Tasmanian Fishing and Boating News Issue 115 2015 April

April - May 2015

TASMANIAN FISHING and BOATING NEWS — ISSUE 115

263.5kg Broadbill

Kyle Longmore with a pending Australian record.

Page 5

Jetty Rats

Kids and jetties are a great mix.

Page 8

Choosing soft plastics Steve Starling simplifies it.

Print Post approved 100003074

Page 10

End of Season Trout

Plenty of tips and stories.

From page 32

Shallow Estuary Flathead Leon Compton with a large female southern bluespot flathead from Duck Bay. See more on page 14.

$5.95

Not easy to catch, but you can take 30 of these monster flathead. Is it time to change the rules?

These large flathead are few and far between.

They are not easy to catch, but nevertheless they probably should have more regulatory protection than what they currently have.

One of the basic premises of fisheries management is the ‘precautionary principle’.

The flathead above is a southern bluespot or castlenaus. They are not rare and it is known the large ones are generally breeding females.

Scalefish rules are currently under review and it would be wise if these large, shallow water breeding fish were protected with small bag or slot limits.

Broadbill Bonanza — Leo Miller

5

Jetty Rats — Gavin Hicks

8

Choosing the right Soft Plastics — Steve Starling

10

Flathead Frenzy — Leon Compton

14

Kayakin’ – Avoiding a Dunking — Jo Starling

20

Tuna – Southern Bluefin — Jonah Yick

25

Trout – Last Cast — Michal Rybka

32

Trout – Lesson Learned — Nick Taransky

36

Trout – Shortening Days — Justin Causby

39

Tuna – Game fishing May and June — Kelly Hunt

42

New Products

45

Marine Fishing News

48

Black and Gold Yep Flapper

Red Rascal pre-rigged Yep Split Tail

Two best plastics in Tas. - Will catch any fish Fish caught include: Brown trout Rainbow trout Brook trout Australian salmon Flathead Silver trevally Pike Barracouta Weed whiting

Wrasse Black bream Mullet Cod Find them at your local tackle store.

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

Yippee for Tasmania’s estuaries. It has been a dramatic turn around for Tasmania’s estuaries over the last few years. St. Helen’s Georges Bay and Smithton’s Duck Bay are two examples of what can happen with protection from excessive fishing practices.

Both these places have established populations of King George whiting, kingfish, silver trevally and a variety of other species that have been little seen before.

The bluespot flathead in Duck Bay featuring on the cover is becoming a huge attraction for anglers and bring money into a small community.

I fished there with cover boy Leon and over two days we spent on accommodation, fuel, wine, meals and more. It was in excess of $400, not including tackle and we didn’t even kill any fish.

Even at a low level recreational fishing can be worth a huge amount to Tasmania’s inland, estuary, coastal and game fishing communities.

Take our coastal waters which are now under threat. If the small pelagic fishery is decimated - as the Geelong Star super trawler and Seafish Tasmania can do, we may just end game fishing in Tasmania.

The quota for the small pelagic fishery is around 35,000 tonnes or 35 million kilograms of fish that gamefish rely on for food. Or put another way 3,500 ten tonne trucks full of fish - parked

nose to tail they would stretch for 40 kilometres. Seafish Tasmania has about half the quota, but can lease the rest.

Put simply: no bait = no gamefish.

Tasmania has a world class fishery for broadbill, mako shark and southern bluefin tuna. It could be gone.

Recreational fisheries are heavily regulated and the limits are respected by recreational anglers. In fact many game fishers really delight in tagging fish for research purposes rather than killing everything.

It is sad and confusing that Senator Colbeck from Devonport is selling Tasmanian recreational anglers out.

As a Senator for Tasmania his first and most important role should be doing what he is elected to do - what is best for Tasmania. In welcoming an overseas factory super trawler he is snubbing his nose at the huge financial input recreational fishers put into Tasmania’s economy.

The owners of the Geelong Star have been fined over 700,000 euros in recent times for illegal fishing. Do Tasmanian want their boats here?

An Advocate online survey of 1650 people had it 91.33% against 8.67 for.

Google ‘Parlevliet and Van Der Plas offences’. They are the owners of the Geelong Star and Seafish Tasmania Pelagic Pty Ltd. Mike Stevens

For subscriptions go to www.tasfish.com, phone Mike 0418 129 949 or pay by Paypal to mike@tasfish.com - One year $36 - two years $68

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Fishing News - Page 3

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B

Broadbill bonanza

Leo Miller describes a day with friends.

“

We headed out of Coles Bay and zoomed through Schouten Passage between the spectacular Hazards peaks and Schouten Island on Tasmania’s East coast.

The sun was shining, the breeze was dropping and the twin Yamaha 115s were quietly humming on my 7m trailer boat; ChoonaChasa. We’d entered the Coles Bay Classic run by the Southern Game club and we were heading to the edge of the continental shelf to chase what I believe is the mightiest fish in the ocean; broadbill swordfish, Xiphias gladius!

We arrived at our chosen mark around 0900. A quick scan of the ocean floor revealed undulating features holding fish that we predicted as blue eye trevalla, gem fish, blue grenadier, frost fish and more. A nice ‘Scatter Layer’ of fish and probably squid mid-water added to the food chain and we decided the area was prime for a deep drop or two.

We quickly finalised our first sword rig; today we had a Penn Power Curve 24kg rod and Penn 50 VSW reel filled with 24kg Platypus mono. Add to that a 300lb JEM wind-on leader to a large swivel clip. On the clip an LP Electralume tri-colour light and then a 400lb leader to a 14/0 offset J hook. On the hook a whole arrow squid fixed in place with waxed thread and covered with a 14

Kyle Longmore loaded up on 24kg and feeling the pain. inch yozuri squid skirt with glow eyes. We attached a breakaway sinker with a short length of thin line and over she went down to the depths of over 500m.

We then deployed an electric reel with baits for the bottom fish to determine what was lurking down there and soon pulled up a blue grenadier. There had been no bites on the swordfish line so we retrieved and moved in-shore somewhat.

Kyle Longmore who had been fishing with us for some time had earned his turn ‘On Strike’ and was the chosen crew member to reel in any swordfish we encountered for the day. We made our second drop and watched our chunk of concrete sinker race towards the bottom. The rod was then put in the holder and shortly the line tightened and the sinker broke off.

Just as I was preparing a second rod and bait I noticed some large bangs on the sword rod; classic swordfish attacking. “Kyle, I think you’re onto something” I yelled, and quicker than a mackerel on a sabiki Kyle had the rod in his gimbal belt and was winding…. The line tensioned gradually until the fish took a little drag and then Kyle felt head shakes and we were confident we’d hooked the target species!

Relief: 263.5kg of broadbill - a pending Australian record for Kyle Longmore.

The current record on 24kg is 107.5kg.

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

Fishing News - Page 5

A few minutes later the fish arced to the surface and made the first of many jumps confirming our suspicions and hopes that we’d attached ourselves to a large swordfish! The fish jumped another 22 times during the next 2.5 hrs while we attempted to edge closer, always wary of our thin line and trying to keep an angle on the fish.

The afternoon ticked by, but gradually Kyle got closer and closer. There were several nervous moments when the fish circled back under the boat but Kyle was skilled enough to have his harness off when the fish was close, back the drag off and get the rod tip into the water avoiding disaster every time.

The idea is to tire the fish gradually, much as a person would tire on a jog, the pressures applied to the fish are not great and the fish dictates 99% of the battle. It is unknown what discomfort fish feel but thought that their brain capacity doesn’t allow them to feel pain as mammals know it; The way the fish behaved was more as though it had an irritation. A simple example is that if a mammal was hooked it would go towards the pressure relief where a fish pulls away. Sharks also are regularly tagged and released only to swim back to the boat ready to take another bait.

Finally Simon Turner (1st mate) managed a wrap on the leader and I had to help as well so great was the pressure. We got the fish up a little but then it swam back under the motors! After 10 secs that seemed like a lifetime it came up behind the boat and I reached out and got our long handled “Grim Gaff ” into it. We then

Fishing News - Page 6

used my block and tackle to haul it aboard and there were more than a few high fives!

Broadbill swordfish are more than just a great gamefish, they are brilliant table fish. This fish wasn’t going to waste; BBQ, pan fry, curries, deep fried, etc. just delicious! The meat is firm and pinkish with a subtle sweet flavour and quite moist.

About swordfish in Tasmania

The fish in Tasmania are thought to be part of the Western Pacific stock; one of seven world populations of swordfish. Only in the Mediterranean are they considered under threat, all other fisheries are considered “Of least concern” in regard to overfishing. The commercial take per annum in our stock is around 10,000 tonnes of mostly smaller fish as they are lower in mercury content and more highly desired especially for export markets. The amateur take is probably under five tonnes, and while these fish are infrequently caught by recreational fishers they are not rare. Commercial operators have caught them to around 500kg in the Western Pacific and amateurs to 415kg in weight.

Studies by CSIRO have shown swordfish live to around only 17 years and grow very quickly, partly aided by their unique lack of rib bones. They attain one metre in their first year and breed by around three to five years old. It’s thought the fish travel to the north eastern Pacific to breed in autumn and summer before the bigger fish, that can handle a greater temperature range and lower temperatures, move south to rich feeding

grounds like Tasmania and New Zealand. Smaller fish concentrate in areas like the QLD coast and Mooloolaba account for almost 70% of the commercial take.

The newly developing recreational fishery in Tasmania has the potential to provide a much needed tourism boost to coastal communities and can become a world class fishery if managed well. Preserving the fishery for amateur use shouldn’t be a problem due to the commercially undesirably large size of fish present.

As the fishery evolves anglers will move towards a higher rate of ‘Tag and Release’. Two fish have already been tagged and released. A satellite tagging program planned by IMAS will also provide invaluable information on the movements and post release survival of these fish when it gets completed.

However, Tasmania also needs some regulatory changes away from the current possession limit of 15 per person.

New Zealand uncovered the bulk of their recreational swordfishery almost 15 years ago, and since then amateurs have taken up to 300 fish a season. It seems they haven’t put a dent in stocks or catch rates since commercial long lining in those areas was banned.

Amateur economic input per fish taken has been shown to be up to 100 times what commercial operations will input for the same fish so this bodes well for local economies and fish stocks!

By Leo Miller skipper of ChoonaChasa

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

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The Hicks jetty rats Kai, Gavin and Jobie

Getting sorted

My jetty rats The Hicks boys leave the trout behind and find jetties are fun.

Gavin Hicks

T

he boys had been pestering me for quite some time, ‘dad can we go out to Port Sorell and have a fish off the jetty soon’. Admittedly I had been trying to put it off, I didn’t like to tell them but I was a bit out of my comfort zone with the whole jetty/saltwater fishing thing. I could happily take them anywhere in the state and confidently fish for a trout or two, but this was different. But and it was a big but, the time had come to give them what they wanted. Please keep in mind as you read on that I am merely just a fly fisherman who loves his trout with virtually no conventional gear saltwater experience.

But, I am a father who wants his two boys to grow up experiencing as many different fishing opportunities as possible. Then they can decide which fishing path they want to wander thru life exploring.

Fishing News - Page 8

The first job was to find the couple of old tackle boxes that had been buried in the shed somewhere and see if we had anything that would be of use to us.

Apart from an old squid jig and a few crappy looking hooks that was a big no. I decided to let them use their Berkley Challenger 2-4kg rods and matching reels that had been used on countless lakes trips and buy them new trout rods as they would get more use in the future.

They were only loaded with 6 pound mono line but I said to the boys “Let’s leave it on there and if we lose too many fish on the first outing then I will address that issue”. Next up it was off to see Leroy at BigFin and grab some basic hooks and sinkers etc. (doesn’t it suck that we can’t do that anymore!). The boys loaded up with a range of differing sized terminal tackle, a few squid jigs and some Berkley Gulp minnows and jerk shads in their favourite colours along with a varying range of jig heads and we were good to go. I’m not quite sure how anglers choose their favourite coloured lures/ plastics art times.

I certainly wouldn’t have chosen what they did as my best colours! But like I said, I am no expert in this field!

Squeaking Point Jetty

After a quick detour into Port Sorell to grab some bait we were finally sitting on the jetty a couple of hours before high tide ready to do some fishing, and that is where I discovered my first mistake. No knife to cut the frozen squid into bait sized chunks, rookie mistake that Gav! Oh well I would just have to tear it apart with the cutters on the plier jaws. I set both rods up with a sinker on the bottom and a dropper about two feet or so above that to accommodate the single hook. I thought it best to only run single hook rigs first up to eliminate any tangle issues, this was about having fun after all! There was only one thing left to do now, get those baits in the water. And wouldn’t you know it, within a matter of minutes Kai had a very small salmon on the deck beside us. Then it was Jobie’s turn to hook up but to a squid

this time, on a single hook of all things. I did the right thing and took the rod off Jobie to lift the squid onto the jetty as I knew it was a good chance of getting off.

I only had it a foot out of the water and it did exactly that, leaving some ink behind as it disappeared back out of site. Needless to say I wasn’t the most popular dad in the area right at that moment! A new tactic was in order and we swapped Jobies rod to a pink squid jig.

Very next cast we were watching the jig just about to come out of the water right next to one of the pylons when out from the shadows came another squid and nailed it. Jobie did a great job controlling the rod and when he was ready I told him to steadily lift the squid up towards us as we would be right this time with the jig hooks firmly embedded. Well we were nearly right, but just as he was about to swing it over onto the jetty bugger me it also fell off and disappeared in the same fashion as its mate previously. This time he was really wasn’t happy and asked me ‘’Dad why don’t we have a long handled landing net?’’ It was all I could do to just stand there and agree with him as I really didn’t have a decent answer, mistake number two!

In the meantime Kai was using bait at such a rate that he had berleyed himself up a nice little number of puffer fish that he was happily trying to hook all in plain view only a few feet underneath where he sat. A couple of small flathead and salmon later it was time to call it a night, well almost. We had swapped Jobies rod back to a bait rig and as he was winding it in the rod bent over hard. He was doing his best to control the situation when all of a sudden we had a fairly long fish that I had no idea about what it was putting on an amazing aerial display in front of us. We managed to walk the fish around the jetty and beach it and a local there said ‘that’s a pike mate, and it’s a good size too’.

Jobie was pumped, we snapped off a couple of photos on the IPhone and released the fish to fight another day.

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

On the way home we called into the local fish and chip shop to get the boys some tea and they just happened to have a Sea fish of Tasmania poster on the wall. It turns out our pike was actually a snook, not that Jobie cared either way. All in all a successful first outing and one that I had to admit was a lot of fun!

South Arm

After spending the main part of January doing 12 hour shifts the Australia Day long weekend arrived and I had a week off. Allison had hired a holiday home and we were off to South Arm for four days. It was somewhere neither of us had been before and I was pumped to get away for a few days. The boys had googled images of the area and noticed a couple of jetties and rocky ledges that looked interesting. You guessed it the fly rods were left behind again and the saltwater tackle loaded up instead.

I did get a bit of a compromise though, if I couldn’t take a fly rod I could at least throw a bike or two on the roof and ride some new roads whilst I was down there.

The car was loaded, dog thrown in and we were away, and what a brilliant spot it is for a short get away. If you haven’t been there do yourself a favour and check the area out. We had barely unpacked and the boys were ready to go exploring the local hot spots.

