• Trout Fishing

From the Archives ...

Sea run trout tactics – Craig Vertigan

Sea run trout tactics – Craig Vertigan

During the trout off-season I tend to spend a bit of time chasing bream, to continue getting a fishing fix, and spend time tying flies and dreaming about the trout season to come. It’s a time to spend doing tackle maintenance, stocking up on lures and dreaming up new challenges and goals for the trout season ahead. When the new season comes around I usually spend the first few months targeting sea runners. Sea run trout are simply brown trout that spend much of there lives out to sea and come in to the estuaries for spawning and to feed on whitebait and the other small endemic fishes that spawn in late winter through spring. Mixed in with the silvery sea runners you can also expect to catch resident fish that have the typical dark colours of a normal brown trout as well as atlantic salmon in some of our estuaries that are located near salmon farm pens. Living in Hobart it is quick and easy to do a trip on the Huon or Derwent and is a more comfortable proposition compared to a trip up to the highlands with snow and freezing winds to contend with.

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Presented from Issue 93 by Christopher Bassano

Winter can seem to drag on as mayfly hatches and beetle falls become a distant memory. I hate sitting around and waiting and although we are still able to fish some waters during the cold, dark months, ‘opening day’ holds a special place in all fisherman’s hearts and minds. The usual decisions on where to go and what to use will no doubt demand deep thought but it is the preparation for the coming season that can influence your success for the ensuing months.

Category: Trout Fishing
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2016 05 01 Another brown that fell to the Mepps Meander RiverHere's my 2015/16 trout season report & stats.... This was the third best season that I've had since moving to Tasmania.. It was a pretty good season considering how dry it was here in Tassie, I reckon I did the right thing by concentrating on the two rivers that have a regulated environmental flow on them all throughout the year. They were the Mersey & Meander Rivers. The ** Dasher river which is close to home always fishes well early season and a day after a dose of 20 mms or more later in the season. The fish weren't over large this season as the rivers are still recovering from the dry seasons and the influx of cormorants we had three years ago. But they are on the way back which is good..

Category: Trout Fishing
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By Todd Lambert Presented from Issue 93

I have been fishing for as long as I can remember and my passion for this sport is still as strong today as it was way back then, when I was a young boy.

I grew up in the rural township of Deloraine, with the Meander River flowing through its heart. Many hours were spent along the river banks with a tin of worms and infinite patience. Sometimes I would be rewarded for it, many times I wouldn’t, and upon reflection there were far too many times when I arrived home with an empty creel and nothing to show for my efforts.

That being said, and ‘once again upon reflection’, with every trip I ventured out on, I think I learned a little more, soon my luck began to change ‘dramatically’ for the better. I had learned the “basics of fishing”.

Category: Trout Fishing
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Todd Lambert's Season 2010/11 review

Todd Lambert's season 2010/11 review - Presented from Issue 91

Todd Lambert offers this reflection on five of Tasmania’s more popular fisheries and how he as an ‘everyday angler’ felt they performed. Below is his season 2010/11 review.

Even though most of our Lakes and rivers are about to close, there are still a few trout waters remaining open for those keen enough to venture out in a cold Tasmanian winter, but for the majority of us it’s time to sit back, turn our interests to other things and reflect back on the season past.

Category: Trout Fishing
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Grasshoppers – The Big Mac of Trout Food

Many people ask me when the best time to come to Tasmania fishing is. There is only one answer as far as I am concerned – Autumn.
March and April are what I call the wedding months. All the girls want to get married then. Why ? Because the weather is the most settled and they are almost guaranteed a beautiful day.
I like it because the river fishing can be exception and I like river fishing. Grasshopers have been prolific the last couple of seasons with unprecedented grass growth no doubt helping the populations. 
Grasshoppers obviously provide a ‘meal in a mouthful’ for river trout – they must be like a Big Mac for them and trout often swim meters to violently scoff one from the surface.

