Fishing Report 29/5/2020
Fishing Report - UPDATED
Sorry we accidentally uploaded last weeks report. Its since been fixed.
Southern Bluefin
continue to be in large numbers right around the east coast with great catches being taken at St Helens, Maria Island and further south at Eaglehawk Neck and the Friars on Bruny Island.
Australian Salmon
are in huge numbers and of a good size in and around the Tasman Bridge in the Derwent River and all the way to Betsy Island outside the river mouth. Lures of choice either chrome silver slices or Halco Outcast jigs …. Spinning or jig spin retrieves working well.
Tailor
are still being caught throughout the Derwent estuary and further around the east coast. Any lure that resembles a small baitfish working well. It pays if these fish are thick to use a black wire trace, to go a few line classes up on your regular tippet if fly fishing, to avoid too many bite offs.
Mackerel
have been fairly thick at night mainly under marine lights on jetties. Small bits of bait, squid or pilchard, fished unweighted on a hook is a very effective way of catching these fish.
Flounder
are on the menu for a lot of our customers recently with some calmer weather and good tides allowing people to get out early of an evening. Fish have been in very good condition. Make sure to pack some good possum gloves and a beanie as the nights have been very cold.
Calamari
continue to be caught along the east coast and throughout the D’entrecasteaux Channel. Action is dependent on the water condition, lately water clarity being a bit stirred up and brown in colouration making normally hot spots a fraction quiet. Find clear water is the key to success.
Gummy
sharks can be a good winter fun option, these fish should be outside the shark sanctuary in Storm Bay presently. Burley for best results and a fresh squid bait is the preferred way to chase these fish. Make sure to check the boundaries of the many shark reserves to avoid a fine.
Sand Whiting
have shown up in reasonable numbers around Lewisham, Carlton, and wider Storm Bay. Try a Black Magic whiting rigs with strips of squid as a teaser off the hook for best results.
Matt Lamont with his first Bluefin from Cape Bruny.
Thinking outside the lure
A good friend of mine and his son, who I had just finished hunting Red deer with last year, decided to take me on a trolling day for rainbow trout at Lake Waikaremoana on New Zealand’s North Island last April.
Lake Waikaremoana is very similar to Lake St Clair here in Tasmania being glacial, located within a pristine National Park, gin clear water and very touchy trout. Daily fish expectations aren’t normally high with 1 or 2 trout being the norm and blank sessions occurring more often than not.
Two variations of lure worked for us that day, the first a Tillin’s King Cobra No 63 and the second, my mate Kerry’s resin headed smelt fly and added trolling disc doing the rest. We ended up catching 14 trout for the day all around 1.2-1.5kg – the lure fly, trolling disc combination accounting for 9.
Trolling discs come in many shapes and sizes and are normally brightly coloured to grab attention of nearby fish. The disc is threaded upline or ahead of the fly and in some cases lure. When trolled the disc comes to rest at the nose of the fly grabs water and shakes violently – giving a normally straight running inert fly a heap of new action.
Make your own Tartare Sauce
With everyone getting creative in the kitchen during lock-down we thought we would share our favourite from scratch tartare sauce recipe.
Ingredients
2 x Egg Yolks
2/3x Cup of Sunflower Seed Oil
1/3x Cup Olive Oil
1x Heaped Tsp Dijon Mustard White Pepper and Salt to taste.
1x Tbs White Vinegar Juice of Half a Lemon
1 1/2x Tbs Spring Onions Finely Chopped
2x Tbs Parsley Finely Chopped
1x Tsp Tarragon Finely Chopped
1x Tbs Dill Finely Chopped
2x Tsp Preserved Lemon Peel Finely Chopped
2x Tbs Capers Finely Chopped
1x Tbs Gerkins Finely Chopped
To make the tartare, in an electric beater combine; egg yolks, vinegar, lemon juice, pepper, and mustard. The very, very slowly add the oils while still whisking. Once the all the oil had been added you should have a nice mayonnaise.
To the mayonnaise add the spring onion, parsley, preserved lemon peel, tarragon, dill, capers and gherkins and stir well. Let this sit for an hour or so in the fridge - it is much better when it has been left to stand.
