Arthurs Lake 2011-02-11

From the Archives ...

Atlantic Salmon At Large

Recently Atlantic salmon seems to be a very hot topic amongst local anglers, especially those in the south of the state in the D'Entrecasteaux area. Northern anglers should take a close look at the Tamar as there are opportunities here as well.
The recent "great escape" has provided a perfect opportunity for fresh and saltwater anglers alike to experience some truly memorable sport. Tasmania's pristine, clean and cool waters are the perfect nursery for the Atlantic Salmon and as our local fish farms produce more and more fresh quality seafood it is a fact that there are going to be tangible consequences.

Arthurs Lake 2011-02-11

Just a quick report as I am a bit snowed under with stuff at the moment.
Just got back today from a couple of days with my mainland mate Kevin Wilkinson at Arthurs Lake. We fished Cowpaddock yesterday and today.

Up until 2pm yesterday we had just one fish to show for our efforts, but as we were leaving and "believe it or not " we drove into (in our boat) one of the biggest dun hatches I have seen there from recent memory and we managed to pull 6 more out in about 20 minutes between us.
Today went back for another look and finished with 12 more, most were around the 2 and a half pound mark with a couple of true 3 pounders thrown in for good measure.
We found a very small dun hatch with only a few duns on the water but the fish were still looking for them ...and had a crack where they could..
One technique that worked well for us was if the fish ignored our dry fly, we would move the nymph hanging 2 1/2 feet underneath our dry's, past the rise we just saw in short sharp strips....they would crunch it ,often hitting "that hard" that we broke on about 5 in the two sessions.
Anyway, a great couple of days spent in good company, and we are able to send Kevin back to the big island with a good feed of fish as well...what more can one ask.
Kind regards, Todd