Tasmanian Fishing Report - October 2024
Team Ultra with a couple of EHN barrels.
Saltwater
Bluefin Tuna – Bluefin are back in good numbers at Eaglehawk Neck and down South around Pedra. Fish have been ranging from school fish to fish over 100kgs. The new Halco 210 has been very productive as well as Meridian Ahi #4
Bream – are schooled up spawning at the moment in smaller estuaries and higher up in the systems. Browns river, little swanport and swan river are all good areas to try.
Seatrout – have been very good in the Derwent at the moment. Most of the action has been north of the Bridgewater bridge with some quality fish been caught on the flats chasing bait at high tide.
Flathead – good sized sand flathead have been caught along the east coast from Eaglehawk neck to Swansea lately, with a few good king flathead also starting to get caught.
Freshwater
Nineteen Lagoons – The Gates have opened and the lakes are all at great levels. Fishing has been a bit slow with some colder than average water but good-sized fish have been found charging around looking for frogs in a lot of the lagoons. With some warmer days and a bit more sun fishing is getting better by the day out here.
Great Lake – Fishing continues to be good here and has been all season. Lovely fish are being caught on all methods trolling, Baitfishing, Drift spinning and fly. Early morning and late evening midge feeders have been good for the fly fishers, with fish actively seen rising on the surface, while fish cruising the edges looking for scud and galaxias have provided great sport for the lure anglers.
Crescent and Sorell – both lakes are fishing well with crescent consistently producing some incredible specimens of wild trout. Sorell has started to fish fairly well with a reasonable number of 3-5lb pound fish been caught and the odd much larger fish being encountered. Both the lakes continue to be fairly dirty and fishing is relatively slow compared to other lakes but its well worth visiting for a chance at a true wild trophy trout.
Bronte – is a bit hot and cold at the moment with fish seemingly concentrated in the deeper parts of the lake. Deep trolling, plastics and fly fishing with fast sinking lines are producing some incredibly well conditioned fish but fishing around the edges of the lake continues to be disappointingly slow.
Brady’s Chain - has been popular lately with IFS stocking 30 rainbows averaging 8kg+ into the lake. These truly monster fish have been hanging around the main ramp and whitewater inflow from Bronte and are proving to be quite the challenge to hook and land. Good numbers of browns ard smaller rainbows are also being caught while trying to target these enormous fish.
Lake Liapootah - has been very good for the bait fisherman with worms catching some very good-sized brown trout.
Craigbourne – with multiple stockings of rainbows, salmon and browns this season fishing has been very good. Bait fishing and Spinning from the shore seem to be the preferred and most productive methods of fishing here with a few fish being caught by fly anglers in the shallower bays. IFS also recently stocked one of there $5000 dollar tagged trout here.
Please don’t forget to send in your pictures so we can share your fantastic catches to info@spotonfishinghobart.com.au
Tom with a very solid October bluefin.
Tuna & Squid Report From Jonah Yick
After two months of consistent windy and rainy weather, @tomws1985 and I hatched a plan to troll some lures around Eaglehawk Neck in late September. Instead of the usual ungodly early morning tow, we decided to have a relaxing evening at the Lufra on the Friday night. By first light we were launching and steaming down the coast. We were soon greeted with plenty of bait balls with seals, terns, and gannets feeding hard but frustratingly we couldn’t get a hook up. We never saw any bluefin busting up but all the signs looked good. Water temp was still surprisingly cold at just under 12 degrees, and the further south we pushed, the greener the water looked. But as we continued to work various bait balls we finally got a strike, and after a short battle landed a beautifully conditioned bluefin. At 148cm fork length it was estimated to be in the 50kg range. It had a full stomach of small redbait as well as larval stage Jackass Morwong. With the North Easterly wind starting to freshen up early, we turned and headed back for the ramp at 11am.
This fish took the Black Magic Tackle 8 inch Jonahs Kona XT in the Dr Evil colour pattern, run in the long rigger position, which definitely appears to be the best spot for this sized lure.
Some great squid fishing of late as well with numerous in the 40cm hood length. Squid caught on the BMT Pink Ice Glow and dusky glow squid snatchers.
Jonah with some big hoods.
The bluefin were feeding on the larval stage Jackass Morwong
Recent Captures
Greeny with a Western Lakes frog feeder.
Angus with another.
Nick Bax with a recent blue.
Jonty and fried with a October barrel
Devi Barker with a big 40cm+ hood calamari fishing on the Tasman Peninsula. Caught on a BMT Squid Snatcher 3.5
Emma with a good haul before the season closed.
Kirill with a couple nice sized calamari fishing on the Tasman Peninsula.
Wesley from Jetski Fishing Tasmania with a big school bluefin tuna taken on the new Black Magic Tackle Jonahs Kona XT 6inch in Inky Squid, while fishing down at Eaglehawk Neck.
