Inland Fisheries Service News

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James Triffett with a Lake Crescent brown trout from the weekend
Sept. 10, 2018

Fish are about despite fickle weather

Fisheries Officers over the weekend patrolled waters across the centre, east and northeast of the State. Saturday delivered fantastic angling conditions. Plenty of sunshine and light winds. The weather was not so good on Sunday, with strong westerlies. Standout waters for the weekend were: Lake Crescent – There were some very impressive catches from Lake...

recovering brown trout from Woods Lake
A Woods Lake brown trout recovering after winter spawning activities
Sept. 7, 2018

Brown trout are rebuilding their condition after winter

Anglers often report catching fish early in the season that are below average condition. Brown trout spawn between May and July. During this period they have eaten little and spent considerable energy moving up through the cold fast water to the spawning grounds. Male brown trout can mature as early as two years of age...

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Illegal whitbait seized
Aug. 31, 2018

Man fined for assisting whitebait poacher

A Smithton man was recently found guilty at the Burnie Magistrate’s Court of three charges of inducing another person to commit an offence under the Inland Fisheries Act 1995. Peter Salter was charged by Fisheries Officers with assisting Brodie Popowski (convicted on 10 May 2018) illegally taking whitebait at the Montagu River during October 2017....

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Calm before the storm. Woods Lake boat ramp
Aug. 31, 2018

This weekend looks a bit rough like the last

This coming weekend looks a bit like the last with some cold blustery weather conditions forecast. This will not stop the fish from biting but we ask anglers to take care. Quite a few anglers decided to take advantage of the magnificent weather last Saturday, before we rapidly returned to winter conditions on Sunday. Our...

Photo of Giant freshwater crayfish on lawn
A Giant Freshwater Crayfish
Aug. 24, 2018

Largest ever fine for poaching giant freshwater crayfish

On Monday 20 August 2018, the Magistrates Court convicted a northwest man of offences relating to giant freshwater crayfish. Magistrate McKee heard Mr Bakes illegally hunted, caught and ate the highly protected and threatened species from November 2013 to November 2017. This is most serious case about giant freshwater crayfish ever dealt with by the...