Fishing - Wet and windy conditions keeping anglers indoors

Dampener on trout fishing

Reports have been scarce this week with limited fishing opportunities on the back of recent windy and wet conditions.

A lot of North-West and Derwent catchments have been spilling but a half decent weather window allowed some anglers to test their luck over the weekend.

I saw some trout caught from the Brady's Chain and Bronte Lagoon after water levels rose fast in both and the same can be said for Lake King William which has risen nearly 4 metres since late August.

Great Lake, Little Pine Lagoon and Penstock Lagoon also fished better and Wood's Lake, although slow to rise so far, should fire soon.

For reference, in the first fortnight of October back in 2021, a mate and I caught and released over 50 trout at Wood's Lake in just a few hours while spinning and trolling shallow running hard-bodied lures.

Anglers fishing around the State floating and sitting baits like worms and grubs on the bottom where permitted will see action especially fishing freshly flooded ground.

Wet fly and lure anglers will also be excited as water clarity settles and trout should be aggresively taking both as hunger kicks in with a rising metabolism.

River anglers are also excited, especially those who chase sea trout in our estuaries and I'm predicting a good month or so of fishing especially if we get to see some decent runs of whitebait through late September and October.

Aside gudgeon, lamprey, smelt, jollytails, crabs, shrimp and sandies are also highly desired by resident and sea trout at this time of a season as well.

New boat ramp on Derwent

For those wondering about boat launching access  to the Derwent River now the Bridgwater Bridge has been finished, MAST is building a new boat ramp directly under the new bridge on the Northern side of the river which started on the 1st of September.

The work will take around  three months to finish and a silt curtain will be installed in the area during that time.

Boat anglers are asked to be careful when navigating the area and they're asked not to operate outside the navigation channel and also try and keep boat wash to a minimum.

Caution around lake levels

Hydro Tasmania has issued permanent alerts in regard to access to campgrounds and boat ramps at Lake Mackintosh, Lake Pieman and Lake Plimsoll.

To protect public safety both spillway road gates to Lake Mackintosh and Lake Pieman plus the boat ramp boom gate at Lake Plimsoll will be closed when water levels exceed 0.3 m from full supply at Mackintosh and Plimsoll and .05m at Lake Pieman.

It can be very dangerous to be in these areas when water levels are high which is why the gates will be closed when water levels reach these marks. 

The gates will only reopen when water levels drop from the stated heights and when they're not expected to spill or "overflow" in the approaching week.

Hydro Tas has also mentioned that Poatina lookout, parking lot and picnic area will be closed while they do maintenance work. It's expected the area will reopen by late December.

Fishing competition this weekend

The New Norfolk Licensed Anglers Association is holding its third trout fishing competition of the 2025-26 season on the Derwent River this weekend.

With lots of rain and snow melt entering the river and Hydro Tasmania releasing a lot of water from the lower Derwent catchments prior to the event we're hoping the weather and river conditions settle so anglers can enjoy what should be some good fishing.

The event starts at 6pm, September 19, finishing with a weigh-in and barbeue at the rotunda on the 21st from 3pm-3.30pm. Fishing boundaries are from the Lawitta Pump Station through to the Tasman Bridge and a reminder that to fish the competition anglers must be paid financial members of the NNLAA before the 6pm starting time on the Friday night.

Those looking to purchase memberships can do so online from the NNLAA Facebook page, from Williams Outdoors in High Street, New Norfolk, or by contacting NNLAA Committee.

Tip Of The Week - Don't show up to a gunfight with a sling shot. In fishing terms when chasing big trout make sure you match the fishing gear you're using to the size of the fish you're chasing.