash the kayak on top of you.

When the time comes to go, paddle hard! You’ve only got a small window of calmer water between the sets of bigger waves. Depending on the nature of the beach you may be able to get past the surf very quickly, only having to go over half a dozen waves. But on some beaches there may be some shore white wash to contend with before getting into calmer waters and then a set of off shore breakers further out. In this situation you can hold station in the middle ground of calmer water until the set has finished for the off shore break, then paddle hard again to get over that section and get out to your fishing spot.

Landing through the surf

The landing follows the same principles as the launch.

Observe the waves sets and choose the right time to enter the surf to have the best chance of maintaining control of your kayak. Get as close to the waves as possible at the back of the surf. You can ride the swell up and down and maintain position with a few back strokes if needed, while you observe the wave sets.

Getting hit by a breaking wave will exert a lot of pressure on you and most likely swing the kayak parallel to the wave.

So work out where the waves are breaking so that you can power through this spot as quick as possible.

You won’t be able to paddle fast enough to out run the waves, so expect to have a few hit you. The key is to choose the spot and time where you’ll have the most control. Although with the right conditions with smaller waves it is possible to ride the one wave all the way to the beach.

Once again Hobie owners should either lock the fins in the up position or take them out and stow them strapped down. In rough surf it is best to pull your rudder up before you enter the surf zone to prevent any damage to your rudder when to hit the sand.

When you’ve worked out the best spot and time to go you ease yourself into the surf at the point where the swell is just about to break. Use back strokes to back yourself over the wave so you don’t get surfed down the face of it. As soon as the wave goes past, paddle full throttle following it in. As you chase the waves in, keep your kayak perpendicular to the

waves so it provides the least amount of resistance to the force of the waves from behind. Constantly glance behind for the following wave. You can hopefully make it through the area where the waves are breaking in this burst of paddling. Then you’ll have white water waves that have already broken hitting you. Once again use back strokes to back over the wave to keep control of your kayak. And paddle like mad once that wave goes under you. You may have to repeat this process for a number of waves until you get to the beach.

If a wave does grab hold of your kayak and send you sideways you can use a brace with your paddle to keep yourself upright. Lean your kayak into the wave and place your paddle blade straight into the wave facing up and down. With a small whitewash wave you keep your paddle in the top of the wave.

In a larger wave about to break it is in the face of the wave.

This should keep you upright as you surf the wave to shore.

Ideally you will have paddled in perpendicular to the beach and can ride the last whitewash up the beach until you slide up onto the sand. If you get thrown sideways and are surfing in at an angle you have less control and should exit on the wave side of the kayak when you get to the shallow water. You don’t want another wave coming in and throwing the kayak against your body.

One other thing to consider is that your kayak can turn into a weapon in the surf, so avoid areas where people are swimming or surfing.

Once you’ve got the hang of it and built up your confidence the surf zone can be a lot of fun in your kayak. Give it a go.

Craig Vertigan

21 Morrison St Hobart Ph: 6234 5422

Fishing News - Page 44

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Sean Cossey from Sean Cossey Marine Service grew up on 8 Legana Park Drive boats, did an apprenticeship as a Marine Mechanic in WA Legana Industrial Estate, Ph: 6330 2277 before working for various firms in the 1980s including Beacon Marine (Mercury, Mercruiser, Carribean Dealer) and Hayway Email: cjmarineptyltd@bigpond.com Marine (Johnson, Evinrude, various boats Dealer).

In the late ’80 he managed a canal boat workshop in England with a Yamaha dealership.

CENTR AL On his return to Perth, WA in 1990 he did contract TASM A work before heading north in 2000 to set up and NIA run a workshop for Kingswood Marine in Broome, Western Australia (Mercury, Mercruiser, Savage, Bermuda, Trailcraft Dealer).

In November 2002 he moved to Mandurah WA, with his family and established Sean Cossey Mobile Marine Service. In the five years to follow Sean and his wife, Natalie, built a reputable business with in excess of 500 regular customers with a vast array of boats to service and repair throughout the Map a metropolitan area. nd Angli ng No In August 2006 Sean and his family ventured tes to the Apple Isle on a family holiday and after motorhoming around the State fell in love with it and decided to set the wheels in motion to sell up in WA and move to Tassy. They finally arrived in TASMAP’s Central Tasmania Map and Angling Notes October 2007. Since then Sean has been contracting is an invaluable guide to the world class trout fishing in the in the Marine Industry as well as running his own thousands of lakes and tarns located throughout the region. business on a much smaller scale. After speaking It covers most of the Central Plateau, shows all of the lakes, with numerous boaties and getting a feel for the how to get there along with launching facilities, accommodation, Marine Industry and Tasmania he realised that camping and caravan areas, fuel supplies and services. there was a need for a Mobile Marine Service that could handle a wide range of repairs and servicing The reverse side features detailed notes and maps covering of outboards and sterndrives on location. the prime fishing lakes. The notes are packed with valuable information on regulations, fish types and the best fishing With over 28 years experience and knowledge locations and methods. in the Marine Industry and certified by Mercury/ Mercruiser/Johnson/Evinrude/Yamaha Sean can It is available online, along with TASMAP’s also work on Honda, Tohatsu, Suzuki, Volvo and full range of maps, books and historic charts, at: OMC Cobra. Sean also specialises in electrical wiring/rewiring, accessory installations, hydraulic steering systems, engine and gearbox rebuilds, boat Maps may also be purchased from Service Tasmania trailer repairs and manufacturing, prepurchase and outlets and TASMAP agents statewide. insurance inspections.

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I could go on, and on, and on but instead go to the products section of my website and watch a 9 minute video of Norm’s wonderful vice in action.

