Tasmanian Fishing and Boating News Issue 135 December 2018

December 2018 – January 2019

TASMANIAN FISHING

Print Post approved 100003074

and BOATING NEWS — ISSUE 135

$5.95 Trout top the list for many over Summer.

Polaroiding — Steve ‘Starlo’ Starling

3

Onion Bag fly — Shane Broadby

6

Great Lake Sharks – Get in front — Jim Allen

10

Kids, Kings and Snapper — Kelly ‘Hooch’ Hunt

14

Squid - Taking it up a level — Matt Sherriff

19

Woods Lake - Worth the drive — James Sinnamon

27

Recreational sea fishing news

32

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ummer is such a great time and with a few extra days of holidays over Christmas it is even better.

Almost regardless of your fishing style it will be better at this time of the year. And warmer weather makes it more comfortable and longer days gives more opportunity.

However longer days does mean it is light at around 5am and for me it is getting harder to get out of bed at 4am to go fishing. Many years ago I could get up at 2.30am, drive to Little Pine and fish until 7am, jump in the car and home to Launceston in time to be at work at 9am.

Not sure if work suffered or not, but I suspect it did.

At the other end of the day though it is nice to be able to fish after work and still get a few hours in.

Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) is having a big impact with closures to the rock lobster fishery on Tasmania’s East Coast. It does not seem to be diminishing and perhaps never will. Parts of the East Coast are cycling through closures depending on test results.

The closures are to ensure Public Health Safety, so please be aware.

Mike Stevens talks fishing with Chris Wisbey ABC Statewide Saturday mornings 6.40 a.m.

Tasmanian Fishing and Boating News Published by Mike Stevens: PO Box 7504, Launceston, 7250.

Mike Stevens – P: 0418 129 949 or E: mike@tasfish.com Stevens Publishing, ABN 79 095 217 299 All material is copyright and cannot be reproduced without the permission of the publisher. Print Post approved; 100003074

Fishing News - Page 2

Arthurs Lake is having a little resurgence although seemingly fickle and inconsistent. Some anglers are reporting good catches each visit, whilst other are sworn off the place forever. Reports vary from lean fish to fat well coloured specimens full of snails. We all know it has changed and once it was the ‘jewel in the crown’ of Tasmanian fishing.

Down the road, Woods Lake is copping the pressure that was once spread between Sorell, Arthurs and Lagoon of Islands. It seems to be coping and has a large head of good conditioned fish.

Some are complaining of small fish, but this is a great sign of recent and large recruitment. Fly fishers, trollers and bait fishers are all enjoying Woods.

Great Lake has also gained an increased following over the last few years and once was ‘little fished’ by fly fishers. Now it has some extraordinary early morning wind lane and midge fishing and later on ‘blue sky’ days shark fishing in the waves is a strong and eagerly sought opportunity.

In blue water snapper, kings, King George whiting and bluefin continue to hit the top of the list and I heard a comment recently that bluefin had been caught every month of the year. WOW. Enjoy your Summer safely. Mike S

For subscriptions go to www.tasfish.com, phone Mike 0418 129 949 or pay by Paypal to mike@tasfish.com - Two years $60

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Starlo with a gorgeous brown trout he sight-cast a fly to under cloudy skies.

SEEING is BELIEVEING THE JOYS OF SIGHT FISHING Steve ‘Starlo’ Starling of www.fishotopia.com

I

n the opinion of many anglers (the author included), “sight-fishing” is the most exciting form of fishing ever devised. Seeing your prey before you make a cast and then watching its reactions to your bait, lure or fly lifts fishing to another level altogether, and really ratchets up the “hunting” aspects of our wonderful pastime… It’s also highly addictive!

Whether you prefer to use natural baits, lures or artificial flies, I believe that there’s simply no bigger thrill in the whole wide world of fishing than sneakily stalking your visible prey, carefully placing your offering in front of it and watching what happens next. I defy anyone not to

hold their breath and tense every muscle in their body with delicious anticipation as that target fish closes in on the trap you’ve just set. It matters little whether it’s a beautiful, wild brown trout tailing in the margin of a shallow highland lake, a fat, blue-nosed bream mooching under an estuary snag, or a silver trevally hunting across a sand flat. Time seems to slow and stretch as the seconds tick agonisingly by.

Will the fish eat, or will it spook away in alarm at the last moment?

For better or worse, once you’ve tasted the sheer delights of sight fishing, “blind casting”, “prospecting” or “flogging the water” will always be a distant second best.

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Fishing News - Page 3

Chalk and cheese! These images show the incredible difference that quality polarised lenses can make when looking for fish and fish-holding terrain.

A big trout cruises in clear water. What will be the best way to catch it?

THREE KEYS TO SUCCESS

Jo Starling relies heavily on her Mako prescription polarised eyewear when fishing.

Fishing News - Page 4

The three key ingredients for successful sight-fishing are a keen set of eyes, the ability to use them, and (in most scenarios) a pair of quality sunglasses with lightpolarising lenses. These so-called “polaroids” greatly enhance your ability to spot fish by dramatically reducing reflected glare bouncing back from the surface of the water, allowing you to see what lies beneath much more easily. Trust me: it’s worth spending as much on your sunnies as you would on a new rod or reel, because they’re at least as important to the sight-fishing process as that shiny piece of tackle. As a bonus, good glasses will also protect your eyes from damaging UV rays, not to mention sharp twigs, flailing rod tips and fast moving sinkers, lures or flies.

I’ve worn Mako Eyewear glasses for many years now, and I absolutely swear by them, but there are several other very good brands on the market, too. Have a look

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at what top guides and anglers on the pages of this publication wear. Then pick a highprofile maker with solid fishing credentials.

Steer clear of service station cheapies and the chemist shop bargain bins! Expect to fork out at least a couple of hundred bucks for a decent set of fishing eyewear and then look after your glasses. (With Christmas fast approaching, quality sunnies also make the perfect gift for keen fishers, so why not start dropping a few hints?)

And speaking of hints, here are a few to improve YOUR sight-fishing this summer:

your polarising sunglasses free from smears, water droplets, fingerprints, fogging and scratches. Like any other item of premium fishing tackle, your sunglasses perform best when they’re well maintained. Wipe your lenses regularly using a clean microfiber lens cloth, lens cleaning tissues or alcohol swabs.