We called into the general store and got some info off one of the locals as to what was happening and where. It was all bad news unfortunately as he told us the fishing had been strangely quiet in the last fortnight or so, bugger!

Anyway our first stop was the main jetty in South Arm itself. It was fairly obvious by the look of the concrete that the squid had been fairly active in recent times but it wasn’t to be for us. But the boys didn’t care, they were armed with a bag of blue bait and pilchards and the local mullet kept them interested for the afternoon.

Next day it was back to the local to load up with more bait and then out to Opossum Bay to try out their jetty.

It looked very squiddy if that is a word, with some nice weed patches in the water but again the squid jigs proved unsuccessful. Back on with the same single hook bait rigs and straight away the blue bait brought some action. This time we added small salmon and flathead to the list with the mullet.

I didn’t like to admit it but this sort of fishing, laying back on the jetty with my old pointer beside me and the boys having a ball was proving to be quite enjoyable.

On the last day with the weather a bit more settled we decided to have a look at a rock ledge for a change

of scenery. We swapped rigs to a bigger sinker and bit bigger single hook and baited up with a full pilchard.

With a pretty dodgy looking half hitch around the tail to help hold him in place the pilchard was launched into the depths on the end of our 6 pound line. It just didn’t look right and I said to the boys to be prepared to lose some tackle here if we hook something. It was only a matter of minutes and we did hook what turned out to be the best sized salmon of the trip so far. Whilst he wasn’t huge at around a pound or a bit better he still gave the boys a good run for their money.

It was when the second rod bent over that I thought we were going to be in trouble. We were losing line at an alarmingly steady rate and there wasn’t a lot I could do about it. Then all of a sudden we started to gain some ground and fill the reel back up a bit, it was then that I caught a glimpse of a skate/ray in the water (like I said I’m no expert). I said to the boys we might lose some gear here but after a few tense minutes we got him in close enough for me to scramble down the rocks and cut the line as close as possible to set him free. You could imagine the two excited boys I had there on the rocks with me after that encounter, it didn’t matter what happened for the rest of the trip now they were stoked.

We fished the rock ledge till dark catching and releasing a few more salmon the same size as the first one all on whole pilchard baits. Even though we swapped one rod and threw every lure and plastic we had into the depths we could only catch them on bait this time. I think I will be heading back there armed with the seven and eight weight fly rods! As with any time away it was all over way to quickly and the next day was spent packing up and driving back home to the north of the state.

Just do it

Whilst I will never be without some brown trout scales running thru my veins I have definitely had my eyes opened to a whole new world of fishing fun to explore with the boys. Sitting on a jetty with your feet hanging over the edge watching the fish below fight for your bait really is plain old good fun. An added bonus is we did it without having to spend money on new saltwater tackle. Just a couple of beat up trout rods and reels that have already done a power of work. Throw in the fact that you could end up with a few nice fillets to put in the pan and it’s a win/win situation really.

Now could somebody please take me to the Great Lake!

Gavin Hicks

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

Fishing News - Page 9

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Choosing the right soft L plastic

by Steve ‘Starlo’ Starling As co-creator of the incredibly successful Squidgies range of soft plastics, Starlo has some excellent ideas on how to pick a plastic that is likely to work where you go fishing.

Starlo with a prime Georges Bay silver trevally taken on a Squidgies Wriggler in the ever-popular Bloodworm colour.

ots of anglers seem to be deeply challenged when it comes to selecting that first soft plastic to tie on at a new location, or even to start a new day’s fishing at a well-known spot. In this feature I want to share with you some basic rules of thumb that will greatly ease the burden of this important decision making process: Over the course of a year, I get to talk to a lot of soft plastics fishers from around the country. Some I meet at seminars and shows. Others I chat with via the various pages on Facebook that I run or help to administer (especially the StarloFishing and Squidgy Soft Plastics pages), or through my blogs on www.starlofishing.com Still others send their letters or emails to me via the various magazines I write for. However, no matter what the source of the enquiry, one question (or variations of it) dominates the calls for advice that I receive. Typically,

The author with a nice black bream taken almost in the shadow of the Tasman Bridge.

Fishing News - Page �� 10

that query begins with the words: “What’s the best soft plastic to use for…?”

The rest of that sentence almost always contains a species of fish and a precise location: What’s the best soft plastic for bream in the Derwent River? What’s the best soft plastic for trout in Great Lake? What’s the best soft plastic for trevally in Georges Bay? What’s the best soft plastic for snapper along the north coast? What’s the best soft plastic for redfin perch in Craigbourne Dam? And so on…

I can’t help but smile at the geographic specificity of these well-meaning questions. Anglers clearly have their favourite fishing spots and they seem to expect that the fish they chase in these beloved haunts will

Winners are grinners! Picking productive plastics isn’t rocket science… or is it?

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

Bar Crusher’s sub 5 metre missiles

Bar Crusher’s 490 WR is perfectly suited for Tasmania’s estuaries,and lakes - especially for sport fishers.

Australian plate aluminium boat manufacturer Bar Crusher has added two more vessels to its arsenal, the 490C and 490WR. Aimed squarely at entry-level boat buyers and those looking to step-up from pressed-aluminium tinnies, the 490 hull series brings Bar Crusher’s renowned quality and performance within reach of more people with its mid-$30k price tag (depending on options).

Measuring 4.90m LOA, with a 2.00m beam, the 490C and 490WR are built on Bar Crusher’s industry-leading Gen2™ hull design with Delta Flare™. The high-tech Waveslicer® non-pounding, deep-V hull delivers an ultra-smooth ride, the expertly-engineered Rigideck® sub-floor system creates maximum hull strength and Bar Crusher›s exclusive Quickflow® water ballast technology ensures the 490C and 490WR are extremely stable at rest.

Bar Crusher director Peter Cleland said the new 490 series would completely change the way many people looked at sub-5m aluminium boats.

“Our design philosophy behind the 490 series was based on providing anglers with a smaller boat that had all the engineering of the larger Bar Crusher models at a very reasonable price,” Cleland said.

“Extensive testing has proved the 490C’s on-water performance is outstanding… it handles 20kt of breeze and messy wind chop like it’s a much larger boat.

“Our aim is to always produce a segment-leading product, and we believe the new 490 models certainly hit this high benchmark.”

Lending itself to family fishing, the 490C is a tough all-round cuddy cabin boat that will handle the punishment first-time boaters often inadvertently dish-out to their boats. Great performance, easy to tow, launch/retrieve and maintain, it’s destined to ensure people stay involved in boating too.

The 490 C is a fantastic family boat for fishing and fun.

Sport fishers will love this boat.

Light to tow and only modest power required.

The 490 offer a huge range of options to customise your boat.

Plenty of space in the 490C. The walk-around centre console 490WR will prove popular among lure casters and trollers. Freshwater, estuary and inshore, it’s the baby Bar Crusher many anglers have been waiting for!

Incorporating a 60L underfloor fuel tank and rated to carry a 40-70hp outboard, dry tow weights of the 490C and 490WR are 840kg and 800kg respectively, ensuring the boats are easily towable by smaller vehicles.

Cast aluminium rod holders, heavy duty boarding ladder, berley bucket and muncher, LED lighting and other items are among the list of standard features, while owners can customise their boats from an extensive options list.

The 490C and 490WR are each packaged on a custom-designed trailer, which ensures towing,

launching and retrieving is a breeze. Self-centering and aligning perfectly every time, Bar Crusher’s innovative Bar Catch™ system also allows for single-handed launch and retrieve.

Bar Crusher 490 WR

Bar Crusher 490 C

Scan the codes above with a QR reader to see a video on these two boats.

View these boats and more at Cnr Fairlands Dr and Bass Hwy, Somerset

Burnie TAS, 7320 Phone: 6435 2200 E:anthony@coastal-marine.com.au W:www.coastal-marine.com.au www.tasfish.com - Get the knowledge - Get the fish.

Fishing News - Page �� 11

behave just a little differently to those living down the road, around the bend or across the border. Generally speaking, this is not the case. I’ve caught redfin perch in the New England rivers of north western NSW, and also in the very “Old England” rivers around the historical university city of Cambridge, in Great Britain (where they’re simply known as perch). Rather unsurprisingly, these fish looked the same, behaved in a similar manner and happily ate identical lures in both locations, literally a world apart.

Rather than asking me (or someone else) to nominate the best softie for catching trout in Tasmania’s Arthurs Lake, an angler would be far better off seeking advice and opinion regarding the optimum approaches for targeting wild brown trout in relatively shallow, fertile lakes with fairly clear water and lots of healthy weed beds. That way, the answers they received would be applicable across a whole range of waterways featuring similar target species and conditions.

The message I’m trying to get across to you as we begin this examination of the process of picking plastics is a fairly simple one: Fish are fish, and a particular species will behave in a very similar way when presented with a particular habitat type, season, degree of water clarity and set of food sources, regardless of the precise geographic location. This is a great thing to know, because it means that once we sort out some effective guidelines for one place and time, we can apply them in the future whenever we encounter similar conditions, even if we’re a long, long way from home. That’s a useful lesson to learn.

Decisions, decisions!

It still surprises me how daunted some anglers are by the thought of making that initial choice, tying on that first lure and actually beginning to fish. It seems that the entire process genuinely freaks out some folks.

They open their tackle box at the water’s edge, scan its

Silver trevally are suckers for softies! contents with a confused, worried expression, sit in a silent agony of tangled indecision for several minutes, then turn desperately to look for someone to direct their burning question to: “What should I use?”

For goodness sake, if you truly have absolutely no idea where to start, then take the plunge and make a guess!

Tie something on, give it a swim and see if the fish show any interest at all in it. If they don’t, then change your lure and try again.

In truth, your approach rarely needs to be quite that experimental. You should at least have an idea of what lives in the waterway and what some of the most important food sources are likely to be. This basic knowledge is a big help in fine-tuning your initial selection. If it’s a stretch of water renowned for

producing yellowtail kingfish or bluefin tuna, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to kick off with a 5 cm worm or grub imitation! Conversely, if it’s a gin clear trout stream with a good population of aquatic insect nymphs, it will most likely be counterproductive to tie on a 15 or 20 cm fish-shaped plastic swim-bait!

Engage your basic common sense and begin by pruning down at least the size selection process. If you’re chasing big fish that you suspect are eating big things, then choose a biggish lure. If you’re after smaller fish that you think are eating tiny food, pick a little lure…

It’s not rocket science!

While you’re at it, at least have a think about roughly matching the shape, colour and swimming action of those likely food items. Fly fishers call this thought process “matching the hatch” and it’s one of the most important steps in successful lure selection.

Be willing to accept that you might be wrong in your initial selection, too… It happens! Just occasionally those big kingies or tuna might actually be dining on tint baitfish half the size of your little finger. Or the larger trout in that high country waterway may actually be cannibalising their smaller cousins. That’s okay. You’ll find this out when they ignore your first choice!

What I’m trying to tell you is that nothing and no one can give you better feedback on your lure choices than the fish themselves. Let them tell you what they want and, when they do, make damn sure you’re listening!

Questions of colour

Jo Starling with a chunky (and tasty!) redfin perch from Craigbourne Dam, taken on a Squidgies Fish in the Black Gold colouration.

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The next most common question I field after the perennial “what’s the best lure for…?” is “what’s the best colour for…?”.

In my opinion, far too many anglers expend far too much time and energy agonizing over the lure colour issue. Yes, sometimes it’s important. Occasionally it’s absolutely critical. But I’ll let you in on a little secret: Most of the time the actual colour of your lure is far, far less important than its size, action and running depth.

And that’s exactly where I usually rate colour in the lure selection process… Behind size, action and running depth. Yet I’m so rarely asked “what’s the best depth to target this fish at?” or “what sort of speed and lure action

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do they like?”. Instead, most anglers seem to believe that if they’re told the magic colour to use, success will instantly be theirs. If only fishing were really so simple!

Once again, matching the hatch is a very good place to start. If the mudeyes (drangonfly nymphs) crawling up your wader legs in a trout lake are all olive green, then try using an olive green lure. If the most common smaller fish (and therefore a likely food source) in a bream estuary have green backs and silvery bellies, try a greenish lure with a pale belly… Remember what I said before about rocket science?

If no obvious food sources are present and you’re not sure what the fish are actually eating, look at the water itself. Is it clear or dirty? And if it’s somewhere in between those extremes, is it green-tinged, brownish or tannin-stained? Whatever it is, the little critters living in it are likely to be wearing a roughly similar hue. So if it’s greenish, go for a green lure. If it’s tea-like, choose a red or brown plastic. Again, this is just a starting point. The tick of approval (or otherwise) will come from the true experts on this issue: the fish themselves. In other words, if your first choice draws a blank, try something else.

As a final word on colour selection, there’s a rule of thumb I’ve used for many years that usually stands me in pretty good stead. It goes something like this: If the water is gin clear, start with very subdued, natural tones.

If it’s a bit dirtier, choose something a little brighter. If it’s very discoloured, go for vivid, fluorescent tones. If it’s absolutely filthy, try black or purple… or bait… or go home! And finally, if you’re mate’s catching fish and you’re not, then use exactly what he’s using!

Rocket science

When chasing trout, choose plastics that approximate the size, action and colour of common food items found in that particular waterway.

I’ve used the expression “it’s not rocket science” earlier in this discussion of the lure choice process.

But in closing, I’ve got a little admission to make…

Consistently successful lure selection can be both a lot simpler and also a lot more complex than rocket science!

Let’s face it, a rocket is just a tube full of propellant fuel, ideally with some stabilizing fins near the tail end.

If you point it heavenward and ignite the fuel, it should fly. So, maybe rocket science isn’t really so complicated after all. On the other hand, fish can be incredibly fickle critters. Their “moods” (for want of a better and less anthropomorphic term) constantly change, as does their behaviour and their choice of food. Sometimes they simply stop feeding altogether for lengthy periods

(perhaps a lot of the time). When they do, the smartest lure choices in the world may still leave you with a limp line and a straight rod. After all, if we were always successful, this wonderful game of ours would be called “catching”, not “fishing”, and I’d wager that we’d soon grow bored with it.

So, don’t be afraid of the lure selection process. Take the bull by the horns or the rocket by the fins and have a go. Start by narrowing the parameters of size, depth, action and colour (in that order) and making some educated guesses, then test your hypotheses. Sometimes you’ll find the right answer. Sometimes you won’t. And sometimes there is no right answer… That’s fishing!

Steve Starling

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Fishing News - Page �� 13

F

Flathead frenzy

Two blokes tackle Duck Bay looking for large flathead Leon Compton

H

eading home I take a hand off the wheel every now and then, rub my index finger over my thumb and smile.

Torn skin rough from lip gripping seven or more giant flathead. Picked up, photographed, and slipped back into Duck Bay. A mission ‘long dreamed’, since the first time I pulled up at the jetty in Smithton a few years back. “Jeez. This looks fishy.”

And so, on a late-March weekend it happened. I’d found time away from the family, pieced together a little bit of local knowledge, cruised the web. Mike printed out satellite pics of low tide – the mysterious waterway undressed, exposing oyster leases, channels and drains.

On a mission to a new spot your senses are always straining to sense what might be important.

At the boat ramp the still-wet weed marooned from the top of the tide was only a foot back from the top of the concrete. A big tide then, dropping now. Water pushing strongly past the two working boats tethered against the wharf.

