Fishing - Hundreds take part in angling competition

The closure of sand flathead fishing in Tasmania's South East zone has sparked significant debate this week, with the no-take or on-water possession rule coming into effect from March 1 2026.

Following the previous scale-down of take, possession, and size limits for Sand Flathead, the latest decision has been both criticised and applauded.

Another new rule states that all species of flathead must be landed whole or as fillets with intact frames (head and tail attached) from waters statewide.

For Tasmanians, Sand Flathead are the tastiest and, historically, the easiest fish to catch and eat, compared with other states that have many more edible species to target.

It makes sense that populations have declined over time because more people are fishing today than ever before.

The closure is deemed necessary to protect the South East Zone and allow populations to rebuild; without it, stock may not recover.

There are many other factors at play, but you can read about the science and access the full Sand Flathead stock assessment (released November 2025) at fishing.tas.gov.au/sand-flathead-stock-assessment.

For all the rules and regulations, check out fishing.tas.gov.au/new-flathead-rules.
The Wayatinah Social Club held the Dave Gasson Memorial trout fishing competition at Wayatinah Lagoon last weekend.

This well-organised and run event falls over the Hobart Regatta long weekend and always attracts a lot of anglers, and this year was no different.

A total of 173 entries were received, which were made up of 89 adults and 84 juniors, and as always, it was great to see the large number of juniors competing.

A total of 76 trout were weighed in, and 375 European Perch or "Redfin" were also weighed in.

New Norfolk Licensed Angler Association members fared really well, with father and son Adrian and Jayden Slater taking out both the Senior and Junior Heaviest Trout awards.

Adrian's trout weighed 1.860 kg and was caught on a soft plastic just after the competition started on Friday night.

Jayden's fish, also caught on a soft plastic, weighed 1.490 kg.

Runners up in the Senior section were Adam Williams with a fish weighing 1.470 kg, also caught on a soft plastic, and Craig Waddington with a 1.380 kg fish he caught trolling.

For the junior runners, the second place was Luca Bailey Harrison, with 1.770 kg.

Franklin Sawford was at .690 kg, and Ella Jones was also at .570 kg.

I won the prize for the fish weighing closest to the secret weight for seniors, and Charlie Broderick won the same for juniors.

The most perch caught by a senior was 59 by Matthew Hale, and for the juniors, Bentley Brown caught 69.

The biggest redfin caught by a senior went to Jakayla Bennet and junior Lachie Howard, and the smallest perch for the seniors went to Katrina Hale and juniors Franklin Sawford.

Dion Taylor won the Wayatinah Lakeside Caravan Parks separate closest-to-the-secret-weight award, donated by Mark and Carol Paton.

As mentioned before, the social club, committee, and caravan park always do a great job sourcing prizes and hosting this event, and a big thanks goes out to the sponsors who selflessly help out.

The Tuna Club of Tasmania is hosting the Spot on Fishing Connection - 2026 Shark and Game Fish Challenge this Saturday, after bad weather caused the event to be postponed from the Australia Day weekend.

Anglers will be chasing sharks, tuna, swordfish, and even marlin, with one caught by Antony and Danni Suttil last weekend weighing 112.4 kg.

Anglers are also preparing to take on the Tasmanian Broadbill Swordfish Championships run by the Sports Fishing Club of Tasmania, held off Eagle Hawk Neck from the 28th of March to April 4.

Tip Of The Week- When fishing around sharp structure, think about using a monofilament line instead of braid.

Braid can be easily cut by rocks, mussels and barnacles, where the monofilament line will stand up better.

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

Tight Lines until next week.