Category: Trout Fishing
Hits: 5193

Fishing on the Wild Side

Mike Fry doesn’t only live on the Wild Side of Tasmania, but also goes fishing in probably the wildest boat ever to troll for trout—certainly in Tasmania. 
When your mate says ‘What are you doing tomorrow, want to come up the Gordon for the night?’ it would be pretty hard to say anything else except “you bet” and start checking out your tackle box and packing your overnight bag. But if your mate was Troy Grining and he wanted to give his new 52ft, high speed cruiser a run across Macquarie Harbour, test the new onboard dory with a chance of landing a nice Gordon River Brown you would have to feel privileged. I didn’t say anything about getting on my hands and knees and kissing his feet…just having a lend of ya’ but I did feel very appreciative.

Category: Trout Fishing
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Trout Everywhere – Craig Rist

In Tasmania, trout have found their way into just about every trickle of water around the state. Many of these are very small tributaries of larger more popular rivers. The majority of the fish in these smaller streams are by no means monsters, with the average fish being somewhere between half a pound and a pound. Small brown trout dominate most of these small streams with the exception of a few rainbow only waters that are isolated from the dominant brown trout population.?The upper Mersey River between Lake Meston and Junction Lake is a classic example of this with its huge impassable waterfalls preventing any further migration of brown trout up stream.

Category: Trout Fishing
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Polaroiding Central Highlands


The highlight of any season usually revolves around the best days sight fishing. Memories of the hunt, approach, cast and hook set will remain in your mind long after those of another ‘flogged up’ have gone. The main prerequisite for this style of fishing are sunshine and cloudless days – two things that should become more plentiful from now until the end of the season. Good polaroiding water is not hard to find but some places are easier than others in which to find fish while others are simply better.

Category: Trout Fishing
Hits: 4466

Mythbusters – Excuses or fishy trends

Too windy, not windy enough, wrong wind direction. Too bright, too dull, too wet, too dry: excuses—or are they? Farmers and fishing guides have two things in common: firstly, they’re both in the weather everyday, working with Mother Nature. Secondly, both groups will tell you that the animals in their lives all react differently according to subtleties and vagaries of wind direction, atmospheric pressure and lunar cycles. In the case of fishing guides and experienced anglers, you can add a list of hatch and water level factors to the nuances of Mother Nature, vagaries which become plausible excuses at the end of a tough day. After the question of weather patterns and their affects on fishing came up on the FlyLife internet forum, I thought it might be a good time to do a bit of myth-busting with the aid of my fishing diary.

Category: Trout Fishing
Hits: 3583

Surface lures For Trout Fishing

The surface is just about the most fun you can have as an angler. Whether chasing giant trevally in the coral sea, bream in the estuaries, or dry flying trout here in Tassie you can’t help but get excited watching something come up and slurp or smash your top-water offering. Although they have been around for many years, surface hardbodies for trout have never really hit a spotlight but with the new methods and gear being developed at the moment it’s only a matter of time before people begin to look more seriously at top-water options. It takes some time to perfect your technique but it is essentially easy to get started and can be a very effective tool in your trout fishing arsenal.

Category: Trout Fishing
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Get a Drogue

Catch more fish - use a Tasmanian Made Drogue

Jim Allen drogue Woods Lake

Current River Heights for the Northern Rivers

Current River Heights Northern Tasmania

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Hello everyone, I thought it would be a good time to introduce myself.
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It has been an epic journey of learning and discovery and I am indebted to Mike Stevens for his help, support and patience.
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From the Archives ... (last chance)

Fishing on the Wild Side

Fishing on the Wild Side

Mike Fry doesn’t only live on the Wild Side of Tasmania, but also goes fishing in probably the wildest boat ever to troll for trout—certainly in Tasmania. 
When your mate says ‘What are you doing tomorrow, want to come up the Gordon for the night?’ it would be pretty hard to say anything else except “you bet” and start checking out your tackle box and packing your overnight bag. But if your mate was Troy Grining and he wanted to give his new 52ft, high speed cruiser a run across Macquarie Harbour, test the new onboard dory with a chance of landing a nice Gordon River Brown you would have to feel privileged. I didn’t say anything about getting on my hands and knees and kissing his feet…just having a lend of ya’ but I did feel very appreciative.

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