We backed in, fired up, and let the outboard overwhelm the current, pinballing our way through the zigzag channel, maybe 10 or 12 short changes of direction, all well marked, to get us out into the heart of Duck Bay. The wind was throwing up weather just short of chop.

Maybe up to 15 knots, scudding showers.

Our target species was the distinctive blue-spot flathead – you might call know them as ‘castelnaus’ that populate this part of the coast. The few photos I’d seen of them suggested they came in extra large sizes.

And so we found a drain adjacent to some oyster leases west of the main Duck Bay entrance and started fishing — two hours to the bottom of the tide.

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Low tide in close to the racks, shallow and slow.

There had been some extended talk about ‘first lure’ as you might expect. Clearly there are a few strong candidates for opening salvo. I went with a black and gold shad — plenty of action in the tail, lightish head to allow for some sublety through the water and 8lb leader. My fishing companion included the ordinarily sane Mike Stevens (also editor of this publication), he came up with an option more suited to jewelry in an early Madonna music video. You can skip this sentence if you’re looking for useful information except to say don’t bother rigging up with a shovel bibbed 4 inch hard body lure in shimmering pink.

For a couple of hours we fished hard. Using the electric to pull us up through the run-out current, working along drains, off the edge of flats, always near

Local, Marcus Popowski shows how it’s done with this nice specimen first cast.

Mike’s disco pink hard body lure didn’t work.

the leases that dominate this part of the waterway.

Nothing — not a sniff so we changed plastics a couple of times — black and gold to white, white to pink. Mike occasionally looked wistfully at his disco hard body but thought better of it. I popped on an atomic chicken shad.

Mike hooked a baby flattie and a salmon, otherwise it was hard work.

Was it local Marcus Popowski turning up, or was it the last breath of the tide? Marcus motored across the bay through the drizzle, pulled up beside us and offered two pieces of advice. ‘Cast right into the leases, and retrieve SLOW’.

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He then motored 30 metres along the bank. Cast according to his own advice and BANG…hooked up to a 50cm plus blue spot flathead.

It was an emotional time on our boat as we gathered our pride, took photos of Marcus and his awesome fish, and scrambled to ‘have what he was having’.

Marcus was using a heavyish jig head, 3/8ths of an ounce, and a 4.5 inch bright green shad. That was the rig on both his rods so he was clearly confident in the approach.

The thinking was that getting down through the current and bumping the sand was important, as was finesse with the retrieve. Marcus chose a green colour scheme, and it seemed to him (and the flathead) to stand out.

As the tide hit dead low and started to run in the bite was on. We were still being outfished by the local but some great flathead came into our boat. Mike hooked a 55cm and it filled the net. The blue spots looking like opal specks through her scales.

For an hour it felt like one of us was either hooked up, reaching for the net or reaching for the camera.

We started to broaden our plastics offerings. We did well with worm patterns in a couple of colours. I liked a four inch pearl curl-tail that hung on for a good few fish.

The best fish would be lip gripped and lifted for a snap-shot then lowered back into the bay.

The catcher would wince before lifting…those sharp serrated flathead teeth about to dig into the flesh of the thumb…maybe a head-shake to make the point.

The best to the boat for us was a monster over 60cm.

Clearly it was a female, huge shoulders, a real wedge shaped fish with iridescent markings.

We were all rigged with 8lb leader and none of us had a fish bite through our line. On balance it was worth taking the risk.

Smithton has great boat launching facilities.

We were asking on the way home how critical it was to see Marcus fishing…would we have caught fish without him coming along? On balance we would have caught less. The super slow retrieve was critical. The flatties fought well, but to get the bite you need to be barely drifting the plastic past them. The other lesson was the tide, when it turned to run-in the bite was on, so we’d really focus on that for the next trip.

I’m planning it now, rubbing thumb and finger together, finding a weekend to get back to Duck Bay. Leon Compton More on page 16

Big plastics and heavy jig heads work wonders.

Jaiden Popowski with a 70.8cm Southern Bluespot Flathead recently caught in the Pirtek Fishing Challenge.

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Fishing News - Page �� 15

When conditions are good including tide and water quality it’s common to pull fish cast after cast and double hook ups make for an enjoyable session.

More from Marcus

and the southern bluespot flathead. A flathead was just a flathead, and hunting and gathering in whatever way I could legally take them was all I was concerned about.

Releasing my first large flathead instead of turning it into crumbed flathead nuggets turned out to be the best thing I could ever do in doing my little bit for the sustainability of fish in Tasmania. The enjoyment and smile that it puts on your face is indescribable and I strongly encourage if you have never released a prize trophy fish, try it, i dare you :). Since then releasing a large wild brown trout, or flathead to the ever common Australian salmon is just second nature and I actually enjoy releasing a fish more than keeping them. This often causes much anguish and questioning from nearby fishers, but I find is a great way of educating fellow fishers on catch and release and discussions on spawning fish, whether they ever take it on board is for them to determine. Now with modern technology and social media the ease of capturing a quick photo of your fish and releasing it is one of the best ways to preserve your fishing memories without having to take back a stiff, bent, discoloured trophy to show family and friends. Don’t get me wrong, I keep fish for a feed, and get much enjoyment from cooking up some fresh Tasmanian species for the family to enjoy. I find the southern bluespot flathead a softer meat than the popular common sand flathead, hence harder to skin and debone and far inferior to eat.

More on page 18

Marcus Popowski puts his spin on flathead in his backyard.

Southern Bluespot Flathead (Platycephalus Speculator) With the southern bluespot flathead currently receiving increased recreational fishing efforts across the North-West coast of Tasmania I was very keen to assist in being a fisheries ambassador for this species.

Very little research had been completed on the southern bluespot flathead and no foreseeable changes could take place unless some research was completed.

I believe it is of utmost importance for the big estuary flathead to have some size and possession limits applied to them for sustainability. This would bring us into line with other mainland states and their current regulations on larger species of flathead.

This led to being involved in providing samples from July 2012 to September 2014 so that a population dynamics of the southern bluespot flathead could be determined, including growth, size at maturity modelling and age structure. At first this was a mind battle of ‘Science’ vs the ‘Release DNA’ that arose in me. The old saying “be cruel to be kind” was the best way for me of seeing a large southern bluespot be humanely killed and sent off to research labs instead of released to live another day. The majority found in our estuaries are females and they are in these estuaries in good numbers over the summer months to spawn.

It would have been about six years ago that I released my first large southern bluespot flathead. I must say, the releasing of this fish has had the biggest influence on my fishing hobby to date. Having been taken fishing from the day I could walk by my father, a flathead was just a flathead to me. For me there was no education on the five species we catch here in Tasmania - southern sand flathead, tiger flathead, rock flathead, dusky flathead Fishing News - Page �� 16

Much fun is to be had using light gear on these large Southern Bluespot flathead. Braid with a flurocarbon leader is a favourite allowing the initial hit of the plastic to be felt. The larger fish seem to hang hard to the bottom with big head shakes trying to throw the plastic.

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Tasmania

Southern Sand Flathead (Platycephalus bassensis) Identifying features: Sandy brown colour with dark bands across the body and covered in light and dark spots. The tail fin has a distinctive black blotch. Two prominent spines on the gill cover, the lower spine longer than the upper.

Where: All around Tasmania in depths of 1-25 metres.

Grows to: Up to 45 centimetres and 3 kilograms.

Flatheads of Tasmania

Southern Bluespotted Flathead (Platycephalus speculator) Identifying features: Lighter sandy brown body with scattered small blue to white spots intermingled with dark blotches.

The tail fin has dark spots surrounded by white. The two spines on the gill cover are of a similar length.

Where: On the north coast in depths to 30 metres.

Grows to: Up to 90 centimetres and 8 kilograms.

Tiger Flathead (Neoplatycephalus richardsoni) Identifying features: Light brown to pinkish grey on the body with orange spots. There are dark bands of colour on the rounded body and the lower tail has no markings. The lower spine on the gill cover is longer than the upper.

Where: Around Tasmania in depths of 10-160 metres, but more common off the south and east coasts.

Grows to: Up to 65 centimetres and 2.5 kilograms.

Rock Flathead (Platycephalus laevigatus) Identifying features: A dark mottled appearance with a green to pale brown rounded body and several rows of dark spots on the rays of the yellowish tail. The lower spine on the gill cover is shorter than the upper.

Where: On the north and east coasts in depths of 1-20 metres.

Grows to: Up to 60 centimetres and 2 kilograms.

Dusky Flathead (Platycephalus fuscus) Identifying features: Sandy brown in colour with small dark spots over the body and fins, and a dark spot on the tail fin. The lower spine on the gill cover is longer than the upper spine.

Where: More commonly caught on the mainland.

Reported to occur in small numbers around Flinders Island and the north coast but there have been no confirmed identifications. Report sightings to www.redmap.org.au.

Grows to: Up to 1.2 metres and 15 kilograms.

Wild Fisher ies Management Br anch Depar tment of Pr imar y Industr ies, Par ks, Water and Environment

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BL10932

Illustrations by Peter Gouldthorpe

Flathead have good survival rates if handled properly.

Use a fish de-hooker, handle flathead with a wet cloth or hands and use circle hooks. www.fishing.tas.gov.au

Fish illustrations by Peter Gouldthorpe

Help Released Flathead Survive.

Fishing News - Page �� 17

“A flathead just a flathead to me” mentality is an area where species recognition is going to be a huge education process with the Tasmanian recreational fishers. It was good to see Fisheries Tasmania recently releasing posters with the five species of flathead in Tasmania. Without education, species recognition, bag and size limits if introduced will be harder to comply with for the everyday fishers.

The banning of netting in Duck Bay and other surrounding inlets and rivers has seen an increase in fish numbers and a definite size increase. The increased popularity of soft plastic fishing has probably seen this take over as the preferred method of catching the southern bluespot flathead in shallow estuaries instead of bait, flounder light and spear methods that I was brought up with. Unfortunately these methods do not lend themselves to catch and release. With bait fishing these large flathead often are gut or gill hooked and retrieving hooks are nearly impossible without damaging the fish. Spear fishing is a popular method (having spent many years enjoying this method), but a high percentage of these large flathead often found in a foot of water or less at night. They are such a strong fish that they end up ripping free from the spear and swimming off with significant head and gill injuries, with a slow death nearly inevitable.

Nutting out the methods and what works best to catching these large flathead has been addictive. This is also an expensive one with a continued flood of new soft plastics and jig heads entering the market. I’ve had a blast on the water with friends and meeting new people in fishing circles from social media sites. Watching them catch a new flatty personal best gives me much enjoyment. Spending time on the water with my four children is something I would never swap for anything.

Let’s hope some sensible size and bag limits are put on our estuary flathead so many generations ahead can enjoy the lure of catching a ‘big one’.

Marcus Popowski

Marcus fishing the channel in the shadow of Smithton.

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Much care should be taken in protecting the flathead as they come aboard, including an enviro net to protect the slime on the fish, a wet rag or lip grippers to hold the fish supporting the fishes body at all times. Spending a bit of time swimming a big fish at the side of the boat helps them to revive and swim off strongly.

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Perfect Match with Finance-260x370mm_Tas Fishing.indd 1

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Fishing News - Page �� 19

1/04/2015 11:42:01 AM

K

Start-up kayaking Part 2 - Dodging a dunking “Lost In A Moment”. It’s easy to forget to watch where you’re going when you’re focusing on your lure and drift fishing.

Jo Starling

W

hilst kayak fishing itself may not be difficult, there are some hidden traps for newbies. In this article, Jo Starling explores some of the pitfalls awaiting the unwary, in an effort to make sure that’s not you!

What could be simpler than popping your butt in a kayak and going out for a fish? They’re more streamlined and high-tech than the canoes of old—and our human forebears traversed vast bodies of water in those basic craft. How hard can kayak fishing be, right? …Well, as it turns out, perhaps harder than some people think.

I am on a quest to become a proficient kayak fisher. So far, I’ve focused on enclosed waterways; lakes, estuaries and rivers. I haven’t yet braved a bar crossing, nor even open ocean water. I have put my beloved Native Watercraft into some pretty intense inland situations, however, which has proven that I really must learn to walk before I try to put those big runs on the board.

Being a novice kayak fisher is quite a fun thing to be.

As with any new endeavour, there’s far more adrenalin involved in the skill acquisition phase than there is when you’re an old hand. That adrenalin makes every outing so much more of an adventure than those you embark once you’ve been doing it for a while.

Let me preface this article by admitting that I’m a very proud person. It’s a big part of why I like to be in control of my circumstances—embarrassment and humiliation are not an option I like to consider! I’m not naïve enough to claim ownership of this, nor do I believe I walk this path alone. That’s why I want to share some revelations here, just in case you (like me) have discovered a hankering to fish from a kayak. Hopefully, one or all of these tips will save a few red faces or, at the very least, some frustration.

“Oooooh” moments

There’s a moment just before ‘it’ all goes to pot that time freezes and your mind says “uh oh”. Anyone sitting Fishing News - Page �� 20

on the sidelines will throw you a tortured cringe before turning away and muttering a painful “oooooh”. They quietly think to themselves, “I’m so glad that wasn’t me!”… then, depending on circumstances, a cacophony of guffaws often follows. Whilst I am capable of laughing off embarrassment, I do prefer to avoid it. And, of course, there are times when things going wrong are no laughing matter!

Being a newbie in a kayak will present many an opportunity to embarrass yourself, so let’s get them out on the table and expose where these wicked “tip hazards” are… and how to handle them.

It goes without saying that a well-balanced kayak is going to make your life a lot easier than one that has gear stowed haphazardly. Not only is it less likely to “buck you off ”, but it will be more efficient through the water.

So always take the time to make sure weight is evenly balanced and your kayak doesn’t list in the water.

“Cyclists of the sea!”

Have you ever heard this term? Taken on face value, it might seem particularly applicable to me, being that I’m the proud owner of a Native Watercraft kayak that uses pedals in a traditional bicycle motion to power a

Learning to fish from a kayak is a great adventure and every success is adrenalin charged. This salmon was the author’s first fish landed from her kayak.

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propeller. The term is usually applied with more than a hint of sarcasm and derogation, however, and refers to the tendency of kayakers to feel that they have greater rights on the waters than boaties.

I have a more balanced perspective, given that I now have a foot in each camp. Maritime regulations require that motorised vessels remain set distances from kayaks, which is a good thing. Whilst I have experienced frustration when boat drivers choose to ignore this rule, I’ve been equally annoyed at kayakers who choose to paddle up the middle of a river, forcing deeper hulled vessels to take the shallow track. I think this sort of behaviour is where the derogatory mantle in discussion came from—and I hope I can stop you from assuming it!

I’ve also seen evidence that, because the mandate to stay clear of kayakers exists, kayakers delegate the responsibility of their safety in relation to boats to the boat driver. This is just plain stupid! At the end of the day, the buck stops with you. You simply MUST remain vigilant and retain responsibility for your own safety, regardless of where the law sits. You may not get a second chance.

Avoiding a public dunking

On any public holiday, wakes can criss-cross in such confusion that you can have moments that feel like you’re paddling in a washing machine! This shouldn’t be a drama at all if you’re seated and have your gear distributed evenly, but if you’re someone who likes to stand and fish, like myself, then you really need to develop a sixth sense about what the water around you is doing.

Whilst conditions on a public holiday are an extreme example, the waterways need to be shared safely on any given day. I believe strongly that a kayaker should be aware of their surroundings and keep a wary distance of other vessels at all times, just as those vessels are obliged to reciprocate.

