The 2012-13 Trout Season Report. (Tasmania)

[meppstas]

** I wasn't sure if I should put this on the site as it may be a bit boring for you. Then I thought, well it may be of some interest to the trout fishers on the site who one day may take a trip ''Down Under"
So here it is, hope you enjoy the read..This exact report is sent to The Inland Fisheries Dept. each season as it helps to give them an idea of how the rivers that i fish fare from season to season.
cheers
Adrian
 '' THE   2012 – 2013  TROUT   SEASON   REPORT.''                9-05-2013
                                                                                                              by  Adrian Webb
                                                                                                                        Sheffield.  7306

                  RIVERS                      TRIPS                     BROWNS.                     RAINBOWS.

               '' MERSEY''                       42                             124                                    50

               '' MEANDER''                   19                             166                                     2

               '' LEVEN''                            3                                 6                                     0

               '' DASHER''                         4                               13                                     0

               '' MINNOW''                        4                                3                                      0

               '' WESTERN  CK''               2                                5                                      0

               '' COCKATOO DAM''          1                                1                                      0

                  ''  TOTALS ''                  75                             318                                   52
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
 '' Mersey River average.''      4.14 fish  per trip.       ( Last season.. 21 trips  ave fish  2.71 )
                                                                                                     (2011-2012)
  '' Meander River    ''       ''     8.84  fish    ''    ''          (    ''         ''        22  ''      ave fish  10.45 )

  '' Leven River        ''       ''           2  fish    ''    ''          (    ''        ''          8   ''     ave fish    2.75 )

  '' Dasher River       ''       ''      3.25  fish   ''    ''          (     ''        ''         8    ''     ave fish   14.6 )

   '' Minnow River     ''       ''      0.75  fish   ''    ''          (     ''        ''       19    ''     ave fish   4.58 )

 '' Western Ck          ''       ''      2.5    fish   ''    ''          (                   '' not fished ''                     )

  '' Cockatoo Dam     ''       ''      1.00  fish   ''    ''         (                    '' not fished ''                    )

           ** As you can see the Mersey River catch rate is up from last season, but doubled in trips.
           ** Meander River only slightly down with fewer trips.
           ** Leven River less trips and  only marginally less.
           ** Dasher River was the one that has really declined compared to recent seasons. Very low    
                river levels and the impact of cormorants have taken it's toll on this small open river.
           ** Minnow River another small stream that went backwards just when it looked liked it was
                slowly starting to improve. Low water levels and the lack of back up rains throughout the
                season has hit this river very hard once more.

                              ** Pages  2 and 3 are a report on how each river fared for the season.**    
                             

       '' Report on how the rivers fared for the 2012-13  Trout Season.''               Page 2.

     MERSEY  RIVER:
       The Mersey fished fairly well for most of the season, though it was a bit hot and cold in the way it did fish. By saying that I meant one day it would fish very well then the next it wouldn't give up a fish and it wasn't due too any weather change either. The lower Mersey in and around Merseylea was the most consistant area that gave up some reasonable catches on many trips there. The Kimberley area was very hot and cold fish wise and was very hard fishing as it was so unpredictable. Further upstream in the Weegena area it wasn't much better but did fish a little better than Kimberley. Then there was the Mole Creek area and further up at Liena, these two areas were the worst that I had fished for the season. Above and below the Union Bridge were the poorest fishing areas of the Mersey that I fished all season, in fact it was so bad (lack of fish) that I only had three trips to this area. One time I fished from the quarry (approx 2kms below the bridge) right back up to the Union Bridge for one very small rainbow and did not even sight a brown or have a follow in all that distance.
     In two trips to Liena I did manage to catch a few browns on one of those trips and this area too was really down on fish stocks. Speaking to a Landowner and he told me that several others had fished here for '' Nil '' fish as well, and that the area had also been hit hard by Cormorants too. So over all the Mersey River really fished the best in the Merseylea areas.
** Condition of the fish were very good and sizes varied quite a lot with the majority of fish being small in size, and the bigger fish were in excellent condition too. The river bottom seems to be getting worse each season with more slime and algae covering the bottom, plus there is also more silt in many sections of the river. The Liena area above the small township bridge the algae, slime and silt is the worst that I have ever seen there. I don't know if these conditions combined with the influx of Cormorants are some of the reasons for the decline of fish stocks in the upper Mersey or not. But I do think it has to have had some sort of impact the system somehow.  My catch rate is up on last season for the Mersey but my trips doubled and I had to cover a greater distance of river to get them.