Avoid wiping lenses with the corner of your shirt, your buff or an old towel! These garments are typically loaded with salt, dirt and detergent crystals that can badly degrade your lenses over time by creating a network of fine scratches and scuffs.

PICKING POLAROIDS

WORK THE ANGLES

Modern, polarised sunglasses come in a range of frame designs and lens tints, and typically feature either polycarbonate (plastic) or glass lenses. Polycarbonate lenses are lighter in weight and less expensive, but also scratch more easily. Glass is heavier, more expensive, but also harder wearing and generally of a higher optical quality, thereby providing a slightly clearer, crisper view.

Many leading eyewear makers also offer polarised and tinted prescription lenses, and these are an absolute blessing for those of us whose eyesight isn’t as sharp as it once was.

However, high quality prescription lenses aren’t cheap, so look after them!

In order to optimise your sight-fishing experiences, it’s extremely important to keep

Whenever you’re sight-fishing, always try to position yourself with the sun at your back, or at least off to one side or the other.

It’s much harder to spot fish and fish-holding structure beneath the surface of the water when you’re looking directly into the sun.

Also, bear in mind that the optimum light conditions for successful sight-fishing tend to occur when the sun is reasonably high in the sky: that’s typically between about 9 or 10AM and 4PM in Tasmania during summer.

Sight-fishing is certainly possible at other times of the day, but it won’t be as easy.

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Fishing News - Page 5

sight-fishing. However, while these conditions are ideal, they don’t occur consistently, especially in Tasmania!

It’s still possible to sight-fish under heavy cloud cover and in low light, you just need to work a little harder at it.

Move more slowly and look intently for hints like movement and subtle flashes of colour from cruising fish. It can also help to vary your lens colour selection on duller days by choosing tints from the yellow, rose and brown ends of the spectrum, as well as opting for lenses that allow a higher level of light transmission.

SPOTTING CLUES

When sight fishing, don’t expect to always clearly see your target fish swimming happily about. Wild fish living in natural environments can be extremely hard to spot at first.

Experienced sight fishers become adept at identifying the tiniest clues that often signpost the presence of fish.

Subtle movements, suspicious shapes or patterns, shadows, dull flashes, ripples and fin tips momentarily breaking the surface are all key indicators of the presence of fish. Often you’ll home in on

Don’t expect fish to always stand out clearly.

Can you see the large trout in this image? just a part of the fish rather than the entire animal. This might be the light-coloured mouth of a trout, or a darker V-shape on the trailing edge of a bream’s tail.

Learn to recognize these clues.

SHALLOW THINKING

You’re an Angler, and no matter how many times you go fishing you’ll want to go again and no matter how many fish you catch (or nearly catch) it will never be enough.

There will be days when the fishing is better than one’s most optimistic forecast, others when it is far worse.

Either is a gain over just staying home.

You’re hooked, along with us.

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Finally, remember that some of the finest sight-fishing opportunities encountered in both fresh and saltwater environments occur at extremely shallow depths, often hard up against the bank or shoreline.

Many anglers are surprised to learn that even large fish will swim in water barely deep enough to cover their backs, especially early and late in the day. So don’t be too quick to wade in! Always start by visually scanning the very shallowest margins first, before gradually turning your attentions to deeper water.

Remember these valuable tips and get out there this summer to give sight-fishing a serious crack.

I guarantee you’ll be hooked!

Starlo’s website portal www. fishotopia.com offers access to lots of nitty-gritty, how-to information like this, including detailed features on sight-fishing.

Jump on, have a good look around and consider signing up for the free monthly newsletter, or taking advantage of the current offer of a month’s free subscription to Fishotopia’s “Inner Circle” membership-only area… You’ll find yourself in some great company!

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Fishing News - Page 7

ONION BAG T

Commercial fly tyer, Shane Broadby shares his knowledge

he Orange Spinner hatch is well known around Tasmania’s lowland meadow streams and lowland ponds and impoundment with the various hatches made famous, particularly in the writings of David Scholes.

There have been many famous fly patterns developed for these spinner hatches such as the Macquarie Red and the Doubled Hackled Cocky just to name a couple. The Orange Spinner is also an occurrence in many highland Lakes, such as Dee Lagoon, Bronte Lagoon and of course Penstock Lagoon.

The Onion Bag is a fly that was developed for the Orange Spinner hatch that occurred in the early days at the now defunct Lagoon of Islands. The hatch was huge and the big fish gorged on them but the weedy conditions and the large fish caused a few problems, notably the quality of the hooks available in Tasmania at the time just wouldn’t cut the mustard and would often straighten during the battle, the problem was solved by Joe Martak, by tying his Onion Bag fly on much stronger, Low Water Atlantic Salmon fly hooks, a big fly for big fish!.

As the name suggests strands of poly propylene string bag that Onions are sold in is used for the fly we call the Onion Bag. Interestingly the original material used in Onion Bags was a much lighter pink colour than I have seen in modern Onion Bags which is brighter reddish pink.

Ken Orr gave me a sample of the original Onion Bag material that was used in the day, I have some low water salmon hooks so I tied one up, thankfully we have superb quality hooks these days so we can get away with more appropriate sized 10, 12 and 14 hooks.

Original Onion Bag Hook: Thread: Tail: Body: Wings: hen Hackle:

Size 10, 12 or 14 Partridge L5A Dark Brown 6/0 or 8/0 Uni Thread Red Cock hackle fibres A strand from a traditional Onion bag (Optional) Red hackle tips or speckled Red Cock

Parachute Onion Bag

I’ve been playing around with a parachute hackle variation of the onion Bag with some success, try it and see how you go Hook: Size 10, 12 or14 Partridge L5A Thread: Dark Brown 6/0 or 8/0 Uni thread Tail: Red cock hackle fibres Body: Strand from a traditional Onion bag Wing post: Dark brown and white poly yarn Thorax: Peacock coloured Glister or similar Parachute hackle: Red Cock Fishing News - Page 8

Traditional Onion Bag

Method

Lay down a thread base from the eye down to the hook bend and tie in hackle fibres for a tail, then forward the thread and leave it about ¼ hook length from the eye of the hook.

Cut a length each, from the white and dark brown Poly Yarn, split each length in half and then half each again so you have four equal pieces of yarn from each of the white and brown poly yarn lengths.

