Just a month left to land a brown trout

Temperatures are starting to drop which will excite Tasmanian trout anglers and remember time is limited with just over a month remaining in the 2024-25 Brown Trout fishing season.

It's a good time to be planning a trip up the "Lakes" especially with Easter just around the corner and also don't forget there are a number of waters still holding $5000 tagged trout.

It's been a tough season and we all know the pressure that's been put on trout populations through cormorant predation and climate concerns.

Hopefully we receive some decent rainfall over the coming weeks and months which will help our annual trout spawning runs through Winter and some female trout are already packing on the eggs in preparation.

It's always ok to keep a fish or two for a feed but just note that releasing female trout at this time of the year will also help the cause.

Waters mentioned the most lately have been Great Lake which has been a standout fishery this season with both Brown and Rainbow Trout coming to the net.

Trolling lures in deeper water and spinning lures and drifting flies in shallow water during low light conditions of the day will see you catch fish.

Lake King WIlliam and Lake Echo are two other waters which have fished ok all season and will continue to do so up until the seaons end.

I'd be keeping in mind the Dee Lagoon which also holds some strong Rainbow and Brown Trout, Lake Sorell and Crescent should fish better as water temperatures drop and we all know the quality of trout available there and Wood's Lake should also give up good bags of trout Lake Leake and Toom's Lake,  Laughing Jack Lagoon,Talbots Lagoon,  Lake Mckintosh,The Hydro Derwent Catchments and the upper reaches of both the Derwent and Huon Rivers are other worthy options.

All river fishing should improve through April as rain and flow freshens up each system.

The Derwent and Huon rivers are still producing good numbers of Black Bream through to their tidal influence with Australian Salmon, Mullett and Tailor also available.

Saltwater fishing has been fruitful for those making the effort and it's always worthwhile getting out there during Autumn in less windy conditions.

Albacore Tuna have been a bit scarce but some good size fish seem to be starting to show up.

Anglers chasing Southern Bluefin Tuna have caught some Albacore lately off Eagle Hawk Neck and the East Coast with school SBT to around 20 kg common and larger 100kg + barrels also available.

Yellowtail Kingfish catches have been unusually slow from the South but lots of "rats" or smaller fish have been caught not far from Salmon Farms with the usual haunts of North West and Blackmans Bay also giving up fish.

Areas from the North to the East Coast have been more reliable places to catch Kingfish with Coles Bay and Triabunna standout areas off the East.

Snapper fishing will continue to improve statewide and reports of decent catches are coming from the lower Derwent River to Storm Bay and up through to Maria Island.

Barracouta, Mackerel, Australian Salmon, Blue Warehou, Elephant Shark, Whiting, Tiger Flathead, Gurnard and Flounder have all been in anglers' bags fairly regularly these last few weeks.

Striped Marlin and Broadbill Swordfish are still causing the most excitement around Tasmania with fish from 80kg to 200k+ being caught from St Helens down through to Eagle Hawk Neck. 

The Sports Fishing Club Of Tasmania is hosting the Tasmanian Broadbill Swordfish Championship from this Saturday the 26th of March through to Sunday April the 5th off Pirates Bay, EagleHawk Neck.

The Championship is growing in popularity every year and as always it's a Tasmanian Game Fishing Association sanctioned contest fished under Game Fishing Association Australia & Tasmanian Game Fishing Association rules.

The target species are Broadbill Swordfish, other Billfish like Marlin plus Southern Bluefin, Yellowfin and Albacore Tuna.

Entered teams can fish a maximum of 5 days with fishing times each day from 7 am to 4 pm with a daily weigh in held from 5pm - 6 pm at the weigh station at Pirates Bay.

A final presentation will be held at the Tuna Club Of Tasmania club rooms at Pirates Bay from 6 pm on Sunday the 5th of April.

Entries closed on Sunday and it looks like a good number of boats and anglers will be making the effort and with Swordfish being landed over the last fortnight it will be interesting to see the results.

The Southern Gamefishing Association held the popular East Coast Classic fishing competition off Southport last weekend and I'll look to touch base on the results next week.

Back in early March Hydro Tasmania reopened Lake Rosebery after the well publicised closure from an oil spill.

Multiple teams/workers including the Environmental Protection Authority, Marine and Safety Tasmania, Hydro Tasmania and Inland Fisheries Service have all played a part in the clean up effort and response.

The Department of Health has advised that trout caught from the lake are safe to eat but it's recommended that eels are not eaten until further testing has been completed over the coming months.

There's still some oil collecting booms set in place at various locations around the lake and the public is asked to stay away from them.

The boom locations can be found on the Hydro Tasmania Lake Rosebery Hub website which also has more information about the oil spill and provides answers to questions asked the most.

Tip Of The Week- If a freshwater fishery is clean and pristine it usually holds a healthy population of Rainbow Trout.

Rainbow Trout are very sensitive which makes them a valuable source for monitoring environmental changes especially relating to water quality and pollution levels.

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

Tight lines until next week.