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.
The new trout season begins tomorrow. To support angling opportunities in regional areas we have stocked 100 Atlantic salmon into Lake Kara.
At an average weight of over 1.5kg, they will test the skills of any angler. Remember the bag limit in Lake Kara is 5 fish total, of which only 2 may measure longer than 500mm. Thanks to Tassal for kindly donating the fish.
For those that are yet to purchase their licence, please visit www.ifs.tas.gov.au Doing so might also allow you to win $10,000 if you catch one of the 5 tagged fish released into different waters around the state. For more information on the Tasmanian Tagged Trout Promotion. You’ve got to be in it to win it!
Source: https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/2020/jul/31/atlantic-salmon-released-lake-kara-start-season
Atlantic salmon release into Lake Kara for start of the season will provide some action for local anglers. |
This week we have been busy stocking 4 500 rainbow trout into Bradys Lake.
They averaged 355 grams and have been specially grown by the Huon Aquaculture Group at their Millybrook hatchery.
These fantastic rainbow trout are sure to provide fun in the coming months for anglers using all methods.
Remember a bag limit of five fish applies, with a minimum length of 300 mm and only two fish over 500 mm.
Earlier this winter we transferred 1 044 wild adult brown trout up to 1 kg from the Liawenee Canal, yingina / Great Lake.
We suggest you get out there, have a great time and wish you the best of luck for the season opening on Saturday 1 August.
Here is the Bradys Lake, Lake Binney and Tungatinah Lagoon brochure with map to help you.
Source: https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/2020/jul/29/bradys-chain-lakes-good-place-start
Some excellent catches are being reported around the state, just in time for the school holidays. It's great to see fishers out and about again since restrictions were lifted.
A campaign to accelerate the recreational fishing community involvement in fish habitat restoration was launched today by OzFish Unlimited.
Through a series of powerful images, the online campaign flips the cliched bragging right photo of an angler and their catch with the waterways in focus instead of the fish.
Click here for more information.
Source: https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/2020/jun/17/focus-waterway-health
Community involvement river restoration work
In May – June 2019 3,500 adult brown trout were caught in the fish trap on the River Derwent at Lake King William. They were tagged with a numbered green tag, and released directly into Bradys Lake. During the 2019-20 season, a total of 95 of these trout were reported to the IFS as being caught by anglers. Of these fish, most were kept, with just 5 reported as being released.
As all tagged fish were transferred into Bradys Lake, we could look at where they moved to within the chain of lakes. Of the 95 tagged trout caught and reported by anglers, 27 were from Bradys Lake, 46 from Lake Binney and 22 from Tungatinah Lagoon. This indicates that 71% percent of these tagged fish had moved out of Bradys Lake, with 48% moving into Lake Binney and 23% travelling down into Tungatinah Lagoon. One fish was reported from the Bradys white water.
Read more: Anglers’ Report - Tagged fish from the Bradys Chain of Lakes
Waters managed for rainbow trout closed:
Dee Lagoon
Junction Lake
Lake Meston
Lake Rowallan
Lake Skinner
Lake Youd
Mersey River above Lake Rowallan
River Leven upstream of Loongana Road
Weld rivers (both North and South)
It was the end of the first year of the river season extension trial, closing:
Brumbys Creek downstream from Weir 1 to the Macquarie River (Note: the day use facilities are currently closed).
Macquarie River downstream from the junction with Brumbys Creek to the South Esk River.
Meander River downstream from Strath Bridge (on the C735) to the South Esk River
South Esk River downstream from the bridge on Storys Creek Road at Avoca to Beams Hollow upstream of Lake Trevallyn, delineated by a straight line between grid reference 506358E 5406426N and 506467E 5406414N.
And Lakes Mackintosh and Rosebery closed.
But it is not the end of fishing for the 2019-20 season. There are many waters open all year. You can find the full list on our website, along with information about fishing during the Roadmap to Recovery.
Source: https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/news/2020/jun/01/inland-waters-reached-end-their-2019-20-season
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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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.
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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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.
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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