Well, it's been an interesting month around the State's waterways since the opening of the 2024-25 angling season.

Social media photos / accounts have been aplenty and lots of great conditioned fish caught!

In the north of the State, Four Springs has been producing some nice fish and over the opening weekend, our officers spoke to 92 anglers who reported capturing 123 brown trout between 1.0  to 2.7 kg and 94 rainbow trout between 0.75 to 1.8 kg. Anglers using hard bodies and soft plastics did well along with fly fishers dragging wets.  Blackmans Lagoon, Curries River Reservoir and Camden Lake have all given up some solid fish since the season opening. 

The south has been going well with whitebait starting to move up the rivers. An inter-club fishing competition recently saw a total of 78 fish caught for an average weight of 0.83 kg, with the largest being 2.6 kg (cleaned!). One gent reported catching a whopping 10.5 lb sea-runner above the Bridgewater Bridge on opening weekend. At Craigbourne Lake anglers are enjoying the recent stockings of rainbow trout, with all methods seemingly effective.

The west coast has proven to be extremely popular so far this year, with great photos surfacing of brook trout caught at Lake Plimsoll, following the stocking of 365 fish around the 2kg mark. People came as far away as Huonville, Georgetown and Hobart to wrestle with this unique fish, in the Tasmanian context.  Lake Mackintosh has also fished well with trolling being the most effective method of capture.  Further north, Reece Dam and Talbots Lagoon continue to perform well. 

Across to the east, at Tooms Lake, those who stood their ground in blustery conditions on opening weekend captured 39 fish during a fishing competition. Trolling / spinning and worms/grubs all worked, with the largest fish weighing 1.29 kg.  Anglers have also reported some well conditioned brown trout captures out of Lake Leake.

The central highlands have seen tougher fishing conditions with challenging weather and water levels contributing to slower catch rates, although yingina / Great Lake has fished well. Lake Crescent has again given up some monsters for those anglers willing to put in the time.  We are looking forward to seeing more reports out of Lake Sorell as the season progresses.

In the highlands, recent welcome rainfall and snow are bringing lake levels up and we're all looking forward to improved reports come spring!

Please take the time to make sure you have your licence before you start fishing, with a few anglers being caught out already. The fine is considerably more than the cost of a two rod full season licence.

Don't forget our licences make a great Father's Day (or birthday!) present for all fishing enthusiasts. Make a family day of it on Sunday, 2 September, head out and try your luck!  

Licences can be purchased via our website www.ifs.tas.gov.au or from one of the many Service Tasmania Centres, or a participating fishing tackle stores.

Tight lines.