Trout weekend cancelled

•  Ewan Dillon with a nice Gummy Shark he caught recently from Pirates Bay.

Unfortunately we can't control the weather and once again Trout Weekend 2025, which was due to be held on May 17 and 18, has been cancelled.

The decision to cancel was forced by the ongoing dry conditions and a limited rain forecast for the coming weeks.

Again water levels in Lake Augusta aren't ideal to maintain the required flow in through Liawenee canal to encourage fish up into the spawning traps.

While Hydro Tasmania has been managing water levels in Lake Augusta the low autumn inflow has led to the decision to hold water in the lake to support the spawning run into June, rather than releasing water prior to Trout Weekend in May.

Due to Trout Weekend now being cancelled two years in a row the IFS is considering the future of the event which has traditionally been held on the third weekend in May and is exploring other ideas and opportunities.

The Inland Fisheries Service continued to release triploid rainbow trout into waters last week and up until last Friday Brady's Lake took another 3600 fish and the Dee Lagoon also took 1200.

All of these fish weighed around .3kg and were sourced from Cressy's Petuna Hatchery.

Triploid rainbow trout, which are sterile and unable to breed, focus most of their time on feeding which means that they can grow faster than other trout when out in the wild.

Lake Meadowbank was stocked with over 5000 triploid rainbow trout weighing around .5kg back in August 2023 and I'm sure these fish have grown bigger, some to even over 2kg in weight and this water would definitely be one to visit in the offseason being open all year round.

Remember Great Lake is open all year round and has two $5000 tagged trout up for grabs, Lake King William and Lake Pedder would be worth a run with both holding a lot of trout and the above-mentioned waters recently stocked are obviously places to try as well.

The Derwent and Huon River open boundaries will start to fish better as the weeks progress and with showers predicted this week it's definitely needed.

Other waters like Lake Barrington and Burbury, Huntsman Lake, Lake Mackintosh and Rosebury (open until June 1) and the above-mentioned waters that have been and will continue to be stocked with trout are obviously go-to areas.

Hydro Tasmania has also mentioned that there has and will be fuel reduction burns taking place at locations around the State which started last week and most likely will continue over the coming weeks.

Lower Derwent bream anglers are still having success on lure and bait, fishing around structure with the odd sea run trout also in the mix.

Other areas around the State like the Swan and Scamander River,  Little Swanport,Georges Bay and the Tamar River have also been mentioned with Mackerel, Barracouta, Garfish, Squid, Mullet, Australian Salmon, Trevally and Tailor also making up most of anglers’ bags.

Gummy, School and Elephant Shark are also worth targeting where permitted and fresh pilchards, salmon, mackerel fillets and squid is the bait of choice for them and snapper which seem to be still biting in Storm Bay around Maria Island and down in the D'Entrecasteaux Channel on an incoming tide.

Bluefin and Albacore Tuna are also still available off Eaglehawk Neck and I saw a 100kg Southern Bluefin Tuna landed by Mitchell Hall after a 2hr plus fight last week.

Bluefin contest

The 2025 and 14th Tom Jenkins Memorial Bluefin Contest was held by the Tuna Club of Tasmania recently and a good number of competitors fished the competition and most were rewarded for their efforts.

Results: 

Skippers Award - Ryan Bailey, "The Kraken".

Highest Point Score Southern Bluefin Tuna by a Junior Angler- Winner Brax King 19.7kg on 15kg for 197 points, Lucky Angler - Tyson Digney, "Dig Deep", Highest Point Score  Southern Bluefin Tuna by an Adult Male Angler - Ryan Ivory 67.1kg fish for 671 points on "Tinalicious", Heaviest Southern Bluefin Tuna caught by a Small Fry Angler - Darcy Robertson 5. 5kg Albacore on "Big Tinny".

Heaviest Southern Bluefin Tuna caught by a Junior Angler - Kohan Leggett 22kg SBT on "Getting Her Wet", Heaviest Southern Bluefin Tuna caught by an Adult Female Angler - Molly Curtain 23.1kg on "Team Ultra", Heaviest Southern Bluefin Tuna caught by an Adult Male Angler - Tye Curtain 67.8kg on "Team Ultra", Highest Points Score Team Boat -  "Team Ultra", Highest Tag and Release Point Score Team - "Ruthie 2".

Major Prize - Heaviest Southern Bluefin Tuna of the Contest - Ava Bryant 69.4kg SBT on "Game Over".

Big congratulations to youngsters Kohan Leggett and Ava Bryant for their outstanding result which also won them the Tasmanian Junior Championship and Tasmanian Small Fry Championship perpetual trophies.

The Tuna Club Of Tasmania's next event is this weekend which will incorporate the Pauline Grant Memorial Mother’s Day Trophy which will also run in conjunction with Sports Fishing Club Of Tasmania's Peninsula Challenge .

Tip Of The Week- If you're a trout angler, the off season is a great time to organize all your fishing gear. Doing this helps you get an idea of what's needed before the build up and start of next season and any trip beforehand.

Send in your fishing reports, pics and tips to valleyfishes@gmail.com 

Tight Lines until next week.