• Jan’s Flies

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.

Read more ...

Jan's Flies

Jan Spencer
It's July 2nd and we are knee deep in snow at Miena in Tasmania's central highlands. Some would say how beautiful it is but personally it becomes a pain to live with as in these heavy conditions it stops my fishing. As most would know though we need any sort of H2O we can get in whatever form to help fill our lakes and in turn sets the rivers with a strong flow.
Fishing at this time of year is for the hardy, but it can be very rewarding if the effort is put in. I have had some superb polaroiding on Great Lake. The place for this is shallow bays with bright sun and at this time of year the best time of day is mid-day and this only gives a span of an hour and a half at the most.

Category: Jan’s Flies
Hits: 6113

Jan's Flies

Jan Spencer
Even though the weather in Tasmania's highlands has turned cold and most of the lakes are closed through the winter months, I am lucky to have Great Lake on my front door step. Great Lake is one of a few which is open all year. There can be some excellent cold weather fishing if you are hardy enough to brace the cold.

Category: Jan’s Flies
Hits: 5284

Jan's Flies

Jan Spencer
This season so far has been good to me, due mostly to the early warm conditions. There has been a multitude of insects which prompted the trout to get active and look up.

Category: Jan’s Flies
Hits: 5610

Jan's Flies

Jan Spencer
Recently I was given a book on tying paraloop flies. Being an admirer of parachute flies I became quite fascinated with the paraloop method. I had seen a couple examples of the tie but hadn't really taken a close look as there always seemed to be another project on my mind. The basix paraloop is certainly not difficult to tie, the way this method is done makes a lot of sense in its ability to float.
Instead of having a hackle like a parachute fly it has an all over effect much like a human crew cut hair cut, so to me this would trap air amongst the hackle fibres.

Category: Jan’s Flies
Hits: 6515

Jan's Flies

Jan Spencer

I simply love this time of the year. It starts to warm up, days lengthen, daylight savings kicks in and insects and the trout start to waken.

Category: Jan’s Flies
Hits: 6770

Jan's Flies

Jan Spencer
The weather has cooled and the trout fishing slowed, so it's the time of year to reflect a little and look forward to the next season. Slot in the diary what weekends and holidays will be set aside for some fishing, it's great to do it early so one has these times to look forward to.

Category: Jan’s Flies
Hits: 6365

Jan's Flies

Jan Spencer
Over the last three months I have been based at St. Helens on Tasmania's sunny east coast; I suppose it doesn't take a genius to work out what has taken up most of my spare time while being in this lovely holiday destination. Anyone who wishes to have some great fishing included in their holiday would not need to look further than this area.

Category: Jan’s Flies
Hits: 7589

Jan's Flys

This season has been difficult and has really made the fishing population think on how best to catch fish. The weather has been the main contributor in making the fishing quite difficult at times; there was no warmth to speak of until well into the New Year. Mayfly hatches have been spasmodic to say the least, only occurring for short periods and not very often at that.

Category: Jan’s Flies
Hits: 4841

Jan's Flies

At the time of putting pen to paper I am sitting in a nice warm spot in the Central Highlands watching the snow creating a white carpet on the ground. It's because of this unsettled weather I have not had time to fish, but I have busied myself reading Greg French's new book Frog Call. I don't consider myself a great reader and it takes something special to hold my attention. This book I love. Many of the stories and places mentioned relate to experiences I've had.  Greg talks lovingly about the western lakes area - he makes it sound so magical and is moreso if you have been there. The book is written as short stories and covers many places and often hilarious situations. So for all those interested in fishing, walking and dreaming this is for you.

Category: Jan’s Flies
Hits: 5661

Jan's Flies


Sticks, sticks and more sticks - stick caddis that is. Rarely does a trout's stomach contents not contain at least a few stick caddis.

Category: Jan’s Flies
Hits: 6143

Current TFBN

cover 2021 11

Click above for current issue content. The current issue of TFBN is extensive and topical. In Tackle Stores, Newsagents and by subscription.
Delivered to your door for $48 for 2 years (8 issues). To subscribe, send Mike $48 via www.paypal.com.au . (Basic instructions are here) The email is at Contact Us. Your address will be included from PayPal.
Or phone Mike with your c/c handy on 0418129949
Please ensure your details are correct, for Mike to organise delivery.

TFBN Newsletter Sign up Form

Name:
Email:
We respect your email privacy
Keep in touch with our latest news
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Why not submit an article ?

When you have finished for the day, why not have a brag about the ones that didn't get away! Send Mike an article on your fishing (Click here for contact details), and we'll get it published here. Have fun fishing - tasfish.com

Category Descriptions

Here is a list of all of the Article Categories. The number in Brackets, eg (13) is the number of articles. Click on Derwent River and all articles relating to the Derwent will be displayed in the central area. 

Articles by Category

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

windyty.com

Visit https://www.windyty.com/

Rubicon Web and Technology Training

Hello everyone, I thought it would be a good time to introduce myself.
My name is Stephen Smith and I have been managing the website tasfish.com since May 2009.
It has been an epic journey of learning and discovery and I am indebted to Mike Stevens for his help, support and patience.
I am developing a new venture Rubicon Web and Technology Training ( www.rwtt.com.au ). The focus is two part, to develop websites for individuals and small business and to train people to effectively use technology in their everyday lives.

Please contact me via www.rwtt.com.au/contact-me/ for further information - Stephen Smith.

From the Archives ... (last chance)

Sea runners - Early Season Excitement - Christopher Bassano

Presented from Issue 100
Considering the world class quality of our sea trout fishery, these fish are not sought after by enough anglers. Sea runners live in the salt water and run up our estuaries and rivers from the start of August to the middle of November. At this time of the year, they are here to eat the many species of fish that are either running up the rivers to spawn or are living in and around the estuary systems. Trout, both sea run and resident (Slob Trout) feed heavily on these small fish which darken in colouration as they move further into fresh water reaches.

The majority of these predatory fish are brown trout with rainbows making up a very small percentage of the catch. They can be found all around the state but it would be fair to say that the east coast is the least prolific of all the areas. They still run up such rivers as the Georges (and many others) but their numbers along with the quality of the fishing elsewhere make it difficult to recommend the area above the larger northern, southern and western rivers.

Read more ...
Go to top
JSN Boot template designed by JoomlaShine.com