Fishing dynamite in Tasmania
by Carl Hyland on 8 Aug 2011
Salmon fishing is unbelievable.... - Tasmanian fishing feature Carl Hyland
Tasmania’s trout season opened with a bang this weekend gone and judging by all reports, most anglers were happy with their lot.
With recent flooding rains, catch rates are expected to be high throughout Tasmania, and when warmer weather arrives, fly anglers and bait anglers can expect sensational captures.
With the news that Brushy Lagoon in the states North was stocked with big fish prior to opening day on the sixth, anglers really got excited as some of the fish were reported were weighed in at between three and eight kilograms. Ex brood Rainbow trout were released in a bid to entice anglers to renew licenses and take part in this regular event. Coupled with a vast number of Atlantic salmon at two and a half kilograms, Brushy Lagoon looked like the place to be on opening morning and it was.
Such was the attendance on the banks of Brushy, many had to virtually line up to catch fish and with new regulations now being enforced at this water, where it is open to fishing all year with the hours restricted to one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset, many will have to resort to daylight hours to take home a good fish. Brushy is also home to some huge Redfin perch and many target these fish, especially with soft plastics and hard bodied lures. The Princess in the Strike Tigers work well here as do the Berkley Pumpkinseed and the Hueys Coachdog is dynamite.
New fisheries regulations from the Inland Fisheries Service will ensure there are enough fish for everybody and I have listed some of the new regulations below.
In general, the changes remove many redundant and often confusing regulations that existed unnecessarily for a long time. Many were merely administrative including the omission of duplicated regulations, the fixing up of nomenclature and references, and the tightening up of specific areas that won’t effectively change the implementation of the regulations. There were a number of other changes; however which may directly affect anglers and were aimed at providing greater flexibility and protection for the fishery.
Below is a list of the key regulation changes that are of particular interest to anglers. This information is also provided in detail in the 2011-12 Fishing Code, which is provided free with the purchase of an angling licence. They are also reflected in the relevant access brochures for the various fishing waters which have been updated and are available at tackle stores or at the Access Brochures website.
1. Lake Huntsman will open all year round with angling times remaining at one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset*. Lake Gordon, meanwhile, will revert back to being brown trout season water, and will open and close in line with the brown trout season.
2. Brushy Lagoon and Craigbourne Dam have new restrictions on angling hours, with angling times now limited to one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset.
3. All canals and associated waters at Bronte Lagoon, Bradys Lake and River Derwent at Lake St Clair will now open and close in line with the brown trout season. These waters are:
a) The canal conveying water from Bronte Lagoon to Bradys Lake, including the area known as the white water
b) The canal conveying water from Dee Lagoon to Bradys Lake, between the mouth of the tunnel and Bradys Lake
c) The canal conveying water from Pine Tier Dam to Bronte Lagoon, between the Marlborough Highway and Bronte Lagoon
d) The River Derwent between the road bridge on the Lyell Highway at Derwent Bridge and the radial gates at St Clair Lagoon.
4. A range of waters that were once closed to fishing at all times will now open and close in line with the brown trout season. These waters are:
e) Waters of the Falls River between Russel Falls and the Tyenna River
f) Waters flowing into Lake Gordon (except McPartlan Canal that still remains closed at all times)
g) Waters flowing into Lake Pedder
h) St Marys Rivulet between the white posts 180 m up and down stream of the main road bridge at St Marys
i) Waters within the Warrawee Forest Reserve
j) Waters within a radius of 50 m where Agnews Creek and the canal flowing from Lake Sorell flow into Lake Crescent.
5. The 50 metre no fishing zone around inflowing waters that was applicable to many areas will now apply only to Arthurs Lake, Dee Lagoon, Great Lake, Lake Leake and Lake Sorell.
6. The Mersey River above Lake Rowallan will now open and close in line with the rainbow trout season.
7. The boundary for the rainbow trout season on the River Leven is now situated at the Loongana Road Bridge and will effectively make all waters above this point rainbow trout water.
8. All special regulations relating to Coffee Creek (i.e. disabled and junior angling only) and Middle Myrtle Pond have been removed, as both of these waters are no longer recognised or effectively managed as viable trout fisheries.
9. The provision for using a bush pole and for a juvenile angler using a handline in a coastal lagoon has been removed from the regulations. Anglers can collect bait in estuarine areas using bait net, as prescribed in the regulations.
10. The regulation for taking only two fish over 600 mm from the Pet and Guide dams has been removed.
11. There are new size and bag limits for Blackmans Lagoon, lakes Little Waterhouse, Big Waterhouse and Botsford. The minimum size limit for Blackmans Lagoon, Big Waterhouse and Little Waterhouse lakes has been increased to 300 mm and the bag limit has been lowered to five fish. Blackmans Lagoon also has a maximum size limit put in place with only two fish over 600 mm permitted. Lake Botsford has a new daily bag limit of one fish and a new minimum size limit of 500 mm.
12. Anglers may now continue to fish at water once their daily bag limit has been reached, provided all fish over the bag limit are returned to that water.
13. At Brumbys Creek weirs one and three the regulations now allow for the use of electric outboard motors or oars only when taking fish.
14. The boundary for the taking of bream (indigenous fish) on the River Derwent has been moved downstream to the Bridgewater Bridge.
*Note: The boom gate operating times for Huntsman Lake at the start of the season are from 7 am open to 5 pm close.
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