Marcus with an early season Derwent trout.

Brown Trout Season Opens This Weekend!

The wait is finally over! The opening of Tasmania's brown trout season is here, with many of the state's most popular lakes and rivers reopening on Saturday 1st August. Whether you're planning to chase wild browns in our rivers, troll the highland lakes, or cast lures from the shore, there are plenty of exciting opportunities to kick off the new season.

With cool conditions forecast, anglers should be prepared for changing weather, pack plenty of warm clothing, and remember that early season success often comes to those willing to fish through the wind, rain and even snow!

Where to Fish This Opening Weekend

Clarence Lagoon
Clarence Lagoon is a classic opening weekend destination. Traditionally, this water fishes best in the worst weather, with snow, wind and rain often bringing the brook trout on the bite. Spinning winged lures, casting spoons around the edges, or stripping wet flies can all produce excellent results. The road in is quite rough so a reasonably high clearance vehicle is a must.

Lake Plimsoll
Another Brook Trout only fishery that excels early in the season, Plimsoll has a good boat ramp and is easily accessed and fished from a boat. Brightly coloured lures and plastics are often key to success.

Lake Sorell & Lake Crescent
These iconic shallow fisheries are always worth considering early in the season. Fish can often be found cruising the margins searching for food. Soft plastics, hardbody minnows and small spoons worked slowly around the weed beds can be very effective. Fly anglers should also find success with Woolly Buggers and larger streamer patterns.

Brady's Lake Chain
The Brady's Chain has received heavy stockings over the past month, and anglers who ventured out during the winter have already enjoyed some excellent fishing on recently released fish. Opening weekend should see plenty of action throughout the system.

Please be aware that several club and private competitions will be taking place across the Brady's Chain and Bronte Lagoon during the opening weekend, so expect more boat traffic than usual.

Styx River & Tyenna River
If river levels remain favourable, both the Styx and Tyenna Rivers offer fantastic early season fishing for wild brown trout. Small hardbody lures, spinners and soft plastics are all productive methods, while fly anglers should enjoy success with nymphs and streamer patterns.

Little Pine Lagoon
Little Pine Lagoon was showing some promising signs towards the end of last season, making it one of the waters well worth a look this weekend. The fish should be in excellent condition with high levels of food and a lower than normal population of trout.

River Derwent & Huon River
The River Derwent, particularly between Cadbury's Point and the New Norfolk Bridge, has continued to fish steadily through winter with good numbers of sea-run trout being caught along with the occasional bream. Early season anglers casting minnows and soft plastics have been having good success. The Huon River is also well worth exploring as fresh fish move throughout the catchment.

Early Season Techniques

Opening weekend often rewards anglers who fish methodically rather than quickly. Water temperatures remain cold, so trout are generally less aggressive than later in spring so fishing a bit slower will often entice more bites.

Lure Fishing: Small hardbody minnows, Tassie Devils, bladed spinners and soft plastics all remain excellent choices. Fish them with a slower retrieve, adding occasional pauses to entice following trout.

Trolling: One of the most reliable methods on the larger lakes. Tassie Devils, winged lures and deeper-running minnows fished at a steady pace cover plenty of water and often locate active fish.

Fly Fishing: Woolly Buggers, Mrs Simpsons, Bitchs and other streamer patterns are excellent early-season flies. In rivers, nymphs fished under an indicator can be deadly, particularly when flows are slightly elevated.

Bait Fishing: For anglers looking for a relaxing day on the bank, scrubworms, Wattle Grubs and artificial baits continue to account for plenty of fish in many lakes where permitted.

Visit Us Before You Head Out

Whether you're chasing your first trout of the season or you're a seasoned highland angler, we've got everything you need to get you on the water. From the latest lures and flies to waders, clothing, rods, reels and expert local advice, our team is ready to help you make the most of opening weekend.

Good luck to everyone heading out on the 1st and 2nd of August. Fish safely, respect your fellow anglers, and we hope to hear plenty of success stories when you return.

Tight lines from the team at The Fishing Connection!

Saltwater Report

Bluefin
Bluefin tuna continues to fire at Eaglehawk neck with good numbers of schoolies and the odd bigger fish being caught. Most of the action seems to be on the edge of the shelf but there have been some big days in shore when the weather has been a bit windier.

Calamari
Plenty of bigger calamari have been caught lately with anglers doing well fishing on deeper weed beds out from the normal shallow bays. Heavier Deep jigs have been very popular.

Striped Trumpeter
Bigger models have been caught in around shallower reefs with some lovely sized snapper been caught as bycatch.

Bream
Have slowed a little bit and are not as spread out as normal but some lovely fish are still being caught when schools are found.

Swordfish
The odd swordfish is still floating around and being caught.

Christmas Island - Kiribati

A run down of Greeny’s recent trip

Staff member Alex has just returned from a week fishing Christmas Island (Kiribati). This is a very popular fly-fishing location for Australian anglers with endless shallow sand flats and some of the best shallow water sight fishing you can encounter. Fishing was fantastic with plenty of good-sized bonefish and GTs caught despite some challenging weather conditions. If you’ve been thinking about going and want to know more about the location, how to get there, what to expect and what to use please come in and have a chat with Alex