Angling Report of the Southern Tasmanian Licensed Anglers Association

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“Hobart’s fly fishing specialist for over 100 years”

1

Index Editorial ............................................................................. 2

Inland Fisheries Service ................................................... 3 Minister’s Report on Inland Fisheries 2011/2012 .......... 3

From the Director - The State of the Fishery .................. 5

Hydro Tasmania Report ................................................. 10 Mersey-Forth Water Management Review ................... 10

MAST Report .................................................................. 13 Anglers Alliance Tasmania (AAT) ............................... 15

Chairman’s Review 2012 .............................................. 15

Inland Fisheries Advisory Council Report (IFAC) ...... 17

STLAA Reports ............................................................... 20 STLAA Executive ......................................................... 20

STLAA President’s Report - 2012 ................................ 21

Club Reports ................................................................. 24

Australian Polish Anglers Club ................................ 24

Bothwell Angling Club ............................................. 26

Bridgewater Anglers Association ............................. 28

Clarence Licensed Anglers Club............................... 31

Huon Licensed Anglers Association ......................... 32

Kingborough Anglers Association ............................ 35

Lake Pedder Anglers Club ........................................ 36

New Norfolk Licensed Anglers Association ............ 38

Features & Special Reports ............................................ 40 Fish In Space – Odd behaviour of fishes in space ........ 40

Environmental Weeds around our Highland Lakes ...... 45

Fishing the River Derwent ............................................ 47

My Trip up the Birdsville Track ................................... 49

The Early Commissions ................................................ 51

Diary Extracts ............................................................... 53

Obituaries ........................................................................ 56

Season 2011-2012 Photo Gallery .................................... 57

Historical Images ............................................................ 74 The Machinery and People of H.E.C. ........................... 74

Trout 2012

Tasmanian Angling Report

of the Southern Tasmanian

Licensed Anglers

Association is published

annually by the

Association and its

affiliated Clubs.

Cover Photo: Spring rains at Arthurs

Lake

Photo – Clarence Anglers

Report Committee:

Warwick Bonney

Clarence Anglers

Ph 0439 379 093

Terry Byard

Bridgewater Anglers

Ph 0429 977 185

Norm Cribbin

Clarence Anglers

Ph 0408 144 587

Laurie Harrison

Lake Pedder Anglers

Ph 0428 626 370

Neil Pinkard

Clarence Anglers

Ph 0427 342 245

2

Editorial

ishing Tasmania’s highland lakes for

trout is something I thoroughly

enjoyed as a child. I have fond

memories of camping trips to Arthurs

Lake with my father, brothers,

grandfather and uncle. Mum and my

sisters would tag along on occasion too.

Being a father myself I now have the

opportunity to take my own son fishing.

He recently caught his first fish, an

Atlantic salmon in Lake Meadowbank.

Not the best fish, and he did need some

help winding it in, but his first and the

excitement on his face is a sight I’ll

never forget.

Arranging the photos and reading the

articles in Trout has opened my eyes to

how much enjoyment others gain from

this pastime. 2012 marks 100 years for

the STLAA, an association made up of

like-minded people with a passion for

fishing.

I would like to thank Norm Cribbin for

his dedication to the Trout book for the

last 10 years and his assistance with the

editor’s role this year. I know last year

he stepped down to allow someone else

to infuse new ideas but as you will see,

Norm’s influence remains strong.

I would also like to thank the book

committee and all the members who

have contributed articles, reports and

photos to this publication, without your

support and the continued backing of the

sponsors, Trout could not happen.

I hope the next season brings all you

hope to achieve with your fishing and is

the beginning of the next 100 years of

history for the STLAA.

Warwick Bonney - Editor

F

3

Inland Fisheries Service

Minister’s Report on Inland Fisheries 2011/2012

s the Minister responsible for

Inland Fisheries I am very pleased

to provide my report to the Southern

Tasmania Licensed Anglers Association

(STLAA) on the 2011/2012 season.

The management and staff of the Inland

Fisheries Service (IFS) continue to work

hard to protect and develop the State's

inland fisheries. Through the current

challenging economic environment the

Service continues to deliver positive

outcomes for anglers with improved

access, control of pest fish species,

stocking of inland waters and protection

of native species and aquatic

ecosystems.

Following a review of the role of the

Inland Fisheries Advisory Council

(IFAC) I appointed a new advisory

council from the 29 October 2011 for a

term of four years. The appointments

were skills as well as interest based. The

new IFAC has played a more direct

advisory-management role in the

operation of the IFS. The work of the

previous Council members under the

Chair of John Cleary is acknowledged

and they are thanked for their efforts and

advice.

The new IFAC recognises stakeholder

management as a key priority for the

IFS. Many of its resources and

management, such as water and

marketing are shared across different

entities with other expertise available

elsewhere that complements the IFS'

effort in developing and maintaining a

world class fishery. To this end

Memorandums of Understanding with

Hydro Tasmania and Tourism Tasmania

have been finalised in the past few

months. I look forward to further formal

relationships with

other key stakeholders

in the future.

The outlook for the State's recreational

inland fisheries continued to improve

throughout last season with another year

of good rainfall further rejuvenating

fisheries that suffered in drought to

2009. Continued efforts of the IFS

stocking program have markedly

improved the performance of popular

fisheries like Craigbourne Dam, Tooms

Lake and Lake Dulverton from the near

collapse suffered under the drought. The

stocking program is continuing to

address the issues of recovering fisheries

as well as sustaining the performance of

waters that are under pressure and are

solely reliant on stocking for

sustainability. The increasing popularity

of Penstock Lagoon and Four Springs

Lake, two fisheries that are reliant on

stocking, has meant that stock rates will

need to be continually evaluated and the

IFS is committed to maintain the

performance of these and other key

fisheries.

My clear focus as Minister is to ensure

the Inland Fisheries Service continues to

invest anglers licence fees to enhancing

the value of fisheries by improving

access through the development,

upgrade and maintenance of

infrastructure. This year priority road

projects have included continued

maintenance and upgrading of Woods

Lake Road and additional grading and

resurfacing of the road to the Large Bay

boat ramp at Lake Echo. Other projects

have been resurfacing the car park and

access roads at Little Pine Lagoon dam

wall and Camerons Lagoon and

upgrading vehicle access at the Ladies

A

4

Walk at Penstock Lagoon. Boat ramps

and boating infrastructure are also a

priority for the IFS in partnership with

Hydro and MAST. Through these

partnerships there have been vast

improvements made to launching

facilities at Woods Lake, Bronte

Lagoon, Lake Mackintosh, Little Pine

Lagoon and Four Springs Lake.

Carp removal from one of Tasmania's

most productive waters, Lake Sorell,

continues to be a key issue for the IFS.

The successful application for additional

funding from the Federal Government's

Caring for Our Country (CFOC)

program resulted in a matching of

$400,000 from the State Government

this year. This funding support enabled

the Carp Management Program (CMP)

to focus on containment, spawning

sabotage and the removal of juvenile

carp in Lake Sorell. Over the past year

only one adult carp, a female and 6,533

sub adult carp were captured and

removed from Lake Sorell. This brings

the total number of carp that have been

removed from this water to 32,736. Lake

Sorell will remain closed to fishing as

efforts continue to remove the juvenile

carp from the lake before they are able to

spawn. Despite the ideal spawning

conditions over the past three years,

extensive monitoring in Lake Crescent

again failed to find any sign of carp,

giving more weight of evidence that they

appear to have been eradicated from this

lake.

I am pleased to say that the coming

season is looking to be another great one

for angling in Tasmania. The IFS

continues to provide infrastructure,

access, fish stocking and sound

management of the resources that make

up Tasmania's world class trout fishery

and the unique environment it depends

on.

Bryan Green MP

Minister for Primary Industries & Water

5

From the Director - The State of the Fishery

he Tasmanian trout fishery has

benefited significantly from the

continued rain and sustained water

levels for the last three seasons. Higher

water levels and the persistent

inundation of fresh ground improved the

health of fisheries throughout the State.

There were several fisheries in the South

East – Craigbourne Dam, Tooms Lake,

Lake Dulverton, Lake Crescent and Lake

Leake – which showed a continued

recovery this year. The Service

continued its focus of rejuvenating these

fisheries through an intensive stocking

program which begun in 2009, when

these lakes first started to refill with

water. As a result, these fisheries have

provided an important alternative to the

highland lakes this year, expanding the

diversity of fisheries on offer and

providing more options for productive

angling around the State.

The bigger range of quality angling

options also helped to relieve the

pressure experienced in recent years at

some of the premium highland waters,

including Penstock, Little Pine and

Bronte lagoons. Three other premium

wild trout fisheries – Arthurs, Great and

Woods lakes – benefited directly from

higher lake levels. They remained the

most popular waters in terms of angler

numbers again this year. Craigbourne

Dam is a great example of a fishery that

has recovered well through good

environmental conditions and stocking

efforts by the IFS, lifting in popularity

from outside of the top 20 most fished

lakes in 2008/09 to the fifth most

popular lake for the 2011/12 season.

The importance of avoiding the dangers

of continued low water levels at these

fisheries was acknowledged this year

through the signing of an agreement by

Hydro Tasmania. This will help to

ensure the maintenance of water levels at

Arthurs and Woods lakes during periods

of scarcity in future. The Memorandum

of Understanding for lake levels is aimed

at balancing the water needs for

environmental protection and angling

with its use for electricity generation and

irrigation.

Regulation review

A review of the Inland Fisheries

regulations was undertaken during the

year to remove redundant, confusing and

unnecessary legislation, and to amend

rules and regulations for the benefit of

anglers and fishery management. Many

of these changes to the regulations are

merely administrative, while other

changes are quite specific, affecting how

and when anglers fish. The latter have

arisen largely as a result of fishery

management plans and recommend-

ations, requests from other land

managers and feedback from anglers.

For example, Huntsman Lake has been

nominated as a ‘winter water’ to replace

Lake Gordon, the opening hours at

Craigbourne Dam and Brushy Lagoon

have been restricted to daylight hours,

and the boundary for the brown trout

water on the River Derwent has been

shifted downstream to the Bridgewater

Bridge. These and a host of other

changes came into effect at the start of

the season and are in the 2011-12

Fishing Code.

Two pieces of amendment legislation

were completed during 2011-12; Inland

Fisheries (Recreational Fishing)

Amendment Regulations (No. 2) 2012

and Inland Fisheries (Seasons and

Waters) Amendment Order (No. 2) 2011.

The Regulation change is an adjustment

of the daily bag limit of whitebait from

T

6

one to two kilograms was completed

allowing from the 2012 season on for

fishers to take double what they have

previously on a daily basis. The Order is

in respect to setting a season for the

taking of indigenous fish in accordance

with the Brown Trout Season,

specifically for river blackfish (Gadopsis

marmoratus) and eels (Anguilla spp.)

Infrastructure improvements

The Inland Fisheries Service continues

to invest anglers licence fees in

enhancing the value of fisheries by

improving access through the

development, upgrade and maintenance

of infrastructure. This work often

involves cooperation and additional

funding or support from other

government organisations including

Hydro Tasmania, Forestry Tasmania,

PWS and Marine and Safety Tasmania,

Local Government, corporations,

angling clubs and individual landowners.

This year priority road projects have

included continued maintenance and

upgrading of Woods Lake Road and

additional grading and resurfacing of the

road to the Large Bay boat ramp at Lake

Echo.

Other projects have been resurfacing the

car park and access roads at Little Pine

Lagoon dam wall and Camerons Lagoon

and upgrading vehicle access at the

Ladies Walk at Penstock Lagoon.

Boat ramps and boating infrastructure

are a key focus of the Service in

partnership with Hydro and MAST. This

year a 35 metre break wall incorporating

approximately 1000 tonnes of rock was

constructed at Woods Lake boat ramp to

provide protection from southerly and

south westerly winds. At Four Springs

Lake the boat ramp has been doubled in

width and a new jetty constructed. A

dual lane ramp, car parking and turning

circle and a floating pontoon system has

been completed at Bronte Lagoon. A

subsidiary gravel boat ramp providing

safe launching and retrieval of boats in

southerly and westerly winds has been

constructed at Lake Mackintosh

approximately 200m north of the

concrete ramp and further improvements

have been made to the ramp at Little

Pine Lagoon.

Westbury Anglers Club, with support

from Meander Valley Council,

undertook to upgrade the existing jetty at

Four Springs Lake to disabled access

standard which included re-decking of

the entire structure. The Club also

installed picnic tables donated by

Forestry Tasmania at both Four Springs

and Brushy Lagoon.

River Angler Access

The Tyenna River Anglers Access

project was completed during the 2011-

12 season. The completion of this

project was a landmark in that over 150

km of rivers in Tasmania have now

received the Anglers Access treatment.

The Macquarie River project was

improved with an additional 12

kilometres of access completed. A new

project has been funded for the Mersey

River for 2012-13 and the Derwent

River will be undertaken after that. This

river access work, begun in 2007 and

jointly funded by Anglers Alliance

Tasmania and the Service continues to

deliver significant benefits to anglers,

opening up stretches of premium water

that was previously difficult to access

across private and crown land.

Hatchery and stocking

2012 is the fifth year of operation of the

IFS hatchery at New Norfolk. The

stocking planned for the 2011-12 season

was undertaken in accordance with the

Tasmanian Inland Recreational

Fisheries Management Plan 2008-18. It

is this planning that determines

production of the IFS New Norfolk

hatchery. The ability of the IFS to fulfil

stocking requirements is dependent on

the number of fish successfully raised at

7

the IFS hatcheries at New Norfolk and

the Salmon Ponds as well as on domestic

fish stocks donated by various

commercial hatcheries.