It’s great when it all comes together, but not every day is as flat and uncrowded on the water as this!

Swallowed in a moment

It’s perfectly normal to become completely absorbed in your fishing. It can happen to me even when I’m sharing a casting deck with others. Naturally, this is a potential hazard for ‘yakkers—out there, you can become “one” with your kayak, propelling yourself to where you need to be, standing or sitting that much closer to the water—it’s very easy to become consumed in the moment.

Losing yourself like this is a pretty good way to risk embarrassment. If you’re drift fishing, for example, getting knocked about by an unnoticed wake, running into shallows, or worse… running into disparaging comments as you drift absent-mindedly towards an anchored vessel, are all great ways to bring on the blush!

Similarly, we should recognise that motorboat users are just as passionate about their particular pastime, so they too might suffer momentary absorption—especially if they’re towing a skier, wake-boarder or other thrillseeking passenger. Whilst they must have a spotter, it’s fair to say that they will occasionally look over their shoulder to check on proceedings.

Given that you, in your kayak, have a very low profile, you might be difficult to see (especially if, like me, you’re working on remaining as stealthy as possible and are therefore decked out in camo!)… Let alone when a

A low centre of gravity at critical moments (such as landing your fish or simply riding out a wake) is essentially for staying dry. driver is at high speed and facilitating an adrenalin rush for a mate! Whilst the boat is legally required to give you a respectful berth, remember that their route may already be planned before you paddle/pedal into the arena—take responsibility for that wide berth yourself.

Of course—in such a situation—wakes are likely to be a rockin’ inclusion to your day and in this case, not in a good sense. As someone who prefers to cast and

generally fish from a standing position, I can assure you that it pays to take note when a wake boarder flies by!

Flow of information

Learning to read the water will help you avoid all manner of obstacles—such as submerged logs or rocks that are close enough to the surface to cause you trouble and shallow reaches— well before you get to them.

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Fishing News - Page �� 21

A rising river swirls and boils as the author back-pedals to maintain direction as she rides the torrent back to the ramp.

Pressure waves will form up-current of even the smallest fixed object that hides just beneath the surface. Similarly, water running over shallower ground will form into lots of smaller, riffly waves, creating a visibly different patch of water to the deeper channels. Keep your eyes open for these indicators and steer clear.

Then, there’s the times when you get to a river and find it flowing a lot harder than you’d like. You really need to think very carefully about whether or not it is safe and responsible to launch your kayak in fast flowing water. Only recently, this happened to me. It was on the Murrumbidgee River near Wagga and I can honestly say that if I ran any kayak other than my Native Watercraft, my day would have turned out quite differently.

The Propel unit that powers my kayak allows me to reverse and turn decisively. These two capabilities dominated my purchase decision, but I was only considering the fishing benefits. The Murrumbidgee taught me that these are very valid safety considerations as well! Let me explain…

The swirling current of a rising or rushing river is made up of powerful rips and slower eddies.

The seams between these two forces can grip your ‘yak and take over your steering. This is part of the challenge that keeps white water kayakers going back again and again. It’s not much fun when you’re just trying to navigate to a suitable spot for a fish, though!

In any vessel, motorised or not, your steering relies on your vessel having enough power to either travel faster or slower than the flow of the water you’re pushing through. Any rudder is rendered useless if it is travelling at the same speed as the water. So, if you can’t travel faster than the water speed (or won’t to due to safety considerations), then your steerage will depend on you being able to slow yourself—which of course means your steering principles reverse. Not having this ability puts you in a very vulnerable and dangerous position.

Fishing News - Page �� 22

During my recent fishing defeat at the hands of the ‘Bidgee, I found that I spent approximately 70 per cent of my time pedalling in reverse… and that was just to maintain steerage when going with the current! I discovered that, whilst pedalling forwards resulted in a total loss of steerage, pedalling backwards enabled me to correct my direction whilst still “going with the flow”. It was probably the biggest “a-ha” moment I’ve had on a kayak to date—and something well worth considering if you are thinking about kayaking big rivers. Those mid-water trees are stubborn and can suck you in like a siren with a tractor beam if you don’t have the power to resist!

Whilst I don’t recommend any kayaker put their ‘yak into a flooding torrent or dangerous river, circumstances can change when you are on the water. I’ve launched in the lake near my house at slack water, only to find that the return trip home was with the sucking and boiling current of a big tide. Similarly, any river that hosts a dam can rise rapidly without warning, if the authorities open the pipes.

Of course, a paddle kayak will also negotiate currents well, with backwards paddling and by cutting across the current... but that’s a whole different level of fitness to mine! My arms were made for casting.

The over-arching piece of advice here is to remain vigilant and (as the trendies like to say) “in the moment”. That will help you stay “in the ‘yak” as well!

Each time I sit my butt on my Slayer seat, my mind wonders what the day will throw at me. Will I succeed in my mission of a sneaky, stealthy fish and come home triumphant? Or will the water be my teacher once more? If there’s one thing that’s been hammered home already, it’s the fact that there is so much I have yet to learn—and the lectures are never boring!

Jo Starling

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

6-8 WEST TAMAR ROAD. LAUNCESTON. TASMANIA 7250 PHONE (03) 6331 6188 FAX (03) 63342681

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

Fishing News - Page �� 23

Lures for Yellowtail kingfish Australian salmon and pelagics UNBREAKABLE

NORSTREAM Baitfish Lures Jig them, let them drop, high speed or slow Solid Welded Stainless Steel rings Single Mustad Big Gun hooks Pilchard, Blue mackerel, Whitebait glow 25 grm, 40 grm

Look for the red cards at your local tackle store or phone Clarkson Imports 03 9758 7722 to find a stockist.

Fishing News - Page �� 24

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P

Preparation is everything Long range trailer boat gamefishing Robert Keeley and Jonah Yick

A

Robert Keeley with his first jumbo bluefin.

previous trailer boat trip to the Maatsuyker Island group in late February resulted in the capture of two 45kg southern bluefin tuna (SBT). This was primarily a work trip with some fishing thrown in, but immediately opened my eyes to the potentially amazing fishing this place had to offer.

Once back at home in Launceston I immediately began preparations for a return trip. I contacted a couple of like-minded fishing mates that lived in Hobart and told them of my previous discovery, and as expected they didn’t hesitate to join me on my next adventure.

For the next month I concentrated heavily on making sure my boat and fishing gear was ready to go at a moment’s notice, all the time watching the weather closely. Exactly one month later we had our opening.

Weather down south had been mild all week and Sunday looked perfect. A 5-10 knot northerly for the best part of the day, followed by a stronger sea breeze later that afternoon. I was well organised and only had to hook up the boat to begin the long tow to Hobart. I arrived in Hobart Saturday afternoon and immediately began final preparations for an early start Sunday. Unfortunately later that night our third crew member pulled out and we were left short an extra set of hands (as well as someone to split the fuel bill with!). This brought its own set of complications. We were about to undertake a long-range trailer boat mission to one of Tassie’s wildest and most isolated locations, with just a team of two. This was going to be interesting.

4 a.m. Sunday morning arrived and we were off with the Cruise Craft in tow. We reached the Southport boat ramp just as the first glow of sunlight began to appear on the horizon. Moments later, cruising south, I captured the first glimpse of the sun raising its sleepy head over Bruny Island. The sea was just as lazy, and a slow roll almost seemed to welcome us as we passed around South East Cape. Coming around this rocky headland can be rough at the best of times but today was an exception.

An anxious excitement filled our bodies as we took in the breath taking scenery of the coast line. Suddenly a call from Jonah, “birds!”. I looked over following his outstretched arm to see a mass of terns and mutton birds concentrating their efforts on a patch of water about half a mile off our port side. We decided a detour

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Fishing News - Page �� 25

was in order and I turned the boat in their direction.

15 minutes later our fist tuna for the trip hit the deck, a nice plump 15kg SBT. Half an hour of excitement chasing the bait ball resulted in 2 other similar sized fish, which were tagged and released. Soon after this the fish pushed back down, and we decided to continue to our destination a further 28km west.

After a smooth and relatively uneventful run along the rugged south coast cliffs, we arrived at the fishing ground a short time later, again in awe of the amazing scenery and the glassy calm conditions. With no further delay our spread of lures was set and we began trolling.

Birds could be seen working hard up against one of the islands, and just as Jonah and I began to discuss how “fishy” the whole place looked there was an explosion behind the short corner lure. The rod buckled over and the Tiagra began to scream. I backed the throttle off and ran down the back to grab the rod as I was next on strike. As I pulled the rod from the holder I instantly felt the weight of what appeared to be a large and powerful fish. After a fiery initial run followed by a few more strong but futile attempts to get away, the fish tired and began swimming in big slow circles under the boat. After some expert boat handling from Jonah and some short sharp rod pumps, we heaved on board an approximately 60kg SBT. I stared in bewilderment at Jonah who had a similar expression on his face. We couldn’t believe we had landed such a magnificent tuna in just 5 minutes of trolling, and to top it all off, we had the whole place to ourselves! After the obligatory high fives and carrying on, we got back on the troll and began resetting the lures. Barely 15 minutes had passed and the Tiagra began screaming once again. Jonah was already harnessed up and ready for battle. A whirlwind 15 minutes ensued, with me on the wheel and Jonah locked in giving the fish hell. As the wind-on eventually came onto the reel, another similar sized tuna could be seen slowly slugging away beneath the boat. Minutes later we had the fish on the trace, and struggled to carefully lift it over the gunnel and into the boat, before sending it back to the depths wearing a nice new tag.

Still trying to comprehend the activity of the last hour, we decided to have a short rest before attempting to set the gear again. We agreed that due to the circumstances it may be safer to just run a two lure spread. The action continued like this for another two hours, with three more tuna of similar proportions landed. With the knowledge that a sea breeze was due to ruin our fun in the early afternoon, we pulled the pin around 1p.m and prepared for the long run home.

All up we landed eight tuna, tagging four and keeping four for the table. For our first long range game fishing trip with one another, our game plan unfolded perfectly without a hitch. With careful planning and preparation, you too can make an amazing trip like this a reality.

Robert Keeley

Do the miles to get the smiles

In total, the voyage was an approximately 145km round trip from the Southport boat ramp to the fishing grounds. Why bother travelling all that extra distance when we could have just as easily fished Eaglehawk Neck, which would mean a shorter tow and steam to the fishing grounds? For people who; own or have access Fishing News - Page �� 26

Author, Jonah Yick with a big schoolie.

Time to go home. to a boat with sufficient range, don’t mind spending additional money on fuel, and have a sense of adventure, travelling to lesser known and more isolated fishing spots can pay big dividends. It can be hard to make the gamble to fish those longer range locations especially when there may be current, reliable reports of good catches being made in areas which are closer and better known to you. For example, the weekend we decided to fish the south west coast there were plenty of reports

streaming in from the east coast of plentiful numbers of albacore, the odd southern bluefin tuna and mako sharks all being caught a relatively short distance from Pirates/Fortescue Bay boat ramp.

The decision to fish the harder to access locations comes down to the game plan of the team, what you want to get out of the trip and what you as a group want to catch, or have a chance at catching. However there are a number of advantages when fishing in isolated

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locations; whether you are running 20kms over the shelf to look for a temperature break or particular seamount, or if you are travelling to an isolated island/group of islands in the middle of the Southern Ocean.

Reduced fishing pressure- One of the biggest advantages of fishing in an area of low recreational fishing pressure is not only is it more pleasant to fish in, but it allows you to increase your chances of finding fish first when they are feeding, and once found to be able to fish it effectively without spooking the fish.

There is nothing worse than finding a patch of feeding tuna, either working a bait ball on the surface or in mid water just off a bommie, but then have 10 boats come screaming in to the area after seeing you hooked up, sending the rest of the school straight to the bottom.

Opportunities to catch elusive or bigger fishAlthough it may not always pay off, running greater distances to specifically fish locations known to attract or hold particular fish species or larger size classes of fish can be worth the additional effort. Although chances of getting the desired species could be slim, by fishing these particular areas you are putting yourself in the game. It then comes down to the saying, quality over quantity.

For example some people may be happy with a bag of jelly bean albacore every trip, however others may rather sacrifice the consistency of catching these tasty fish, in the hope of hooking up to a big yellowfin tuna or striped marlin way over the continental shelf, irrespective of the chance of coming home empty handed.

Hooked up and heading down.

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Fishing News - Page �� 27

Unique environmental conditions- Some of these isolated locations have particular anomalies which can also greatly increase your fishing success rate.

An example of this is the shallow (20-40m) overall bathymetry surrounding some of the offshore islands such as a Pedra Branca. This means that the tuna in this area are cruising in a shallower depth, and are more likely to notice and rise to lures being trolled on the surface, thus more consistent hook ups can be achieved. As opposed to fishing in depths of 100m plus where if the tuna are hanging mid-water or deeper, they will not respond or be less likely to rise to lures travelling on the surface. These offshore islands also seem to hold bait more readily, which results in the ability to hold good populations of tuna, as opposed to other locations where tuna are present but travelling, thus encounters are either by chance, or a case of being in the right place at the right time, thus hook ups can be inconsistent.

The behaviour of southern bluefin tuna also changes in these isolated locations, where good numbers of fish can be consistently caught in flat, bright, calm conditions, while traditionally on the Tasman Peninsula the tuna bite most readily at the start, during, or tail end of a big cold front. This means anglers wanting to get a good session on the bluefin out of Eaglehawk Neck are forced to brave the cold, wet, windy, and rough conditions in order to get a good bite.

Reduced seal interactions - Although not always the case, fishing locations which are more isolated and have less fishing pressure reduces the likelihood of

interactions with seals. In areas such as Eaglehawk Neck which have high boat traffic and recreational fishing pressure, many of the seals have learnt to associate these boats with a free feed, and at times it can be a battle getting your fish past these boisterous creatures unscathed.

Personal satisfaction - At the end of the day there is no better feeling than taking the gamble and planning a high-risk trip, then coming back trumps with the results (be it a bigger than average bluefin, an elusive yellowfin, or bagging a heap of fish while everyone else reported the fishing being slow!)

It should be stressed that these sorts of trips are not for everyone, however if you are keen to look further afar, the next step to take is the preparation of the boat, safety equipment, and fishing gear.

Preparation for a trip

Long range offshore trips require slightly more planning than a local trip, but the key points to address still remain the same.

Weather - Keep an eye on the weather well in advance of the trip, and learn to read a weather map, that way you can predict when a period of calm weather (high pressure system) is due to settle over the location you are hoping to fish. Try to stick to one or two weather sites which you trust, and cross reference them against one another to get a good overall idea of the possible forecast. I prefer using the Bureau of Meteorology’s (BOM) MetEye coupled with Willyweather, to get an

Tag in, and about to be released. overall look at the wind speed/direction, swell height/ direction, and a combined sea and swell size. If the weather looks even a bit dodgy, or could change for the worse later in the day, don’t risk it.

Southport

De Witt Island

Maatsuyker Island

Mewstone

Our south east trip covered around 145km return from Southport. Preparation was critical to our success and safety.

Fishing News - Page �� 28

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MY BOAT — SURTEES 6.7 Sport Fisher Jason Ivory - Statewide gamefisher and family man.

I’ve been asked to give a review on my Surtees 6.7 Sports Fisher and why I chose to buy this particular boat. My name is Jason Ivory.

