Fortune favours the brave

With weather being not favourable over the past week or so, many anglers are biding their time before going forth and trying their hand. Occasionally we might get a good day and this has allowed those who braved the elements to go get among some excellent fish.

One such group had a ball in Ansons Bay in the state’s North East, with some great captures in the form of snapper, bream and whiting while fishing in water that was very murky with freshwater run-off.

I would suggest the reason for such success was the fact that they were fishing in the saltwater wedge where the fresh meets the salt; therefore, that’s where all the action was.

There were reports of action at Southport in the South of the state too, where escaped Atlantic salmon are still being caught and probably will be for quite a while yet. The fish are taking all manner of lures and baits but do have a liking for lime green soft plastics and sardine-type minnow lures.

King flathead are now starting to be caught in good numbers, particularly in the South, and octopus is very good bait for this species. Sweeten your bait with a paternoster rig (two hooks and a sinker) with a soft plastic attractor on the top hook and you could be the winner with two fish per drop.

Flathead are being taken in waters around the 10m to 30m zone at this time.

Albacore and school bluefin are being caught at many locations off St Helens and obviously the Continental shelf zone is where most head, but sometimes the tuna are more inshore so don’t discount shallow waters.

I once hooked and landed a 75kg yellowfin tuna in shallow waters off Bicheno, but that was many moons ago. Yellowfin

are a rare catch now, but are a fantastic game fish and also do very well on the table.

While on the subject of catching fish, Fishcare Tasmania is having many events around the state during summer, mainly for youngsters, and if you’d like your child to attend and learn the finer details on how to fish, cast, bait a hook and so forth, check out https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/seafishing-aquaculture/community-resources/fishcaretasmania/summer-fishingprogram.

There are many fishing events planned and they run until the end of the month.

In speaking with a gentleman the other day who asked about where to find information and wanted to talk to other anglers, mainly because he’d just lost his wife and needed some companionship, I suggested he turn to fishing forums where online fishing communities can help not only with matters fishing but tend to have a friendly voice for those who need it.

One such forum that I manage and help run is Fishtas.com, which has been running since 2006. Members come from all walks of life and include fishing professionals, government agencies, grassroots anglers and just people who have an interest in matters fishing. They come from all over the world and add their tips, tricks and tactics plus a friendly shoulder. The group is administered by three Tasmanian anglers and deals mainly with Tasmanian fishing.

Stay safe.