The IFS collected 1,000,000 brown trout

ova and 1,000,000 rainbow trout ova

from wild fish trapped in Liawenee

Canal, Great Lake. A further 100,000

brook trout eyed ova from Petuna

Aquaculture and 80,000 tiger trout

(brown and brook trout cross) were

collected from Salmon Ponds stock.

The IFS grows trout to various size

classes for stocking into the State’s

inland waters to support the recreational

fishery. The specific fish stocking size is

determined on the characteristics of the

water in which the stock are to be

released.

Production of juvenile fish from wild

trout ova collected by the IFS continued

to improve in 2011-12. The new

hatchery allowed the growth of a greater

number of fish to a larger size class,

which is a strategy designed to increase

the survivability of stocked fish and the

proportion reaching catchable size.

During 2011-12, the IFS distributed

345,590 rainbow trout, 136,469 brown

trout, 51,210 brook trout and 11,471

Atlantic salmon into public waters. The

majority of these fish were produced at

the IFS New Norfolk hatchery but some

were donated by various commercial

hatcheries such as Springfield Fisheries,

Petuna Aquaculture, Tassal and

SALTAS and also from the University

of Tasmania. Adult wild fish stocks were

harvested from natural sources at Hydro

Creek (Arthurs Lake), Mountain Creek

(Lake Sorell), and Liawenee Canal

(Great Lake).

Licensing and marketing

Angling licence sales for the 2011-12

increased by 4.64% to 29,749 surpassing

2009-10 decade high of 29,010. Revenue

from angling licence sales was

$1,631,213, up 7.14% on the previous

year. The increase in sales was reflected

across all angling licence types with the

greatest increase in Pensioner and Senior

licences increasing by 3.87% and

10.54% respectively. The sale of

whitebait licences increased from 872 in

2009-2010 to 953 in 2011-12.

The IFS again hosted the Trout Weekend

at Liawenee in May 2012 with the

support of angling clubs, Fishcare

Volunteers and local fishing businesses

and community interest groups. It also

supported a range of angling clubs and

community events during the year, a

number of which targeted junior anglers,

through the stocking of certain waters

and the provision of promotional

material.

Compliance

Inland Fisheries Officers continued to

work very effectively with Tasmania

Police and the Parks and Wildlife

Service to patrol remote areas and

apprehend offenders regarding illegal

fishing activities. Of particular note were

the successful prosecutions of offenders

for illegal whitebait fishing in the North

West, including a number of repeat

offenders.

During the year, 10 defendants were

successfully prosecuted in the

Magistrates Court for 17 offences, with

fines and special penalties amounting to

$14,120. There were 75 infringement

notices issued (comprising of 82

offences) amounting to fines of $14,885.

Thirty five infringement notices

endorsed as conditional cautions were

issued (comprising of 35 offences) and

three formal cautions issued for five

offences. A total of 38 fisheries and 22

MAST verbal cautions were issued for

fisheries and MAST offences. Officers

inspected 3,563 angling licences and 128

whitebait licences. Total fines from all

sources amounted to $29,005.

8

Under the Inland Fisheries Act 1995 a

person upon conviction may be

disqualified from holding a recreational

licence for a period of up to five years.

There are currently eight persons

disqualified from holding a recreational

whitebait licence for 36 years with a

total of 26 years disqualification yet to

complete.

Carp Program

A successful application for additional

funding from the Federal Government’s

Caring for Our Country (CFOC)

program resulted in a matching of the

State Governments $400,000 from the

State Government this year which

enabled the Carp Management Program

(CMP) to focus on containment,

spawning sabotage and the removal of

juvenile carp in Lake Sorell. The lake

remained closed to the public to assist

the program while it increased the

fishing pressure, installed additional

barrier netting and traps to prevent

further spawning, and flood-proofing

Lake Sorell to prevent the reintroduction

of carp into Lake Crescent.

Despite high water levels throughout the

year which creates a stimulus for

maturing carp to seek out spawning sites

in the marshes of Lake Sorell only one

adult female carp was captured and no

spawning was observed and no

recruitment has been detected. Effort

was concentrated during the warmer

months to prevent the carp from

spawning and daily monitoring was

undertaken. Additional fishing pressure

was provided by eel fishermen using

fyke nets to harvest eel, while the

juvenile carp were still susceptible to

this fishing technique.

Over the past year only 1 adult carp, a

female and 6,533 sub adult carp were

captured and removed from Lake Sorell.

This brings the total number of carp that

have been removed from this water to

32,736. The lone mature 2.6 kilogram

female had the potential to lay up to a

million eggs. The 12 kilometres of

barrier netting that was blocking access

to spawning sites around the lake was

maintained and repaired as required.

Since the start of the program in 1995, a

total of 7,797 carp have been removed

from Lake Crescent and no new carp

have been captured since December

2007. Despite the ideal spawning

conditions over the past three years,

extensive monitoring in the lake once

again failed to find any sign of carp in

this lake. Hence, carp appear to have

been eradicated from Lake Crescent.

Through a two day workshop that

involved the CFOC stakeholder group an

annual review of the CMP was also

undertaken with a number of

recommendations being presented to the

Minister and an operational plan for

2012/13 was developed. The CMP had

published and presented “A manual for

carp control: The Tasmanian model” at

the final workshop held under this round

of the Invasive Animal Cooperative

Research Centre (IACRC) in Melbourne

in June.

Fishery Investigation and Assessment

A survey of the three lakes (Bradys,

Binney and Tungatinah) was undertaken

during June 2011 following concerns

about the performance of these fisheries.

This survey is reported in the IFS

Annual Report for 2010-11. During

2011-12 these survey results were

analysed and reported in an internal

technical report, Fisheries Performance

Assessment, Technical Report, Bradys

Lake System 2011. The investigation

showed that there were low numbers of

trout in this system. Stocking strategies

will continue to be adjusted to achieve

better catch rates and overall harvests

over the coming seasons.

Results from the Angler Postal Survey

show that the top ten still waters fished

in 2011-12 (in descending order) were

9

Arthurs Lake, Great Lake, Woods Lake,

Little Pine Lagoon, Craigbourne Dam,

Penstock Lagoon, Four Springs Lake,

Lake Barrington, Bronte Lagoon and

Bradys Lake. The most popular rivers

were the River Derwent, South Esk,

Brumbys Creek, Mersey River, Meander

River, Macquarie River, River Leven,

Tyenna River, Huon River and St

Patricks River.

Creel survey results show that inspectors

checked over 3,500 anglers for a total of

2,161 angler days at 56 different waters

throughout the State. Of those

interviewed, 32% of anglers were bait

fishing, 31% spinning, 23% trolling and

14% fly fishing, noting that some

anglers use more than one method of

fishing.

The state of Tasmania’s trout fishery is

as good a condition has it has been in

twenty or more years. Trout fishing has

seen resurgence in Tasmania in over the

last season and there is no reason that

this increase in popularity cannot

continue with the management and

marketing strategies that have been put

in place.

John Diggle

Director of Inland Fisheries

10

Hydro Tasmania Report

Mersey-Forth Water Management Review by Simon Gartenstein

ydro Tasmania is currently

undertaking a Water Management

Review in the Mersey-Forth catchments.

The review was initiated in 2011 and is a

multi-year project comprising four main

stages: information review, stakeholder

consultation, social and technical

studies, and program development and

implementation. The review aims to

assess current water and land

management activities with regards to

social, cultural and environmental

expectations of the community.

The stakeholder consultation stage was

instigated with a survey that was sent to

over 753 stakeholders with 153

completed surveys returned (20%

response rate). Stakeholders were asked

to provide values, issues and

management options for waterways

influenced by Hydro Tasmania’s

operations in the Mersey-Forth

catchments. A number of these surveys

were completed by recreational anglers

and representatives from angling groups

including Anglers Alliance Tasmania,

North West Fly Fishers Association, Fly

Fishers Club, Devonport Anglers Club,

Devonport Fly Fishing Club, Ulverstone

Angers Club and Trout Territory. The

value that received the highest response

from stakeholders, for all Mersey-Forth

waterways, was fishing. Rowing,

canoeing and skiing and aquatic

ecosystems also received high responses.

The major issues identified included

water quality, rubbish management and

flora and fauna. Hydro Tasmania has

met with a number of stakeholders to

further clarify the issues that emerged

from the survey.

Valuable feedback provided by anglers

and other stakeholders has been

incorporated into the development of the

Mersey-Forth Water Management

Review Stakeholder Consultation

Report. This feedback assisted Hydro

Tasmania in the identification of a

number of “technical and social studies”

which are detailed in the report. The

studies will investigate the issues raised

during the consultation process and

assess mitigation opportunities and

management options. The studies are as

follows:

• Maintaining and Improving

Recreational Management

• Fish Migration

• Wilmot River Condition

Assessment

• Recreational Releases

• Flow and Water Level Information

• Water Level Management at Lake

Gairdner

• Mersey River Water Quality

• Pests and Pathogens Management

• Dissemination of Flow and Water

Level Information

• Lake Barrington Erosion

• Lake Rehabilitation at Lake

Mackenzie

• Sign Improvement

• Mersey-Forth Aboriginal Heritage

Study

• Mersey and Forth River Flood

Evacuation Plans

The above studies have commenced but

are still in the preliminary stages.

Representatives from the angling

community have already been involved

in a number of project discussions on the

above studies and will continue to be

H

11

involved. Most of the studies will be

completed over the next one to three

years depending on the complexity of

the issues to be addressed.

Hydro Tasmania, in collaboration with

stakeholders, will continue to investigate

issues, mitigation opportunities and

management options, with the goal of

working towards the development of a

program of commitments to improve

management in the Mersey-Forth

catchments. The views of stakeholders

will help to form the basis of the future

water management in this catchment

area.

Updates on the status of the studies will

be provided through stakeholder

participation processes, via newsletters

and on Hydro Tasmania’s website at

www.hydro.com.au/MFWMR/. Reports

and other project information can be

accessed from this website.

For further information please contact

Simon Gartenstein,

Environmental Scientist,

simon.gartenstein@hydro.com.au.

Mersey River downstream of Rowallan Dam and the waters of Lake Rowallan

12

Lake Parangana situated on the Mersey River below Lake Rowallan

13

MAST Report

nglers are heading to their favourite

destination with the trout season

now open after a few months lay off.

Anglers no doubt used this time to

update their gear, service their motors

and generally get prepared for the season

ahead in anticipation of some great

catches.

I was privileged this year to attend for

the first time the ever successful IFS

open weekend at Liawenee in May.

Together with Ian Ross, we met many

anglers and were able to answer many

questions in relation to MAST and

boating safety. This is a great event and

very popular amongst anglers from all

over the state and I look forward to

meeting you all up there again next year.

MAST, IFS and Hydro have been

working together for a number of years

and in 2010 developed the Inland Waters

Infrastructure Plan which will have huge

benefits for anglers for years to come.

An update of key projects follows:-

• It was reported last year that a Naval

Architect was working on a design

for a pontoon at the Dam Wall ramp

at Arthurs Lake. Unfortunately due to

high lake levels this work was placed

on hold for some time but I am happy

to report the design is now almost

completed.

• The new ramp and walkway at Four

Springs is now complete and, from all

reports, the facility is working better

than expected with a large number of

people fishing the lake.

• The breakwater at Woods Lake was

completed in time for the fly fishing

Championships earlier this year. This

facility now makes it easier and safer

for launching and has been well

received by anglers. MAST, IFS and

Hydro are also working together to

provide a concrete ramp at Woods

Lake in the near future.

• A major project has been completed

at Bronte Lagoon with a walkway and

double lane ramp. Given the

popularity of this fishery the work has

been most welcomed.

On safety issues, MAST is still

concerned with the number of people

fishing inland on boats that are not

wearing life jackets and exceeding 5

knots in certain areas. Over the recent

A

14

opening weekend IFS wrote a number of

infringements for the non-wearing of life

jackets. MAST reminds all inland

anglers to wear their jackets when under

power. You may recall a couple rescued

in Arthurs Lake recently plus the two

rescued on Great Lake around twelve

months ago. All will attest they are still

here today because they were wearing

life jackets. Remember, the lakes are

cold, particularly early in the season.

Cold water immersion can be fatal.

However with a life jacket on your

chances of survival are far greater.

Speeding craft have been reported at a

number of lakes and lagoons. MAST

receives many complaints about boats

exceeding 5 knots at Four Springs and

also Penstock. Remember the rules and

of course spare a thought for those

fishing from the bank or a boat.

The MAST website continues to be a

useful resource and we urge all anglers

to visit our website regularly

(www.mast.tas.gov.au) as if contains

useful educational material including

MAST TV.

Remember, if you have not been out this

year check your safety gear and ensure

your inflatable has been serviced.

MAST statistics reveal an overwhelming

number of people own inflatables but an

underwhelming number have them

regularly serviced.

MAST intends working closely with IFS

this coming season to see that boaters

are compliant. We look forward to

seeing you on the water and I take this

opportunity in wishing all anglers the

very best for the season.

Lia Morris

Chief Executive

MARINE AND SAFETY TASMANIA

15

Anglers Alliance Tasmania (AAT)

Chairman’s Review 2012

n line with AAT’s aim of focusing on

the fishery and anglers concerns, two

major projects have been running this

year. The first is the continuation of the

highly successful Anglers Access

projects and the second is the exciting

lakes Webcam projects.

