Fishing - Anglers hoping for rain as water levels affect catches

Trout anglers reported mixed results last week and ongoing issues with water levels have influenced fishing and access to some areas.

Keep an eye out on updates from the Hydro Tasmania's water levels site for the latest information before you make a call on any mission.

Forecast rain this week will help somewhat and hopefully we see this trend continue into September.

Last Sunday social media lit up late with the reported catch of a monster trout from the Huon River.

Female Angler Tammy Darwin landed a huge female brown trout whilst fishing with bait and although at the time of reporting this the exact size of the fish is unknown, it's obvious that it's a fish of a lifetime.

One giveaway that even surprised me is the size of the old trouts tail and anal fin which resembles a super yachts keel, a real trophy fish, one of a kind and congratulations.

Another great catch was reported from the Tyenna River last week as well from Dave Menzies who landed a 5.6 kg or 12.4 lb brown on a soft plastic.

The New Norfolk Licensed Anglers Association held the popular Derwent River Interclub Challenge last weekend.

The event invites all Southern Licensed Anglers Association Clubs to compete plus a select number of Northern Clubs, including those from Launceston, Deloraine, Longford and Ulverstone.

At this time of the year the Derwent River is usually one of the best trout fisheries in the Country hence why the competition is held here and calm overcast conditions greeted members for the weekend which allowed anglers every chance to get out and catch some trout.

The winners were determined by the heaviest total weight of five trout from a club and thereafter they'd be awarded the prestigious Interclub Shield.

Overall anglers found fishing a challenge after hydro water releases and fresh snow melt cooled water temps in the upper boundary.

Seal activity all through the area made fishing difficult as well.

Saying that there were a couple of standout catches from anglers which came from warmer water down around Bridgewater.

Launceston Anglers club had won the event the previous two years in a row and the home team, the NNLAA were keen to win the shield back but in fishing you just never know what is going to happen and any club is always in with a chance.

Around 80 members entered the competition and not all caught fish but in the end 57 trout were weighed in with a total weight of 45.868 kg and a healthy average weight of .804 kg.

Bridgewater Anglers Club was well represented and finished in third position with a 5 fish total weight of 4.602 kg.

Noel Bester caught the clubs best weighing 1.001 kg and he had another at .965 kg.

Justin Myers had two, one at .908 kg and another at .960 kg and Rodney Creed had one at .708 kg.

Launceston Anglers Club finished in second position and was well represented but couldn't find the better fish this time around.

Launceston’s 5 fish total weight was 5.527 kg and Craig Grillet had the best at 1.531 kg and .962 kg.

Nigel Clark had one at 1.224 kg.

Michael Walker had another at 1.098 kg and Nathan Merriman another at .712 kg.

For the winners, the NNLAA had a couple of standout anglers who landed beautiful big female searunners.

The NNLAA's five fish total winning weight was 8.989 kg and Martin Evans who this year was recruited back to the NNLAA from Launceston proved to be the perfect swingman landing the best fish which was a superb searunner weighing 3.136 kg cleaned.

Marty also had a few other quality trout all caught on soft plastics from around Bridgewater which was where the second best fish was caught from as well.

Another gun angler Martin Exel also landed a beautiful big female searunner which weighed an impressive 2.439 kg that he caught on a hardbodied lure spinning just after lunch on Saturday afternoon fishing with NNLAA President Laurie Harrison.

Liam Lowe also caught a nice fish that weighed 1.226 kg and it was good to see Liam make the podium after fishing with Dad Tim.

Anthony Harrison had another at 1.1 kg and I rounded out the top five with a fish weighing 1.088 kg.

Major awards were as follows:

• Martin Evans Heaviest Trout - Male - 3.136 kg.
• Heaviest Trout Female went to NNLAA angler Kirsty Chalmers with a nice fish weighing .772 kg.
• NNLAA Junior Mahalia Robertson won the Junior Heaviest Trout award with a fish weighing .721 kg with Jayden Slater second with a fish weighing .686 kg.
• The average weight winner was NNLAA angler Anthony Harrison with a fish weighing .795 kg which was closest to that of .804 kg.
• Mystery Weight Awards went to the visiting club best performers in Launceston’s Craig Grillett, Nigel Clark and Bridgewater’s Noel Bester and Justin Myers.

Members from Deloraine didn't land a fish but we appreciate their efforts in coming down to compete and Lake Pedder's only angler to catch a fish was John Freeman who was rewarded as well.

The annual raffle was again a success and even though the fishing was tough going the NNLAA would like to thank all competing clubs, committees and members for making the effort to compete and contribute to what is always a great weekend on the water.

It's always a big effort, long hours and lots of laughs and the competition wouldn't be possible without the hard work from the NNLAA committee.

The NNLAA hopes to see all clubs and members back bigger and better next year and a reminder the next event is again on the Derwent on the weekend of the 19th-21st of September.

Tip Of The Week - Sustainable Timber Tasmania will start forestry operations on the Western shore of Lake Echo next week which will continue through September.

Anglers using the Echo Link Road between the Southern end of the lake and Echo's middle boat ramp should be aware that there will be additional traffic in the area which could cause delays.

Access to Large Bay boat ramp at the Northern end of the lake will not be impacted.

Send in your fishing reports to valleyfishes@gmail.com.

Tight Lines until next week.