Place a piece of brown and white poly yarn together measure to the length of the hook shank with the brown piece of yarn laying on the hook shank and extending over the hook eye with the white piece of yarn on top of the brown , tie in with several firm turns, lift the section of the two pieces of yarn that is over the hook eye and wrap several turns of thread hard up and directly in front of the yarn, this will partly stand up what will be your wing post up, you should have the brown yarn on the leading edge facing the eye of the hook with the white yarn facing the bend of the hook you have just created a bi-coloured wing.

Snip off the end of the yarn that is pointing toward the hook bend behind the original tie in point, hold the wing, then wrap the thread in touching turns a third of the way up the wing and then back down the wing which will stand the wing up and form the base of your wing post, cover the cut ends of the poly yarn with the thread and leave it hanging.

Cut out a length of plastic string from your Onion Bag, split it into several thinner bits of string using your dubbing needle, the thinner piece of plastic string wraps and looks better as the body of your fly.

Tie the strand of onion bag in where you covered the cut ends of the Wing Post, then return the thread to the bend of the hook covering the strand as you go, then build a smooth slightly tapering under body with the thread towards, but ending just short of the wing post then leave the thread hanging, wrap the strand of Onion bag string in overlapping turns up towards the wing post and tie it in with firm wraps of thread, snip off the excess.

Parachute Onion Bag

Onion Bag tied on a Low Water Salmon hook Select a hackle a size larger than the hook size, pull some fibres from the base of the hackle stalk and tie the stalk in, in front of the wing base, hold the hackle and the wing together with the dull side of the hackle facing you and bind the wing post and the hackle together by winding up the wing post and back down again, finishing with the thread hanging in front of the wing.

Dub the thorax material to the thread and form a small thorax around the wing post by figure eight wrapping, ending with the thread hanging in front of the wing. With your hackle pliers wind the hackle in five turns, clockwise down the wing post with each wrap of hackle below the previous wrap and ensuring that the underside of the hackle is facing down, ending with the hackle pliers hanging between the thorax and the hook eye on your side of the hook.

Tie in the hackle with a couple of turns of thread being careful not to trap any hackle fibres , snip of the hackle, hold the hackle out of the way with your fingers, whip finish and apply head cement.

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TROUT DO NOT EAT WITH THEIR TAILS ‘Almost Tasmanian’ Jim Allen revisits sharking.

From first light fishing to midging fish in windlanes to late afternoon ‘sharking’ Great Lake offers some outstanding fishing.

I

t is many years since Peter Wilson of the Great Lake Hotel, now the Central Highlands Lodge discovered the ‘Glowing Great Lake Sharks’ in the late afternoon when he took some time off from pub duties. Today, many dedicated fly fishers watch the weather forecast eagerly in advance, and then the sky carefully every Summer morning in the highlands hoping for a stiff northerly breeze and a cobalt blue sky.

Why Great Lake?

A few Tasmanian lakes are ideal for this ‘Shark’ fishing in the waves and they must be crystal clear. Lakes such as Lake St Clair, Dee Lagoon, Lake Echo and Great Lake and on the mainland some of the lakes in the Snowy Mountains like Eucumbene.

It was possible once in Arthurs Lake, but no more, as it is far more turbid than in the past. Bronte is difficult but not impossible, because the water is clear but with an olive colour tinge.

The real excitement is the sighting of the trout and casting with accurate presentations in the wind and the waves. The actual catching and landing of them is nearly secondary. On a perfect day a dozen trout to the boat is possible.

The northerly breeze often brings with it a warm day for gum beetles, ants and any other terrestrial insect to hatch and a bright cobalt blue sky is essential. The biggest danger is the dreaded whispy cirrus clouds that often makes from the west heralding the next southerly change. These clouds make sight fishing so much more difficult and most times impossible leaving the only alternative for the boat angler to drift a shore with a large fly such as a Chernobyl Ant (nicknamed a thong on some boats!) as an attractor and a smaller beetle or hopper pattern a metre behind.

Fishing News - Page 10

But when the weather is perfect there is much excitement and expectation over coffee in the morning in highland shacks with anxious faces peering to the sky every few minutes, waiting for the sun to lift high enough for polaroiding.

Tackle

The tackle required is a strong 9 - 10 foot rod for a six to eight weight line. A weight forward line perhaps even a size heavier than that recommended by the rod maker to punch the line out fast is a good idea and fast accurate casting essential. Leaders longer than 3 metres will cause problems and a 2 to 3 kg breaking strain point is ideal in most circumstances.

Boat

Boats with flatish bottoms and reasonable low profile are best, with a casting platform up front. I have a 4.5 metre Polycraft and it is great. It is not too big, nor high sided for trout to see, and yet big enough to get home

reasonably dry in a breeze. I do try to be careful and not get caught in a big wind at the wrong end of the lake. Choose your launching place to suit the day and your intended fishing areas. Use some common sense.

Flies

Flies often don’t matter — accurate presentation does.

However a Gibson style foam gum beetle probably has no equal. Unfortunately Bruce does not tie any more, but there are some good copies in tackle stores. One mate of mine swears by a largish Royal Wulff because he can see it easily.

I like my beetles a little bigger than lifelike—and at Great Lake the fish seems to like bigger flies too. Some years ago I liked a John Fox’s Battleship which really is an overgrown Red Tag. I use a single fly because if you present it in front of a trout they will see it from many metres away. Some anglers use two or three flies and I don’t think it matters much, only sometimes speed is often of the essence and the more flies, the more tangles, particularly when landing a trout!!

This form of fly fishing is very visual and it is extremely important you can see your fly. Dark flies are harder to see than lighter coloured hackle flies as there is little reflection. Hopper patterns are also excellent and it is amazing how many hoppers you will find in the stomach contents if you keep a couple for eating.

Method

A large, light coloured Bruce Gibson Beetle seems to work well on Great Lake.

Many anglers cruise just using their electric motors going across and parallel with the waves searching for the trout that are up in the waves. I still use my outboard motor as my 60hp Honda can go slowly and quietly, particularly if I aim it slightly into the waves. The important point to make

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is to use the sun and obtain the best vision you can and this angle of cruising can sometimes be altered because of a channel of cirrus cloud or angle of light at different times of the day.

On my boat we fish as a team with one angler up the front ‘on point’ with line laid out in the boat or over the side for a super fast presentation. The boat driver and angler on my boat usually compete with each other as to who sees a fish first. Even a different spot or being higher in the boat can make a difference.