Anglers Access to the Meander and

Tyenna Rivers along with signage to

many lakes has been completed by Neil

Morrow’s great IFS team and these

projects conclude the funding sourced

from the Australian Tourism

Development Program. AAT was

successful in sourcing new funding from

the Tasmanian Community Fund with a

grant of $66,000, ($101,000 in total with

other funding and in kind support) to

continue the Anglers Access program on

the Mersey River. The IFS is in the

process of negotiating foot access to

Lake Fergus.

The indefatigable Malcolm Crosse has

built and is about to commence

installation of six more webcams at –

Penstock Lagoon

Little Pine Lagoon

Bronte Lagoon

Great Lake

Lake Augusta

Lake Burbury

A prototype camera was set up for the

IFS Trout Weekend to iron out any bugs

prior to installation of the remaining

cameras; this camera will be re-used at

Little Pine Lagoon. AAT will fund

approx. half of the webcam costs

(approx. $12,000) with the remainder

and running costs being provided by

sponsors. Malcolm Crosse has given

untold hours of his considerable

communications experience to make this

project a reality, and without his

generosity the project would have been

prohibitively expensive and beyond our

reach.

One of the interesting asides to the

installation of these cameras is that the

Bureau of Meteorology has taken a very

keen interest. This is because they will

be able to see live cloud formations and

images, which they have never been able

to do before. This will result in better

forecasts for both anglers and general

public.

Contact with the Minister Bryan Green

has been kept up and meetings have

discussed possible projects, and while he

is keen to undertake a major project such

as Shannon Lagoon turbidity problem,

the lack of Government funds is a

problem.

The Red Jelly marketing program has

been concluded with the recovery of

$21,000 that was being held by Red Jelly

and a return of $16,000 on the Fishing

Tasmania magazine sales.

Irrigation works have continued to be

monitored and letters have been written

to both State and Commonwealth

Ministers on contentious issues,

including the South Esk, where the cease

to take flow of 40ML/day recommended

to the Tasmanian Planning Commission

for approval is considerably less than the

DIPWE Draft recommendation of 100-

160 ML/day.

AAT has worked in conjunction with

IFS to manage issues on inland waters as

they have arisen or requested by

concerned anglers. An ongoing concern

is the effect on the aquatic environment

of high emission outboards such as 2

stroke engines on smaller waters with

little through flow. The AAT have done

a paper on the issue and the IFS and

Hydro Tasmania continue to look at

I

16

what reasonable measures can be taken

to lessen the impact in the long term.

AAT has worked closely with MAST on

a number of access and safety issues on

the lakes and has received funding

approval for boat access to Lake Paloona

on which AAT and IFS have success-

fully lobbied Hydro Tasmania to open to

controlled boating. IFS and AAT are

currently working to find a suitable

access point for trailer boats.

The AAT website has been completely

updated, has a new fresh look and is of a

format can be more easily updated. It

carries all Anglers Access brochures and

the lake webcams will all be accessed

from here.

Initially access to the cameras will be

free, but in the future a small charge may

be imposed. It would be a small annual

charge to fund insurance, running costs

and development.

AAT has registered as a non-profit

organisation with Donortec and is

eligible for free or low cost computers,

hardware and software for clubs and

associations under the AAT banner.

Both North and South groups have

purchased computers and everyone is

encouraged to upgrade their old clunkers

and/or software.

We encourage any angler who would

like to have input into any fresh water

angling issue to contact AAT. All

members' contact numbers are on AAT’s

website www.anglersalliance.org.au or

by snail mail to:

GPO Box 963, Hobart, TAS 7001

Mike Stevens

Chairman AAT

17

Inland Fisheries Advisory Council Report (IFAC)

s newly appointed Chairperson of

the Inland Fisheries Advisory

Council I am pleased to be able to

provide the following update on the

activities of the Council over the past

eight months. It was also a pleasure for

me to attend and address the STLAA

during the year and hear about your

clubs and gain an understanding of your

issues of importance.

The Minister of Inland Fisheries

appointed the new advisory council from

the 29 October 2011 for a term of four

years. The appointments are skills as

well as interest based and the new

members are listed below:

Member Representation and role

Sue Baker Chairperson

Dr Karen Richards Representing conservation interests

Michael Stevens Representing freshwater angling associations

Gary France Representing tourism interests

Phillip Cooper Representing freshwater commercial interests

Dr Christine Mucha Ministerial appointment

John Diggle Director of Inland Fisheries

The Minister’s adviser Pam Voss is a

regular guest at Council meetings and

the Minister, Bryan Green attended

Council’s June meeting and outlined his

vision for the Inland Fisheries Service.

Both IFAC and the IFS report to the

Minister on Inland Fishery matters, on a

quarterly basis.

The new Council held its first meeting in

November 2011 and has met each month

since then, both formally for IFAC

meetings and informally for workshops

with IFS staff and committee meetings.

Setting up meeting and reporting

structures for the Council took up some

time in the first couple of months as well

as developing a mutual understanding of

the separate roles and responsibilities of

IFAC and the Inland Fisheries Service.

A major advantage of the new Council is

the skill-set of the members and given

the limited resources of the IFS, working

parties and committees have been

formed with IFAC members and IFS

staff working closely together on

strategic priorities.

A significant focus for the Council over

the past eight months, has been to assist

the Inland Fisheries Service (IFS)

commence a review its Governance

structures and develop Strategic

Business and Marketing Plans for its

business.

A new five-year Strategic Plan has been

developed for the IFS that outlines the

priorities for the medium term with the

aim of achieving both its legislated

responsibilities and the Minister’s vision

of a ‘vibrant’ inland fishery. This plan

was developed through a series of

facilitated workshops attended by IFAC

members and IFS senior staff and

outlines the shared vision of the IFS and

IFAC. It is a dynamic document that will

be constantly reviewed and adjusted as

we move forward.

A

18

Securing the financial future of the IFS

has been a priority for the Council given

the decreasing ‘real’ value of the fixed

funding provided by the State

Government. The long-term financial

future of the IFS relies on it becoming

self-funded and our strategic focus to

achieve this is to increase participation

in the fishery. From the data available,

the participation of Southern area

Tasmanians in the Inland Fishery

relative to total population is low

compared to Northern Tasmania and

improving this is a task for the IFS

working with AAT and local clubs as

part of the IFS Marketing Plan.

A component of the IFS’s strategic plan

is engagement with key Stakeholders

such as Hydro Tasmania, Tourism

Tasmania, Anglers Alliance, MAST plus

many others. A formal engagement

strategy with stakeholders is imperative

for the IFS given the shared nature of the

inland fishery waters and the IFS’s

limited resources. To this end,

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

agreements have been developed and

signed between the IFS and Hydro

Tasmania and the IFS and Tourism

Tasmania. These MOU’s outline how

the organisation will work together to

achieve common goals.

This spirit of co-operation between the

IFS and its key stakeholders is indicative

of a future of collaboration that will help

ensure the IFS achieves its legislated

responsibilities and its strategic

priorities. A key outcome of the

Strategic Plan and the subsequent MOU

with Tourism has been Tourism’s

assistance in developing a Marketing

Plan. A sub-committee has been formed

with IFAC members with expertise in

this area and IFS staff. The Marketing

Plan will include strategies to increase

participation of both Tasmanians and

visitors in the Inland Fishery.

Managing the fish and the ecosystems

are of course the primary role of the IFS

and as fishery habitats constantly change

in response to environmental and human

factors, our key priority is ensuring the

IFS maintains and develops a robust,

quality fishery and broad range of

experiences for the benefit of

responsible Anglers into the future. Of

high importance is maintaining

improvements to access and

infrastructure of existing facilities as

well as the development of new

fisheries, and while Angler numbers are

currently strong, improving the Angler

experience should increase participation

over time, and ensure the long-term

future of the IFS.

In conclusion, IFAC has achieved a

considerable amount in its first months

of office, with all members eager to

contribute and address the challenges.

The role of IFAC is advisory not

directive and as such we work closely

with the IFS and the Minister to utilize

the skills of IFAC members to the

benefit of the Inland Fisheries Service.

Of particular interest to Clubs will be the

Council’s plans to post an IFAC

information section on the IFS website

within the next year in order to keep

Anglers informed about its activities and

plans. IFAC welcomes feedback on

matters of mutual interest either directly

or through AAT as the representative

body.

Yours sincerely,

Sue Baker

Chairperson

Inland Fisheries Advisory Council

19

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20

STLAA Reports

STLAA Executive

OFFICE BEARERS 2011-2012

POSTAL ADDRESS: PO Box 697 Moonah 7009

PATRON: Mr Bob Ward

PRESIDENT: Mr Norm Cribbin VICE PRESIDENT: Mr Laurie Harrison

SECRETARY: Mr Neil Pinkard

HONORARY TREASURER: Ms Kathryn Kuster

HONORARY HISTORIAN: Mr Ray Aitchison

AAT DELEGATES: Mr Norm Cribbin, Mr Terry Byard

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: Mr Norm Cribbin, Ms Kathryn Kuster, Mr Neil Pinkard,

Mr Laurie Harrison and Mr Don Emery

CLUB DELEGATES:

Australian Polish Anglers Kathryn Kuster, Brett Whittaker

Bothwell Anglers Don Emery

Bridgewater Anglers Terry Byard

Bronte/Brady Anglers Mel Temple, Kim Cooper

Clarence Anglers Neil Pinkard, Charlie Harris

Huon Anglers Rob Chandler, David Roberts (dec.)

Kingborough Anglers John Francis, Steve Long

Lake Pedder Anglers Matthew Mallinson, John Groves

Maydena Anglers David Dicks, Matt Dayton

New Norfolk Anglers Tim Lowe, Justin Causby

LIFE MEMBERS:

E.T. Smith 1970

A. Maclaine 1979

C. Smith 1983

R. Cairns 1983

R. Ryder 1983

L. Ward 1987

B. Creed 1992

P. Lowe 1992

R. Aitchison 1995

K. Jones 1999

D. Cranfield 1999

R. Bradshaw 2002

T. Byard 2004

L. Harrison 2009

K. Hansson 2009

P. Wood 2010

D. Triffitt 2011

N. Cribbin 2012

CERTIFICATE FOR SERVICES TO ANGLING AWARDS:

R. Bradshaw 2000

P. Wood 2000

L. Datlen 2000

K. Hanson 2000

W. Knight 2000

N. Cribbin 2001

B. Sherriff 2001

D. Triffitt 2001

T. Sutton 2001

W. Seabrook 2002

N. Pinkard 2002

F. Johnson 2002

J. Bluett 2003

B. Jordan 2004

E. Aitchison 2004

K. Walker 2004

B. Johnston 2004

M. Sherriff 2004

R. Walker 2004

D. Cranfield 2004

D. Driver 2005

P. Richards 2005

K. Russell 2005

M. Russell 2005

H. Chivers 2005

M. Pinkard 2006

R. Aitchison 2006

A. Smith 2007

S. Page 2007

B. Page 2007

D. Goss 2007

S. Granger 2008

J. Barrett 2008

B. Andrew 2008

M. Harrison 2009

C. Harris 2010

J. Groves 2010

K. Cooper 2010

J. Causby 2011

S. Mallinson 2011

T. Gourlay 2011

J. Steele 2011

N. Bester 2011

C. Pearce 2012

J. McIlhenny 2012

M. Mallinson 2012

21

STLAA President’s Report - 2012

t is with much pleasure that I present

the President’s Report for the 2011/12

angling season.

The Association is currently in its 100th

year, heading up to our centenary in

November of this year. This is a

significant milestone which is not

readily achieved by many organizations.

All past and present Clubs and

respective members should be proud of

this achievement. The official

celebrations will be held on

24th

November 2012 at the Salmon

Ponds. One highlight of the celebrations

will be the launching of the book

“Changing Times – A History of the

STLAA 1912-2012” detailing 100 years

of the Association and affiliated Clubs.

The past year has seen the member ranks

of the Association increase yet again

with the following clubs reporting good

numbers of new members, well done

Lake Pedder, Bridgewater, New Norfolk

and Clarence. Currently the Association

has 10 affiliated clubs with a combined

membership of about 610 adults and 150

juniors. This is a significant collective

voice for anglers in the south and

ensures that anglers are regarded as

major stakeholders in matters relating to

tourism, recreation, water & land

management and the environment.

The Association once again held a

Family Day BBQ however numbers over

the years have steadily been decreasing

and as a result the event was in danger of

being dropped. Recently the situation

was reviewed by the Executive and

Delegates and I am pleased to report that

the event will continue in a new format

at the junior angling pond facility

located at the Bushy Park Estate. Thank

you to New Norfolk Licensed Anglers

Association (NNLAA) for the offer to

use the junior angling pond facilities. To

quote NNLAA President Marty Evans:

“This should be a great event with lots

of fat fish to keep the young anglers

entertained and an opportunity for the

senior anglers to catch up and share

stories over time.”

On the angling front, it was pleasing to

see water levels at Arthurs Lakes

continue to remain high and those at

Great Lake rise moderately. Field trip

reports from Clubs throughout the past

season have indicated improved catches,

however at times the trout proved to be

difficult to tempt.

Successful anglers used the various

angling methods, such as Bait, Artificial

Lure and Fly to ensure consistent

catches. I suspect if salmonids were as

easy to catch as some saltwater species

many of us would not take up the

challenge of freshwater angling.

Many clubs commented on the reduced

number of Mayfly hatches this season

but this appears to have been countered

by a better than average Jassid ‘Fall’. It

is hoped that with the continued high

water levels in many of our lakes and

rivers, insect hatches in the coming

season will continue to improve.