''Mersey River at Kimberley.""
    MEANDER  RIVER::
   This river fished much like the Mersey and it too ran a little hot and cold as well. The Meander is in a  much better  condition than any of the rivers that I fished throughout the season even though it too was very slippery for most of it. There is only a slight build up of silt in a few sections that I fished, but other than that it is pretty good. This too me would be the best river that I have fished all season condition wise. Every fish caught here were in excellent condition, but these too were well down in size than previous seasons.  My catch rate was a little down on last season only by a couple of fish though. The best fish taken here (and released) was a nice solid brown that went 1.3kgs. Cormorants have been hitting this river as they have been doing all over the state but I think this river may recover quite well. The worst thing that happened here and it did have a big impact on the drop in trout numbers was caused by the Hydro turbine breakdown during March 2012 that was shut down for around 8 – 9 weeks. This left the river with hardly any flow and it was hit very hard by Cormorants as I was there several times and saw flocks of at least 40 or more birds on the river in the Montana area. But as I stated I think this river will recover much quicker that several others. The only thing that was down was the decline of rainbow trout as I only caught two for the season compared to 19 the previous one.

'' Nice medium size Brown taken on a #00 Mepps Black Fury.""
   LEVEN  RIVER::
   Can't say too much about the Leven as in the three trips here I could only manage six browns in the Dobson's Flat area. The first trip here the water was running very high and dark and was impossible to wade and fish properly but I did catch and release four browns. On the second trip there were gale force winds but I did manage to catch a two fish that trip. The third and last trip to the same area did not produce a fish at all and only managed one follow from a small brown. The river seemed to be in good condition with the bottom being very slippery and the fish that were caught were small but well conditioned. I did just have a trip to Loongana (8/5/13) and caught and released four small browns too.
'' Fast water section of the Leven River."
                            '' Report on how the rivers fared for the 2012-13  Trout Season.''                 Page 3.

    DASHER  RIVER::
   This little river river struggled from day one this season with low water, slime and very slippery river bottom. This has to be the worst condition that I have seen this river in all the times that I have fished it over the past 17 years. I think it's much like the Minnow River in being such a small river that the lack of decent rainfalls over the past few seasons and the lack of back up rainfall has taken its toll on the system. Cormorants have also hit this river and being so open as it is had a bit effect on it over the season. Hopefully we will have a good Winter  with plenty of rain and then get the much needed follow up rains from then on. Hopefully it will recover in the very near future.

   MINNOW  RIVER::
   Like the Dasher this once great little river has succumbed to the change of weather conditions with the lack of decent rainfalls. As I stated on page one there are several factors for the decline of fish stocks in the Minnow River. I feel this little river is going to struggle for some time yet and it will only recover if we get a steady weather patten and consistent rainfalls. It really now relies on the water that runs of the top of Mt Roland to survive as the small feeder streams and creeks have been mostly non existent since the hardwood plantations that cover much of the area have started to mature and they've all but dried up. The introduction of plantations along most of this river in the upper region of it has really taken its toll on the whole river system. This is a real shame to see how the Minnow has steadily  deteriorated as this was probably one of the best small and rarely fished rivers in the area. I can recall catching and releasing browns off around 400gms and 500 gms back into the river, and catches of 15 fish in a session were not uncommon to me.

   WESTERN CREEK::
   A river that I will often fish early in the season after fishing the Meander River as I cross over it on the way home. It normally gives up a few nice fish early in the season and is a great little stream to wade with it's fine gravelly river bottom. The river banks can be a little tricky when wet as they are clay and one can get down a lot quicker  than expected. As the season goes on the creek level lowers quite fast and the fishing drops off as it becomes very shallow and trout spook very easily. When it's like this the stream is better suited to fly fishing. My best fish for August was taken here and it was a brown that tipped the scales at 985gms which is a great fish for this small creek which is no bigger than the Dasher River.

  COCKATOO  DAM:: ( I think that's what it is called )
   This is really just a small water hole on the side road that leads into Lorrinna and I just happenned to see a fish rise when driving past. Flicked a small Mepps spinner into it it and picked up a nice solid little brown (280gms) on the third cast. Had a few other follows as well after several more casts before heading off  home. There is a small creek or stream that runs into this and the out flow drops down a steep ravine which I reckon would eventually run into Lake Cethana. I have no idea how trout managed to get into this small dam, there is also another dam on the opposite side of the main road that also holds browns and I have no idea of the name of it either.
So there you have it, my season report for 2012-13, not a big one but one I hope may be of some help to the Inland Fisheries Service.
         Regards  Adrian

[alantani]

great photos, and no crocs!!!!!!

[meppstas]

Thanks Alan, that's the best part being in Tasmania..'' No Crocs in the rivers here.''
cheers
Adrian

[HOLEINTHEWATER]

NICE PICTURES.