Chase for whitebait is on

Picture: A big male rainbow trout before release. Designated rainbow trout fishing waters opened in Tasmania to fishing last Saturday.

THE 2024 Tasmanian Whitebait season has started and will run for six weeks through until Monday November 11.

After a lot of rain and water flowing through most rivers conditions haven't been ideal but saying that in recent weeks water clarity has improved which could see some whitebait running if the weather holds up.

If looking to chase whitebait you'll need a licence which this season costs $37 and they're available from the Inland Fisheries website,Service Tasmania outlets and selected tackle stores. 

Anglers with a whitebait licence are allowed to catch a maximum of 2 kilograms of whitebait per day and a total of 10 kilograms for the season.

Whitebait nets must have a circumference 120 cm or less and must not be used with any structure or device capable of diverting fish into the net or stopping their escape.

Structures include rocks, logs or branches placed in the river to influence the movement of fish.

Whitebait nets must be tagged showing your licence number and you must be within 8 m of your net when fishing.Your net can be hand-held, tied to nearby vegetation or staked using a metal or plastic peg but not part of a severed tree or bush.

Waters open to whitebait fishing this season are the Duck River (not from 50 metres above and below the water gauging weir), Great Forester River, Henty River,Huon River,I nglis River, Mersey River, Montagu River, Pieman River, Derwent River,  Forth River,Tamar River including Trevallyn Tailrace and the Rubicon River (except 50 metres above and below the water gauging weir).

All other waters are closed to whitebait fishing and big penalties apply for anyone caught fishing and taking whitebait from any of those areas. Tasmanian rainbow trout waters opened last Saturday and these are the Dee Lagoon, Junction Lake, Lake Meston ,Lake Rowallan, Lake Skinner, Lake Youd, Mersey River above Lake Rowallan ,Leven River upstream of Loogana Road Bridge and Weld rivers (both North and South).

The Dee Lagoon is the most accessible lake to fish for rainbow trout in the highlands which has good access and two major boat ramps,one at Brownie Bay and the other at Spillway Bay.

The Southern area of the Dee holds good populations of rainbow trout which are often caught by fly anglers fishing midge and bug imitations in windlanes and pushing north the tree laden shores are where anglers come across more brown trout fishing from a boat the same way.

Anglers spinning lures from the shore or from a boat and trolling can also be rewarded well with Station Bay, Mentmore Bay, Duckhide and Duck Bay and Paton Bay popular. Anglers enjoyed better fishing conditions last weekend and finally less wind and better conditions look set to continue through to this weekend.

Water levels have settled somewhat in our catchments as well with less "spilling" and anglers will be "keen as" to get out and about and enjoy some better fishing.

Trout are putting on condition fast and with water clarity improving by the day,lure anglers will be back in the box seat.Lake King WIlliam holds a huge amount of fish and even though a lot of them are small some good fishing is on offer with the lake seeing it's highest water level for a long time.

Wood's Lake is another water which has benefited from a good flushing with Algae levels now lower and it's water level much higher than it was at this time last year and this area will be well worth a run and I'd also be paying Arthurs Lake a visit as well.

Bronte Lagoon and the Brady's Chain of waters are others which sit not far from spilling and should reward anglers with both brown and rainbow trout.

Great Lake's galaxia feeding fish along it's windswept rocky shores will readily be fooled by those spinning similar imitation shallow running lures and keep in mind Laughing Jack Lagoon, Lake St Clair, Lake Pedder which don't get the attention that anglers should give them. Anglers have been landing some recently released Atlantic salmon from both Lake Meadowbank and Craigbourne during the week as well.

In the North Talbots Lagoon has given up some great trout as has South Riana Dam with soft plastics accounting for most of the catches from both waters.

After most of our rivers suffered flooding recently they're now dropping and clearing up and fishing should greatly improve over the next few weeks.

Sea run trout fishing will be a highlight over the next month or so in our estuaries especially if we see an increase in whitebait migrations but even if this doesn't happen other migrations of bait fish like Gudgeon and Smelt always make targeting trout exciting.

Tight Lines until next week.

  

Tip of the Week-The Great Lake Tie In will be run on the 12th of October from 10 am -3 pm at the Great Lake Community Centre -55-57-Cider Gum Road Miena.

  
Send in your fishing reports,pics and tips to valleyfishes@gmail.com and keep track of the Derwent Valley Gazette Fishing page at derwentvalleygazette.com.au