Stocking of water such as Craigbourne

Dam and Lake Meadowbank with large

ex-brood stock Atlantics and Rainbows

has again been popular with many

anglers. Anglers in most cases after an

enjoyable day’s fishing have departed

with a sizeable fish or two. Sadly catches

exceeding the allowable bag limits

continue to be reported. It is important

that bag limits are adhered to. They have

been set at sustainable levels to protect

the fishery and ensure all anglers have

the opportunity to share in the

experience of catching a large fish.

I

22

I would like to thank the Inland Fisheries

Service (IFS) for its support of the

STLAA and its activities. The

Association continues to endorse the

work of the IFS and our two

organizations maintain a friendly and

supportive relationship. Recently the

Association and the IFS worked together

to restore the toilet facilities at

Craigbourne Dam. I am pleased to report

that the restored toilet facilities continue

to be free of vandalism and when last

inspected (June 2012) were in an

acceptable state of repair and

cleanliness.

The Association continues to provide

angler feedback to the IFS on a diverse

range of angling topics and the proposed

changes at Penstock Lagoon in relation

to boating and water quality certainly

provided the IFS with much angler

feedback. Indications are that many

points raised by anglers and the

Association will be incorporated in to

future management plans for this water.

In closing I would like to warmly thank

the Association's Secretary, Neil

Pinkard, for his dedication and diligence

in dealing with the variety of

Association matters that have arisen

throughout the past 12 months. I also

thank our Vice President, Laurie

Harrison, who has ably stepped in to

chair meetings when work has kept me

from attending to STLAA duties. Thanks

must also go to Katherine Kuster, the

Association's newest Treasurer for

ensuring we are always on a sound

financial footing and to Terry Byard, our

AAT Delegate. Special thanks also go to

our Patron, Bob Ward, and the STLAA

Historian, Ray Aitchison, for their

continued commitment and efforts. Last,

but not least, thank you to the executive

committee and delegates who attend the

Association meetings and provide the

invaluable conduit between the

Association and their Club.

I wish all members and their family's

great outings and tight lines for the

season ahead.

Norm Cribbin – STLAA President

23

24

Club Reports Australian Polish Anglers Club

o sum up the season, I must say it

has been rather up and down. The

Derwent River was quite cold and

produced few fish. Lake Binney has

gusty weather, but a recent release of

rainbow trout provided excellent sport

and a large number of 1kg plus fish.

Wayatinah Lagoon, once again the

weather was terrible and the shore based

anglers seemed to be most successful.

Arthurs Lake saw a large turnout and

some big bags of fish. At Tooms Lake

at 40 degrees plus, the fish were

extremely hard to find and the windy

weather was not to enticing on the water

Lake Echo saw another good turnout,

but once again, the fish were not really

on the bite.

The season ended with a trip to Pedder,

with a reasonable number of people

turning out for the last trip of the season,

and the best place to be was by the fire.

No one ventured on the water Saturday,

and unfortunately, the Surf Ski’s were

all at home.

On a personal note, I think it’s great to

see more families attending the trips

(especially over the summer months)

and I hope to see some members drag

along some friends next season to the

comps, and possibly encourage some

new memberships, remember, any entry

can win these days!

This year the Australian – Polish fishing

club will celebrate its 40th

anniversary.

A formal function will be held later in

the year at the Polish club to celebrate. If

you are or know anybody who would be

interested in attending, please let myself

or Alice know.

Once again, thanks to the Sponsors for

all their support over the year and please

remember to support them in return

Thanks to all for providing salads and

desserts

Special thanks to Bob Ilic for catering

the BBQ today

Special thanks to Tony Blackwell for the

time and effort he commits every year

and

A special thanks to Alice and the rest of

the committee for putting the time in

month after month, and even year after

year.

Thanks again

Luke Stefankowski - President

Honour Roll:

Heaviest Overall: Kristal Banasik, 1955g, Lake Binney

Ladies Heaviest: Kristal Banasik, 1955g, Lake Binney

Junior Heaviest: Luke Chivers, 1250g, Lake Binney

Most Consistent: Adrian Kniaz

T

President: Luke Stefankowski

Secretary: Alice Banasik

Treasurer: Anthony Young

Postal Address: 51 Jetty Road, Old Beach, 7017

Meetings: 2nd Wednesday Monthly

25

Statistics for Season 2011 – 12

Location Bag Weight Number Average Heaviest Members

Derwent River 8.21 kg 14 586g 840g 14

Lake Binney 92.06 kg 108 852g 1955g 25

Wayatinah Lagoon 7.56 kg 20 378g 655g 14

Arthurs Lake 53.93 kg 113 477g 1025g 21

Tooms Lake 2.09 kg 5 418g 780g 15

Lake Echo 16.12 kg 40 403g 740g 18

Lake Pedder 10.85 kg 17 638g 1360g 10

Total 190.83 kg 317 602g 1955g 117

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26

Bothwell Angling Club

hope that all of you had some good

trips and even better catches in the

2011/12 season.

I would sincerely like to thank all our

Executive office bearers, patron,

delegates, weigh in stewards and all

those who have attended meetings,

competitions and helped our club in

many different ways when needed. A

very special thank you goes to the

members who have put their hand up to

go onto the committee or help in other

ways as this has ensured the continuation

of the club. We welcome onto the

committee, Emma Datlen as Secretary,

David Dyson as Treasurer and James

Whittaker as Vice President. A special

thank you goes to Pam Jones who has

held the position of Secretary for 6 years

and prior to this held the position of

Treasurer for 5 years, Lance Devince as

Vice President, Jodie Fenton as

Treasurer and Don Emery as S.T.L.A.A.

Delegate, a position he has held for 3

years. We thank them for their time and

support that they have given to the Club.

It is greatly appreciated.

We have a large membership base, large

sponsorship support, local Council

support, a large junior involvement and,

being affiliated since the early 60’s, we

are the 2nd oldest continuously affiliated

club in Southern Tasmania, so hopefully

members will continue to be involved

with THEIR Club. Once again thank you

to those members for putting your hand

up to help in many different aspects of

the club and all members should thank

these people when they see them as

without them we would not have a club.

Our Annual Dinner and Presentation

Evening was held in July with adult and

junior members, their families and

official guests enjoying a good night and

a lovely meal. It was pleasing to see 14

of our junior members weigh fish in.

Again this evening would not be

possible with member involvement,

Central Highlands Council Support and

our Trophy sponsors. Some of our

members also attended and represented

the club at the S.T.L.A.A. dinner.

We have had our usual competition

weekends, with 34.965kg of fish

weighed in (comps only). This was over

47 fish making the average weight 743g.

Most of these weekends have had good

nominations with some good size

catches. We also held our annual Fun

Fish, which was open to all waters. We

had 20 adults & 6 juniors nominate with

the family barbecue, weigh-in and

drawing of the raffle and nomination

prize ending this enjoyable day at the

Bothwell Football ground. We also had

nine members represent the club in the

Derwent Intra Club Challenge, they had

no luck fish wise but some were lucky in

the fisherman’s pie.

The Club’s monthly meetings are held

on every second Thursday and it would

be good to see some new faces even if

you can only attend some of the

meetings, either to put forward your

ideas to the Club or find out what is

happening at club and S.T.L.A.A. level.

New members are welcome.

The Club again donated a book for

Anzac Day, this is laid at the local

cenotaph and then goes to the Bothwell

Area School library.

A very special thank you must go to all

our sponsors, for without their continued

support, some over many years, our events such as our presentation dinner

and fun fish would not be the success

that it is. A list of these sponsors goes to

all members and their support is greatly

I

President: Leanne Datlen

Secretary: Pam Jones

Treasurer: Jodi Fenton/Shane Bryant

P.O. Box 51 Bothwell 7030

27

appreciated. Thank you to the Central

Highlands Council for the use of the

hall, club rooms and in kind support

such as photocopying. A thank you also

goes to all property owners who allow

anglers to access some of the best

fishing in the world.

Congratulations to all our trophy

winners, these members were presented

with their trophies at our Dinner and

good luck to everyone for the coming

season.

Tight Lines,

Leanne Datlen - President

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28

Bridgewater Anglers Association

eason 2011/12 started very well for

the Association with an enjoyable

AGM, trophy presentation and dinner at

the Brighton Bowls Club followed by

our usual "Clean-up" at Bridgewater.

Last season's fishing started well also

with good numbers of members turning

up for the opening weekend competition

on the Derwent River. Most we able to

land a fish or two on opening weekend

but we missed out again in the

“Combined Competition”. “Beaten by a

nose”, by the New Norfolk Branch.

Members who fished from boats

accounted for most fish over the

weekend. Opening day finished with a

Barbecue at weigh-in at the Granton

Park and Members travelled to New

Norfolk on Sunday and enjoyed the

fellowship of members from other

branches.

The combined competition with New

Norfolk Branch was successful but it

was disappointing that only a handful of

Bridgewater Members bothered to travel

to New Norfolk on Sunday for the

weigh-in and barbecue. We were once

again beaten by New Norfolk. Our

thanks go to the New Norfolk anglers for

supplying and hosting the weigh in and

barbecue on Sunday afternoon.

A competition was held at Tooms Lake

in late September and although not many

fish were landed a good time was

enjoyed by all attending. The Huon

River competition in October saw poor

weather, low attendance and only one

fish landed.

This was followed by the open waters event on "Show Weekend" with fish

coming from Woods Lake, Arthurs

Lake, Great Lake, Penstock Lagoon and

the winner came from Lake Crescent.

Thanks to Gary and Cheryl Williams for

doing the weigh-in and having the

Saturday night barbecue at their Arthurs

Lake shack.

The next competition was held at

Craigbourne Dam in November followed

later that month by a very wet but

enjoyable trip to Corinna which proved

quite an adventure for some Members

with a boat over-turning at its overnight

mooring which resulted in a chilly dip

during retrieval.

Despite the weather the annual

Christmas barbecue saw a good roll-up

of Members and everyone had a good

feed and enjoyed the seasonal spirit.

In January of this year the next

competition was held at Woods Lake.

The weather was kind but the fish were

hard to find with the result being a

surprising dead heat.

Another competition was held at Tooms

Lake in late March which was the

ANSA challenge and resulted in

Bridgewater keeping the trophy. Thanks

to Gary Chaffey for the use of his camp

for the weigh-in and get -together on the

Saturday night.

The final competition due to be held on

the closing weekend of the season in the

Bronte area was not held because of the

lack of suitable accommodation.

The rostered working bee at the shack

was held in May with all maintenance

jobs completed and a very nice baked

meal consumed on the Saturday night by

some sixteen Members. Thanks to all the

cooks and Cheryl for the beautiful

dumplings. Special thanks to Bob Ward

and John Bluett for their efforts with the painting prior to the working bee.

S

President: Alistair Creed Secretary: Gary Chaffey

Treasurer: Bernard Creed

STLAA Delegates – Terry Byard

Meetings: Last Tuesday of each month except

January & June

29

Overall, General Meetings were fairly

well attended with just a few guest

speakers. Thanks to Tom Crawford for

filling in at late notice and to Gary

Chaffey for the videos.

The Association was once again well

represented at STLAA meetings by

Terry Byard and Bob Ward with

assistance from Peter Wood and Bernard

Creed.

Before closing I would like to thank

Gary Chaffey for his excellent ongoing

work as secretary, out-going Treasurer

Bernard Creed and all Committee and

Members for their assistance and support

during the year. The Association would

not exist without you.

Please accept my best wishes for a

successful, safe and enjoyable 2012/13

season. Tight Lines!

Alistair Creed - President

30

31

Clarence Licensed Anglers Club

n the last 12 months we have held 15

field events at various waters around

the state. This included an annual

partners’ weekend at National Park. Our

field events have seen a good level of

member participation.

Our field events included a dual water

event in Jan 12 at Lake Pedder and Lake

Burbury, and an annual One Lure or One

Fly competition on Arthurs Lake.

We have changed the “Consistent

Angler” schedule to include points that

can be awarded at field events that

accommodate all methods of fishing, and

a weigh-in of 3 fish. This will provide

for a uniform competition, to enable all

members to have the same opportunity to

be in the running for the Consistent

Angler award and encourage greater

participation.

Clarence Anglers held their annual stall

for food/drinks and raffle at the Liawenee

Open weekend in May 12. Thank you to

club members who gave their time and

effort in making the Liawenee stall a

success.

Clarence Anglers was also the winner of

the STLAA Bridges Bros Trophy for

2012.

Progress on our shack at Arthurs Lake is

being made by members recently

commencing the frame up. Due to

securing a monthly 2-day slot conducting

fundraising BBQ’s at Rays Outdoors in

Derwent Park, we hope to progress

quickly to a completed building project.

Our social events this year included a

Christmas Buffet held at the Geilston Bay

Boat Club, and our July Trophy night was

held at the Black Buffalo Hotel.

Our Club has experienced substantial

member growth and this can be

contributed to our website and the club

member activities in promoting the Club.

In stepping down as President, I wish to

extend my gratitude to club members and

Committee who assisted me in this role

during the last 2 years.

Tight Lines!

Leigh Garth - President

I

President: Leigh Garth

Secretary: Neil Pinkard Treasurer: Gary Davy

Postal Address: PO Box 291 Rosny Park 7018

Contact: 0408 144 587

Email: norm.cribbin@hydro.com.au

32

Huon Licensed Anglers Association

s part of the process to prepare for

the STLAA one hundredth

anniversary I have spent time examining

the minutes of meetings back to our

affiliation in 1949. One interesting point

to emerge was the repeated concerns

regarding poaching activities and the

quality of the fishing. While we often

refer to the good old days, make no

mistake the quality of fishing is cyclic

and last season was no different!