Angle of light can change dramatically through the day and it is important all on the boat are hawk-eyed. I’m often amazed how the team member at the back of the boat sees a fish when it has been missed by the angler standing up front of the boat on point. I often wonder at how many fish are not seen at all!! We change anglers on catching a fish and depending how many fish are up we have two or three presentations and your off point and back driving the boat…so through a good day both anglers get a few casts at fish.

On sighting a fish the driver pulls the boat out of gear and glides to the fish or reverses quietly to stop the forward motion. Any revving of the motor will likely spook the fish. The aim is to sight a fish at a reasonable distance from the boat!! Too close usually means a spooked fish but occasionally you will be surprised how close you can creep up on a fish particularly if it is looking away. And sometimes a fish will be sighted more than 30-40 metres away.

Good polaroids and a wide brim hat are essential. There are many good polaroid brands these days and quite a few specialise in the fishing market. Make sure they wrap around as much as possible as this keeps the light coming

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Fishing News - Page 11

the side of the glasses and reducing your vision. A wide brim hat with dark underside is ideal as it stops sun from above and reflection from the water underneath the hat.

Peak caps are not for polaroiding and will handicap you.

As far as the fish are concerned the time of day does not seem to matter. If there has been an early morning midge hatch the fish are ‘up’ from first light but in general terms the warmer part of the day seems to be the most successful and of course the light for polaroiding is best from about 11am to 4 pm.

The vision is also helped by the increasing breeze from the north. Large beetle falls can be frustrating because the fish fill up quickly on a good fall and go down I suspect with a belly ache but it seems to me there will always be an odd fish up in the waves late.

The fish are often in patches and it is quite important to hang around an area where you’ve seen a fish or two and quite often we will stop and drift or drive down a foam lane, particularly if we’ve seen a fish in it! Foam lanes to are really another form of wind lane and often have food in them. Both rainbows and browns will come up and it always amazes me that on some days mostly rainbows are on the surface and other days mostly browns. I’ve yet to discover why… but that all part of the magic.

Learn to cast

Jim Allen says ‘when fishing the waves at Great Lake–there is no better fly that a Gibson Foam Gum Beetle.’

Fishing News - Page 12

Fast accurate casting is important and often I find myself frustratedly screaming at a fellow angler that they don’t eat the bloody fly with their tail. (They usually are still happy to have a beer with me at the pub afterwards because the fishing as been so exciting!). In wind the fly most times will fall back, even in the hands of a good caster and it is important to lead the fish so the fly lands in front so the trout can see it. It really is the fundamental point for successful fishing in the waves…. that is I repeat…. to put the fly in front of the fish. Sounds simple but it’s not always that easy! It is so easy to learn to cast well these days. Peter Hayes is a fantastic casting teacher - get a lesson and practice - you will catch more fish.

Some days are diamonds and some days the fish are spooky and difficult. I think this has much to do with how hungry the fish are! After a long spell of cold, cloudy weather, the first perfect day usually provides the best fishing. Sometimes the fish are in pods another day they are singles or alone. Each day is a little different and it is important to use every sense you have to make the best of the conditions.

In recent years the Great Lake has been very low and the weed beds or shrimp beds have redeveloped with the sunlight over many acres of shallow water. The fish have picked up in condition and some superb trout have been taken. However this year after heavy winter rains the lakes will be deeper and the weed beds may die back because of lack of photosynthesis and if there is not a lot of hot days I suspect the trout will go back in condition as they will rely on terrestrial food rather than the shrimp beds that developed over the past few years.

But they will still be good fish to catch. I’m sure it will be an interesting summer.

In the great wide world of fishing with a fly rod, fishing in the waves is another arrow to add to the quiver of things to do and certainly worth consideration if you have the use of a boat.

Jim Allen

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Fishing News - Page 13

KIDS KINGS and SNAPPER Kelly ‘Hooch’ Hunt with a few tips.

I

t is here and after a few stops and starts it looks like it’s here for good. What am I talking about…?

SUMMER. We all love it for different reasons but for me it’s the increase in fishing. It’s a time when all species seem to fire, but I think it has also a lot to do with our collective time on the water. The weather warms up and so too does the action on the Facebooks. We see pics of fishos into em and we get keen, so we get out ourselves.

Then if we catch something of merit up it goes on the book and drives the machine and everyone gets keen.

Daylight savings is a huge bonus as well with more daylight hours to play with. The weekend becomes sort of longer in summer and bed times get later. Weeknights also become viable as a fish after work is always on the cards. So it is no secret that I love summer.

There has been a heap of great fish caught thus far and we are only just starting to fire up. Some of the species that have a cult following are snapper and yellowtail kingfish and they are here early in good numbers. I love chasing both these species as they both fight very well for size and are great eating. We might talk about a few tips for snapper and where you might try and find kings this summer.

Kids

If the kids are having fun and kept amused - you might get ‘fishos’ for life.

Fishing News - Page 14

I love my kids, as we all do, but kids and fishing can often be a frustration. In the colder climes it is a real pain. They will get wet and miserable and then it’s all over.

The whinges come out and makes whatever you are trying to do a misery. The key here is to start out slow and simple and target a simple species first — flathead, squid and salmon are good. Then you can keep taking little steps and including them along the way.

If you try and do what you want, and have always done without taking the kids into consideration you are setting yourself up for a fail. They will hate fishing. What you are trying to do is instill in them the love of the activity, the

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outdoors and being with dad. Get it right and you will have them telling mum that they want dad to take them fishing. That is a much better scenario than going fishing and dumping the kids on her indoors…. And that’s how the fight started.

Make sure you have a happy outfit of little fisho’s on your hand, you do not want a mutiny.

Pack plenty of food and a few snacks. Water and some fruit juice is always a good idea and hide away a treat if things start to go downhill and you need to arrest the situation. This time of year sunscreen and a big hat is a must.

Wow… can you get into some trouble from the wifey if you bring home sunburnt kids

Pick some low hanging fruit like squid or Australian salmon and make sure you can hit your target. The enemy of the child’s mind is boredom, but get them onto a squid in a few minutes and you will have a fan.

A squid to a child is like a sea monster. You want your kids sprouting to their friends “Dad took us hunting for sea monsters on the weekend.”