After many years fishing from my old 6 metre plate aluminum boat I was looking to upgrade to something slightly bigger and better riding.

Originally I was thinking of buying a 6.5 metre fiberglass boat to get the comfort in the ride. I also wanted a few creature comforts in a lock up cab with room to sleep on the boat for overnight stay.

The one thing that worried me about going to a fiberglass boat was the weight when towing, as I do a lot of fishing statewide - from Strahan to St Helens, Eagle Hawk Neck and Southport. I fish these places many times a year and living in Devonport most destinations are three hours or more towing a boat.

I have been dealing with Hadley and the team at Deegan Marine in Ulverstone for many years and trust Hadley and his experience. I sought Hadley’s advice — we discussed the pros and cons of what I was considering and then he said I think you need to take a look at this boat, it fits everything you require and will be easy to tow.

This was the beginning of the end of the search really as the 6.7 metre Surtees ticked all the boxes.

I wanted a hard top, lock up cab, bunks up the front for overnight stays and room for a toilet in the cab for those long days fishing. It had everything I was looking for.

The only thing left unanswered was the comfort of the ride. Hadley then set about giving me a test ride.

Hadley said it’s no good going on a calm day you need to get in it when it’s rough to appreciate the ride of the Surtees.

A few days went by and Hadley gave me a call and said come over after work and we will take this boat for a run, Bass Strait had thrown up some pretty choppy stuff with around 1.5 metres of wind-blown chop on it.

I thought this will be a good test and to the credit of the boat I was pleasantly surprised by the ride and comfort of this boat and once the 380 litres of water ballast was locked in to the water ballast keel, the boat only got better to ride in.

I’ve now owned this boat for just over 2 years and cannot fault it one bit, the ride is sensational, lock up cab allows me to store gear in there safely or to have those overnight stays. It’s easy to tow for its size and the aluminum trailer helps keep the tow weight down.

The 200hp Honda is excellent with great fuel economy and as Surtees slogan say’s these boats are built by fishermen for fishermen and after spending many hours on my Surtees they are correct.

Surtees have put a lot of thought in to the usability of these boats, there’s a place for everything with plenty of storage. The quality of the workmanship is a credit to Surtees.

My boat is very well finished, the welding is spot on, the finish paint and the Nyalic finish make keeping the boat clean easy.

I’ve fished all over the state in my 6.7 Surtees now and have done many hours on the water in her. It has handled every type of sea condition with ease and comfort for the crew.

There’s always that time when the weather turns nasty unexpectedly but I have great confidence in the Surtees and it handles these conditions with ease.

Simply put, I feel the 6.7 Sport Fisher is a boat batting well outside its size and as I spend most of my time game fishing from this boat it’s nice to know I have a good boat around myself and my family.

I would highly recommend anyone looking for a boat to look at the Surtees before buying. This boat wasn’t on my list of boats to even consider looking at and I ended up buying one Jason Ivory.

www.deeganmarine.com.au – Ph: 6425 2238 – 102 Eastlands Drive, Ulverstone www.tasfish.com - Get the knowledge - Get the fish.

Fishing News - Page �� 29

Sufficient fuel - The last thing you want to do is run out of fuel after you’ve had a great day fishing a temperature break, well wide of the continental shelf!

Get to know your boat and its fuel usage before planning a long range trip. If in doubt it never hurts to have a spare jerry can or two on board. This could also end up helping out another boat if needed. Follow the old rule of thumb and you can’t go wrong; one third of fuel to get there, one third to get back (if trolling all day this needs to be included into the two-thirds of fuel), and one third left in the tank as an emergency backup. Keep an eye on your fuel gauge throughout the day, that way you’ll notice if you are using more or less fuel than anticipated, and also notice if there are any potential leaks/spills.

Safety equipment - Ensure you have all the mandatory safety gear as listed by Marine and Safety Tasmania (MAST), but it doesn’t hurt to take extra precautions, i.e. sea anchors, sat phones, extended coverage mobile phones, emergency food, and water.

I even know a bloke who packs emergency neoprene wetsuits on every offshore trip! Before leaving a boat ramp to begin your trip, get in the habit of signing in and out with Tas Maritime Radio. This not only allows you to check that your VHF is working correctly, but means that if you don’t sign back in by your estimated time, the authorities will begin to investigate. However, this is not an excuse not to tell anyone else where you are going, ensure you still tell someone back home your plans for the day. Set your VHF for dual watch on channel 16 and the working channel in the area you are operating in, that way contact can be made to anyone fishing around you, which can be beneficial to you as well as the boats around you.

Fishing News - Page �� 30

Fishing gear - Ensure you have everything rigged up, tested, and packed well before the start of the trip.

Scale all your drags to the correct pressures, ensure all main and double lines are in good order, test any connections to ensure they are still strong, and double check any crimp connections or scuffs on leaders. Don’t skimp on price on terminal tackle; buy the best quality that you can afford. There is no point investing a heap of time and money into planning a big long range trip, then hooking up to the first fish of the day and losing it due to cheap gear/tackle failure.

Travel with another boat/s - There is no better safety measure than fishing a remote location with another boat. Not only will you both have back up if either boat gets in trouble, but you can spread out once at the fishing grounds, and assist each other with locating the fish. However, it is not always easy trying to tee up a fishing trip with 2 boats and 2 crews of people. In this situation, if there are a couple other boats launching at the same time as you, try to suss out where they are fishing or if any are heading the same way as you. The majority of boaties are all pretty helpful and would also appreciate an extra set of eyes on the water.

Hooking up

So now you’re geared up, on the water, and travelling to that secluded fishing spot, it’s time to make those fishing hours count. A decent trolling spread for tuna should consist of a mixture of skirted and diving lures to cover all your bases. Generally 6 to 8 inch lures are sufficient for most fish in Tassie waters, although if the fish are finicky it may pay to downsize to 4 and 5 inch.

Trolling speed should be around 7 to 8 knots, but match the speed to the way the lures are performing, which will also var y depending on the weather and sea conditions. This is most important with cup and slant face pusher style skirts, which track just under the surface, grab a pocket of air, drag this under water creating a bubble or smoke trail, then popping back up to “breathe” after a few seconds. By observing your spread, you can keep an eye on whether your lures are behaving properly, and whether you need to increase or decrease your speed, or adjust their positions further or closer to the boat. We usually run a spread consisting mainly of locally made “Eaglehawk Lure” pusher skirts, as well as a few hard bodies in close. You don’t need to buy expensive lures to catch fish, take the time to ensure your lures are rigged well and

are swimming right, and that will be fundamental to your success.

A standard lure spread should have a minimum of 5 positions; the shotgun (set right out the back of the boat behind all the other lures), the short corner, the long corner, the short rigger, and the long rigger. Some people choose to put more rods out than this, but this will be dependent on your boat size, rod layout, and experience of crew. By staggering your lures at different distances behind the boat, your lures can complement one another and mimic a fleeing bait school. Not only that but a spread set properly will allow you to make tight turns and circles without having big tangles between the rods. In addition to this you can run teasers to really get the fish excited, and up to the back of the boat. However, having 5 or 6 lures out the back may not always be ideal in all situations, and we will address this point later on.

When you’re steaming out to the fishing destination, ensure you don’t put your blinkers on and just focus on the one direction. Keep your eyes peeled and scan your surroundings for any signs of activity at all times. We pulled three SBTs in the first half hour on our way to the south west coast, simply because we spotted the activity and made a detour towards it. When you do hook up, ensure the skipper drops a mark on the exact position, that way after all the mayhem has ended and the fish have been landed, you can go back to your original spot and work that area once again. Keep a close eye on your sounder as well, if all the activity has died down but you are still marking bait and fish a bit deeper, it is worth hanging around the area for a while. This is because there is a fair chance that the fish will end up pushing the bait up, or come back to the surface for a look at some point. If trolling hasn’t worked don’t be afraid to try different techniques, no matter how unconventional they might seem. Casting and jigging soft plastics, knife jigs, and metal slugs can all account for fish on those hard days. Live baiting has also been a tried and proven technique on those days when the fish are finicky and are refusing all other lures!

Two person game fishing

Ideally game fishing is a team effort, where all the responsibilities are split up between a crew of 3 to 4 people. However, on many occasions it can be difficult to round up a full crew. This may be due to a spur of the moment trip, people cancelling because of unforeseen circumstances, fishing mid-week when most people are working, or simply because the boat is only suited to fishing 2 people. Bottom fishing, as well as most forms of inland and estuary fishing can all be undertaken with 2 people relatively easily. This can also be the case with game fishing, although a bit of planning is necessary if you want to fish as effectively and trouble-free as possible.

The main responsibilities when game fishing can be split up into 4 categories; 1. driver, 2. fisher, 3. wire man, 4. gaff man.

By fishing in a team of two, each person has twice as many jobs to do, or in some cases one person may have three jobs, while the other only needs to wind the fish in.

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

So let’s start from the beginning, before you even set your lures you want to be prepared for the hook up, and the final stages of the fight. Put all your gaffs and tail ropes in easy to reach positions. Tracing gloves should either be worn straight up, or placed in a spot where you can both get to them quickly. Now that you are prepared to land the fish, you can start to set the spread. You can still run a full spread of lures with two people, i.e. 5 or 6 lures out, but you should adjust this depending on the activity on the day. I would start with the full spread to begin with, but be aware that if you get a five strike of fish, it’s not going to be easy! Depending on the size of fish you are catching, two people can still deal with double and triple hook ups of 15-20kg bluefin, but any more than that and it can get tricky, especially on the average 6 metre trailer boat. Ensure that if you have multiple hook ups, the driver keeps the boat in gear, to avoid drifting over any lines. The last thing you want is line wrapped around your prop while trying to fight fish! While one person is on the rod, the driver should clear all the other stray lines out of the water, unless it looks as though the fish hooked are small and can be brought in relatively quickly. If there are more rods hooked up than hands available, just leave those rods in the holders and work around them. If need be, move them to a spot which is out of the way, i.e. up in the rocket launchers. Once all the fish are landed, it is up to you to decide whether or not to put a full spread back out, or drop back to four or five. I would personally drop back to four, and if multiple strikes still occur, continue dropping rods out till you and your crewman are comfortable in dealing with the situations. If the fish you are hooking are bigger fish (i.e. 35kg or more) I would drop back to two or three rods, as we did when we were fishing down south.

This is because bigger fish necessitate the driver to actually drive the boat to aid the fisher in fighting the fish, rather than pulling the fish towards a dead (stationary or just in gear) boat. When hooked up to these bigger fish, the ability to land them is split 50/50 between the driver and fisher. Some may argue the effort is even in favour of the driver. The driver must ensure that he is watching the person on the rod, where their line is, and what it is doing at all times, as well as looking out for other hazards around them. In order to do this effectively, the driver must try to position the fisher on the same side of the boat as the controls. For the majority of half cab and side console boats, this is on the starboard side corner.

This doesn’t matter so much on centre consoles and open boats without cabins as their view is much less restricted. Leave the ratchet clicked on when fighting fish, especially bigger fish, as this allows the driver to be able to hear when the fish is running hard, or when the angler is gaining. The exception to this is if seals are around and you are worried they may be attracted to you by the sound of the drag. This isn’t needed with smaller school fish either, which can be brought to the boat without too much hassle.

In the final stages of a fight, you should both be talking to each other to decide who does what, either the driver runs down and traces and gaffs the fish, or the fisher traces the line while the driver gaffs. This can be a make or break moment, depending on how green the fish is, and how experienced either person is on the trace. One way of eliminating one of these responsibilities (i.e. the wire man), is to run long wind-on

A fantastic southern bluefin tuna with Robert Keeley, Jonah Yick and Rob Freeman. leaders (approx. 7.5m) and short lure leaders (approx.

1m). By using these, you are able to bring the fish closer into gaffing range, without having to touch the leader at all. Because you are also still using the rod, you can react much quicker if the fish takes a sudden lunge or final run under the boat. I use a locally made wind-on leader by J.E.M, which has never let me down.

So now you’ve got the low down on how to catch big fish in trailer boats in remote areas with a crew of two, there’s no excuses why you can’t get out there and have a crack!

Jonah Yick

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

Fishing News - Page �� 31

L

Last cast

End of season soft plastic tips.

Michal Rybka It might be the end of the season, but the trout are still there.

W

hile the action on the saltwater has been okay, the Tasmanian trout season has been far from great.

Over the summer, I have fished many of the highland lakes, using both dry fly and micro-sized plastics.

Although some of my trips have been productive, there have been many trips where I have put in long hours and plenty of effort, for only a few fish. It is with particular sadness, that Arthurs Lake - my favourite place to fish, has also let me down on a number of occasions. As with any fishing trip, I always endeavour to find a ‘silver lining’, and for me it has been that the few fish I have caught were noticeably larger, and in better condition, than the ones I caught the previous year.

Although the end of the trout season is fast approaching, I am sure that there are many anglers keen to make the most of the time remaining. The weather is cooling down right across the state, and we have already seen some highland snowfalls. With trout feeding heavily before spawning over the next couple of months, April has the potential to be a month filled with some better trout fishing action.

As the cold weather sets in and the water temperature drops, surface insect activity naturally declines. Trout will instinctively turn their attention to sub-surface food sources. As many of you know, in many of the highland lakes, galaxias are a red-hot item on the trout menu! It is also no secret that if you can imitate this food source you can often fool the hungry trout into taking your offering. Hard body lures and wet flies are two options that will work well. But for me, this is a great time of the year to target trout using soft plastics.

Fishing News - Page �� 32

Here are some tips to help you to increase your endof-season catch rate!

Soft plastic colours

I find that darker colours tend to work well late in the season. As most of you know, ‘black n gold’ is an ever-popular choice, for both early and late season, with black creating a highly visible silhouette under almost any conditions. It is also probably the most effective colour day or night. With the addition of ‘gold fleck’ or ‘gold glitter’, this colour has the ability to reflect some light, which, much like a gold metal spinner or spoon, attracts attention.

Natural colour combinations, similar to juvenile trout or galaxias, will also work very well. Look for plastics with natural looking shades of brown or olive. Ensuring that they are blended with some gold, silver or copper coloured fleck will make them all the more attractive to trout.

Combinations of black and red, or even black and orange are also great late season soft plastic colours. The black stands out, while the highlighted colour (red or orange) will work to trigger strikes from even the fussiest of fish. You will find that these colours are particularly appealing to trout around spawning time.

If you don’t have these colours in your soft plastic arsenal, then you can easily modify your lures by adding a splash of red or orange paint. Grab some bright red or orange nail polish and start painting some highlights on those plastics. Painting the belly of the plastic in a bright colour is a great start!

What type of soft plastic?

In my opinion, you can’t go past a ‘t-tail’ or ‘paddle tail’ soft plastic when fishing for trout. This style of soft plastic lure has plenty of in-built tail action and is a good galaxias representation. Some brands have more action than others, but it is the tight vibration that is really appealing to trout. In some instances, this tail action will provoke what’s known as a ‘reaction bite’.

This is where a trout will simply want to attack your lure in order to protect its territory. This is an especially common behaviour in the time leading up to spawning.

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Plastics such as the Black and Gold Berkley 2.5” t-tail, the Homebrew Strike Tiger 2.5” t-tail, the Garry Glitter Squidgee or the YEP Black and Gold flapper, all possess the desirable qualities mentioned, and are all great end of season choices for Tasmania. An important consideration when selecting soft plastic lures is to avoid those made of plastic compounds that are too stiff. If the plastic is too stiff, the lure will generally not have very much tail action. Choose something that will work well under the slowest of retrieves and your success rate should improve.

