Fishing - Long weekend sees anglers get their rods out

If you think it's been hot this week in Tasmania, then spare a thought for others living on the mainland.

We're often whinging about the heat when temperatures hit the mid to high twenties of a day here in Tasmania, but imagine living in the top end when they get the same as their "low" temperature of a night.

The Australia Day long weekend allowed anglers to wet a line, and the latest freshwater fishing reports suggest Great Lake is still the state's standout trout fishery.

Some great-conditioned brown and rainbow trout are on offer here, with lure trollers fishing flatline and deeper with lead lines having the most success.

Anglers spinning lures and floating/stripping flies around weed beds during low light and heat times are also being rewarded.

Penstock Lagoon has been the standout for fly anglers, and reports suggest Little Pine Lagoon is also well worth a run.

Water levels remain good at Brady's Lake, Lake Binney and Tungatinah Lagoon, with campers near the canals getting some browns and rainbows on both bait and lures last weekend.

Bronte Lagoon continues to give up good-conditioned trout on lure and fly, and Lake Echo is worth a run, especially around the Northern end of the lake.

The Dee Lagoon has offered some quality brown and rainbow trout on trolling and spinning, the best avenues to target this notoriously difficult water.

During this time of the year, European Perch or "Redfin" are around in big numbers at most of our inland waters, so match the profile and colour of your lures to suit.

Remember, it's best not return any redfin that you catch, as they're an introduced pest, and also note they're beautiful to eat, filleted and fried in a pan.

Lake Plimsoll is still offering some good-sized Brook Trout, which are bucket-list fish for many.

Talbots Lagoon is giving up some fat rainbow and brown trout to fly and lure anglers (both hard body and soft plastics).

Camden Dam and Pet Dam are also worth a visit.

I saw a couple of 2kg fish caught from Lake Sorell recently, and, with luck, like last year, this water starts to fire during the back end of the season.

Remember, there are still several tagged trout worth $5000 in waters out there to be caught, and the first tagged fish from the Great Lakes is also worth a whopping $25,000.
Regarding saltwater action, late last week, a couple of reports mentioned that the lower reaches of the Derwent Estuary have finally started producing some small Yellowtail Kingfish, which will excite anglers in the future, and that Snapper catches are also increasing statewide.

Australian Salmon, Tailor and Silver Trevally are available from most bays and beaches.

Black Bream are plentiful in most estuaries, and out deeper King and Blue Spot Flathead, Gummy and School Shark, Jackass Morwong and Striped Trumpeter have made up most of anglers' catches.

Hydro Tasmania advises that Butlers Gorge Road (from the Lyell Highway turn-off) will be closed 24/7 from Tuesday, 27 January to the end of March. Mossy Marsh Dam, Clark Dam, the lookout, and the boat ramp won’t be accessible during this period due to more work starting in the area for the new Tarraleah power scheme.

The Lake King William campground will also remain closed, and number 1 Pond will be closed from the 16th of February to the 16th of March while Hydro Tasmania drains the pond and conducts annual canal cleaning work.

Tip Of The Week- Repetitive casting over long periods can damage braid to leader line knots due to the knot hitting the rod's eyes. Regularly check your line and knots and retie them when necessary because if you don't, you can lose a lot of expensive lures or worse, a trophy fish.
Send in your fishing reports, pics and tips to valleyfishes@gmail.com
Tight Lines until next week.