In all sports there will be a reason for participation and a reason for persisting and you don’t want these to be forced but rather forged out of fun. The key is to be relaxed and include the kids in everything, even if it is not how you would do it. Let them choose the colour of the squid jig even if it isn’t what you would run at the time. Let them cast it no matter their skill level as if you are in a boat the jig will find the squid zone eventually.

I have got to the stage of having my kids take ownership of the weather call. They love computers and having them shop between WILLY weather and BOM for a favorable window to head out is gold. The weather sites are very visual with graphs and tables that can really hold the kids attention. Here is one of the true keys to what you are trying to do here. You are not just taking the kids for a fish. You are including them in the whole adventure and experience from start to finish.

Give them some responsibility and they will thrive. If they just bubble along and feel they are baggage the “I’m bored” calls will start up pretty quick.

The youngest of kids chests will bulge if you ask them the simplest of tasks and involve yourself in showing them. Before leaving put your four year old in charge of carrying the little tackle box with five of her own jigs in it. Have the seven year old know where the bungs are and be involved in screwing them in. The 10 year old will love being asked to turn the sounder on and plot a course to where you are going to start. All simple stuff to us, but is like going to Disneyland for your child…

“I helped Dad!” First few trips out with kids and it is all about them and getting them a fish. Don’t you try and fish all you are there for is to be a little people man servant. Put them on some ground that they will catch something and watch the fun unfold. You don’t have to catch any special fish either. Any fish that they catch will be a special occasion and catching one to eat will just be a bonus. You will never see excitement or amazement greater than when a kid catches a puffer fish or toady all blown up round as a ball.

If you don’t have a live well with a glass front by all means sell that boat and buy a SURTEES because they have them and they are cool. You put a few fish inside a glass fronted livey tank and you have the kid’s attention for ever. Even from the shore or in a smaller boat take a bucket you can put some water and some fish in and you will have them hooked !

You may be wondering why I am going on about this — can we just get on with the fishing chat. Well, it is a means to an end. If you have kids with interests that are also your interests then you are going to have a happy life. Is there anything better in life than having kids harp on about “when are we going fishing again Dad?” So get them out there and catch some simple things first and before you know it, that tiny child you taught how to catch squid, will be a young adult beaming about the tuna trip you just had or the weekend up the lakes catching trout.

Snapper wars

These fish are a bit of an enigma — a fancy word for mystery. The mystery for me is why we have not caught these fish in quantity before. Is it part of the changing cycles of weather and current or that we have not targeted them in the way we are now in the past.

I am not complaining though as they are turning up everywhere and are being caught by more and more people. Some people seem to think that the spots they are caught need to be kept secret or coveted by only a few. This to me is nonsense and I will explain why.

Snapper have been caught by clever people in the North North east, The Tamar and on the North North west for many years. In recent times we have seen them caught on the North West coast of Devonport and Wynyard and also more and more down south in and around the Derwent. Now I can only talk of my own experience off the North West coast and in Particular across my home stretch off the Forth River and down towards Don Heads, but I have formulated some pretty strong views.

Snapper are everywhere. If you are in an area that you are catching blue throat wrasse and pike you are in close proximity to what I call snapper ground. The wrasse and the pike tell me you are on a healthy part of the reef with a few holes and ups and downs. If you use your sounder and find some healthy reef with a two or three metre depth difference and then that reef flattens out onto some shale or sand you have a great place to start. When I say start I mean start the process because repeated success on snapper means a process.

Working out your position to anchor is the first thing to get sorted and this may be something new to you as a lot of our fishing is done on the drift or underway. You must drop anchor and pay out line so that you are sitting just off the reef edge around 10 metres or so. Too close

and you will be harassed by wrasse and draught board sharks. Once sitting pretty on anchor get your burley in the water. I like to use a stainless steel cage and drop it to the bottom with a few shakes. Then get your pilchard cubes going cutting a pilchard into roughly seven equal pieces. Throw two to the left, two to the right and two just at the back of the boat. With the last piece throw it as far as you can behind the outboard. Why — Who knows? It’s just what I do.

Then get your rigs baited and you can have two sorts here. A snapper flasher rig out each side of the boat at 90 degrees and a couple of stray line rigs lightly weighted so they drift down with the berley. When they look to have hit the bottom you can leave them for a few minutes and then wind them in and re-cast. After you have re-cast one you can redo a pilchard. After you have re-cast the second rod bring up your burley pot with your fine burley in it and give it a couple of tea bag jigs at midway and the top. Then repeat.

It is quite a process and you are setting the trap. You will have to wear a bit of bycatch from time to time, but re-bait and reset and wait. You are waiting for the snapper on the reef and in the shale channels to come past and see your beautifully prepared trap. When they do they can take two or three rods at a time and it will get busy. In a session they might come through once or twice — three times if you are lucky.

Get into a tackle store and ask for information on what gear to use. They are all very well educated on what’s been working and what is a good fit for what you are doing be it shore based or in a boat. My snapper fishing is in a boat so I have been falling in love with the ABU GARCIA Veritas rods and use a 6 foot 8 in 3-7kg matched with the new Elite Max reels. These reels are a sensation at only $129. There is a lot of chat around

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Fishing News - Page 15

Attomic PRINT.pdf 1 31/08/2017 3:03:53 PM

The yellowtail kings are another fish that gets anglers excited. These hoodlums as they are also known are also showing up more and more and in places one would not expect. The traditional haunts of Montagu and Waterhouse Island have coughed some fish up already along the North West coast. I have also heard of reports in the Derwent of fish being seen, but haven’t heard of regular captures yet. Over the last couple of seasons the fish have been found all around Tasmania. This leads me to believe that you just have to get out there and have a crack.

Gear up and make sure you have the right gear to cover enough water to find them. Bigger longer rods set up to cast bigger lures a mile is what you need. Reels in the 4-5000 size bracket filled with quality braid. I was using a 9foot rod last week with some of Berkley’s X9 braid in 30lb and the casting distance was ridiculous.

Find a point with a bit of depth or a drop off and just start casting. What have you got to lose, at the very least you may find some big Australian salmon. Any point and head land is worth a go. Particularly if the area has some rocks and reef that leads into some sand.

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Fishing News - Page 16

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hooks but I use OWNER circles in 5/0 or 6/0 and I love them. Perfect hook sets and super strong in case you get that big one come along. Time on the water is also a big key. Practicing your craft so you have the perfect trap set when the fish come roaring past.

