Sav fishing to some very spooky end of season fish at Pine.

Barrel Tuna In the last Few Days
& Brown Trout Finished

We would love to hear your reports and see photos of your catches to help fellow anglers. Please email info@spotonfishinghobart.com.au or send them to our Facebook/Instagram Page.

Saltwater

Tuna – are still going strong at eagle hawk neck with bluefin up to 80kg been caught in the last few days. Reports of fish breaking the surface everywhere and most boats hooking up.

Swordfish – continue to go well on days calm enough to allow people to get out there. This is shaping up to being one of the best sword seasons on record with most people reporting some kind of action while dropping. There has also been some crazy bycatch with a few portbeagle sharks and large tuna getting caught deep dropping. Meridian sword skirts with fresh bait stitched up inside is proving a deadly combo.

Salmon – Australian salmon are being caught through out the channel area and around Bruny and Betsy Island. Small silver slices are proving the most effective way of catching them.

Snapper – good reports of snapper throughout Storm Bay with the average size seemingly a lot bigger this year. Fresh bait and Hayabusa rigs are proving very effective.

Calamari – are going well around the state with a lot of people reporting good size fish being caught. Now is the time go and check out some of your favorite spots.

Bream – are going well throughout the Derwent and Huon Systems. Little swan port on the east coast is also fishing extremely well, Gulp Fry and presso minnows have been the favorite lures of choice.

Scallops – reports of good number of large scallops from quite a few divers recently.

Searun trout – good reports of sea run trout throughout the Derwent system with a few fish up around the 5lb mark being caught. Fish have been seen crashing through bait hard up on the shores on high tide.

Freshwater

Great Lake – with most freshwater lakes now closed for spawning Great Lake is a great option if you want a trout fix. Anglers have been reporting good rainbows and browns cruising the edges of the lake. Small wet flies and bibbed minnows have been producing some really good fish with the calmer days seeing a lot of fishing rising around the edges to midge.

Beginner’s luck Sword

Matt Berry shares with us the story of his first sword - thanks Matt.

After a couple of months of the usual research via the internet and social media we decided to head out for our first Sword drop on my 7.6m Sterncraft. Accompanied by crew Jason Browning and Adam Daniels we decided to stay clear of the traffic at the Eaglehawk Neck fishing comp and decided to launch and fish a little further up the east coast. Once the boat was prepared on the Friday evening we sat around over a couple of beers and studied the Navionics charts for our chosen location. A mark was selected and a game plan was put in place.

We arrived at the ramp to ideal conditions and a glorious sunrise. We travelled direct to our chosen mark in 580m of water. Jas was in charge of preparing the rig and stitching and presenting our squid bait. The bait was dropped with the customary house brick attached to a light mono line. After the bait hit the bottom a few sharp jolt attempts on the rod were made to break the brick away. To be honest, I had my doubts that I had successfully broken the brick off and as such over the first few minutes I was constantly taking up the slack and feeling the weight of the bait and rig. In a rookie error move I began taking up the slack of the braid by hand from the top of the reel (just to get a feel of the weight of the bait) and I had the line wrapped around my finger, it was at this point that the bloody line went tight!!! I managed to free the tightening line from around my hand and my first thought was that the brick was snagged on the bottom. I lifted the rod savagely and gave a few quick cranks on the reel thinking I was still breaking the brick off. When the rod tip started bouncing back we all looked at each other in surprise – 10 minutes into our first ever sword drop we had a fish on!!!

It was immediate action stations. I was actively gaining line and keeping pressure on the rod tip, Jas was in control of the boat and Adam was searching for the gimbal and harness stowed up the front of the bow. After the initial chaos and excitement I was strapped in for what was to be a 2.5hr tug of war. I was not expecting the hurt that this beast would put me through. After getting the fish boatside twice throughout the fight it was mentally draining when it decided to peel line and I was left watching an hour of hard work disappear back down into the depths. Finally, after 2.5hrs with burning thighs and my back in agony, Adam was able to secure the leader and Jas performed a swift and effective gaff shot. After I secured the tail rope it was high fives all round.

Our next challenge was to get this thing into the boat. I do not have the luxury of a dive or transom door so it was a real team effort to drag it over the gunwales made slightly easier by the near on perfect conditions.

We knew that we had an impressive sword and we were eager to know the weight. After a number of phone calls on the way back to the ramp attempting to source some scales, Triabunna fisherman Glen Wisby thankfully agreed to lift the fish from our boat with the HiAB crane from his commercial vessel and weigh it on his pallet scales on the Triabunna wharf. Our first sword hooked 10 minutes into our first ever sword drop went 183kg.

A true beginner’s luck story.