The ‘stiffness’ of the lure is not so much a concern for ‘stick baits’ or soft-plastic ‘minnows’ because the swim action relies solely on the input from the angler.

While these lures have little to no built-in action, they are probably an even better galaxias representation.

Like t-tails, stick baits also work exceptionally well late in the season.

If you intend to use stick baits or soft plastic ‘minnows’, you need to remember that they rely on ‘angler input’ to get the lure performing at its ‘enticing’ best. When fishing these plastics, the aim is to make them look as life-like as possible. Generally speaking, ‘stick-baiting’ is a more advanced fishing technique, but, as with all things new, it will get easier if you put in the time and practice.

Modify the appearance of your jigheads

If you want to go one step better in terms of presentation, I would suggest ‘pimping’ or ‘modifying’ the jighead on which your plastic is rigged. One simple method is to paint the jighead to match the colour of the lure. Coloured nail polish is a suitable product for this

A lovely size and conditioned brownie. task. You also may want to add some realistic looking red (or natural coloured) lure eyes. Adhesive lure eyes are readily available from stores or online. Eyes that are 3mm in diameter are generally suitable for most jighead applications.

Once you have stuck the eyes on the jighead, you should coat them with a layer of clear nail polish. This will result in a professional finish to your jighead, but more importantly, the eyes will be less likely to come off.

You may think that it is a fiddly process – but so is fly tying! Adding that little

extra detail will enhance the appearance of your lure, therefore making it more appealing to trout.

For most trout applications, I usually rig a soft plastic on anything ranging from a 1/16 through to a 1/12 weight jig head (hook gape sized 1/0 or 2). I use a loop knot to finish the connection to the jig head.

This ensures that the lure can move freely and that its presentation is as natural as possible.

Target wind-blown shores

Fishing wind-blown shorelines with plastics is a proven trout catching method for late in the season.

Hard body lures also work very well with this method.

The constant pounding of the waves against the shore works to stir up the natural bait – a bonus for us anglers!

Galaxias, one of the items on a trout’s menu, are little fish that spawn on the rocky shorelines of many

The days may be cold, but rug up and keep fishing.

Fishing News - Page �� 34

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of the retrieve. The key here is to only move your rod tip an inch or two either way. If you move it any further, your soft plastic may not swim naturally.

‘The Slow Roll’

Slow rolling a soft plastic is another easy retrieve that works in lakes, rivers and even small creeks. This technique requires the angler to slowly (and constantly) retrieve a plastic along the bottom. With an inbuilt tail action, curl tail grubs and t-tail/paddle-tail soft plastics are perfect choices for this particular method.

Start out by casting your plastic and let it sink to the bottom. You will know that your plastic is on the bottom by watching your line – as soon as it goes slack, you are there. Next, lift your rod tip slightly. It is now just a matter of winding your lure back ever so slowly.

You should feel your plastic touch the bottom every now and then. If the action is slow – try throwing in a few pauses. Extend the time that you pause your plastic for in order to give the trout some extra time to observe your offering.

Plastics work well.

Tasmanian lakes. If conditions are fierce enough, the waves crashing against the shoreline can actually kill many of them. Of the ones that survive, some will be temporarily ‘stunned’, resulting in erratic and impaired swimming actions. Trout will patrol such shorelines, chasing the live galaxias. They will also happily take the opportunity to get an easy meal, mopping up any dead galaxias that have been slammed against the rocks by the waves.

Target structure

Structure provides trout with safe hiding places. Think of those dead trees sticking out of the water in a lot of our lakes. They are all potential trout holding areas that should never be overlooked. When targeting timber structures, accurate casts right up against the timber are important. Let the plastic flutter down hard against the target and don’t forget to anticipate any strikes as it sinks. Time and effort at these locations is usually well rewarded.

Structure is not just limited to timber. Weed beds are another great area to target. They normally hold good amounts of ‘trout tucker’, as well as providing the trout with cover and concealment. As the saying goes, ‘where there is food, there is fish’, and this is certainly true for weed beds. Although, great fishing spots, they are located sub-surface and can take some finding if your boat does not have a sounder.

Some good soft plastic retrieves ‘The Lift & Drop’

I use a variety of soft plastic retrieves, but usually start off with the simple ‘lift and drop’. This one works very well for mid to deep sections of water, because the plastic is able to travel a considerable distance as it swims to the surface and then naturally flutters to the bottom.

The technique is exactly as it sounds. Cast your plastic, let it sink, then lift and drop. Wind slowly as you drop to take up the slack line, and then repeat. It is as simple as that! If you get no interest using this technique, then incorporate some fast and slow twitches into the lift part

‘The Rip and Pause’

This method is well suited to fishing those windblown shorelines. If you are fishing these areas, you will likely be fishing shallow. So, as soon as your plastic hits the water, wind as fast as you can for 2 or 3 sharp turns of your reel. Be sure to hold your rod-tip high, as this will ensure that your plastic will swim shallow right from the start. If you are fishing deeper water, just remember to let the plastic sink a bit first. You will also need to hold your rod tip lower.

The next step is to pause. This allows the plastic to sink for a second or so. Repeat the rip, and then pause again. As you progress the plastic into deeper water, hold the rod tip lower to allow it to dive deeper. You will also need to increase the number of times you turn the reel when you ‘rip’ the lure, as well as extending the pause time as you continue the retrieve.

I find that when using this method, I can trigger interest, and ultimately a reaction-bite, from trout that have ‘shut down’. You may also find that many strikes will be on the pause part of this particular retrieve.

Anticipating this is therefore very important for successful hook-ups.

Conclusion

The soft plastic techniques that I have described in this story are excellent options for fishing our highland lakes late in the season. However, they will work on trout just about anywhere, and can be used by anglers of all skill levels. They will work if you are fishing on foot, from the shore, or fishing from a boat or kayak.

If you are heading out for a fish before the season ends, keep in mind the target areas and techniques that I have described. Don’t be afraid to experiment with the presentation of your lures. Remember, something that is just a little bit different could be the thing that turns your ‘fishing’ trip into a ‘fish catching’ trip!

Good luck! I hope to see you all at the Liawenee Trout Weekend in May. Mic Rybka.

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Fishing News - Page �� 35

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Small stream, but big fish.

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Starting over Fish more Catch less Nick Taransky

Fishing News - Page �� 36

ell this season is passing before my eyes. Maybe I’ve been working too conscientiously, but for some reason I have fished less this last season than in recent years. There are still some golden Autumn fishing to be had, if I can make it out there, but even here on the mainland, where the rivers are open until early June, the dry fly action slows right down by the end of April.

With that in mind, I’m already thinking of what I might do differently next season.

Fish More!

I’m sure that hardly sounds surprising, but it would be the lucky few that would fish as much as they would like. I have known a couple of real trout bums, that on the surface, we all envy. The other side of that is that this sort of lifestyle can leave you without enough money to put petrol in the car to go fishing, which takes some of the gloss off of “living the dream”. We all have responsibilities that put pressure on our time, but losing some good friends over the year brings home the truth that we only live once, so when the opportunity for a day, or even half a day out presents itself, especially if I can share it with a friend, next season I’ll want a pretty good reason to decline.

In these days, with detailed weather forecasts at the touch of a finger on a smart phone, it’s easy to pass up a day on the water because the conditions “won’t be right”. That’s fine, it can help you choose your days off wisely, but I’m in two minds about this. You may never get that day back, and in the old days, when you just went, because you’d missed the forecast on the news, or forgot to buy the paper, you had a great day out anyway, and maybe for a short window, the weather

backed off and gave you memorable fishing. And if it was truly lousy, it gave you even more incentive to get out there as soon as weather settled. It’s a bit like golf.

Play a great round, and you want to get out there again.

Play a terrible round, and you need to get out there again to have a better one!

Catch Less

Bear with me on this. I’m primarily a stream angler. I love catching fish of all shapes and sizes. I certainly don’t hate big fish, but I love walking up a small stream, fishing the bubble lines to eager, small stream fish, especially fishing run for run, or fish for fish, with a friend. None of my friends, or I, are fish “counters” as such, but when the fish are plentiful, it’s easy to get carried away, and already be looking for the next one as you skate the one on your line across the surface to land it. I know I’ve been guilty of this in the past, and seen it in my friends too. It can reach the point of “how much is enough”, and some days where a lot of fish have been caught have been fun, but somehow a bit of a blur.

In recent times, I’ve started to slow down, and been happy to walk the stream and just fish to rising or visible fish, or sit on a pool and watch for a while, rather than feel like I need to catch every fish in the river. I did manage to get out on my own the other day, and after a lot of walking, and a bit of (unsuccessful) fishing, managed to land a really nice 23 inch brown in a small stream. I looked at my watch. It was only 2:30 in the afternoon, and I could have fished on for hours. But I just wound up, and walked back to the car. I saw some smaller fish on the way back, leaping to black spinners. I stopped and watched them for a bit, but left them to it.

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Most people do not fully appreciate small streams.

I know that Mike Stevens and Peter Hayes do this sort of thing at the end of the season. If they catch a fish on their last trip of the season, they wind up and call it a day. It’s a nice thought, and a nice memory, to end the season on that note I think.

I’m going to take that sort of sentiment into next season. It’s not really about not catching fish, but more about maximising the enjoyment out of the fish I target and catch than maximising the number of fish caught.

This leads into the next point too…

Leave my Rod at Home

This might sound crazy too, but it follows on from the previous idea. How can you fish without a rod? By sharing one! I’m usually with a friend when I fish, but we usually fish one at a time. On small, flowing streams, we fish in turn to share the fun, often having more fun as the spectator than the participant. And on slower lowland waters, which are more pool and polaroiding based, it is far more effective to have one angler down on the water, with another up high somewhere doing the spotting.

Sure, you can each take a rod, but you can also share one, as you’re only fishing one at a time anyway. For me, the biggest advantage to sharing a rod is when it comes to photography. I have pretty serious camera gear, and usually make the effort to take it with me, but when I have a rod in the other hand, it’s often a nuisance to get the damn thing out and use it! Of course, you can drop your rod somewhere and pick it up later, but often that’s easier said than done. There’s been more than one occasion when I’ve spent some time scratching my head looking for where on earth I left that rod back along the river… I’ve had some really good days when I’ve left the rod at home, and decided to focus (pardon the pun) on the camera, when fishing with a friend or two! You can really pour yourself into improving your photography this way. And if you’re nice enough to your friends, you can use their rod and end up fishing as much as you would have anyway.

This goes back to the last point about catching less fish, and slowing down, rather than racing up the river in some sort of military mission. When you already have the camera out at the ready, you can take a better

and more creative photos when a fish is being hooked, played and landed, instead of frantically getting your camera out, only to find that your mate has already let the fish go and is casting again!

So I’m going to make the commitment to leave the rod at home for a few trips at least and concentrate on photography (our esteemed editor will probably only believe it when he sees it).

Empty my Fly Box

This is something that has been bugging me for a while. The flies I carry are split into two broad categories.

The first are imitative patterns, tied to look like specific species of insects, and (hopefully) fool selective trout.

Most of these are based on particular mayflies, but also include termites, and other insects. I’m happy with these, or at least the philosophy behind them.

The second class are “general” or “attractor” flies that look buggy, and hopefully edible to a hungry opportunistic trout. These are the patterns that have started to bug me (pardon the pun again). The majority of these flies have come our way from books and magazines, mostly from overseas – flies like Royal Wulffs, Stimulators – that sort of thing. Sure, they work.

Trout are trout, and if they’re feeding opportunistically they have a go at sticks, leaves and cigarette butts. But over time, I’ve felt a sense of detachment from the river and its environment when using these types of flies. Even my “go to” small stream fly, a little mottled deer hair caddis doesn’t feel right. Sure, fish eat it, but I’ve never seen a natural caddis that size and colour be eaten by a trout on the streams I fish. I really don’t know what the fish that eat my fly take it for – it maybe looks like a small mayfly dun - and maybe it doesn’t matter, but I’m tipping all my general patterns out and starting from scratch.

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Fishing News - Page �� 37

I love my cane rods.

The direction I’m taking is based on my friend and mentor, Ray Brown’s approach. Ray is one of the best read anglers I know, and has been tying flies commercially for decades. His own patterns include ones that you would call “general”, but his mind set is focused on making those flies relevant to local insects. This may not necessarily result in more opportunistic fish taking the fly, but to me, the process and generates a deeper interest in the entomology and wider ecology of your local streams, and connects you more with your fishery.

A subtle benefit of “localising” these general patterns to me, is when you come across a more selective fish than normal. It might reject the “off the shelf ” general pattern, but take the one with imitative elements to it. I like the idea of that, anyway!

I’m not saying there is anything wrong at all with fishing a Royal Wulff or whatever you like, and there is something nice about the thought of travelling the world, only using a Red Tag. But for me, when fishing my local streams, I’m looking forward to using my empty fly box to generate some closer observations of what is living there, and making my general flies more relevant.

I’m starting with my Deer Hair Caddis. I’m giving it a tail, and changing the wing a little to make it more closely resemble a mayfly dun.

So next season, I’m hoping to fish more, catch less, leave my rod at home, and empty my fly box. And I’m really looking forward to it.

Nick Taransky

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S

Short cold trouty days Bright colours bring results Justin Causby

A

A solid Meadowbank brownie on the last day of the season.

s April and May progress the days are shorter and they for one thing sure are colder. But the trout angler in many of us still ‘needs’ to head up top chasing those that challenge us.

End of season trout should, as a general rule, be hungry. Either pre or post-spawn. They generally feed well pre-spawn. Feeding before they move up the many streams, creeks, rivers and canals that provide the breeding grounds. The process sees the trout with little or no food for some time hence the need to add condition for energy during this very strenuous spawning period.

Blessed we are in Tassie to be never much more than an hour or so from many of our highland lakes from our major population centres, we have many choices if the lakes and impoundments are on the radar.

So what’s different about this time of the year compared to the remainder of the season? The trout can be localised if they are readying to spawn. If they have spawned, assuming you are fishing a year round water, they will also be a little more localised although they do tend to spread pretty quickly.

The bite itself can be somewhat reactionary. Using bright colours such as fluro orange, red or pink will often

A solid Great Lake brownie with bright red dots taken near an inflow.

increase your hit rate at this time of the year. While hot pink is a proven trout catcher in Tassie Devil styled lures world-wide I tend to lean towards the flouro orange or red colours. It’s very rare now I’ll throw a lure without orange on it year round these days.

Days gone by

I remember vividly as a high school student fishing Lake Sorell around the Easter break. Trolling around the waters on the eastern Hatchery Shore as it was known.

You could look out from the small open dinghy and see literally hundreds of trout free leaping from the water.

Now these were, and given the tremendous fishery Sorell was, not small trout. They averaged close to 1.5kg up there out of the water and probably around 1.2kg cleaned. When these fish were ‘on the fly’ so to speak they weren’t all that easy to catch.

It may have been by chance that the bright lure scenario was discovered in our younger years as we always had the green and gold theory drummed in to us by the old timers ‘that knew best’ and when an adult tells a kid what he should use, you know what’s going to happen. Hot pink certainly wasn’t a colour used in Tassie for a long, long time and has only just become popular locally in the last two or three seasons.