There are a heap of places to try and don’t let anyone tell you it’s not worth it. Find a rocky point and thrash it till the cows come home.

Cast long and hard and then rip it back in at a furious pace. That’s the thing with kings, not all the time but more often than not they like a fast erratic retrieve. Cast in a big fan arc and scour that water with your lure. Let the lure sink as well before you retrieve. Change to a different style of lure and do it again.

There will again be an argument on tides but I would be trying the last third of the run in tide. That is when the bait fish are active and nervous high in the green water that has come in with the tide and looking nervously for a feed for themselves. Spend the time there and cast your arm off. Nothing comes easy and this is also the case with breaking new ground for kingies.

If you don’t do any good then come back again another day and have a second crack. If you don’t

do any good then you can move your attack to another rocky headland.

A back pack and a good set of sturdy shoes will be your friend.

There is some good areas to try out around the front of the rock cliffs of Stanley and Wynyard, but you will need to walk in. Preservation Bay and the areas in and around the Three Sisters in Ulverstone are worth a look as well. Get the walking shoes on and try the rock areas from the mouth of the Don River towards Lillico straight. You should come across Paradise Cove and cast your arm off in that area.

Make sure you take a landing net and shoes that will handle a bit of salt water as hooking a king is only the first bit. Landing it is going to be super tricky in some of these areas.

Good luck in your ventures and make sure you remember the sunscreen. I love summer but I hate getting roasted.

Kelly ‘Hooch’ Hunt

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Fishing News - Page 17

Fishing News - Page 18

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SQUID TAKING IT UP A LEVEL Matt Sherriff explains this hugely popular sport and table fare.

F

ishing for squid over the last few years in Tasmania has become increasingly popular. Not only are these strange looking creatures great fun to catch, they are also exceptional on the plate. Social media has no doubt contributed to the growing awareness of this species and anglers now realise how accessible squid are around our state. Regardless of whether you have a boat or are shore based you generally do not have to travel too far to find a feed.

When squid are on the chew, they will aggressively hunt down almost any jig that is thrown at them and you can put yourself amongst the action using a basic rod and reel combo or even a hand line for that matter.

However, this isn’t always the case and sometimes a change of technique and equipment is required to help you to extract some of these tasty morsels from the water. In this article I will focus more on a Japanese style of squid fishing known as Egi-ing.

Rod

An Egi rod will be around 8 foot in length and usually come in 2-4kg or 3-5kg weight ranges. The 2-4kg rods are suited to size 2.5 – 3.5 jigs and the 3-5kg rods are better suited to the 3.0 – 4.0 sized jigs. These rods have a relatively stiff tip for imparting action to the jig and are parabolic for dealing with lunging squid without ripping the spikes of the jig out of the squid. A parabolic rod will bend in a large U-shaped arc across it’s length, unlike the fast tapered rods that are suited to lure and plastics fishing where you’ll find the top third of the rod is the only part that really bends over. Egi rods are generally fitted with low rider guides, as unlike normal lure spinning where a lure loses speed very quickly, squid jigs maintain a high speed for a long distance when cast.

These guides are designed for casting long distances whilst eliminating any line wrap when using soft braided lines. Good rods are made of high modulus carbon and will have good sensitivity and be very light in hand. I

use both the Crucis Egi Ink (3-5kg) and the Lox EGi AU7924 (2-4kg).

Reel

A 2000 – 3000 size reel which is braid friendly and has a smooth drag is all that is needed. The reel does not need a large line capacity unless you intend to use it on other pelagic fish. The best advice I could pass on with reels is to try it on the rod before buying to make sure it balances up well. We have been using Crucis Carbon reels but have recently been testing the new Pioneer Cyclones and have been happy with the results.

Line

Braided line is a must for this style of fishing as the lack of stretch is critical to not only impart action on the jig, but also to detect strikes. I prefer to run fluoro orange or green line as it stands out and you can easily

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Fishing News - Page 19

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Fishing News - Page 21

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see subtle movements in the line which will indicate a take. As far as breaking strain goes, I generally run 12lb braid with a 12lb shock leader of around 2 metres in length. Previously I was running an 8lb leader but have not found the 12lb to be a disadvantage with the squid whilst giving you a better chance of retrieving your jig if it gets snagged up.

Jigs

There are many high-end jigs on the market these days, ranging up to $30 in price. These jigs may seem expensive but if the squid are playing hard to get, they can be the difference between a good day and a slow one. Good jigs will have high quality cloth which is ultrareflective with most being UV enhanced. These jigs will also have an attractive sinking action with some even listing the sink rate on the packaging. The Hayabusa jigs that I use in the 3.5 size have a sink rate of just over 3 seconds per metre which allows you to count the jigs down to get into the zone. As far as colours go, it is best if fishing with others to all be using different colours to start with and change to the ones that are working best on the day. Many anglers prefer red foils for low light periods and gold foils as the sun gets up, but as with all fishing, it all depends on the day.

violent jerks which will make the jig dart up like fleeing or injured prey. After this allow the jig to sink back down to the bottom by dropping the tip of your rod whilst maintaining contact with the jig by winding in any slack line. The initial action of the jig will get the interest of the squid and bring them over to your jig and then they will grab it as it begins to fall back down. It is important to keep the slack out of your line and watch it intently as it drops (this is why I use bright line) to see if there are any changes indicating a strike. If you suspect a hit, strike immediately and drive the spikes home. This technique will also increase the life of your jigs as the squid don’t have time to pull the jig in and take a chunk out of the material with their sharp beaks!

Other tips

Squid have big eyes and hunt primarily by sight. Clear water is paramount to successful squid fishing and calm conditions will often give the best results. After heavy

rains or big seas, it is often best to let things settle before you plan a trip to avoid disappointment.

If it’s a tough day, sometimes anchoring in an area where you’ve picked one or two up and then using some burley will improve results. The burley will often attract small fish such as gars or mullet which will then attract the squid and keep them in the area.

Keep at it!! Sometimes we have been out for an hour or so for one squid and then in the next half an hour caught 20 or 30. Be patient; like all fish there will be times where they feed hard and times when they go off. We’ve found they tend to shut down when the tide stops running, so this is a great time to grab a bite to eat in between sessions.

