wrasseman

Hi all, After a failed sesh on friday where I spent several hours for just one brief hookup, I headed back out yesterday morning for a brief sesh before work. Conditions were perfect for people with crystal clear glassy waters though it was still pretty fresh in the early morning. However, it remained to be seen if the fish would play the game. In contrast to friday however, the wait wasn't long with my little tango taken on the drop after just a few minutes drift casting. A nice little tussle ensued as I worked the fish over to where another fisher was spinning from the bank and asked him to net it for me as I didn't want to pull the hooks on this one like the last. Although not a big fish, this one was about average and was destined for the pan as I'd promised a friend a fish the next time I caught a nice eating one. As it turned out the release option was taken out of my hands as the net man promptly unhooked and then Ike Jime'd the fish for me before I had a chance to even thank him for his net work. With the mission accomplished early I elected to head in to give me plenty of time to clean the fish, wash the blood from the yak and have a warming thermos coffee while I watched a few other fishers before getting changed and heading off to work. Cheers Col.

Yeah, it'd be nice to get down there but I for one won't be going. Can't afford the time atm, its a long from home to strahan, at least 5hrs each way. Besides, all the locals will just net em as Tassie still allows "recreational" gill-netting (dark ages hey). Its more of a bonanza when the southern farms lose fish as they are closer to the people in hobart. Up my way we only have one farm and as far as I know they've only ever had one breakout, but that made for some fat times. Col.

Great report, Certainly sounds like a fun day out. Nice fat rainbows there. Though by the looks you may as well be hitting that dam hard now as there won't be water there for much longer. Cheers Col.

Thanks for that it just looks a bit different to the everyday sweep i've seen before, the brown tail tips are just part of it, the shape is slightly off too and it was a bit thicker through the body and there's a faint band behind the head too. Sea sweep it is. Cheers Col.

Yeah, we got two others of the same species but that was the prettiest (male i think) and best pic.

So I'm right on both counts? That must be a first. Has anyone ever seen those brown tips on a sweep's tail before? col.

Caught a couple of these yesterday, any suggestions. I'm thinking Barber Perch Caesioperca rasor or possibly butterfly perch C. lepidoptera but I could be wrong. Also scored this which I reckon is a sweep but I've never seen those brown bits on the tail tips before and sweep aren't real common down here. cheers col.

That's a monster. Wow. Col.

Shoulda kept the cuttle, best eating of all the cephs IMO at least if it was aparma which I reckon it was. As for the stuck occy, you did well to get it out at all. I had one grab a scrubbing brush I was using to clean his tank and three people couldn't drag it away from him. We had to just wait til he got bored and let go. col.

Well done on the treble (quadruple) thats a quality spot you must have there. Cheers Col.

I don't hit the bream very often at all as they are very rare in my part of the state and I haven't had the time to drive the 200km to reliable spots very often (compared to 10min drive for trout streams). It'd be different if I lived in Hobart. I've caught a few down here but nothing to brag about. I will try to give it more of a go before I leave though. Cheers Col.

I second that, roast duck... yum. Col.

Hi all, Down here in Tas the brown trout season has just finished and so for the next three months no more of my beloved stream fishing. However on the last weekend I managed to get out a bit with some success. Saturday was the time to finally take a workmate up on his offer to fish on his land and hit a relatively unfished section of one of my favourite rivers: the meander. The first fish came on about my third cast and though only small at about 28cm it still augered well for the day. for about 30min I continued to fish off the bank in an area cleared of willows picking up two more fish which got progressively bigger to 38cm before the relatively deep water and overgrown banks forced a retreat to the car for the yak which I had left in there from a previous trip. Continuing upstream in the yak I quickly hooked up again to a nice fish only to have it jump off at boatside and several more earned their freedom by doing the "swim towards the yak then go ballistic" thing. Finally one stayed connected long enough and came in with his fins up in surrender. After this I broke out the mini gear for a shot on the penrod (small enough to fit in the backpack - luv it), shortly after getting my first yak-fish on the toy gear. After this I went back to the real gear and as the river changed character to a shallower shingle bottomed affair and it was time for a bit of wading. A long cast to the head of a pool produced a solid whack and then with a sharp crack the line parted just above the reel. Luck was on my side however as I sulked about the loss when I spotted my line floating on the surface upstream. To my surprise as I pulled up tight I was able to not only retrieve the lure but also the fish which was still attached. On that note it was time to call it a day and head off to work but the season wasn't over and on sunday after my first option was washed out by overly high river flows I headed to the lake river, a little stream I've only fished a couple of times since "discovering" it earlier this season. With little water about it was a wading session and though this river is typically a lots of small fish spot I was fairly confident I'd get a few to finish the season on a high note. I wasn't disapointed, picking up a few typical river fish. But the best was yet to come, as towards the days end I came to a lovely looking spot where a relatively large pool bottlenecked into a shallow gravelly run along a shaded udercut bank. Occasionally you do a cast that you think just has to be worth a fish and this was one of those and my little spoon was absolutely clobbered by a nice fish that put up quite a tussle in the fast water before allowing me to land and unhook it. At 53cm, it wasn't my best for the season but certainly up there and a great way to finish. However me being me I just had to have one more cast and so my last fish for the season wasn't actually such a high note. Particularly when a cast into a small pond on the walk back to the car produced this: Still a nice end to the season so I can't complain. Col.

Some nice looking fish there, would have been great fun on the poppers. Cheers Col.

I'll let you know when published... Col.