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.
Please check all relevant authorities before fishing - www.ifs.tas.gov.au and dpipwe.tas.gov.au . Don't forget issuu.com/stevenspublishing for years of back issues !
Headed off for another afternoon spin session in a tannin stream, hit the water just on 1:45 pm in what was reasonably good conditions. The water level had dropped by a few inches since yesterdays trip so I'm hoping there will be a few more trout out and about today. When I left home it was nice and overcast, by the time I hopped in the water the clouds had parted and the sun was out, good thing was there was plenty of insect life hovering above the water. The first thing I noticed was a small trout jumping in the pool I had just entered which was a good sign. After several casts around this knee deep tannin water with the copper Aglia I finally had a hit from a small trout and that's as far as it went so I moved on to the next narrow stretch of water.
Check out this video of Norm Cribbin, an avid Tasmanian fly fisherman. When trout season closes Norm keeps his passion for trout fishing alive from home. He pulls out his gear, checks his lines, ties flies, and hops onto the IFS website to research waterways and keep up to date with trout transfers and stocking.
Brown trout from this years spawning run at Liawenee |
Spawning brown trout have been running thick at Liawenee, despite COVID-19 restrictions forcing the cancellation of Trout Weekend 2020. With good rain and large flows being released from Lake Augusta, trout spawning conditions have never been better at Liawenee. These conditions have seen good numbers of brown trout running into the Liawenee fish trap.
Each year we weigh and measure 200 fish to assist in monitoring the fishery. This year the average weight is 804g and the average length was 415mm, with some fish reaching 1.4Kg. This is very similar to last year where the average weight was 795g and 412mm. The fish are in good condition.
We have been busy moving these fish to popular angling waters around the state. The fish that have been moved to greener pastures, are able to turn from ‘good’ condition to ‘great’ condition in the coming season. An up to date record of our fish transfer and stocking activities can be found here https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/fisheries/stocking/.
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Brown trout from salvage |
Over the past couple of days we have salvaged 348 trout from the River Clyde downstream of the Lake Crescent outlet. As there is no requirement for a water release at present these fish had become restricted in their movements.
Of these 171 were returned to Lake Crescent and 177 were released into Lake Sorell. The fish ranged in size up to 3.5kg.
Source: https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/2020/may/26/fish-released-lake-sorell-salvage
After some decent rain a few days ago I felt a trip back to the tannin waters may be the go, with plenty of water in them there should be a few hungry trout around. This trip was to a stretch of water I haven't fished since the 8th March which is exactly a month ago, on that trip I caught and released nine trout. If I can catch that amount again on this trip I'll be pretty stoked seeing as this tannin stream has slowed down with the trout on my previous trips. Seeing as it's been a month since I've actually fished this stretch of water it will be interesting to see how it fishes this afternoon.
Curries River Reservoir is located off the B82 road, between George Town and Bridport. The fishery serves anglers from the greater Launceston area. Over the years this water has produced variable fishing for both brown and rainbow trout. However, the fish are always of excellent size and condition.
During August 2019 we did a survey of Curries River Reservoir to assess;
- the number of brown and rainbow trout,
- - the size of the brown trout population,
- the length structure of the brown trout population and,
- the condition of all fish.
In summary, there were very low numbers of both brown and rainbow trout. However, the resident fish we did catch were in great condition.
Before the survey, 1 175 adult brown trout with their adipose fin clipped were released into the reservoir. These fish weighed around 721 g and were on average 420 mm long. By the 2020-21 season they should be approaching 1.2 kg. The fin clip enables to identify the released fish and estimate the size of the brown trout population.
As a consequence of the survey, we plan to boost fish numbers in Curries River Reservoir with stockings of brown and rainbow trout over winter 2020.
For the full results, read the Fisheries Performance Assessment Technical Report – Curries River Reservoir 2019.
This report covers two consecutive days fishing tannin waters after some decent rains that got the streams up and running to a good fishing height again.
The first trip was the morning after we had 26 mms of rain the day before and into the night and once at the river I found it to be running at a nice height and a very dark tannin colour. Several weeks ago I fished this same little tannin stream and had a good four days of fishing in it, I'm hoping for the same result again this trip. I was in the water at 8:20am and started off with a #00 White Miller Bug spinner, the same little one that did a good job in dark tannin water here before. The area I started off in is the upper reaches and the last trip here (7th March) I caught & released thirteen trout. Even though the water was a littler higher and faster flowing it was still good enough to be holding trout in flat water on both sides of it. I slowing fished my way upstream casting the Bug into the flat waters on both sides of the stream and waited for a strike as I retrieved the lure each time. Nothing happened, not a single touch from a trout, not even bow wave behind the spinner, the trout weren't here.
It was back to the Meander fast waters again this morning for another spin session to see if I can add a few more trout to my season's tally of 370 trout. I wasn't intending to fish the fast waters today mainly because of the right hip but then decided what the heck get in there and see how you go, if fishing there aggravates it then I'll get out and head to the slower flowing waters. The conditions were quite overcast and a cool six degrees when I hit the clear flowing river at 10:10am, the water temp was sitting on ten degrees and it was cold on the legs too. I started the session off with a small #00 White Miller Bug spinner, it's not a colour I would normally start off using but I wanted to see how it would perform in the dull conditions and clear water. Well, not a lot happened for around fifteen minutes or so before a cast directly upstream into a flat water a small brown took it. Two head shakes from that little brown and it was gone, it tossed the White Miller as quick as it took it.
After missing out not having a spin session yesterday, this afternoon I decided to head back to the fast waters of the Meander River. It was 2:25pm when I hit the water in what was perfect weather conditions with a light breeze and patches of scattered cloud.
The river level was a little lower than my last trip here, it was still running nice and clear, lure of choice for starters was the #1 Stone Fly Bug spinner. The first area I fished was a large wide deep stretch of medium flowing water, it was here I had a follow from a nice brown.
During this Easter and school holiday period, recreational fishers should consider if going fishing is essential. The Tasmanian Government has a clear position that Tasmanians should stay home to save lives. If you are going fishing, please follow the latest advice on our website including: Can I go camping as part of my recreational fishing activity? How many people can I go fishing with? What procedures should I put in place when I go fishing? What will happen with my recreational scallop licence? The COVID-19 situation is changing daily, please check the Tasmanian Government coronavirus website regularly for any updated information. |
Recreational Fisheries Section, DPIPWE |
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Presented from Issue 105, August 2013
We did a bit of a runaround Tasmania’s tackle stores to see what their tips for the first month or so of the tackle season were. We asked what the top three places to fish were, plus lures, flies, baits and a few other things.
Here is a rundown on their answers Whenever, and wherever you fish - anywhere, or for any fish in the world - ask the locals and especially ask at the local tackle store. They know what was caught today, yesterday and on what.