Make sure you give them some time to expel their ink before you land them unless you don’t mind a face full of the black stuff. It also pays to point them away from you when netting and never wear any clothes that you aren’t prepared to sacrifice!

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Net

Whilst any net will do, we find the large mesh rubber nets the best as the jigs don’t tend to get tangled up in them and they are very good at dispersing the ink. A quick swish through the water is all that’s needed to get any remaining ink from the mesh after boating your catch. Gaff-Mann have a great Rubber Mesh net which is a perfect size for the task, other brands such as Berkley also make similar products.

Glasses

We all know to wear glasses when we’re fishing to protect our eyes, but do you wear high quality polarised eyewear? A good pair of glasses is nearly as important as your fishing rod and you will definitely catch more squid wearing some! Being able to see squid following your jig not only helps to lift your catch rates but will also give you an understanding of how they react to the movements of the jig. Once you have their attention, and they have followed up your jig, most of the time it is just a simple case of feeding the jig back down to them to entice a strike. We choose to wear Tonic Glasses and have found them to have exceptional lenses that are scratch resistant and also photochromic, which means that the lens will darken slightly in bright light and lighten up in overcast or darker conditions which suits most fishing conditions.

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Technique

Most of us are used to throwing out your jig, letting it sink and just giving the rod a slow lift and drop to work the jig. With the Egi style of fishing you need to become a little more active. Cast out your jig (if your drifting, cast forward and off to the side of your boat to allow your jig to sink faster) and let it get to the desired depth. One of the most important things to do is to get your jig within a foot or so of the bottom as this will entice the squid up from the cover of the weed.

The next step is where the technique differs. You now impart the action on your jig with two or three erratic/

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Fishing News - Page 23

Dispatch your catch quickly by squeezing tightly between the head and tube or using a spike to the brain (there are specific spikes designed for squid).

This will stop the squid regenerating ink and help make it less messy come cleaning time.

Cleaning: Whilst I’ve always loved catching and eating squid, the one task I’ve never been fond of is cleaning the messy critters. These days I use a purpose designed cleaning bag which eliminates pretty much all of the mess and saves heaps of time! We have been using the Hawk and Gaff-Mann bags for this and rate them highly. Note: don’t skimp out on one of these bags if you value your catch, a cheap option won’t seem like such good value when you look out the back and see you morning’s catch returning to Davey Jones’ locker! If you want to see how these bags work, type in Matt Sherriff Squid Cleaning in YouTube for a video demonstration.

Hopefully this article gives you some inspiration to give the Egi style of squid fishing a crack! This is not only a fun way to target them, I can guarantee it will see you filling the bucket quicker than before…especially on those tough days!

Matt Sherriff

Salt and pepper squid

The key to tender squid is to cook it quickly, in hot oil. If cooked for too long, it will be chewy.

Prep: 10 mins; Cooking: 10 mins; Serves 4 Ingredients: 4 squid tubes, cleaned 1/2 cup cornflour 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon ground dried chillies 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice Vegetable oil, for deep frying Method: 1. Cut the squid tubes open and lay flat.

2. Using the blade of a knife, gently scrape the very fine membrane covering the squid to rough it up a bit.

3. Score the squid in a criss-cross pattern and cut into strips about 2 cm wide.

4. Combine the flour and spices in a bowl.

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WOODS IS WORTH the DRIVE James Sinnamon gives a few tips.

W

ith so many great trout fishing locations in Tasmania, where does one go! Some people may argue that woods lake is currently one of the best brown trout fisheries in Tasmania. It is a fishery that does need to be stocked, as it has a good population of fish that can spawn each season! The lake is an ideal location to get away and off the grid for a weekend, with it facilitating good free camp spots (not ideal for caravans) and having little to no phone reception. The road access into the lake has been improved in recent years, to where it is now less damaging on boat trailers if taken easy.

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Fishing News - Page 27

From timber lined banks and a high abundance of a variety of different weeds and grasses, it is no doubt, the lake is rich in insect life, which is ideal for a healthy abundance of fish. There is a lot of variation in fish size, everything from 10cm to 60cm +. There is a large abundance of good condition 1-2lb fish that fight really well. Whether it’s trolling, casting lures, fly-fishing or land based fishing, the lake has many good fishing options. The lake is less than 4m in depth, depending on water levels. The average depth would be around 2m, with a bottom type primarily made up of a variety of weed beds. When it comes to driving a boat on the lake, it is generally safe going out in the open, however occasionally after bad weather, there has been a few floating logs to watch out for. Going into the bays, its best to take it easy, even trimming the motor up at times as there are a few trees and stumps. It’s also good to keep in mind that when in around the strap weed and shallows, to avoid damaging the weed with your prop

and use electrics where possible, having them trimmed up so it’s not tearing a channel through the weed beds.

Trolling

Commonly I see people trolling in the middle of the lake rather than near to the shore. This may be because they are trying to avoid being caught up in the large amounts of weed close to shore. When trolling the lake the fish are sometimes congregated in particular areas.

Working parallel to the shore I often see boats, trolling almost an entire length of one shore and then head back down the shore and work small zigzags out into open water from the fishiest section along that shore.

Spinning

As the season warms up, the weed grows more and becomes an increasing problem to spin fishers. To top it off the large number of birds on the lake don’t help the cause, some birds (Swans etc.) feed in the weed and pull chunks out at a time. These bits of weed then blow out from the shore by the winds and push out into the lake and bays, creating a real issue to fish in, especially when casting and retrieving trebled lures! Trebles are famous for getting caught on every bit of weed they pass. To avoid this try using weedless rigged soft plastics and or fish in and around the timber and rocks. Fishing out wide with shallow diving minnows can also be very successful.

To Arthurs Lake LOCATION

LAUNCESTON

PRIVATE PROPERTY

WOODS LAKE

HOBART

WOODS

PRIVATE PROPERTY

E

LAK

PERMANENT TIMBER PRODUCTION ZONE AD

RO

Up

per

ke

La

HYDRO LAND River

WOODS

Area prohibited for navigation

iver Lake R Woods Lake Dam

PUBLIC RESERVE

LAKE 738 m

PRIVATE PROPERTY

CROWN LAND

PUBLIC RESERVE

PRIVATE PROPERTY HYDRO LAND N 0

0.5

1km

105 York St, Launceston Phone: 03 6331 8944

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Fishing News - Page 28

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1.5

2km

www.tasmap.tas.gov.au

From the shore

Although boat fishing is the primary choice for getting good access to the lake, shore fishing can still be well worth it. Most of the lakes timber is along the shores lines, this is an ideal place to find hungry trout feeding. However the road only covers a small proportion of the lake shore, from the boat ramp along the north shore to the dam wall, leaving a little area to fish without having to walk several kilometres from the car.

