Fishing Report 1/5/2020, More Vids + Sea Trout Feature
Fishing Report
Things have been a bit slow of late - Autumn and Winter in Tasmania can be challenging for consistent sea fishing … with closures to Rock Lobster and deteriorating weather conditions.
Bluefin
As it stands SBT have been available recently in the SE off the Peninsula, Friars on southern Bruny Island and in Storm Bay closer to Hobart size has varied but it’s fair to say 15 – 45kg would pull up the majority. The odd jumbo in the 100kg bracket has been hooked in and around Munro Bight and Fortescue Bay.
Flathead
Good Sand Flathead have been taken in Storm and Marion Bays.
Snapper
are still going well off around Betsy Island and wider Storm Bay ... fish are there for the persistent angler.
Australian Salmon
have returned with the cooling water … fish up to 2kg are available around Cremorne and lower Derwent around Iron Pot and Sth Arm. Popular surf beaches would be worth a try now too.
Sea Run Trout Special Feature
Sea Run brown trout have been the mainstay of fishing in the SE in recent months and will continue improve into May .... anglers living close to the CBD have, although limited in scope to pursue their normal avenues of fishing, enjoyed travelling only a few minutes in most cases and fishing to some quality brown trout.... some into the 2.5kg bracket.
What is a sea run trout
Sea Run trout are still a Salmo Trutta or Brown Trout ... at an earlier stage in life some juvenile brown trout find themselves for a number of reasons living in brackish tidal water. This may be due to the migratory nature of trout or perhaps a good wash downstream due to a winter flood.
These fish are semi resistant to the mild salinity and over a further 12 months undergo gill changes that allow them to live in a 100% saltwater environment .... these fish are known as sea run trout.
True sea run trout begin to lose the their traditional freshwater coloration ... red and black spots disappear, yellow and green scales begin to turn silver and soften almost becoming flaky.
These fish travel down to many of the larger river mouths around the state such as the Derwent and Huon ... on the west coast the Pieman and Arthur Rivers, up north The Mersey and Meander.The more adventurous fish choosing to travel even further around coastlines.
Some trout choose to sit in higher mid sections of larger estuaries these fish keep their freshwater markings and although sea run by nature are known as estuary trout.
Diet
Both “sea run” and “estuary trout” have a varied diet... an array of baitfish and shrimps not normally found inland. Sea runners will feed amongst the rushes lining the shore and I have personally caught trout with stick caddis inside their stomachs foraged in very much a saltwater environment.
Time of Year
A proven time line anglers can use begins in late March as both adult and younger adolescent fish begin to move upstream to spawn ... remember only 20% of trout spawn in any one year. So plenty remain in lower legal reaches for successful winter angling.
By mid July most trout have spawned and begin to drop back into lower and mid sections of estuaries .... away from the tiny creeks and tributaries, where they tend to wait as the 1st sprinkling of white bait begin to appear moving in from the sea ... a mixture of small fish beginning their Spring spawning run.
White bait believe it or not resemble translucent match sticks and invade estuaries all around Tasmania in two waves numbering in their millions. The 1st wave is usually July and August whereas the second run occurs later in October and November. Seasonal flooding may affect these runs. The west coast is always about a month behind the rest of the state.
A nice late in the day boat caught sea trout taken on a full tide and bibbed minnow around Otago Bay recently.
Techniques and Tackle
Anglers can spin, fly and bait fish just that offerings must be even more so orientated towards a saltwater minnow, galaxia, shrimp or crab than normally would be for trout. Sea trout can even be found tailing as they forage with their noses along the bottom looking for crabs.
Gulp 3Inch Minnow soft plastics and Berkley 2.5 Inch T Tails in Blk&Gld and Olive Pearl working a treat. As do 50 – 70mm bibbed minnows. Either suspending or floating is fine ... Just work them at a medium retrieve pausing one to two times per cast.
Trolling with bibbed minnows and cobras along many of the 3m drop offs also working well ... the erratic action of these lures also enticing fish out of tide and wind lines and next to shore rushes and foliage..
Flies should mimic predominantly baitfish. Sz 6–1 hooks. Grey BMS and traditional match stick thin “ white bait “ patterns working well through the spring and early summer months.
Bait fishing at night is also successful. The technique is to use a size 2 Gamakatsu circle hook or a Sz 4 Mustad Tarpon hooked placed up through the nose of a dead 70mm hardy head minnow and spun into the darkness. Combined with a light drag setting this technique is deadly and will undo on average bigger trout. At the 1st tap release they bail allow the fish to run, stop, and then move again before striking.
4 Inch soft plastics fished this way will work too ... Just keep a normal drag setting for the species as these plastics spun and jigged are smacked hard on the take.
Regardless of technique be prepared with some 6-8lb fluro leader as size ranges from an average of about 1kg to over 5kg at times.
An old photo now, but here is a 3.85kg caught close to the Hobart CBD at Montrose . This fish is displaying “estuary trout” colouration.
Summary
In short give sea trout a try, it’s the best of both worlds, a normally freshwater specie residing in the salt. While other fishing ventures are still tough due to Covid19.... any rocky point and deeper ledge, combined with a little bit of current and an incoming tide around dawn and dusk should see you amongst the sea trout.
Best of luck in coming weeks.
Isolation Videos
This week we feature a couple of videos by top angler Lubin Pfeiffer. Lubin has recently started The Full Scale - Fishing Adventures, a youtube channel filed with some great Tassie and beyond fishing videos.
You can subscribe to it here: The Full Scale - Fishing Adventures
You can also follow him on instagram here: @thefullscale_fishingadventures or @lubin_pfeiffer
Scamander Bream on Lures
Fly Tying - How to tie the Hollywood
