Trout Season Opening 2019/20 Special Feature
below is a detailed roundup of some of the more popular and productive trout waters during those first couple of months of the season.
Tasmanian Lakes
Alex hooking a nice Great Lake Brownie on a Tillins Phantom
Great Lake
This water although at an elevated altitude of 1100 or so meters is open 12 months of the year to those anglers with a current IFS licence. Please remember is fishing before the end of July 2019 that the 2018/19 licence is required to do so.
This water has been remained at medium capacity for the last 2-3 winters but the general condition of fish has been good – something that is quite common apparently when water levels are low – less water more weed growth because of limited depth allowing sunlight to filter to the bottom producing more plant life and therefore food.
Levels have been reduced since about 2016 for a number of reasons, resulting in – late season weed bed growth, less water and more tightly packed fish per fishable space.
Trollers will do well on both browns and rainbows at the start of the with the ever-popular Tassie Devil style lure and deeper diving bibbed styles.
Lead line is a good choice for this water also.
Great Lake has a reputation of fishing late in the day and into heavy twilight and dark.
Spin fishermen do well after dark with popper style lures retrieved slowly across the surface – trout mistaking the erratic movement for that of fleeing mice, moths and frogs.
Fly fishers will do well simply walking the shore and testing the edges and its many drop-offs with weighted wet flies, leaders and lines. Stalking the seepage areas of many of the larger bays and fishing with a worm pattern or large Woolley bugger pattern should work well.
This water fished well in July last year especially while the Great Lake Galaxia was spawning – post spawns browns only too keen to feed on these small minnows! This water really fires up mid-October.
Hooked up at Penstock Lagoon using a Sixth Sense Fly Line
Penstock Lagoon
Is an, “oldie but a goodie” and is steeped in fly fishing tradition – this year in fact, based on its added reputation for its healthy hard fighting trout, this water has been chosen as one of the few Tasmanian sites selected for the World Fly Fishing Championships later in November / December. A popular early season destination – fly anglers will line the shores of this fly only designated water.
Both browns and rainbows are present.
Trout here will eagerly take all manner of wet flies in smaller the smaller 6, 8 and 10 sizes. Black or Olive is a great base colour for a wet fly in this lagoon and when mixed with a bit of yellow or orange seems to do well in its semi murky waters.
Penstock can produce fish to 5 kg but it is not an easy water to fish. Boat Anglers do well early fishing teams of wet flies on various sinking lines with Airflo Di3 sweep lines being the most popular option. Shore based anglers do well slow retrieving nymphs and mud eye patterns with a few anglers also choosing to tease a few fish up to the dry fly using bushier flies like a Red Tag or a Bibio Hopper.
The Original Rapala Spotted Dog a favourite early season lure
Lake Echo
This water is underrated – but has its healthy following of anglers, which reap the reward of healthy brown and rainbow trout for their efforts.
Fishing pressure is usually low as the lake can be temperamental and fish fussy from time to time. Also due to Tasmania’s seemingly endless options for fishable waters – Echo seems to receive spasmodic attention from all anglers – I call this lake a sister lake to Arthurs and the fishing here is as good if not better than some of the States most popular.
With the wet fly – a black fur fly, or yeti pattern, larger bead headed Woolley Bugger Mk2’s, and any of the classical killer patterns like the Hamills, Mrs Simpson will take frog patrolling fish with ease.
Anglers trolling the edges with a Rapala 5cm spotted dog pattern should do well enticing fish out of the nearby timber stands.
Fish size is around 1kg but rainbows to 3kg are not uncommon. If we continue to receive a wet winter and levels rise the early season worm feeding will be out of this world.
This water always produces for the persistent fly fisher and is famous for some great early season wet fly fishing. For early season 2019 concentrate on the NW sector, around Large Bay and surrounds for good results.
Looking for Tailers
Lake King William
This massive and seldom fished water holds huge numbers of fish – with the occasional rainbow lining angler’s bag.
The size of fish is not huge but they are nearly always in top condition and great to eat. This water is one of a few in Tasmania where the angler need not worry too much about catch and release as removing a few fish will hopefully raise the average size a little.
King William fish are not hard to catch and all types of lures and spinners work well – the trick is the brighter and flashier the better.