We tended to opt then for either red and gold or a bright red Tassie Devil. Another favourite was a Nils Master with a frosty green back, yellow flanks and a bright red throat. Who knows why, I guess we didn’t understand the reasons back then, we just knew they caught fish and Easter break was the time to start using them.

In the 25 years since those days I guess you could say we have revised and improved our tactics targeting these trout.

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Fishing News - Page �� 39

Choosing the right lure

I’ll cover this first as for me it’s something that doesn’t really change regardless of location anywhere in the state. At the end of the season the first thing I tie on is black, gold and orange. It doesn’t matter what brand or style that’s my weapon of choice. That said I don’t think it matters what’s on the lure with the orange, I believe that is the key. So much so I’ve used all orange Tassie Devils to great effect right through the season. Stick fluoro orange under an ultraviolet light and perhaps that’s a clue to the reason why. Not only is it bright to our eyes, the UV glow out of a fluoro orange is astounding.

It’s long been accepted that UV signatures can be a big factor in stimulating fish to attacks a lure.

Keeping it local look no further than Cranka Lures with their minnows; Salmon Guts, BBQ Prawn, Fire Trout and Golden Trout will all get the job done.

Another gun colour for end of season, and right through the year, is the Spotted Dog variations. YEP Tassie Tackle has a gem in the Golden Seducer. While I’ll fish this out of the box through the year I love to tinker with lures and this gets a pimping job with a blast of you guessed it fluoro orange right along its belly for late season trout.

The Hawk Snipers also fitting the bill with a black and gold and also from their new custom range the Ghost Prawn (orange) should fool more than a few silly trout up top.

For those trolling or throwing heavier lures the Tassie Devil Range has some standouts colour wise; #102 Bengal Tiger, #110 Perch, #56 Fireball and #126 Smashing Pumpkin all great choices. The #PP Phosphorus Pearl also excellent particularly fished deep on lead line.

Taking some cues from our neighbours in New Zealand who have, although it’s not publicised unlike it’s incredible fly fishery, one of the best trolling fisheries in the world. The fish that they catch puts to shame most others world-wide. Some very different tactics are employed but lure choice is at times very similar with one significant change. They love white or in particular white pearl as a base colour.

When fishing soft plastics again I’m headed straight for the Pumpkinseed colours. Local manufacturer Strike Tiger has a great colour in the Vodka n Orange and in darker water the Toffee Apple has a good contrast being somewhat denser in colour. I also find that the translucent greens also stand out extremely well with their UV signatures but that’s a colour I’ll fish earlier in the year. Strike Tiger, Z-man and the old school Wasabi Wriggler all winners on that front.

Bright colours work well at the end of the season.

It’s great to see the browns at Lake Echo back in great condition this season after many years of below average fish. They provide great sport and always eat well if you choose to keep a few for the table. Given the stocking undertaken here in the past 6-7 years it certainly wouldn’t hurt. The Great Lake also seeing some exceptional trout this season and both these waters offer

some very different fishing but one thing in common is the sprinkling of excellent rainbows in the bag.

For the trolling angler this NZ tactic of white pearl with a hit of red came in no better design than the Phosphorus Pearl Tassie Devil. And as it does in NZ it works equally as well on browns as it does rainbows.

The next choice for me is another Tassie Devil, #96

Today’s trolling tactics

I guess the main thing that has changes the way we fish is the electric motor. I have been drift spinning in the trees at Lake Echo for as long as I can remember and we can do it now days with a fair bit more control sneaking around on the electric.. There are days where trolling around the tree lines and inflows will land you big bags of trout but I prefer to drift spin, covering the water more effectively. Sure a trolling boat will cover more water but from the drifting boat you can cover all of the water around you. It’s a trade-off you make, but either way both can be very effective.

Fishing News - Page �� 40

Trolling the trees for good results.

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Fish the trees and snags.

Abigail that again works well on both species. Both these lures are very successful in both Echo and Great Lake particularly late in the season. I also tend to mix them up both top line and lead-line. If running a lead-line or similar tool to achieve depth there are two particular things to take note of first and they both relate to your sounder.

Firstly look for fish. Importantly turn off the fish ID feature. This will mislead most anglers all day long identifying every leaf, stick, weed or bit of grit floating in the water. Fish will show as arches. Take note of the level in the water they are holding at. It will lead to a median depth, and target this region.

Secondly look for the thermocline. Most modern day sounders will show this up without much tinkering in your settings, and then it’s usually only the sensitivity that needs some tweaking. The thermocline will show as a reasonably straight line of data on your screen holding at a fixed height across your screen. This is generally the hotspot. It is remarkable how many fish will spend their time around this feature in the water column.

What is the thermocline you might ask? It is a layer of water so to speak where there sits a significantly cooler section of water most likely with an immediate change in oxygen levels also. Why it is attractive to fish I’m not sure of the scientific reasons but from an angling point of view the theory is sound so I’m not going to challenge it.

Run lures at the thermocline level and you’re well on your way. In NZ this is the basis of their trolling success and it works equally as well at home here in our own lakes.

The next item on the agenda is to look where we are fishing. Both waters again a reasonably large expanse and for the best part offer very good and specific inflows.

The general water outside these inflows are great places to target late season. Please check the rules and regs of your chosen waters as they areas and vicinities to fish can vary. Again as a generally rule of thumb the trout should be congregating toward these inflows as the urge to spawn grows.

Run a spread of lures covering a few different colour variations but importantly try to cover the water column.

One very good tip is to not just point your boat in a straight line. I very rarely do a curved corner also. Just turn in tight sharp angles, even if heading in a general direction, zig zag your way there. On the inside of the turn your lure will drop and slow and the outside lure will speed up. This not only alters your speed and depth but probably more importantly alters the action of the lure. It is quite uncanny just how often that inside rod will go off on a turn.

Drift spinning

Rewards from late season trolling.

I now find personally that covering the water more thoroughly through drift spinning a more successful tactic. While it is a lot more physically demanding and can be very tough on those wet and cold late autumn days the rewards can be good.

Again choosing your water is very important. That inflowing water is worth prospecting and probably more successful are the points either side of bays containing an

inflowing creek. It is invariably windy at this time of year up top and the wind does create movement in the water.

Current will form and these points help generate current lines and gather food. They also provide structure and a change in depth from the surrounds. All these lead to fish. Hit these spots and you will find reward.

I personally prefer to target inflows with deeper water surrounding also. Sure you find them in the shallows but the deeper spots tend to be more successful I’ve found.

Casting tight to the shore is a great starting point.

While it’s usually the best tactic, work around trying a few different ideas with depth and retrieves. You should discover a pattern. It may evolve over a day’s fishing also.

Several times in recent years we’ve gone from a shallow shore based bite and moved out to 2-2.5m by midday to keep finding the bite.

Also take note of the bottom you are fishing over.

Are you covering rocks? Or is it silt or weed? Possibly a broken bottom with a mixture of substrates. Whatever it is, it’s worth noting as if it works in one area it is most likely going to apply elsewhere in the same system.

Look for structure. It may be trees in dead stands long drowned or freshly covered ground. Reefs, rocky outcrops and any inflowing water no matter how small.

A little trickle running off a bank can a beacon for the more than one fish. And at this time of the year, where you catch one you are likely to find more.

After dark

Another successful tactic that can be employed is the use of surface lures after night falls. It is in these hours where you can find the big fish. And we are often talking those trophy sized trout we all desire. Running water is once again the key. Trout of all sizes have the desire to spawn once they reach maturity. Some of these large trout will prey on that very fact. A fish in excess of 10lb in the old scale can make pretty light work of even a 300gr fish. They seemingly also can’t resist a surface lure popping across the top of the water. Mistaking it for a frog or mouse or whatever it may be but see it as an easy meal they do. Warmer nights seem to be a key here perhaps the extra insect life and surface action promoting a need for the fish to keep looking up for that feeding opportunity. Again check the local regulations for where and when you cannot fish.

Summary

You can apply this information to just about any still water in the state. Arthurs Lake having some very similar bays and creeks where similar tactics are used.

Along with the likes, King William, Burbury, Pedder etc.

It’s a rewarding time of the year to fish. Those days you remember forever can happen right now. Not only that when we get a settled day in autumn it’s generally a cracker and very enjoyable to be out on the water.

Apply some of this info to your next outing and it might help you find a few more fish. Stick at and where you find one there will be plenty more.

Remember to check out your rules and regs on the IFS Infish App or grab an info pamphlet from your local tackle store or Service Tas. They are invaluable tools and not only offer you the guidelines but the maps show inflows, bays and points, all that could point you to your next fish.

Justin Causby

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Fishing News - Page �� 41

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Game On May & June The two best game fishing months Kelly Hunt

John Huskin had everything right to land this broadbill.

I

don’t think we can really start talking about what May and June will bring for fishing in Tasmania without first talking about what has been happening in the Tasmanian game fishing scene recently. Tasmania has gone off, particularly the lower East coast. Bicheno has seen some battles with big yellowfin tuna with a few sad results.

Talking to one angler with years of experience he had a tale of woe. It was a day like any other off the 80 metre mark just off the top side of the Gulch, looking very fishy. The skipper decided to put in a small spread and troll out to the shelf. He had on a couple of tried and true albacore lures that had never let him down. This one particular lure he mentioned he had…. HAD.. for over 15 years. They had only been trolling for 10 minutes when the reel screamed off in earnest and within an instant they knew there was a big fish heading home with lure in mouth. They battled this fish for an hour before sighting it at the back of the boat. That’s when things got exciting !

The fish was big and on sighting the boat and the two wide eyed anglers with their bottom jaws near on the deck, took off on another blindingly fast run and Fishing News - Page �� 42

went deep. The angler and skipper worked for another two hours finally getting the fish up for another close look and conformation of species. BIG SICKLES. Big yellow tinged sickles. The fish was a good’un and was not finished yet. It turned and pulled and whirled around and …. Pop! — something let go.

That lure that had been catching albacore effortlessly for 15 years or more had let go at the crimp on a fish of a lifetime. Not only did the angler loose a yellowfin as wide as his boat , but also a favourite lure. Nothing more frustrating than losing a fish you have worked on for over 3 hours. Multiply that by the fact they saw what it was and knew what a trophy it was and it all adds up to misery. The lure had never been checked or re-rigged.

Check, double check and re rig

The start of each season, mid-way through the season or just before a big trip are prime times to run the eye over all your terminal tackle. Kids love helping Dad check the gear. Explain to them first what is going on, why you are doing it and the importance of not letting the line hit the ground. Head to a grassy area of a footy oval near you. Have the kids hook the wind on swivel

It’s great when you get it right. to the back of their pants and tell then to take off like a fish. Run the line between the thumb and forefinger as it pays out. Check for any issue like chaffing or a nick in the line. Do the same as you wind it back in onto the

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spool. You should be confident that the line is in very good condition. If not. Any doubt what so ever and it is time to re spool with fresh line. Nobody wants to lose a great fish thinking. Line is cheap.

Tasmania is off tap

The tail end of March was out of control. The Broadbill fishing was mad…seriously mad ! There were a number of swords caught over 180kg over 3 days. Leo Miller and his band of Swordsman were in great form putting their designated angler on to a ‘broady’ in the Coles Bay Classic. It also looks to have smashed the current Australian record for line class to pieces. Read more about that epic battle elsewhere in this edition.

The very best thing you can do as a game fisherman in Tasmania for April and May is sort out your annual leave and holidays. March yourself to a tackle store load up on some gear and head out and get involved. Get out on the water and get some lures or a bait in the water.

The fishing is really firing all down the coast from Bicheno down. Coles bay as mentioned, was the venue for angler Kyle Longmore and skipper Leo Miller to snare a monster broadbill. I was lucky enough to be fishing just 2 NM from that great capture and we were tagging sharks as that battle went on for 6 hours. It was a superb angling effort and one I was glad to witness. Leo Miller and his crew created world wide news with their capture. Triabunna fished well recently with a broadbill hooked and lost and a number of mako sharks and good sized albacore being harvested.

We move on down to “The Neck” and surrounds and they have had a sensational opening to their season.

Early on the albacore came on and with some good size in them. Just to keep everyone guessing an angler decided to shake it up and landed a short billed spearfish.

The area picked a gear after that and started to produce really big albacore while those making the trip to Pedra and Mewstone were catching some impressive southern bluefin tuna.

Archie’s fish fires ‘em up

Archie Cashion managed to feed a big southern bluefin tuna a lure and find himself a very nice trophy fish. The fish pulled the scales down and read 112kg making it a true jumbo! The talk and whispers were about when these fish might find their way to Eaglehawk Neck. They didn’t have to wait long and the following week there were some very impressive captures of fish well over 100kg. The fishing really fired up and with the boat traffic came more great reports of fish being caught in and around the Pirates Bay and Tasman Island areas. One boat managed to capture a 30 plus kg albacore that would have ordinarily been a story in its own right. However this same vessel managed to also catch a broadbill Swordfish and nice mako shark as well.

Not all beer and skittles

It is often good to hear of the good news stories, but for every fishing story that goes well there is always another that did not. One particular super keen angler was out having a great day on the water outside the Little and Big Hippo when it all happened at once. On seeing some SBT breaking their backs out of the water and seeing they were BIG fish he manoeuvred to head the fish off. It happened like clock work and once he quartered the fish and they lures went over them he

While waiting for a mako to come along bounce a jig in the trail heard a noise he had never heard before. His 15 kg tuna outfit was literally screaming line out at a rate never experienced. In and amongst the mayhem of clearing rods and getting settled the fish were busting up around them and so to where a heap of seals. The fish was obviously a barrel and the angler felt that he must get this fish to the boat quickly. He pushed the lever past strike drag and up to sunset in an attempt to slow the fish and pull it through the seals quickly.

On 15 kg with a good fish on nothing happens quickly and the inevitable happened. The speed of which the line was being pulled from the reel combined with the water pressure against the line was too much at strike drag and the line parted.

This is a very frustrating moment when using lever drag reels. It just should not happen.

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Set your drag properly

Pre set drag, lever action reels like the offerings from PENN reels are designed to be a fail safe system. You set them up for what line class you feel you would like to fish. The size of the reel is normally matched to the line breaking strain. It is not a hard and fast rule but as a guide a 30 size reel is for 15kg (30 pound) line, a 50 for 24kg and a 70 for 37kg and so on and so on. The lever on the side of these reels applies a set amount of tension adjusted by the angler. These levers operate on an indent or stopper that does not allow them to move past a certain spot without depressing a button. This is from what is called free spool to “strike” In the strike position the drag tension is set to around 1/3rd line breaking point so for 15kg it would be set at 5kg and for 37kg line it would be set to 12.3kg. This is done, as at this stage if your knots and rigging are perfect you will always be connected to a fish and be tiring it out. Barring disaster like touching the line on another, the side of the boat or being reefed, it will only now be up to who tires first — fish or angler.

Relax and hang on

When that fish of a lifetime comes along you will know. The reel will be three pitches higher than normal on the ratchet and the rod will have a serious bend in it. If you are using rods you are familiar with and have used for a while catching school sized bluefin and big albacore, you will be like “Hang on … That rod has a fair curve on board!”

This is the time to be the Fonz — be cool and relax push the drag lever up to strike (it would be down off strike for reasons we will discuss later) and get a good hook set. Clear the other lines in the spread starting from the shortest to the boat first. This is for two reasons. The first being you will quickly make a hole in the spread to fight the fish into and gain some control. The second being it a much better idea than winding the longer set lures over the top of other lines and lures. The last thing you need will be a tangle. Once you have the lines clear have a crew member get the harness on you and settle in. Oh and here is a hot tip.

