Tasmanian Fishing Report - 8 December 2023

Scales of bait fish snowing in the water after a pack of aussie salmon came through the Hobart docks © Spot On Fishing Hobart

Summer Fishing is here

The saltwater fishing season is in full swing with the recent opening of the crayfish getting many people out on the water.

Warmer currents have started pushing down the coast causing rising water temps and firing up a lot of species, it won't be long until we see kingfish in good numbers and maybe some other unusual species over the next few months.

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Fishing Report
Saltwater

Snapper

Good early reports of snapper are coming from the east coast and Storm Bay. Bait and jigs have been working well.

Tuna

A few good bluefin tuna have been caught over the last few weeks around Pedra/Mewstone with fish ranging up to 100kg.

Squid

Good numbers have been caught of late, Port Aruthur being a popular spot that has produced reliable numbers. Having said that good numbers are reported in most areas known for squid.

Australian Salmon

Good numbers of salmon up to 2kg have been caught lately with Williamson and Gillies minnows in 10-40g being the most popular. Large schools have been feeding in the Derwent off Montague Bay and Rosny point. The odd Atlantic salmon have been caught in with the schools over the last week as well as a few Searun trout. For the fly anglers after a bit of fun these fish are easily caught stripping a white clouser in amongst the schools.

Tailor

A few good Tailor have been caught in the Derwent and along the east coast. Similar methods are used to catch them as Australian Salmon, sometimes letting a silver lure flutter down rather than a fast retrieve seems to work well.

Bream

Bream have been moving down both the Huon and Derwent rivers and starting to feed over the shallow flats on a high tide. The Derwent seems to be holding good numbers of smaller fish and the Huon some better sized models.

Kingfish

Quite a few reports of sightings have been coming in from both the Derwent and North West Bay. This would be supported by water temps in both around the 17+ deg temp. This could be a very good year for them if the water currents keep pushing hard and long into summer. If you are heading out in these areas I would make sure to have a rod rigged with a sluggo just incase they show up.

King Flathead

Some good-sized kings have been caught out of Marion Bay and Pirates Bay, Black Magic flasher rigs with fresh bait like Australian salmon strips or blue bait proving the most effective

Blue-Eye

Good numbers of big blue-eye are being caught at the moment with the shelf seemingly alive with fish. Vexed 1kg jigs have been increasing the hook up rate.

Gummy Shark

Storm Bay has been producing some good-sized gummy's lately, often caught as snapper by catch good burley and fresh bait on a running sinker rig is working well.

Striped Trumpeter

Stripies have been biting well but the bigger fish seem to be down south. Fresh octopus as bait is the most effective method with a few people doing really well on jigs as well.

Freshwater

Bronte

Has been fishing well with some very good hatches happening for the dry fly and good numbers of tailing fish in the early morning. Drift spinning has also been productive but most anglers have been favoring the fly rod as fish can been seen actively feeding of the surface

Echo

Lure fishing in amongst the timber is still very effective. Fish can be seen chasing lure from a long way in the crystal-clear water with some very good-sized trout mixed in amongst some aggressive smaller fish.

Great Lake

The lake has been on fire lately. Some great early morning midge fishing with the fly rod on calm mornings with fish seen cruising and actively feeding along the shore. Trollers fishing out wider on the weed beds have also been catching extremely well with a good mixture of browns and rainbows being caught. Double clutch 75 and porkies cobras have been the most effective lure choices.

Westerns

Have been a bit challenging with a few really bad condition fish around the place. Flies like yum yums, guides tags and stick caddis imitations are working well in most waters

Woods Lake

Has been on fire, the average sized fish is rather small around 1-2lb but the sheer number of them more than makes up for it with anglers reporting huge catch rates trolling, spinning and on the fly. Good hatches of mayflies and caddis have been seen with fish feeding of the top all around the lake.

Penstock

Has been a real standout with some absolutely phenomenal hatches. Fish have been seen actively feeding on the surface most days but catch rates have been relatively low with fish being very hard to fool. The quality and size of some have the fish in here this year have also caught anglers off guard with many reporting being broken off and dragged into the backing.

Tyenna

Is relatively low at the moment with lure anglers finding it very challenging. Fly angler have been doing well on snowflake caddis imitations in the evenings.