NOR-VISE fly tying system

My son Lachie and I met Norm Norlander, the inventor and manufacturer of the remarkable Nor-Vise tying system at the Federation of Fly Fishers Conclave in Colorado. Apart from being a clever engineer Norm is a delightful man and an entertaining teacher.

I stood watching him tie flies with my mouth open and I couldn’t get the credit card out fast enough to buy Lachie a new vice. In a former life I too was a design engineer and this was such a simple concept, why hadn’t I, or anyone else, thought of this?

I got home and after watching the instructional DVD I tried Lachie’s vice for an evening. After just two hours I was on the email to Norm to send out another 4 kits and seek the Australian agency.

Other Nor-Vise Fly Tying Products ‘After just 4 weeks using the Nor-Vise Automatic Retractable Bobbin I can’t believe how much it has impacted on my tying. Going back to a favorite bobbin last week was a backward step’ - Muz Wilson, professional fly tyer of 17 years.

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Sufix Performance Fuse

Sufix Performance Fuse is the next generation of thermally fused fishing line.

The unique bonding technology and higher weave count create a rounder braided line with enhanced smoothness and superior casting. 100% Dyneema, with unmatched ultra fine diameter, giving the serious angler near zero stretch for instant hook setting power and confidence. Developed and tested heavily in the United States, Performance Fuse is available in 125 and 300yds spools in both Neon Fire and Smoke Blue. Initially available in 8lb to 30lb, with 6lb to be released in the new year.

Sufix Duraflex Monofilament

With most fishing lines you have to sacrifice one performance feature to gain another. Not so with Sufix Duraflex, as this is the next generation monofilament.

Incorporating our exclusive NX Nano Resin formula, engineers at Sufix have been able to achieve extra sensitivity without compromising strength, handling or durability. Our unique G2 precision winding virtually eliminates line imperfections for near-zero memory and effortless spooling.

A super-fine diameter monofilament, Duraflex will restore your faith in ultrapremium monofilament fishing lines.

Available in convenient 300mt spools from 5.3lb to 29.7lb, in an eye catching Lo-Vis green. A free Rapala key ring is also included with each spool for a limited time.

Explore King Island

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AAA Rating

Tackle and Supplies

Call in for all your fishing tackle including full range rods, reels, lures, landing nets and bait. Also life jackets plus diving gear and stuff for all water sports.

Scott, 53 King Street Scottsdale.Ph. 63522357 Julie-Anne, 41 Quail Street St Helens. Ph. 63761390

Top Service – Top Price

Eastern Shore Fishing & Tackle

Open 7 days a week • Rods • Reels • Tackle • Fishing advice • Tackle advice • Rod/reel repairs • Gift vouchers • Trout licences • Local bait

Shop G37 Eastlands Shopping Centre Rosny Park Ph:6244 2011

BURNIE MARINE Services • Over 30 years experience on all types of motors • Approved insurance repairer to boats and motors • Propellor rebuild and refurbishing • Repairs of all types - including skegs etc.

• Contact: Cyril Stevens Phone 6431 3082 Fax 6431 1255

www.kingisland.org.au 1800 645 014

Get around the Island in comfort

P & A Car Rentals •Businessorholidayrental.•MitsubishiMagna vehiclesfrom$66perdayinclGSTandinsurance.

•Bookingsareessentialpriortotraveltoensure availability.•Freepickupanddropatairport.

Ph:0364621603E:kimotors@bigpond.com Web: www.kingisland.org.au

Shannon Coastal Cottages Set on 2 hectares overlooking Currie Harbour and the rugged West Coast, Shannon Coastal Cottages offer a complete home away from home.

The air is clean and the sunsets spectacular.

Three kilometres from the main town of Currie or a fifteen minute walk along the beach and track.

One and two bedroom cottages accommodate up to 6 people.

Fishing rods are provided. Sightings of wallabies, possums, pheasants, turkeys and a variety of sea birds are common.

The perfect base to explore the island.

Denise O’Keefe 03 64611074 Moores Drive, Devils Gap, King Island TAS 7256 Email: denise@shannoncoastalcottages.com.au

Portside Links “ What a great place to stay! These quality, new bungalows have everything you could ask for to comfortably explore this beautiful region of Tasmania.” (Wendy & Harry- Ulverstone TAS)

Cnr Andrew and Harvey Sts. Strahan Ph: 03 6471 7268

email: enquiries@strahanbungalows.com.au

JustoneklmfromthecentreofthetownofGrassy,ontheSouthEastcoastof KingIslandwithviewsoverBassStrait,theoldGrassygolfcourseandupto the town of Grassy.

Twoluxuryself-containedunits,plusaBedandBreakfastsuite,providinga quiet and relaxing atmosphere for the ideal get away.

FeaturedonNine'sTV‘Postcards’andSouthernCross‘DiscoverTasmania’.

Bookings or enquiries: Ken or Marilyn Chapman Grassy Harbour Rd, Grassy, King Island, Tasmania 7256 Ph: (03) 6461 1134, 0427 093194 Email: ki@portsidelinks.com.au www.portsidelinks.com.au

WWW.TASFISH.COM - Over 600 stories online. Get the knowledge–get the fish.

Fishing News - Page 47

QLD FM 260x352.indd 1

2/10/2009 1:16:59 PM

Issue 83 December 2009 - January 2010

$5

5 B U C K S

FOR 100% Tasmanian Fishing

Get the knowledge - Get the fish

John Hughes with a thumping brown trout caught from Arthurs Lake. Read Joe Riley’s article on Arthurs Lake from page 28.

Great Lake - Midging and Sharks Silver Trevally from the Shore Very Slow Nymphing Brumbys Creek Arthurs Lake Tamar River

Print Post approved; PP 702512 00027