If you are on the rod and yell out to a crew member quick grab the harness and they say ‘The What?’ This is less than ideal. Getting a harness on someone on a rocking boat is not something you want to be doing for the first time with a jumbo on. Have a run through the night before with new crew and have a practice if things are a bit slow while out on the boat. The sooner you are comfortably in a harness with weight off your arms the sooner you are in control.

Think the battle through

The first part of any battle with a big fish you are more often a passenger. Use this time to play the fight out in your mind. Get a sense of the fish position in the water, the drift and line angle. If there are some seals about don’t panic. In the early part of the fight a fresh tunny will out distance a seal or two no worries at all. Use this to your advantage. If the drift and line angle allow , come away from any rocks or shallow ground and seals. Line off the reel is no big deal. It just means time , which you should have plenty of. If you get a sense you are down to under a third of your line capacity then angle over to a fish and run down the line to gain some back. The boat driver must be ready to react should the fish move Fishing News - Page �� 44

Harness on and laid back — who will tire first. quickly, but it should of course be in only one direction and that is away from the line. So while running down the line the skipper should be watching the line and have arm and hands positioned ready to turn and accelerate away from the line should the need arise.

High fives

Keep cool, calm and collected and that big fish will be beside the boat in no time. Keeping a constant bend in the rod and having the load on the fish will mean he will tire and be laying along side. Decisions need to be made before this happens as this is the time a lot of fish are attacked by seals. Have a plan and talk it through.

Run through who is going to leader the fish, who will sink the gaff and where the second gaff is. Having two or three seals rock up and lunch on an unmarked fish while looking for the gaff is about as uncool as socks with sandals!!!

No mucking about at this stage lads — adrenaline will mean that even the biggest tuna will be slapped on the deck if you work as one… on three. THREE !!

Get involved

Tasmania is having a fantastic period of Bluewater fishing and it is time to plan a trip. The fish are here and they look to be here in reasonable numbers. This will build through right into May. Last season went on and on so don’t feel just because the football starts you have to put the boat away. There are some magic days in autumn and not taking advantage of them is a waste.

The fish will be there so gear up and get after them.

Kelly Hunt

Boys and their toys. It is always great fun getting some new tackle.

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

Where to set drag lever while trolling ?

Setting the drag correctly is critical.

Understand it and get it correct.

Triabunna Seafest 2015 Once again the community of Triabunna came alive for Seafest weekend at the end of March. No one was left out with all being catered for. The kids have a wonderful selection of free activities and this is something Seafest prides itself on. It’s so nice to have all the children’s activities free and the organisers go to a lot of trouble to make this happen. This is made possible by the community Monster raffle and it’s a monster by name and a monster by nature. Keep an eye out for the raffle for next year!

Foodies are well looked after. The food and Tasmanian fine fare was something to behold. The seafood was spectacular with the local football club combining with local suppliers and delivering a half crayfish and salad for 20 bucks! The cray were a cracking size as well. The seafood did not stop there with Tassal having some delicious salmon wraps and Spring Bay Mussels on site with their tasty molluscs. The meat eaters were not forgotten with a wild array of delights from wild gourmet pies to the humble sausage.

Refreshments for any taste were catered for in the big food tent and were a welcome oasis from the sensational weather. This year had a central stage area with some fantastic entertainment from the Royal Australian Navy band to Cuban band El son Entero.

For mine though the star of the weekend was the Amazing Drumming Monkey’s. This South Australian

The lever on a game reel has a position on it marked STRIKE , but it is not okay in all instances to have the lever in this position while trolling lures and waiting for a strike. Confused ?

There are a number of variables that dictate what position the lever should be in while trolling. These include species and size of fish being targeted, design and size of hooks used and line being used. The ‘strike’ position on a game reel means the position to place the lever when you strike or set the hook. If it were a static bait of a fish moving away slowly hard up against the button is the place to be when doing so. Trolling is a little bit different. You are moving and so is the fish generally. If you were to set the strike drag lever position too firm on our species of tuna you can invariably tear their mouths. This is why you must sharpen hooks and use hooks fit for line class. A good sharp hook will set into a fish with ease and result in more hook ups.

The bigger the fish and the heavier the hook the more pressure you will need to get a good hook set.

For example: If you have a spread of 24kg outfits and you are on smaller albacore and SBT you can have your drag lever set back off the button. If you have the same outfits out and there are striped marlin about you would have them nearly right up into the button. Fish with a much harder mouth will take a lot more tension when they hit a lure.

Alternatively when fishing lighter lines like 10 and 8kg you may need to run the drags right up to the button as the drag pressures involved are so light you need to set them on close to maximum to get a good hook set.

When you go onto lines lighter than these it becomes tricky as you have to balance between having the drag pressure set hard enough to get a hook set but light enough the strike does not take up all the stretch in the light line and break it off. A lot of this is open to personal preference so please don’t take as gospel but just a guide.

duo put more smiles on kids and adults faces than I have seen for a long time. 5 stars.

There were boats to look at both modern and wooden.

The wooden boat rides were very popular and the big offshore vessels from Deegan and Maynes Marine turned plenty of heads. If you were looking to find a bargain there was a few to be had. From fishing gear to a good t-shirt and a pair of nice bed socks, it was all there to look at and purchase.

The two fishing competitions had their weigh in on Saturday and the kids and adults alike enjoyed watching it all unfold. There was some technical detail with the rules with the game fishing club comp that some of the crowd found fascinating. New species that people had never seen before were a huge draw card and the kids loved the funny looking fish from the deep. Sunday saw the festival run right up until the massive prize giving at noon. This started with the draw of the monster raffle with 50 great prizes. The game fishing club then gave away some fantastic prizes totalling some $ 12 000 dollars.

The second year of the reinvigorated Seafest was a substantial success. This year it stood on its own two feet and had to contend with the V8 super cars and the Nitro Circus being on the same weekend. The support for the event was impressive and the crowds were awesome. The community and surrounding areas and all involved should take a bow. Put it on the calendar for 2016.

See you there, Kelly Hunt.

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Fishing News - Page �� 45

Excitement as Yamaha announces new F130A four-stroke outboard Yamaha Motor Australia is extremely pleased to announce the release of the new F130A. This model was unveiled overnight at the Paris Boat Show. The new F130A fills the only remaining gap in Yamaha’s four-stroke engine range and is especially exciting for Australian customers who have been requesting a Yamaha four-stroke engine in this horsepower category for many years.

STRONGER. New - Generation Engine with advanced technology inherited from Yamaha’s high-horsepower line-up The new F130A employs the proven 1.8 litre, 16-valve, Double Overhead Camshaft, four-stroke engine found in the latest-generation F115B. The DOHC, four-cylinder design features large intake

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and exhaust valves for efficient transfer of fuel and exhaust, more power and better midrange torque.

Like the proven 1.8-litre F115B, the F130A is highly efficient and responsive.

While the new motor is based around the F115B, the F130A also inherits technology from Yamaha’s larger horsepower engines. Yamaha engineers have employed the use of a single electronic throttle intake valve on the F130. The electronic throttle valve is controlled by a microprocessor that interprets the operator’s instructions from the mechanical control at the helm to make precise throttle movements according to engine temperature and atmospheric conditions. This system works in tune with new fuel injection and ignition technology within the F130A, to deliver incredible response, awesome power and exceptional fuel economy.

FASTER. Increased top-end The F130A has a maximum operating rpm range from 5300 – 6300 rpm. The ability to rev higher delivers additional top end, while maintaining responsive power right through the RPM range.

This increased rpm range has proven to be a great advantage in other engines in the Yamaha fourstroke line up such as the top selling F70A and the F115B. LIGHTER. Class-leading power-to-weight The compact new F130A not only offers a new level of engine performance, it features an incredible power to weight ratio. Through the introduction of

weight-saving technology and materials inherited from the latest generation of Yamaha outboards, the new F130A weighs in at 172kg. This makes the F130A the lightest four-stroke engine in the 130 – 150 horsepower class and even lighter than competing direct injected two stroke engines in this category. This amazing light weight design makes the new F130A perfect for applications where minimising weight on the transom is important.

“We’re thrilled to be able to offer customers another class-leading engine, especially in this category,” said Iain MacLeod, National Sales Manager for Yamaha Outboards in Australia. “The new F130A is going to be the perfect power option for a huge selection of popular Australian fishing and recreational boats in the 5 – 6 metre range. The engine’s exceptional power to weight ratio will make it very popular in repower applications.”

SMARTER. Integrated technology puts you in control The F130A is fitted with a 35 Amp high output alternator which provides plenty of power to keep up with the requirements of today’s electronic accessories. The F130A is also compatible with Yamaha’s Command Link digital gauges and features Variable Trolling Control, a function that allows the operator to adjust the engines idle speed up or down in 50rpm increments to achieve the correct trolling speed for perfect lure action. The new F130A is compatible with Yamaha’s exclusive Y-COP theft deterrent system which safely secures your outboard from unauthorised startups.

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The Lightweight Chest Stack weighs in at a mere 100grams and may be the perfect fit for those seeking the minimalist approach in fly-fishing; and it may prove a cure for those of us looking to shed their heavy, bulging vests.

Visit http://www.mayflytackle.com.au/C&F/index. html to find your local stockist or alternatively call Mayfly Tackle on (03) 9899 0034.

C&F DESIGN (LCS-1) - lightweight chest stack The Lightweight Chest Stack is Japanese manufacturer C&F Design’s latest contribution to the minimalist approach in fly-fishing.

It was the Japanese, of course, who gave us Tenkara; the ultimate in minimalist fly-fishing where even the fly reel could be dispensed with; and while C&F are not advocating this approach, their Lightweight Chest Stack does reflect the Japanese approach to fly-fishing of purity and simplicity, where the focus is on catching trout, rather than the obsession with gear and the need to carry enough of it to meet every eventuality – that may never eventuate anyway!

Essentially, the Lightweight Chest Stack (LCS) is a hi-spec gear lanyard which retains all the elements of their standard lanyard, a popular item among professional guides, but by incorporating a landingnet holder and lightweight fly box, the LCS effectively replaces the traditional fly vest.

The lightweight fly box, around which the Lanyard is built, features 18-bars of micro-slit foam which will comfortably hold around 180 flies, and a magnetic sheet that will accommodate many more.

There are eight snap attachments to hold tools such as forceps, nail-knotters, clippers etc., and a tippet holder which will hold up to 3 spools of tippet material. A set of Velcro tabs is included which can be affixed to the lightweight fly box to enable an additional lightweight fly box to be attached or “stacked” on.

The LCS-1 features a retaining clip which enables attachment to your garment. A thoughtful touch which will prevent the LCS from swinging out from your chest when bending over to release a fish or when negotiating your way through a wire fence.

Adjustable cord length allows the LCS to be adjusted to suit the wearer.

Most fly fishers would readily admit to carrying far more gear in their vests than they need, when really a box of favourite flies, a spare leader and some tippet material are all that’s needed for a great days fishing.

STOP THE FACTORY TRAWLERS

BAD FOR FISHERMEN, BAD FOR THE ENVIRONMENT.

DON’T LET THEM GET AWAY WITH IT. The federal government has given the green light to a new factory trawler, the Dirk Dirk (aka Geelong Star), to plunder our fish stocks.

This is the largest factory trawler ever to fish in the Australian Small Pelagic Fishery.

Factory fishing like this threatens local populations of mackerel and redbait, recreational fishing, and dolphins, seals and seabirds. The people running the trawlers have been charged with illegal fishing overseas. More than once.

Show your local politician that we will not sit by and watch these huge foreign, factory trawlers come and plunder our oceans.

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Fishing News - Page �� 47

RECREATIONAL SEA FISHERIES NEWS April/May 2015

New fisheries posters are available to purchase at Service Tasmania

Scallop Season Open

Rock Lobster Season Dates Set until 2017

The recreational scallop season for State waters is open from the Saturday before Easter (28th March) until the end of July 2015. The D’Entrecasteaux Channel season is closed for 2015 to protect scallop stocks.

A reminder that you should follow any public health alerts relating to eating wild shellfish. More information can be found at the Department of Health and Human Services www.publichealthalerts.tas.gov.au or phone their hotline on 1800 671 738.

Recreational rock lobster season opening dates have now been set for the next three years. The Eastern Region opens on the third Saturday in November and the Western Region on the first Saturday of November.

2015/16 Season

Western Region Females - open from 7 November 2015 to 30 April 2016.

Males - open from 7 November 2015 to 31 August 2016.

Eastern Region Females - open from 21 November 2015 to 30 April 2016.

Males - open from 21 November 2015 to 31 August 2016.

The exact dates for the 2016/17 and 2017/18 are

Fishing News - Page �� 48

on the DPIPWE fishing website at www.fishing.tas.gov. au/rec/seasons The current 2014/15 season for female rock lobster finishes at the end of April in time for the breeding season. Male rock lobster can still be taken until 31 August, but females should be carefully returned to the water in the area they are caught.

Female rock lobster can be distinguished from males by the large pleopods (red flap-like structure) under their tails, which are used to hold the eggs, and the small nipper claw on their rear legs. Males have much smaller pleopods and no nipper claw on their rear legs.

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Game Fishes of Tasmania Flatheads of Tasmania Protected Fishes of Tasmania Dangerous and Unusual Fishes of Tasmania

New Fishes of Tasmania 2 Posters Available

The Wild Fisheries Management Branch has just released a set of four new fish posters titled Fishes of

Tasmania 2. Building on the popularity of the first Fishes of Tasmania poster set which featured more common Tasmanian scalefish, crustaceans and molluscs, the new poster set includes:

All fish species featured on the full colour, A1 sized posters are anatomically accurate and identified by its scientific and standard fish name. The new posters include an educational message making it easier for recreational fishers to identify fish accurately and comply with fishing rules.

The Department commissioned Tasmanian artist and illustrator Peter Gouldthorpe to produce the artwork for the posters. A free set of posters will be provided to all Tasmanian government primary and high schools visited by the Fishcare Tasmania schools program.

The new Fishes of Tasmania 2 posters as well as the original poster set that features Crustaceans and Molluscs, Forty Recreational Fishes, Sharks, Skates and Rays and Ten Most Wanted Scalefish are an ideal present for any fisher. Both sets are available to buy for just $20 per set at all Service Tasmania outlets.

Need more information?

Get a copy of the Recreational Sea Fishing Guide from Service Tasmania; Download the Tasmanian Sea Fishing Guide app for iPhone or Android; visit 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

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Fishing News - Page �� 49

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David Gillespie 6248 9080 or 0417 562 859

Michael Haley 0419 353 041 mhaleycharters@bigpond.com www.breamfishing.com.au

96 Clifton Beach Rd Sandford Tas 7020

Fish

World class fishing in the heart of the central highlands

Stay in a luxury art deco 3 bedroom cottage Atmospheric Highlander Arms tavern on the doorstep 3 course meal provided each night Catch your own salmon in Tarraleah lake and learn how to prepare it with expert chef 18 lakes within 30 minutes drive

(03) 6289 0111 info @tarraleah.com www.tarraleah.com

cosy wood fires

wine & whisky tasting

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

guided fishing trips

great pub

Fishing News - Page �� 51

Fishing News - Page �� 52

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