Membership:

This year saw our membership decrease

slightly to forty adults, down from fifty

one last year. Junior member numbers

were up by one to twenty three.

The Club Membership Fees for 2011/12

were: Adults $25, Aged Pensioners $20,

Juniors $5, the nomination Fee was $20.

These fees remain the same for this

season.

It is with great sadness that I report the

recent passing of David Roberts. David’s

family were involved with the Huon

Anglers Club prior to affiliation with the

STLAA in 1949. His father Gordon was

a 1949 founding member and David has

been a club member most of his life.

David was our Club Patron and a

STLAA delegate since 2003. He recently

introduced three of his grandchildren to

trout fishing, who are now junior

members. His contribution, friendship

and knowledge will be sadly missed.

The Season:

Pre-season excitement and anticipation

soon gave way to the reality that the condition of fish in the highlands was

below normal. Our members put most

effort in at Arthur’s and the Great Lake

where the fish were slow to recover from

spawning and hard to tempt with lures.

Periodic rains through late winter and

spring made for challenging conditions

on the Huon. Those who could pick the

right time were rewarded. Some nice

trout were weighed in including a

surprising number of Brook trout that

had escaped from a local hatchery.

The Atlantic salmon were generally

smaller than last season, not many

trophy size fish were caught. Total

Atlantic salmon caught for the season

was 98 (100 last season) weighing 128

kg. I know more salmon were caught but

not weighed in. Our only salmon prize

for the nearest to average weight fish of

1306 g. was won by Larry Paul.

Total trout caught for the season was

293 (93 more than last year) weighing

202kg. The average weight was 690gms.

This figure would have been higher were

it not for the 300 mm limit we urge adult

members to follow in the Huon. Some

members practice catch and release with

trout, particularly when the salmon are

plentiful. The heaviest trout, weighing

4919 gms, was caught by Larry Paul

who also won the most trout prize with

seventy eight weighed in. Tony Lovell

won the closest to average weight prize

with a fish of 690 grams.

One event that features highly on the

Huon members’ calendar is the Lake

Burbury competition organised by the

Queenstown Anglers Club. While fewer

members than previous years attended

those that did were well rewarded. Stacey and Lenny Woolley weighed in

ten fish, Mark and Carol Woolley landed

seventeen while Roger and Patricia

Woolley accounted for twenty nine fish

between them.

A

President: Rob Chandler Secretary: Patricia Woolley

Treasurer: Cheryl Page

Postal Address: PO Box 16, Huonville 7109

Contact: Ph 6260 130 Meetings: Bi-Monthly

33

Thanks to Barry Page for continuing his

good work as weigh-master.

The Casting Competition was held at the

Chandler’s Crabtree property in June

2012 under perfect conditions for

casting. This year the juniors and

amateurs were given an advantage of

extra casting attempts and included in

the open division. In the fly casting

competition Larry Paul came first on a

count back, Rob Chandler was second

and Thomas Murtagh, a junior member

came third. Thomas Murtagh finished

first in the plug casting, a great effort for

a five year old junior member. The

second prize was shared by Barry Page,

Stacey Woolley, Rhys Murtagh and

Larry Paul. With so many coming

second no third prize was offered.

We again had our Annual General

Dinner at the Glen Huon Hall in July this

year. I take this opportunity to thank the

Social Committee for their efforts, and

particularly Andrew Duncombe and Pam

Ferrier for bringing the Ice Cream Van

along. Special thanks to our sponsors

Griggs Butchery who provided the meat

for our dinner and Social weekends and

Rod and Range who assist throughout

the year with prizes for our raffles and

the casting competition.

I would also like to thank the members

who attended our shack working bees

and particularly acknowledge the efforts

of our Secretary, Patricia Woolley and

Treasurer, Cheryl Page.

Rob Chandler - President

Junior Prizes:

Heaviest Trout for a Junior – Codie Harris.... Brown trout 2758 g.

Most trout caught – Haley Woolley.....10

Ladies Prizes:

Heaviest Trout: Patricia Woolley - Brown Trout 1098 g.

Most fish caught: Carol Woolley - 23

Monthly Prizes (based on a mystery weight): Month Mystery weight (g.) Actual weight (g.) Winner

August 562 557 Jack Mayne (junior member)

September 429 431 Larry Paul & Rob Chandler

October 460 460 Phillip Griggs

November 252 260 Lenny Woolley

December 650 601 Shaun Woolley

January 925 877 Thomas Lovell (junior member)

February 785 736 Rhys Murtagh (junior member)

March 615 613 Carol Woolley

April 680 687 Doug Lovell

Social Weekend details (a name is drawn from all who weigh in fish): Month Members

weighing fish

Total fish

weighed

Draw prize

August 6 24 Cara Griggs

September 6 16 Larry Paul

November* 11 60 Cara Griggs

February 5 27 Deanne Murtagh

April 2 (lousy weather!) 6 Matthew Paul

34

35

Kingborough Anglers Association

nother season is upon us and it’s

time to reflect on last season to see

if we can learn from anything. As a Club

I believe that we are in a very strong

position both financially and from a

membership perspective – both number

and quality of members. In my time as

president we have had a lot of new

members join the Club, which has been

very encouraging.

The season saw lots of people attend the

competitions with not just the usual

faces but some new ones as well. Plenty

of fish were caught with one competition

seeing 2 anglers weighing in 17 fish

each. A new competition on the Derwent

was added – it was great to see it so well

attended, and that most gathered for the

lunchtime BBQ.

The Club has updated its constitution

which was an arduous task for everyone

involved but in the end I believe it is for

the betterment of the club and I would

like to thank James McIllheny and Rod

Miller very much for their efforts.

Being President is a job I was nervous

about doing, but with the expert help

from James McIllhenny and Greg Atkins

I was able to survive. They are a large

part of why over the past 2 years the

Club has prospered.

Once again Frank Hussey’s effort in

organizing our fundraising and

presentation night has been outstanding.

Without this night our Club would really

struggle financially without putting our

fees up.

With all our money in the bank the

decision to do some extension work at

the shack is great and will improve

conditions for club weekends when

many members attend, and the shack can

be a little crowded.

Our presentation night/auction night was

once again a success with a few different

people picking up well deserved

trophies. The competitions are great

events and are not really about who is

going to catch the most fish but more

about getting up to the shack and having

a few drinks and spending time with

likeminded people.

I would like to thank all those people

who have helped with the running of the

club whether it be buying the sausages

for the club bbq’s or coming along to the

working bee and chopping wood. This is

what a Club really needs to run well.

Best of luck for the coming season

Glenn Szalman – President

A

President: Glenn Szalman Secretary: James McIlhenny

Treasurer: G Atkins

Postal Address: PO Box 242 Kingston 7051

Meetings: Last Thursday of month.

36

Lake Pedder Anglers Club

he 2011/12 year has been hugely

successful for the Club. Two

fantastic competitions were held at Lake

Pedder and our membership has

remained stable. With the Lake Pedder

Chalet reopening members were asking

for more events to be held at Lake

Pedder. The Committee has planned for

this in 2013 with three events to be held.

Information about club events can be

found on our website and on the STLAA

Calendar. Club members have been

working very hard on setting up a club

pond and events will be planned there

for 2013

The Lake fished very well over the

2011/12 season. It must be noted that

Lake Pedder is open year round so we

are lucky and able to continue fishing

through the off season each year. Fish

size seems to have increased over the

past 2 years and fish are being weighed

in at club competitions up to 2kg. A lot

of people have been reporting good days

on the lake in all conditions, with too

many areas to be named that are fishing

well.

The Club has placed our memorabilia

and records on display in the fisherman’s

bar at Lake Pedder Chalet and is

continuing to source items relevant to

the Club. Two trout that were caught in

the early days of Lake Pedder have been

kindly donated back to the Club and are

on display. If anyone else knows the

whereabouts of Pedder or Gordon trout

that owners would consider displaying

for members and the public, we would

love to hear from them.

Aiming to improve safety on the Lake

navigational beacons and solar lights

have been placed by the Club at boat

ramps on the northern end of Lake

Pedder using MAST grant money. The

Club has undertaken works to repair club

icon Trevor the Trout who will be placed

back at Strathgordon before the end of

the year. At the June STLAA Annual

Dinner, Carol Pearce and Matthew

Mallinson were awarded Service to

Angling Certificates by the STLAA.

The Club continued to fundraise at our

Back to Pedder event through the charity

auction on the Saturday night and

donated money to three charities.

There have been increasing numbers of

club members assisting at club events,

thank you for this, the Committee really

appreciates your help. I would like to

thank the Committee and those club

members that continue to support the

Club and Committee for working to

make this Club such a great club to be

part of. New ideas have been put

forward and there have been some

changes made to strengthen what was

already in existence at the Club. We look

forward to enjoying time with members

at Club events.

All the best for the new season

Matthew Mallinson and John Groves

T

President: Matthew Mallinson

Vice President: John Groves

Treasurer: Tracy Gourlay

Secretary: Sharon Mallinson Postal: C/- 34 Ferntree Gully Rd, Eaglehawk Neck 7179

Meetings: Bi-Monthly

37

Bothwell Garage

Open 6.00 am – 8.00 pm

7 Days

Reg. Fire-arms Dealer

Permits & Ammo

Fishing Licences

Bait & Tackle

BBQ Gas, Groceries, Videos

Auto Parts

Newspapers & magazines

EFPOS & lots more

Proprietors: Geoff & Julie Herbert

Telephone: 6259 5599

Fax: 6259 4051

38

New Norfolk Licensed Anglers Association

nother season completed, it seems

just like yesterday it began, and

what a season it was. The eagerly

awaited start to the 2011/2012 season

saw the reinstatement of the Derwent

River Interclub Challenge, and event

hosted by NNLAA, close on 100 anglers

(adults and juniors) from 8 different

clubs descended on the Derwent River to

tangle with the mighty sea run trout,

resident trout and the 20 tagged IFS fish.

The fish were mostly accommodating

with most anglers snaring their prize,

whether by fish or the very attractive

fisherman’s pie draw. The Derwent

Interclub Challenge is run as a not for

profit and the Club had the opportunity

to be able to send Camp Quality a

cheque for $377.26 after costs. A huge

thank you to all sponsors and volunteers

who made the day a great success.

As the season progressed, so did

membership, to at the point it is one of

the highest in the STLAA which in turn

has seen dramatic increases in monthly

competition entries, up from 130 in

2010/2011 season to 208 in 2011/2012

season. Fish capture numbers increased

from 188 in 2010/2011 at an average of

.712 kg to 455 fish in 2011/2012 at an

average of .744kg. It is pleasing on a

club front to see that all things are up,

members up, fish numbers up and size

up. "We all know size matters".

On a financial front NNLAA sits in a

comfortable position which is

highlighted in the Treasurer's report.

These successes can be attributed in part

to our progressive and active Committee that have put forward some new and

innovative ideas prior to the season

starting. One such initiative was the

awarding of prizes on competition days.

These prizes were kindly donated by our

new season’s sponsors, Wigston Sports,

Wigston Lures, BWS, New Norfolk

Hotel and Eco Gear Lures. It was great

to see the young and not so young

anglers receiving these awards on a

monthly basis and the smiles on their

faces when receiving them.

Our Club's success stems from the

building of partnerships. One such

partnership is the Junior Angling Pond at

Bushy Park Estate. This facility has seen

a transformation from an unused pond to

now an asset to valuable to put a price

on. Over the season there were 5 junior

angling days conducted where our junior

anglers were assisted in the ways of

angling, ways of caring for fish, catch

and release, knot tying, fish fighting etc.

This is a great education tool and

wouldn't be possible without our

partnerships with Bushy Park Estate,

Inland Fisheries and Tassal for availing

many quality fish for the angling days.

On top of this the many man-hours from

our committee members and volunteers,

the pond now has seating installed

around the perimeter kindly donated by

Derwent Valley Council through the

community grants program, erected by

Mitre 10 Timber Yard and also kind

donations from Greenwood Pines for the

tables and chairs also situated at the

pond. The Club is in negotiations

presently with Norske Skog to build a

BBQ rotunda area on site in consultation

with Bushy Park Estates.

NNLAA has this year offered the use of

the pond for the 2012 STLAA Family

BBQ in November, which celebrates 100 years of the STLAA. This event should

be a great event with lots of fat fish to

keep the young anglers entertained and

an opportunity for the senior anglers to

catch up and share stories over time.

A

President: Martyn Evans

Secretary: Justin Causby

Patron: David Triffitt

Meetings: 3rd Wednesday of each month at the

IFS Offices

39

This season our anglers have been

blessed by high lake levels and constant

river flows, the results speak for

themselves with 7 of the top 10 fish

coming from the Tyenna River. A big

thank you must go to the IFS and

landowners in relation to the Tyenna

River for their Anglers Access Program,

making it accessible to all and sundry.

How lucky we are, the mighty Derwent

River continues to go from strength to

strength with some of the State's best

fishing happening right on our doorstep,

with Sea Runners and resident trout to

4kg, Bream to 44 cm, Australian

Salmon, Flathead, Cod and Couta and

that's before you pass the Bridgewater

Bridge. And then you have Kingfish,

Snapper and Tuna towards the mouth of

the estuary, with this the opportunity

abounds to take advantage of such a

great fishery.