Both shore based and boat fishers will do well. Bright glitter clad soft plastics will trip a fish nearly every time. So too will a myriad of Tillins style Ashley and Devon spinners used in conjunction with an anti-kink for line twist.
Last year new colour 133 – Lime Frog in the Wigston’s range worked well.
A beautiful Bronte Lagoon Brown caught just off the boat ramp
Bronte Lagoon
At the end of the season we saw the pictures of a healthy browns being landed from this water -exhibiting exactly what type of fish quality Bronte is capable of producing.
With any luck this water will be reasonably high on opening weekend and edge fishing good.
To start wet flies flicked around the flooded margins will do well. The likes of the Yetis (black and yellow), Montana nymphs, Woolley buggers and the beaded Mk2 patterns will all account for fish. If the weather permits perhaps try a tiny dry on tailing fish – something simply like a tiny Sz 14 red tag.
If boating troll a Tillins No TL (Traffic Lights) King Cobra or a Tassie Devil BR (Bloody Ripper) 13.5grm cobra. If murky use a lure with a little bit of silver in its colour scheme to create flash.
Tasmanian Rivers
Silver Lures are always popular with Sea trout
The River Derwent
This water after a little bit of a lull in fish activity, has become better and better each season for the last 3 seasons due to massive flooding during drought breaking wet winters – this has contributed in two ways to fishing.
Firstly, flooding tributary creeks and the larger rivers dislodged a lot of juvenile trout that were never usually going to make their way into the main river – once here these fish undergo the gill changes turning them into sea runners.
Secondly, spawning by these new fish in the second and third year was very successful due to running creeks that had been dry for nearly a decade bolstering stocks and increasing the odds of fish making their way into the estuary.
Last year fish to 4kg were caught spinning the edges from both the shore and boat – bibbed minnows were the stand out choices – in silvery combinations best suited to the estuaries. Trollers did well along the drop-offs with bibs and cobras – while soft plastics accounted for many a fish on bright days.
This year will be super on the Derwent and all southern rivers because of early flooding. Best times July downstream of Bridgewater and Sept – Oct downstream of New Norfolk.
Huon River
Has a reputation for big trout, anglers generally line the bridge at night fishing with the locally named pike as a slowly spun bait, when a fish is hooked it is fought to the side and then landed beneath the bridge.
This river is always popular on opening morning with many trollers making their way both up and down river to Franklin in search of a sea run trout or Atlantic salmon. Tillin’s King cobra Nos WB, RT and 93.
Jazz bibbed minnows in 55mm and 70mm in colours Brown Trout, Black and Gold and Natural Trout are a good option spun from boats and the shore.
Trolling the deeper depths with the Rapala ULC-3 Minnows and Daiwa Tournament 53mm Spike minnows will see best results.
The Huon is definitely an option for anglers chasing a trophy trout from opening weekend on.
Tyenna River
This river is a fast running water exacerbated at this time of the year by melting snow and rains that hit the Mount Field area. This river offers great trout fishing at the start of the season due to its high head count of fish.
Wading up stream flicking a Celta or Mapso styled lure is very productive. Anglers will generally concentrate on some of the larger pool areas north of Westerway and the slower section up from the road bridges towards Mt Field National Park.
Fly anglers may find deep water nymphing to be the technique of choice which is pretty much using a heavy weighted flashy nymph pattern, cast upstream and then allowed to bounce back along the bottom toward the angler.
Remember the new river and stream daily bag limits of 5 fish per angler per day.
A lovely Brown spotted and caught in the flooded margins
South Esk
Located in the states Nth Midlands, this water is also Tasmania’s longest and famous for its flooded murky edges on opening – recent rainfalls should see this river higher than usual and trout foraging and feeding heavily on drowned worms.
Access can be limited but an Anglers Access brochure is available from IFS and in store at The Fishing Connection, Mathinna, Fingal and Conara are good starting points.
The fly anglers may be lucky enough to experience some tailing activity come opening weekend while the spin fisherman will be well catered for with trout lying in wait at the head of many of the longer runs and under the at times scrubby edges.
Wonder Redfin wobblers and small bibbed minnows such as Rapala F3/CD3 in colours TR and RT work well.
To assess the flow rate of this water before travelling and fishing go to the BOM website readings are taken at Perth and Longford.
Above all else we wish everyone the best of luck for the opening weekend no matter where they venture and we hope everyone has a great time!!