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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The morning was a low three degrees as I was heading to the upper reaches of the Mersey River, then I had a change of mind and decided to head to the small tannin stream I fished several days go. On my arrival I found the water level was the same as the last trip (a little on the low side) so I thought I would be in for another tough time fishing here. This trip I thought I'd start the session using a copper blade #00 Mepps Aglia Mouche Noire to see how it would go on the trout in the tannin water, not that the copper colour would be a problem as it's worked well before in tannin waters.
Marine and Safety Tasmania and Inland Fisheries have jointly funded an upgrade to the Tooms Lake boat ramp. Taking advantage of the current low lake level of - 2.60 m below the spillway, contractors removed stumps and snags from the vicinity of the ramp, extended the gravel ramp to the current water level and repaired the rock armour on the sides of the ramp.
The project was managed by the Inland Fisheries Service. Stocking of both brown and rainbow trout during the winter Tooms Lake is primed to fire early in the 2019/20 season – just add water!
The lake will need to rise by around 300 mm ( - 2.30 m) to make boat launching possible.
The level for Tooms Lake can be found at www.bom.gov.au – latest River Heights for the Northern Rivers.
Source: https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/2019/jun/18/tooms-lake-boat-ramp-upgrade
With fantastic weather and a great crew the Willow Warriors planted 700 native rushes, shrubs and trees along a stretch of the Tyenna River replacing recently removed willows. The willows, removed by the landholders at the Westerway Raspberry Farm, had been restricting access to the river and impacting on fish habitat. As they grow, our native plantings will help to shade the river, stabilise the banks (as the willow roots break down) and improve river health.
There were both new faces and seasoned Willow Warriors at the working bee and the many hands made light work of a big job. Participants had a chance to give back to one of Tasmania’s premier trout-fishing rivers and the landholders that provide access to it.
If you are interested in joining the next Willow Warriors event or hearing more about our 10-year plan to eradicate willows from the Tyenna River get in touch with Magali from the Derwent Catchment Project (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 0424 277 226) or Neil from the Inland Fisheries Service (0438 279 421 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Another mild overcast day had me heading off to the Meander River chasing trout and if they weren't there then I'd shoot on over to Western Creek and give that a go on the way home. It wasn't an early start this morning by any means, by the time I arrived and had a 1.5 kilometre walk to the river it was just on 8:35am. As I approached the river I could see it was running nice and clear but the river bottom wasn't looking good for spin fishing, it was covered in green algae. The fishing was pretty slow going with no signs of a trout and with the little Mepps gold black fury continually becoming fouled with the algae it wasn't looking good.
Read more: Chasing trout in the Meander River and a small creek
With some good rain forecast for later in the day and with it being a dull humid overcast day I thought another afternoon trip to the small tannin stream was worth a shot. I was hoping it was still at a nice depth for a spin session. Once there I could see the water level was well down, much lower than I had expected it to be so it's going to be a tough spin session. With the water being so low is going to have the trout on edge, they'll be darting every which way at the slightest sound on the river bottom.
Brown trout are available in the River Derwent year round below New Norfolk Bridge: photo D.Green |
The rainbow trout waters closed last weekend (Sunday 2 June) but there are still lots of freshwater fishing available over winter. Waters open all year round are:
- Brushy Lagoon from one hour before sunrise to three hours after sunset on any day
- Craigbourne Dam from one hour before sunrise to three hours after sunset on any day
- Great Lake other than Canal Bay
- Huntsman Lake from one hour before sunrise to three hours after sunset on any day
- Huon River from the Huonville Bridge downstream to the seaward limit of that river
- Lake Barrington
- Lake Burbury
- Lake Meadowbank
- Lake Pedder
- Lake King William
- River Leven from the confluence of Whisky Creek, delineated by a straight line between grid reference 422710E 5442177N and 422750E 5442142N downstream to the seaward limit of that river
- North Esk River and River Tamar from the Lower Charles Street Bridge on the North Esk River downstream to the seaward limit of the River Tamar
- Pioneer Lake
- River Derwent from the A10 Road Bridge at grid reference 504630E 5263716N downstream to the seaward limit of that river
- South Esk River and River Tamar from the West Tamar Road Bridge on the South Esk River downstream to the seaward limit of the River Tamar
Get out and have a go!
Source: https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/2019/jun/07/winter-fishing
Derwent Catchment Project have been working with Inland Fisheries Service Anglers Access program and the Willow Warriors to remove willows and revegetate sections of the Tyenna River running through Lanoma Estate.
We have recently received support from the Fisheries Habitat Improvement Fund, to develop and start the first stages of a 10-year plan to eradicate willows in the upper stretches of the Tyenna River.
Join the next Willow Warriors working bee to replace recently removed willows with native trees and shrubs at Lanoma Estate and hear more about the next stage of the Tyenna River Recovery Program.
Where: Lanoma Estate, Westerway
When: 10 am to 3 pm on Saturday 15 June
For more details and to RSVP get in touch with:
Magali (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 0424 277 226)
Source : https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/2019/jun/07/all-welcolme-tyenna-working-bee
Click "Read More" for a full size image
I headed on back to fish the dark tannin waters of the Leven River again yesterday.. The river was at the perfect wading height & the weather was spot on, overcast & humid conditions. It was another slow start once again with just the one soft hit on the gold Mepps #1 black fury from a solid brown. It had taken close on twenty minutes when the brown followed the gold black fury from a cast and drift from the opposite side of the river.
I could see the silhouette of a large fish following closely behind the spinner as I let it drift with the flow. I gave the rod a couple of twitches to see if it would get the trout to take the lure. That didn't work until I had the lure and the trout within three meters of me when I gave the lure another light twitch then let the black fury drop which made the gold blade flutter. That did the job the trout took the lure side on, I felt weight on the line as the large brown took hold of the spinner, I quickly raised the rod to set the hooks but missed setting them. For one reason or another it hadn't taken full hold of the black fury, it must have just had the tip of the hook on it's outer lip. All that fish did was give a soft head shake and it was gone.
Improvements and upgrades to the car parks at both boat ramps have been completed at Little Pine Lagoon by IFS.
Both car parks have been levelled and graded and topped with gravel and will provide more space and convenience for shack owners and visitors to Little Pine Lagoon.
Source - https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/2019/may/31/little-pine-lagoon-car-park-improvements
Little Pine Lagoon shack boat ramp car parking area has been improved
On behalf of Tasmania the Minister for responsible for Inland Fisheries, Hon. Guy Barnett, welcomes the teams of the World Fly fishing Championship 2019 in this short video.
Source - https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/2019/may/30/tasmania-welcomes-world-fly-fishing-championship-teams
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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.
and an art worth your learning.."
Presented from Issue 112, October 2014
So said Izaak Walton in the 1600s. It seems that Burnie’s Hannah Ledger has combined angling with art rather well. Hannah is a fish fanatic, outdoor enthusiast and budding, self-taught artist. From as young as she can remember, she has always had crayon in hand, colouring book under arm and as she’s grown as a painter, jars full of paintbrushes and cupboards full of ready-to-go blank canvas’.
A country girl at heart, Hannah was schooled at Yolla District High School, a small ‘farm’ school in the states North West, then went on to Hellyer College where she was given the opportunity to really grow her art skills; And by grow, that meant skipping the classes that would probably have more an impact of getting her somewhere in life, like English and Math to spend every spare minute with the art teacher, painting or drawing.
As typical teenagers do, they make poor decisions- and after being accepted in to one of the countries top art schools, turned down the offer and decided to move to the big island, where she lived for 5 years working in what seemed ‘dead end’ retail.
Read more ...