In closing I'd like to thank all our

members, partners, sponsors and

families that have made this a great

season.

Remember this, give a kid a fish, feed

him for a day, teach a kid to fish and

have a fishing buddy for life.

Fishing is Awesome!

Martyn Evans - President

40

Features & Special Reports

Fish In Space – Odd behaviour of fishes in space

I was put onto this interesting website www.howfishbehave.ca by Rob Chandler of the

Huon Anglers. It has many interesting articles on fish. I selected this article to share as it

has some interesting observations not normally associated with fish. The article is by

Stéphan G. Reebs - Université de Moncton, Canada 2009. I hope you enjoy reading it as

much as I did, Norm Cribbin.

s far as I know, the first time fish

behaviour was observed in the

zero-gravity environment of outer

space was in 1973, when a couple of

mummichogs, Fundulus heteroclitus,

were flown in a plastic bag aquarium

aboard Skylab. The crew regularly

checked how their charges were doing,

and they actually filmed the fish’s

behaviour on day 3 and day 22 of the

mission. On day 3, both fish incessantly

“dove” – pitched downward – and thus

swam in tight circles, as if stuck to the

hands of a clock, a behaviour for which

the name “looping” was coined. The

frequency of looping decreased steadily

on subsequent days, until it eventually

disappeared. When the fish were filmed

again on day 22, they both swam

normally with their backs turned towards

the cabin’s light source (this is a

behaviour known as the “dorsal light

response” – more on that later).

However, episodes of looping could still

be triggered by gently shaking the bag

aquarium. Fifty eggs at an advanced

stage of development had also been

taken on board, and 48 of them hatched

during the flight. The hatchlings swam

normally.

In a follow-up study, 21-day-old

mummichogs were flown on Skylab

again, and this time astronauts (on day 9)

reported a lack of dorsal light response.

Other work with carp flown on the space

shuttle Endeavour in September 1992

showed a disruption of the dorsal light

response for the first 3 days but a

gradual recovery thereafter.

The dorsal light response was already

well known from earthbound

observations. Two mechanisms allow a

fish to figure out which way is down (or

up) on earth. In the first one, minuscule

corpuscles in the inner ear are pulled

down by gravity until they set off

sensory cells. Depending on the

direction of gravity, different cells are

stimulated; enabling the fish to know

which way is down. This is called the

“vestibular righting response”, and

fishes share this mechanism with land

vertebrates, including humans. The

second mechanism is simple: the

direction where light comes from is

interpreted as “up”. This is reflected by

the tendency of fish to turn their backs

towards a light (hence the moniker

“dorsal light response”). For fish, light is

a good directional cue because in an

aquatic environment light usually comes

from above and only from above. In

terrestrial habitats the ground can reflect

light back up, but in any moderately

deep body of water no light ever comes

from below.

One can demonstrate the dorsal light

response by placing a fish in a vertical

tube so narrow that the fish has no

choice but to take a head-down posture.

Then a single light is turned on, on the

left hand side for example. If the dorsal

light response is well established in that

species and in that individual (the

phenomenon, though widespread, is not

universal), the fish will swivel inside the

tube until its back is turned to the light.

A

41

Another way to demonstrate the dorsal

light response is to look head on at a fish

in an ordinary aquarium, again with the

only light coming horizontally from the

side. Rather than staying perfectly

vertical, the fish will slant its back

slightly towards the light. The degree of

slant can be taken as a measure of the

relative importance of light versus

gravity as a cue for the fish to determine

which way is up. The more slant there is,

the more important light is relative to

gravity. If gravity is paramount, the body

will remain perfectly vertical. If light is

paramount, the fish will swim “on its

side”, with its back exactly towards the

light. In that respect, it is worth noting

that in Skylab, where there was no

gravity, all fish turned their back

completely to the light (except, in some

cases, during the first few days of the

mission). Light was the only cue they

had to figure out which way was “up”.

Looping behaviour was also known

before 1975, though not really because

of earthbound observations. Instead, it

had been witnessed in goldfish taken for

a ride on parabolic flights in 1969 and

1972. A parabolic flight is achieved

when a plane climbs at a relatively steep

angle to a high altitude and then briefly

levels off before diving down. The

manoeuvre (which, if it could be seen

from the side, would describe the

general shape of a parabola) creates an

upward centrifugal force that completely

counteracts gravity (the counteracting is

made easy by the fact that gravity at high

altitude is weaker). The zero-gravity

phase lasts for less than a minute. All

goldfish taken on such flights had looped

without fail during the zero-gravity

phase. Some fish had also performed

spinning movements, like corkscrews.

In the same way that a transfer from

normal gravity to zero gravity induces

looping, raising a fish in conditions of

higher than normal gravity (this is done

by putting an aquarium in a huge

centrifuge and letting it turn for weeks

on end) induces looping once the fish is

brought back to normal conditions.

There is no convincing explanation for

why fishes loop or spin.

Motion sickness in fishes

Many astronauts become motion sick

during the first 2-3 days of a space

mission. On earth, motion sickness

consists of a malaise (often leading to

vomiting) felt when the body is suddenly

accelerated or decelerated or when it

changes its direction of movement,

especially when information coming

from the eyes suggests to the brain that

no such motion should take place. Sea

sickness is a typical example. In the case

of astronauts, the symptoms are the

same, but the cause is different: the

problem arise because of movements

performed in weightlessness. In this case

the illness is called “space motion

sickness”. Astronauts eventually adjust

and get better after a few days. However,

after landing on earth they often go

through another bout of sensory-motor

disorders, again for a few days.

Fish have not been reported to vomit in

space or during parabolic flights.

However, the occurrence of looping – a

quantifiable behaviour easily witnessed

– follows a similar timeline to that of

space motion sickness. Therefore it is

thought that fish could serve as an

animal model to study space motion

sickness and possibly find ways to

alleviate it.

Note in passing that people – back on

earth – who regularly move fish in

transport tanks do sometimes see their

fish vomiting while in transit, especially

42

43

when the tanks are roughly shaken. This

seems to be a case of motion sickness.

Fish vomiting in transit form the basis of

claims to the effect that even fish can get

seasick. A more accurate statement

would be that even fish can get motion

sick.

The first vertebrate mating in space

In the 1990s, a team of Japanese

scientists headed by Kenichi Ijiri

explored the possibility of sending more

fish in space, this time aboard the space

shuttle Columbia. The idea was to see if

fish could be induced to mate

successfully in the absence of gravity

(and, by the same token, to provide the

first example of a successful vertebrate

mating in space). The fish species they

chose was the medaka (Oryzias latipes),

a tough, prolific breeder and a very

popular pet fish in Japan. As a

preliminary step, the scientists observed

the behaviour of medaka during

parabolic flights. What they saw was

some good old looping. This was not

surprising (up to then all fish species had

looped in zero or near-zero gravity) but

still it was disheartening because it is

hard to imagine two fish courting and

mating successfully while looping. Even

if the medaka were to settle down after a

few days, as the mummichogs had done

aboard Skylab, they might still not mate

because of the general exhaustion and

lack of eating resulting from all the

looping. But the scientists persevered:

they took a great number of medaka on

parabolic flights until they found some

that did not loop. Then back in the lab

they bred those few individuals to create

a strain of non-loopers from which they

could select the future medaka-

astronauts.

Interestingly, these fish refrained from

looping only when there was light. If

kept in the dark during parabolic flights,

all medaka looped (the scientists

observed the fish under infrared light

and with infrared goggles). Ijiri and his

team posited that non-loopers were

particularly predisposed towards using

light as a cue for maintaining position.

Indeed, when submitted to visual tests,

the non-loopers scored particularly well.

(One such test consists of placing a fish

in a circular tank with rotating walls.

The walls are painted with vertical

stripes. When the walls rotate, the fish

have a tendency to follow the stripes and

thus swim around the tank – this is the

so-called “optomotor response”, often

explained with the argument that trying

to stay at a constant distance from a

landmark may be a way to maintain

position in a current. Fish with good

vision keep swimming around the tank

even when the walls rotate very quickly,

whereas fish with poorer vision soon see

the rotating stripes as a blur and stop

moving.)

When medaka are in the mood, they can

mate and produce eggs every day. The

Japanese researchers selected two non-

looping males and two non-looping

females who were particularly assiduous

at breeding. These were placed in a

special enclosed aquarium that was

loaded on board the space shuttle

Columbia some 30 hours before its

launch in July 1994. Lift-off took place

without a hitch and already 24 h into the

mission a few eggs could be seen inside

the aquarium (the aquarium had been

built so that a current would sweep any

free-floating eggs into a small

compartment where a mesh protected the

eggs against any cannibalistic attack by

the adults). On the third day, a male and

a female were caught on video in the

typical medaka mating posture, the male

clasping the female with his fins. The

scene was repeated many times during

the whole mission, and eggs were

steadily produced. On the 12th day of

the 15-day mission, the first egg hatched

normally. By the time the shuttle landed,

the aquarium contained 11 fry and 27

embryonated eggs. All of these eggs

44

hatched successfully within three days of

the landing.

Interestingly, for some time after the

landing the four adult medaka looked

awkward and seemed to have trouble

swimming. It took them three days

before they returned to normal. All fry,

however, swam without any problem.

These space-born fry grew up normally

and went on mating with one another on

earth, and their successive generations

have been distributed to elementary

schools and school children throughout

Japan.

26 The Avenue - New Norfolk Ph 03 62612244 Fax 03 62612255

Trophies and Awards

Plaques

Medals & Ribbons

Plastic signage

Printed plaques

Plastic signage

Name Badges

Computer engraving (Free engraving on our trophies)

Sublimation printing available.

Personalised printed coffee mugs, Mouse pads, Stubby holders, Name badges, Luggage tags, Polo

tops and TShirts, Jigsaw puzzles.

Have your photos or club logo printed onto any of the above products with no minimum order.

45

Environmental Weeds around our Highland Lakes

he Derwent Catchment Natural

Resource Management Committee

and the Southern Highlands Progress

Association have been working hard at

facilitating a collaborative approach to

multi land tenure weed control in the

Central Highlands of Tasmania. We

have been working in partnership with

Transend, Aurora, Crown Land Services,

the Parks and Wildlife Service, Central

Highlands Council, Inland Fisheries and

(not to forget) the biggest land owner of

all, Hydro Tasmania.

The areas where weed control works will

be occurring this spring / summer are at

Bronte & Dee Lagoons, Bradys & Great

Lake, Lake Sorrel & Crescent. A

combination of contractors spraying,

cutting and painting and volunteer weed

working bees, should start to see a

reduction in plants such as English

Broom, Gorse and Ragwort.

We have also enlisted the assistance of

moths and grubs (biological control).

These are being released on ragwort

rosettes at a site in Cramps Bay. So all

you fly tiers, watch out for hatches there.

What the Derwent Catchment

Committee and the Southern Highlands

Progress Association are looking for are

interested persons or groups to adopt a 4

or 5km section of the eastern shore of

the Great Lake. This is to kick start a

combined contractor / volunteer Ragwort

control program.

Logistics for this program are being

worked upon now. It is envisaged that

Hydro Tasmania contractors will work

on a number of dense infestations, while

volunteers walk a section of shore

pulling flowering plants and treating

next years rosettes with herbicide. It is

just not the walking we have to consider,

there is also areas that are best accessed

by boat, four wheel drive or perhaps

horseback (Howels Neck area).

So if you are an individual or a group

that is interested in adopting a section of

shoreline and putting in a Saturday or Sunday from 2

nd of February to

27th

March 2013, please get in contract

with Kathy Hean 0427 596 103 or

Steven Joyce 6286 3211.

Weed working bees at Bradys Lake by

the SHPA have seen some great

outcomes controlling the English broom.

Follow up working bees are planned for

this spring and summer. The photo

below depicts the annual display lupins

put on when in flower along the dam

wall and amongst the shacks at Bradys

Lake.

T

46

During summer 2011-12 Dee Lagoon

had $10,000 spent on contractors weed

spraying as well as hosting two

volunteer weed working bees. It is going

to need a lot more money and effort put

in again this year. Please help. Come

along to a weed working bee at the Great

Lake, Swan Bay.

English broom control started at Dud

Bay in Dec 2011. Norske Skog are

contributing to the program at Dud Bay,

by providing 4 staff for two days to cut

and paint hand lines to provide easier

access for spray contractors. Contractors

will also start at the Beaumont memorial

near the Miena dam and work towards

Haddens Bay.

It is going to take another year or so

before we get to Thiessen Crescent,

however if you want to control the

broom on your block, please get in

contact with us.

The orange hawkweed program will

continue at Thiessen Crescent and at the

old Shannon Power Station Site as well

as expand to include new sites at Butlers

George, the Flintstone Waste Water

Treatment Plant and Poatina Main Road.

Now catering for all your Trout fishing needs with large range of Berkley soft plastics, jig heads and braid. Carbon rods & Pflueger reels.

Member Huon Anglers Club. Easy trailer boat parking. On the foreshore at Franklin.

47

Fishing the River Derwent by James McIlhenny

his is about my experiences fishing

the River Derwent on a regular basis

over the past few years. I will provide an

introduction as to what you might catch,

what gear to use, techniques, best times

to go and where to go.

What to expect

You can expect to catch a real

smorgasbord of fish in the Derwent. I

have caught; bream, sea run and resident

trout, flathead, mullet, Australian

salmon, Atlantic salmon, mackerel,

couta, cod, snotty trevally and pike.

While you can catch a variety of fish it is

probably best that you do not turn them

into a smorgasbord on the table.

