Tasmanian Winter fishing report
by Fishing News DPIPWE 7 Jul 2020 22:54 UTC
King George whiting © DPIPWE Fishing
Some excellent catches are being reported around the state, just in time for the school holidays. It's great to see fishers out and about again since restrictions were lifted.
Rod and line
King George whiting are still fishing well in the estuaries and bays in the north and north east. Even with freshwater flowing in, it doesn't seem to have affected the quality of the fishing.
Small pinkie snapper are being taken around the state with some catches reported in more than 50 metres of water. Undersize snapper caught from deeper water may suffer barotrauma so to increase their chance of survival, use a release weight to return them to the sea floor.
Scallops
With the scallop season now open until 30 November, we are hearing that diving has been excellent from Great Oyster Bay to the Tasman Peninsula with large-sized, healthy scallops delivering high meat returns. Please check daily catch limits before you head out.
Marine Police report that most people are doing the right thing by fishing safely and following the rules. A few fishers have allegedly been caught with undersize scallops or exceeding their bag limit by taking extra scallops for others on the boat.
You can shuck scallops at sea for immediate consumption as long as you keep the shells and bring them ashore. These scallops count towards your daily bag limit.
Check the scallop rules here.
Tuna
Southern bluefin tuna have been showing up in great numbers all along the East Coast with most being relatively close to shore which has seen fishers with smaller boats accessing this prized catch.
An excellent resource for fishers targeting bluefin is the Tuna Champions website. Get tips on how to release tuna to maximise survival, or if you're keeping them, how to dispatch tuna to improve eating quality. They're also on Facebook and Instagram.
Northern squid closure
Spring and peak squid fishing season will be on us before we know it, so please note the North Coast closure dates and area are the same as last year. The squid and calamari fisheries will be closed to fishing in this area from 1 - 31 October 2020 inclusive to protect spawning calamari.
More information here.