Fly Fishing

The type of fly fishing in the lake is somewhat dependent on the time of season in relation to insect activity. Now that it has warmed up and the bugs are getting about, the need for stripping wets (streamers) is over. No doubt there is still a time and place where stripping wets will still get the fish if that is what you enjoy doing.

The only time I would consider stripping wets during summer, is if the weather conditions are cold, wildly windy and wet! Summer is generally the time of season when the fish are easiest to fool with a dry fly! Who doesn’t like a good dry fly eat?

My go to dries are duns, black spinners, gum beetles and red tags! Duns and spinners have recently started to really get about on the lake, with duns more commonly seen in and around the weed beds, while the spinners are found in larger abundance along the rocky and timber

Fishing in the timber and strap weed can be particularly exciting especially when trying to land a fish.

Launching facilities are good, but can get a little crowded at times.

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Fishing News - Page 29

shores! In saying this I would fish more dun patterns out from the weedy bays and more black spinners along the rocky shores and open water. When the gum beetles are out in full force, it’s a no brainer to fish a gum pattern, however when fishing a team of flies, I will generally only fish one gum beetle at a time, usually on the top dropper when fishing it with a nymph and on the point when fishing all dries. Nymph under dry is a deadly combination, especially with a gum beetle on the top dropper, as the beetle works as a good indicator and can allow you to fish nymphs slowly. I find a slow retrieve to be very efficient in fooling the fish with a nymph.

When the dry fly fishing is slow I have found orange beaded nymphs in green, brown and black to work best.

The lake is naturally a bit turbid in colour, this is where the orange bead works well to get the fishes attention.

The red tag is a gun pattern that has worked very well for me in the past few years on this lake when it comes to sight-fishing in the shallows! As a fly fisher we have the advantage when fishing the shallows amongst the strap weed, we can sit the fly in a pocket clear of the weed and wait for the fish to pass round on its beat. On some occasions you can be sitting in the same spot and have several fish come swimming past. When fishing the shallows in around the weed and grass, my nymph of choice is almost always a stick caddis, whether sight fishing or fishing blind.

James Sinnamon

All the usual flies work, but also try a Red Tag with a Stick Caddis dropper.

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Fishing News - Page 30

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Fish Rulers

RECREATIONAL SEA FISHERIES NEWS December 2018

Two fishing rulers are available free from Service Tasmania and tackle shops for fishers to use: The fish measuring sticker ruler is designed for boat fishers to stick on gunwales or seats of boats or on other fishing platforms. It’s 800mm long and includes size and catch limits accompanied by colour fish images to identify your catch.

The flexible plastic fish tackle box ruler which is portable and designed for use by shore-based fishers.

Flathead Ruler

A specially designed, folding flathead ruler featuring an image of a 32cm legal-size sand flathead. Use this ruler to measure your catch, identify which flathead species you caught and check up on flathead size and catch limits. These are available from Fishcare.

Buying Christmas Crays?

A reminder that if you are buying rock lobster for Christmas this year, make sure they are caught by a commercial fisher. You can recognise commercially caught lobster (known to all in Tassie as crayfish) by the coloured tag with the Tasmanian Government logo and serial number on their horns that is attached at the point of sale. It is an offence to buy, sell, barter or raffle recreationally caught fish in Tasmania.

Report Illegal Fishing

Pick up the Recreational Sea Fishing Guide booklet or dowload the app to your phone.

Rock Lobster and Abalone Gauges

Recreational Sea Fishing Guide

The 2018-19 Recreational Sea Fishing Guide is available from Service Tasmania outlets, tackle stores and some visitor centres. It contains easy to understand information about licensing, fishing rules, catch limits, species identification and area restrictions.

Tas Fish Guide App

The Tas Fish Guide app is an interactive version of the Recreational Sea Fishing Guide. It has over 135 fish images, interactive maps, seafood recipes and the ability to log and share your catch. Download it free from the Apple App or Google Play Stores. More details at www. fishing.tas.gov.au/phoneapp.

DPIPWE Sea Fishing Website

All the sea fishing rules, bag and possession limits and season information are online at: www.fishing.tas.gov.au Fishing News - Page 32

Plastic rock lobster gauges are available free from Service Tasmania shops. Gauges made of bronze or stainless steel (which tend to be easier to place in the antennal notch because they are thinner) can be bought at larger tackle shops around the state.

Abalone multi-gauges for blacklip and greenlip abalone are available from Service Tasmania shops.

Give the Perfect Fishy Christmas Gift

Do you have a hard-to-buy-for fisher in your life?

Why not surprise them this year with a set of beautiful Fishes of Tasmania posters? Two different sets of four posters each are available from Service Tasmania shops for the low price of $20 per set.

View the posters at: www.fishing.tas.gov.au/ fishposters

If you see something fishy including someone stealing our fish resources please report the details to Fishwatch on 0427 655 557.

It helps if reports are made at the time you observe the alleged offence – it may be the critical information the Marine Police need.

The following information will help the Marine Police combat illegal fishing: Time and location of offence.

Fishing gear used with ID numbers.

Car and boat descriptions including rego numbers Name or description of person/s involved.

The Fishwatch hotline is used for police matters and to report lost, stolen and irretrievable fishing gear only. If you have general enquiries, please ring the Recreational Fisheries Enquiry Line. To check your licence status or number, use the licence look up function page at: www.fishing.tas.gov.au/licence

Need more information?

Get a copy of the Recreational Sea Fishing Guide, download the Tasmanian Sea Fishing Guide app; Go to www.fishing.tas.gov.au; or www.facebook. com/FisheriesTasmania Phone: 1300 720 647 or 03 6165 3233 Email: fishing.enquiries@dpipwe.tas.gov.au

www.tasfish.com - Get the knowledge - Get the fish.

www.tasfish.com - Get the knowledge - Get the fish.

Fishing News - Page 33

There are two different sets of four posters each, similar to this, available from Service Tasmania.

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Fishing News - Page 35