See the Derwent Estuary Program

website for seafood safety information.

Obviously most of the salt water species

will be lower in the estuary but some can

be found as far up as Austin’s Ferry or

Granton depending on freshwater flows

in the River. Bream and trout can be

found throughout the estuary and further

upstream to New Norfolk and beyond.

Many of the salt water species are

juveniles but larger specimens can be

found. The variety of salt water species

found also depends on the time of year

with fish like mullet more common in

winter and Australian salmon more

common in summer.

Sea run trout are also seasonal with

winter and spring being the peak times.

For bream it seems like autumn is the

best time of year for consistent catches

as they seem to spread throughout the

estuary. At other times of the year they

congregate for spawning.

When to go

I have found the best times to fish are

within an hour or so either side of the

high tide. If this coincides with early

morning or around sunset then even

better however tide level, particularly in

the lower sections, seems more

important than the time of day.

The tide range in the Derwent is about

1.5m. A really high tide is around 1.5m

and a very low tide is less than 0.5m.

Any tide height over 1.0m is a good time

to fish from the shore.

A useful tide curve for the Derwent can

be found on the “willyweather” web site.

T

48

What to use / technique

The gear that you use to catch trout in

the freshwater rivers and lakes is suitable

for fishing in the Derwent. I generally

use a 5 or 6 weight fly rod or a light

spinning rod with 6lb tippet.

Baitfish are abundant in the Derwent so I

usually use a weighted wet fly such as a

black beadhead fly or a whitebait

pattern. When spinning for bream I

mostly use a 7cm stick minno shallow

diving floating lure or if targeting trout a

3in Gulp smelt soft plastic on a small jig

head. Hard bodied lures and soft plastics

seem to consistently out fish the fly in

the Derwent. I tend to catch more bream

on hard bodies and more trout on soft

plastics. I have even caught the

occasional fish on a popper.

A fine Derwent Mullet

I fish a small floating hard bodied lure

for bream slowly with lots of stops and

starts. Bream will often give the lure a

couple of taps before they grab it so if I

feel the taps I stop the retrieve and let it

float towards the surface. The strike

often occurs as it floats up.

I generally keep moving along a shore

until I find fish. If you are not seeing fish

moving or not getting strikes it generally

means that they are not there.

Where to go

In the lower estuary I much prefer shore

fishing to boat fishing as most of the

shoreline in this area is easily accessible.

It is also relatively easy to wade along

the edges. The edges are fairly shallow

and you can keep your lure in the likely

spots for longer. The best spots are

around the rocky points, structure, small

reefs that run out into the river and

mussel or oyster beds. In the upper

estuary past Bridgewater a lot of the

shore is not accessible by wading and a

boat is the best option.

If there is a strong westerly wind the

western shore is more sheltered but I

have caught fish in surf like conditions

in Rose Bay.

Sight fishing for bream and trout is

possible as they will feed close to the

edge at high tide. Bream can be found

tailing in some areas. The best spots for

sight fishing are along the base of cliffs

such as on the northern side of Cornelian

Bay below the cemetery. Trout in

particular like to cruise along the edge;

the point at the end is a hot spot for

bream as there is an extensive reef

covered with mussels. It is also very

sheltered from the westerly winds.

Wading along the base of the cliff is

possible at high tide, the water gets to

about 1m deep, watch out for slippery

rocks.

Good luck.

49

My Trip up the Birdsville Track by Bob Ward

n my latest trip to the outback in

June of this year, I undertook my

third attempt to travel up the Birdsville

Track to Birdsville. The desire to

complete this journey resulted from

reading the story of Tom Kruse, the

mailman who pioneered the track and

became a legend in his own right.

This attempt was undertaken by joining

an “off road” 4WD tour group at Port

Augusta in South Australia. The tour

plan was to travel to Marree which is the

starting point of the track, on up to

Birdsville and then home via White

Cliffs, Broken Hill and then back to Port

Augusta. My previous efforts had all

been spoilt by rain which subsequently

brought about the closing of the track on

each occasion. Even though there had

been rain this time, the roads department

had decided to leave the track open – my

luck had changed.

Our first objective was to get to Marree

the setting off point, which also was the

home of the late Tom Kruse, postman

and provision carrier. Interestingly, his

old “Blitz” truck which replaced the

early camel trains on the supply route,

still stands in the main street. Marree

was also the end of the line for the

original Ghan railway which ran from

Port Augusta to Marree. This line

disappeared many years ago and is far

removed from today’s Ghan line. The

Birdsville track is roughly 600kms long

and is quite rough with lots of creeks and

sand dunes to negotiate. About half way

up the track there is a huge cattle station

called Mungeranie where our group

stayed for a few days.

During this stop over, we had quite an

adventure with the Flying Doctor

Service – of an evening it was necessary

to have a campfire as the temperature

drops sharply as soon as the sun departs.

On this particular evening it was also

very dark. So whilst we were standing

around our campfire having a few

drinks, we were joined by the station

owner and his wife, a very nice couple.

It was during our fireside chat when the

station owner suddenly collapsed which

caused quite a stir amongst the group. It

was up to some of us to carry the

O

50

unconscious man over to station

homestead where his unflappable wife

made urgent contact with the Royal

Flying Doctor Service. Under guidance

from the Doctor several assessments

were undertaken but he remained

unconscious whereby a decision was

made to activate the Flying Doctor.

Whilst waiting for the plane to arrive,

our group was put to urgent work – to

ensure the runway was clear so the plane

could land. This was quite a task given

that the strip was littered with grazing

kangaroos, feral pigs, wild goats and

station cattle which just wanted to lie

back down as soon as we could get them

up. With the help of a couple of station

vehicles and some drums of burning

diesel, we were able to provide some

guiding lights for the plane to land. This

was quite a feat given that we

accomplished it all in pitch black dark.

A few days later we heard from a

passing road train driver that the station

owner was recovering in hospital from a

heart attack and pneumonia which was a

good outcome to this episode.

Some other highlights from driving the

track were the endless miles of Mitchell

grass interspersed with masses of desert

wildflowers. We passed many old

deserted homesteads which remind

travellers of times gone by. We also had

to contend with lots of muddy track and

water courtesy of the recent floods

which had inundated much of the region

– but we got through and so I at last

accomplished something that I had

wanted to achieve for a long time.

From Birdsville we travelled through

White Cliffs and Broken Hill on our way

back to Port Augusta. At White Cliffs

our group stayed overnight in

underground accommodation which was

quite interesting. Apart from the fact that

there were no windows, one would not

have known that you were underground.

Whilst passing through Broken Hill I

was able to tour a Gallery which was

dedicated to Pro Hart and contained

many of his works. I was very interested

in this as I had been introduced to him

many years ago through family

connections. From Broken Hill we

followed the original Ghan rail line back

to Port Augusta, passing many deserted

and derelict homes and towns along the

way. Port Augusta brought an end to my

memorable trip to Birdsville.

51

The Early Commissions by Ray Aitchison

ot many present day anglers would

know that prior to 1925 the

Fisheries Commissioners, or Board, had

control of all fisheries in Tasmania, this

included policing salt water fishing and

this article demonstrates some of the

problems that occurred.

The Tasmanian Government felt that a

proper authority should do its utmost to

have salmon introduced to the State. On

October 21st,

1861, a group of Honorary

Commissioners were appointed and were

to be known as the “Tasmanian Salmon

Commission”.

Between 1861 and 1885 these early

Commissioners included, Dr. Robert

Officer, Morton Allport, Robert Read,

Captain Langdon, Matthew Seal, A. G.

Webster, Harwicke Weedon, Ebenezer

Shoobridge, William Archer, J.

Buckland, H. Butler, W. Jamieson, R.

Johnston, W. Tarleton, J. Agnew, T.

Giblin, A. Riddock, B. Shaw C.

Beddome and J. Swan.

A Royal Commission into the fishery in

1883 recommended that all matters

concerning sea and inland fisheries be

controlled by a Central Board working

under the Governor in Council

A new Fisheries Board was formed in

1885 and Saville Kent was appointed as

Superintendent and Inspector for three

years. He was to manage both the sea

and freshwater fisheries. Animosity

developed between the Salmon

Commissioners and Kent and his

contract was terminated in 1887.

In 1894 a Bill was passed by Parliament

to set up a body, of not more than 25

people, selected on a State wide basis to

administer the Fishery of the State. Its

initial income was the 56 pounds raised

from license sales.

A Royal Commission was conducted

into the Resources of Tasmanian Deep

Sea Fisheries in 1916. It recommended

that the Sea and Freshwater Fisheries

management be separated but this didn’t

eventuate until an Act of Parliament was

passed at the end of 1925.

In May, 1916, a fishing boat, the “Ella”,

was impounded by the Fisheries Board

after its occupants were observed as

being cray fishing with pots on the East

Coast. At this time this was illegal.

In May, 1917, the fishing boat “Volito”,

which was hired by two fishermen, was

forfeited to the Fisheries Board after

they were caught cray fishing with pots

near Schouten Island. In the same area,

two days later, another boat, the “Holly”,

was also confiscated when the owners

were also caught poaching cray fish

nearby. The “Holly was released back to

the owner after a surety of 50 pounds

was agreed to. The hirers of the “Volito”

were fined 150 pounds and the boat was

returned to its owner.

On the 3rd

of October, 1920, while

enforcing fishing regulations near St

Helens, a police trooper shot and killed a

fishing boat master who was poaching

crayfish. The trooper discharged a rifle,

firing seven shots, in an effort to prevent

the escape of two men in a motor boat

after he had initially caught them pulling

pots. The two men crouched on the

bottom of the boat while attempting to

escape but one was killed when he was

hit in the back of the head by a bullet.

The survivor, who was arrested, told the

court that they had caught one hundred

and forty three dozen crayfish in three

days using twenty pots off St Helens,

forty dozen of the crayfish were later

found to be undersize. On the morning

of the shooting between eight and nine

dozen crayfish had been caught in four

N

52

pots pulled near Sloop Rock before the

man was killed.

The fishing ketch, “Myrtle Burgess”,

one of three family boats being used off

St Helens was seized. The “Myrtle

Burgess” was eventually taken to Hobart

and guarded by the police. It was owned

by former Tasmanians who were living

in Melbourne and had openly boasted of

poaching crayfish in Tasmanian waters

for many years.

The boat’s log revealed that over the

past 8 years the owners had caught

144,000 crayfish on Tasmania’s East

Coast. The boat was handed back to the

family by the Government on a payment

of 300 pounds plus 100 pounds for

expenses incurred; ironically, the Police

Dept. had to pay 150 pounds for

expenses. The widow of the dead

fisherman requested 3,000 pounds with

100 pounds for funeral expenses but this

claim was later dropped.

At an April meeting of the Fisheries

Board the Government were accused of

being weak kneed and interfering with

Fisheries Regulations by overriding the

Commissioners. The Commissioners

refused requests for the use of pots to be

legalized as they felt that their use meant

the depletion of the crayfish beds.

In 1921 another boat, the “Myra” was

confiscated when two men were

apprehended poaching in Cornelian Bay.

The Water Bailiff and Police Officer

were threatened with firearms, there was

considerable debate over whether the

guns being loaded or not. The press did

not follow up this story.

In July, 1921, there was a newspaper

article stating that the Commission of

Fisheries was likely to be abolished and

replaced by a Chief of Fisheries who

would be empowered with all the powers

of the Commission. The cost of this was

estimated at 2,000 pounds per year.

It was reported “that this proposal

synchronized with the “Myrtle Burgess”

episode and in an efforts by supporters

to get cray pots legalized. The Victorian

fishermen having cleared out their own

coasts, descended on those of Tasmania,

and the Commissioners rightly dealt

with the matter with a firm hand. Once

the Commission was disposed of,

interested persons would by persistent

lobbying endeavour to gain their desires

by political means,”

In 1921 there was considerable unrest

amongst sea fishermen who resented

being controlled by the Commissioners

most of whom were strictly trout

fishermen.

In 1924 some regulations were declared

invalid as they had not been passed by

the majority of the Commissioners (25).

Instead the regulations had been agreed

to by as few as five Commissioners.

On the sea fishery scene there were still

concerns regarding the poaching of

crayfish by Victorian fishermen with a

high percentage of the poached fish

being undersize.

In 1925 two fisheries boards were

appointed, one, the Salmon and

Freshwater Fisheries Commission, to

control freshwater fishing and the other

with control over the sea fisheries.

The SFFC consisted of 15 members and

a Secretary, of these 7 and the Secretary

were members of the STLAA. This

Commission operated for 10 years

before being reconstituted and from

1936 to 1959 there were 11 members, 4

from the South and 4 from the North and

North West as well as a representative

each of the NTFA, NWFA and STLAA.

Dr. Terence Butler was the STLAA

representative while Edwin

Andrewartha, Harold Cramp

(Chairman), Olaf Hedburg, Thomas

Stump and the Secretary, John Edwards,

were also members of the STLAA.

Ray Aitchison - Historian

53

Diary Extracts Compiled by Ray Aitchison

Extracts from James Wilson’s Diary,

1888-1889

James Wilson was the Chief Constable

at The Steppes from 1863 to 1894 when

the Police station closed. He had 2 or 3

deputies for carrying out policing duties.

7th

March, 1888 – Visited Barren Creek,

Great Lake and met His Excellency the

Governor and party, who had had

considerable success fishing, having

caught 46 trout, all beautiful fish, the

largest weighing 11 lbs.

8th

March – His Excellency the

Governor and party called on their return

from Great Lake, much pleased with

their trip which they proposed to make

an annual affair.

26th

April – Sir Thomas Brady and party

arrived here and stayed the night, en

route to the Great Lake to procure some

of our larger trout for the Melbourne

Exhibition, and other scientific purposes.

28th

April – Visited St Patricks Plains,

Barren Creek, Great Lake and Swan Bay

police station and met His Excellency

the Governor and party netting for trout

in the bay. Their success was but very

moderate considering the appliances at

work as they only caught about 60 trout,

the largest weighing 15 lbs. Several of

them were splendid specimens and much

admired by Sir Thomas Brady.

15th

May – Proceeded to Great Lake to

try and procure some large trout for the

Fisheries Board as specimens for

Exhibition in Melbourne. Authorised to

take them by any means whatever, even

by hook or crook.

18th

May – At Great Lake trying to

procure some trout for the Fisheries

Board. Caught one or two, but too small

for specimens for Exhibition or for the

Museum. Can do nothing more at

present, without waterproof waders, and

there will be more chance of success

when the Shannon River rises – bye and

bye.

17th

July – At Great Lake procuring

specimens of trout for the Fisheries

Board for exhibition in Melbourne.

Caught then ranging from 12 to 25 lbs

each. The latter being a splendid

specimen, and before spawning would

have weighed about 28 lbs. Packed 8

fish and sent them to Bothwell to be

forwarded to the Inspector of Police.

5th

February, 1889 – Visited the Great

Lake and Shannon River and found party

having great success in fishing. One

trout caught weighing 10 lbs and many

others 4 and 5 lbs.

22nd

March – His Excellency the

Governor and party passed down from

Great Lake today, after a most

successful weeks fishing having caught

trout amounting to 250 lbs. The largest

weighing 16 ¼ lbs.

Extract from a tape of Hector Jones

talking to Don Gilmour.

Hector talking about Commissioners

using their cars for Commission work.

“Poor old Harry Cramp run his car more

for the Fisheries than he did for himself,

it was one of those high clearance Dodge

vehicles and we was going up, it was on

the Tunbridge Interlaken road – we must

have been trying to get the Dogshead

Creek or something – it happened while

we were in there – a huge damn great

tree came down you see – we had to

come over it or go down through

Tunbridge – the road you can imagine its

narrow and what it would be like – Well,

you don’t find it now but in those days

you could pull up with a lorry, there was

54

wood everywhere, even when we had

our lorries going up there, Thora can tell

you, she done her knee on one occasion,

helping me get some wood – just pull the

lorry up here – it was everywhere you

see, all fallen down – well it was too big

a tree to chop through with the little axe

that Harry had and we couldn’t go

around it you know, you couldn’t cut

around the head of it or anything – but

what should we do? – we built a ramp on

either side of it with this old dead wood

– we had to build it so that when he got

on the top she wouldn’t bottom, but she

had such high clearance.”

Extracts from a talk by George

Cramp

A.

“The huge rainbow caught by Vic

Batchelor at the outlet to the

Waddamana power station was a

magnificent fish weighing in excess of

17 pounds – one for the record books.

The fish was taken on a Father Murphy

spinner made by Clarrie Amott.

And there’s a funny story associated

with this fish. Upon arriving at the spot

about lunch time Vic told his wife that

he would go down to the river and catch

a couple before they had something to

eat. Of course when he hooked the huge

trout in the swift current the battle was

difficult and lengthy and when he

returned triumphant with his catch Mrs.

Batchelor wouldn’t speak to him

because he was late for dinner.”

B.

“I was thinking this morning of old

Dicky Olds. He was a little cockney and

Hobart’s leading furrier and one day he

told me how he became a furrier. During

the great depression in 1929 he went to a

furrier’s shop seeking a job and

eventually got one. He had gone into a

place with little dabs of fur stuck on his

coat because he had noticed that

everyone that interviewed him seemed to

be carrying little pieces of fluff from

their work. Anyway he got the job and

he carried the same interest and

observation into his angling.

I met him one morning: one very cold

frosty morning at the opening of the

season. He was fishing on the causeway

up at Bridgewater. And of course I had

long learned never to ask an angler how

he was doing because he would tailor his

story to suit the circumstances.

So I talked to Dicky on the causeway

and was about to move on when he said,

“My word I got a beauty a little bit

earlier”. So not showing very much

interest I said, “I don’t think there is

very much about, Dick”. “Oh” he said,

“I got a beauty, a three pounder, as silver

as a two bob piece, a sea-run fish”.

“Where is it I asked?” He replied, “I

haven’t got it here I put it under the front

seat of the car to keep it away from the

sun.”

So I bid him goodbye and walked along

the shore but as soon as I got out of sight

I doubled back and went up to his car

and lifted the front seat and just as I

expected there was a fish there that

would barely make size, barely the limit

for keeping. So much for Dicky’s three

pounder, as silver as a new two bob

piece.

Well, knowing that Dicky always

examined the contents of a trout very

carefully I looked around for something

I could introduce into its stomach. There

was nothing about but I did see in a

crack in the rocks a large cut glass bottle

stopper and I thought, this will do. Well

the fish was so small I had to get a stick

to poke the bottle stopper down into its

stomach. I put it back under the seat and

went on my way.

I left it to Thursday afternoon before

contacting him; I might mention that it

was Saturday when the season opened.

So, on the Thursday night I rang up and

55

told Dicky about my experiences after I

had left him: about the fish that I had

caught and was surprised to find that

their stomachs were full of whitebait, I

hardly got my story out before Dicky

interrupted and said, “Wait until I tell

you about the fish I caught, you won’t

believe this but inside it was a plurry big

cut glass bottle stopper”. I started to

laugh and he replied, “Oh, it’s true” and

he called his wife to the phone and said,

“Tell Mr. Cramp what was inside the

fish I caught.” So she started to tell me

and she said, “He was cleaning the fish

on the sink and throwing the insides into

the bucket and I heard something go

clunk and I thought that he had dropped

his knife, but no he fished out this cut

glass bottle stopper”.

And then Dick took over the phone and

he said, “Well, it’s what I always

claimed George, a fish will take

anything that moves and that why he

took the cut glass bottle stopper. And

what he takes once, he’ll take again, So,

I’ve mounted three hooks on it and I’m

going to try it next Saturday.”

Swish, clonk and wind in, swish, clonk

and wind in. I can just imagine how it

went and I didn’t have the heart to tell

him that I’d introduced the cut glass

bottle stopper into the stomach of his

undersize fish.”

C.

“Anglers love tales about big fish and

over my many years of angling I have

heard some good ones. Probably the

most humorous involved a club member

we will call ‘Old Charlie’ so as not to

embarrass anyone. Well, Charlie came

into the pub one evening looking a bit

upset and he told me that he had hooked

a nice trout in the Derwent near

Bridgewater but lost it at the net. He

estimated the weight at about 6 pounds.

Anyway he called in at the pub on his

way home to drown his sorrows, so he

had one drink then another. His friends

listened intently to the talk of the mighty

battle and by the end of the evening

Charlie had to agree with his

sympathetic audience that the fish could

have been anything between 10 and 15

pounds.

But this was not the end of the story, the

next week I heard the barman confide to

a visitor from the mainland that the

previous week Charlie had caught a 10

pound trout and lost one twice as big.

So, there you are.”

D.

“Hilmer Hedburg and one of his friends

had a new chum out on the Great Lake

and they had been trolling all the

afternoon and caught a number of fish

but the new chum had not caught a

single fish. So Hilmer jokingly said to

his friend “Shall we let him know the

secret” and his friend not knowing not

knowing what Hilmer was talking about

replied, “We might as well”. Hilmer

picked up the new chum’s spinner, took

out the oil can that he used for the

outboard motor and squirted a bit on the

lure, rubbed it in with his finger, spat on

it and then threw it over board and

instantly the new chum caught the

largest rainbow of the day’s outing.

When they went ashore he begged for

some of the “catchem oil” from Hilmer

and he carried it around, rubbing it on

his spinners every time he went fishing. I

suppose he eventually woke up to the

prank when he became more

experienced.”

Extract from a tape of Arthur

Fleming talking to Don Gilmour.

Arthur talking about the Great Lake

“Before the dam was built the reef from

Miena to the Beehives was quite shallow

– you couldn’t get a boat through there

until they cleared a channel and they had

a peg on either side so you could take a

boat through – a small boat- but until the

56

dam went in you couldn’t get a motor

boat over there. It was about 2 chains

from the foot of the Beehives out to the

water’s edge, there was a tea tree scrub

there – Swan Bay was shallow, more of

a swamp than a lake really – a lot of

sphagnum moss banks and Richea

Scoparia, or rice bush as they call it,

over on the West side with more open

water as you came down towards the

Beehives – there used to be a lot of

swans there, that’s why they called it

Swan Bay, they disappeared later when

the dam went in – and that’s where Tom

Early’s original house was, right around

in the Western corner of Swan Bay –

where to road goes to Marlborough – the

Marlborough Highway you know – just

down from there – on the Eastern side of

Murderer’s Hut – the lake went fairly

well down there, a fairly flat bottom –

they shifted Tom Early’s house – it was

pulled down – they put in a saw pit at

Wihareja and sawed the timber for the

new Police Station and that was put up

on the Western side of Hadden’s Bay –

under what they call the Old Man’s

Head – and then later it was pulled down

and shifted down near the Shannon

River so that the policemen would be

near the river – Tod’s Corner got its

name from Tod who was a shepherd for

McLannigan – his hut was just in front

of where Shoobridge’s shack was – there

was an old track through there to

Howell’s Neck and the Sandbanks –

Shoobridges built their shack in about

1918 or 1919 – Tod’s Corner was a

swampy place – a creek used to run out

of it into the lake.

This extract was compiled by Ray

Aitchison, STLAA Historian, from tapes

given to him by Don Gilmour.

Obituaries

KEN MORLEY 22/5/1930 – 27/9/2012

There is no record of when Ken first

joined the New Norfolk Anglers but his

father, Charlie, also an STLAA Life

Member, was Club President during the

1950’s.

Ken served on the New Norfolk

committee for a total of 23 years

between 1973 and 1999 including 5

years as President, 6 years as Treasurer

during which time the Club was put in

an excellent financial position. He was a

Club delegate to the STLAA for 5 years.

Ken participated in many Club and

Association working bees. For his

services to his Club and angling in

general Ken was honoured with Life

Membership to the STLAA and the New

Norfolk Club in 1983. For many years

Ken did not enjoy good health and he

passed away on 27 September.

He leaves a wife, Barbara, also a Life

Member of New Norfolk, and a son.

DAVID GORDON ROBERTS

Passed away 12/07/2012

It is with great sadness that we note the

passing of David Roberts.

David’s family was involved with the

Huon Anglers Club prior to affiliation

with the STLAA in 1949. His father

Gordon was a 1949 founding member.

David was an active member of the

Huon Club for most of his life, and in

recent years encouraged development of

facilities for junior anglers.

Additionally, David was the Club’s

Patron and had been one of their

delegates to the STLAA since 2003.

He recently introduced three of his

grandchildren to trout fishing, who are

now junior members of the Huon Club.

57

Season 2011-2012 Photo Gallery

Adrian Slater – Lake Catagunya

Garry & Jenny Chaffey - Pieman River

Alex Smith – Craigbourne Dam

58

Bert Thunig - Arthurs Lake

Gerry Fitzgibbon – Tyenna River

Tristan Coyte – First fish of the season

Barry Page

59

Stephen Granger

Rhys Murtagh

Rob Chandler

60

Robin Henzler - Swan Bay, Great Lake

Stacey Woolley

Thomas Murtagh

Rod Miller installing marker buoys on Bronte Lagoon

61

Harry Corner, Back to Pedder

Lachlan Mallinson – Lake Pedder

Tyson Glowacki

Josh Cahalan

62

Laurie Harrison doing some pruning…

Lex Wilson

Sally Gregory with Rainbow from Craigbourne Dam

63

Garry Williams and Gary Chaffey - Craigbourne Dam

Laurie Harrison with a rather slender Atlantic Salmon

64

Lex Wilson, New Norfolk Licensed Anglers Association Annual Dinner

Justin Causby - Meadowbank Brown

65

66

Peter Wood and Bob Ward - Pieman River

Matching the hatch…

Santa with Mavis Russell

67

Alexander Jones - New Norfolk Junior

Fishing Pond

Campbell Evans - New Norfolk Junior

Fishing Pond

Paul Millhouse – Tooms Lake

68

Kim Cooper and Peter Reid - Back to Pedder

Daphne Harrison - Great Lake

69

Derwent Sea-runner

Great Lake

70

Great Lake

Toby Causby

71

Campbell Evans and his boat - Back to Pedder

A cold start to the day…

72

Great Lake

Tim Lowe - Arthurs Lake

73

74

Historical Images

The Machinery and People of H.E.C.

Moving the site shed

Transport to site

75

Early crawler tractor in action

Wayatinah Village fire truck – HEC 22-4

76

Cleveland tractors

OOPS!

The difficulties of moving heavy plant equipment.

03 6214 9999Fax: 03 6228 2353

6 Effingham St, Moonah 7009 www.maynesmarine.com.ausales@maynesmarine.com.au

Australia Day long weekendAustralia Day long weekend

Thursday January 24 Thursday January 24 -- Monday January 28 2013Monday January 28 2013 Bring the family along to Lake Pedder Home of Tasmania’s largest Trout Fishing Competition Join us for a few days of fishing, fun and laughter A legendary competition in its 33rd year

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