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CLOUDY BUT FINE !!! I felt tentative on the second day of my recent 2 day fishing trip when it was overcast and heavy with cloud. We have just come out of the Yellow Fin Whiting Lure season where we enjoy the best fishing on sunny days. Yellow Fin Whiting Lure fishing is always better in sunshine. I can’t nail any precise reason for it, but I assume it is about the YFW seeing their prey easily and then chasing it down in those conditions. Interesting that we never hear of successful Lure caught YFW at night. However plenty of good YFW are regularly caught at night on bait. On t

For the Yellow Fin Whiting Lure fanatics it is time for the withdrawal symptoms to start setting in, as the water temperatures start dropping. Fortunately there is some pain relief, in chasing a few Flathead on lures. Autumn brings a transition for the sandflats lure fisherman. YFW surface lure fishing drops off. Flathead lure fishing picks up. The “Southern Blue Spotted Flathead” becomes more prolific on the sandflats of the Northern SA Gulfs. . And it is the large accumulation of SEAGRASS WRACKS at this time of the year, along with the change in temperature, that starts i

This was my only trip to the Leven River so far this season, it hasn't fished all that well over the past couple of seasons but i thought it was time to give it a go before the season closes. cheers Adrian..

Change the seawater daily & should be good to go alive. Not likely you will use the entire 300 over the weekend...Probably bag at least half in 1kg zip lock bags and freeze. Also try putting the meat only with sea salt in a glass jar and put in fridge (not freezer). Last indefinitely. They become rubbery/tough. KG love them. The unused ones just put back into the fridge until next time. I have many jars ready to go.

I don't get a lot of spare time to fish, so I'm always eager to find anything that makes it quicker and easier to to head off for a flick. Last year I bought a Castek Rod Caddy and I've found it an excellent bit of kit. It's a portable rod rack that holds 4 rods. It allows me to have a handful of rods, pre-rigged and ready to go. I know I can walk into my shed, grab the rod caddy and load it into the boot of the station wagon and just head off. When I get to where I'm fishing I sling my tackle bag over my shoulder, grab the esky in one hand and rod caddy in the other and walk to my fishing spo

I've started chucking 1/28th's in 9m of water, when conditions allow me to get them down to where the sounder says the fish are. The same plastic will remain untouched (Almost) on 1/4er's or 1/8th's - but a plastic that doesnt plummet, will get smashed on the drop by the unstoppables that make this technique a bit ridiculous on my current tiny jigheads. Sure you can grub heavy heads along the bottom and get hits and land the smaller dumber fish. But on the 1/28th's you barely need any skill at all. Just spot the fish on the sounder and count to 40 as the 1/28th sinks - then hang on

This was one of my best trips fishing the fast waters of the Meander River during the 2023/24 trout season. Fastwater fishing is never easy and every trout that's caught is very well earned, it's tough but it can also be very rewarding as well. cheers Adrian

With the trout season now closed for three months I went ahead and did my yearly photo books of the rivers/stream & trout that I caught & released throughout the season. Seeing as I took over 2,500 photos during the trout season I had to keep it to two medium size books as well as keeping the cost to a reasonable one. The good thing is that I held of until Snapfish had a 70% off which included extra pages. Here's a few photos from both books, there's also a short 6 minute video musical photo slideshow on my YouTube channel as well, details at the bottom of the photos.. chee

This short video is from a week or so ago, another tough couple of hours spent chasing trout in the Meander River... It's getting to a stage where I have no idea where to fish as all the rivers are all short of trout.. Waste of time & fuel... cheers Adrian..

drone photo over River Murray, looking for gigantic carp....

This trip was back in January before the Cormorants hit the rivers here in big numbers, as the title states 5 from 9, trout few and far between was spot on.. There's also a few photos from the spin session below the YouTube video as well.. cheers Adrian (meppstas)

Only one month to go before the 2024/25 trout season opens so here's another of my 2023/24 trout season spin sessions, this trip was mid January not long after the influx of Cormorants hit the rivers & streams here in Tasmania. Thankfully. I did manage to catch and release a few wild brown trout before this little stream was cleaned out... cheers Adrian (meppstas)

This trip was a couple of weeks ago and finally after several trips to the Meander River I finally manged to catch a few trout, they were still very scarce in the river which is a big problem. This is the worst start to a trout season that I've ever had in the 24 years we've been living here, eleven trips to various rivers/streams for just the 16 trout caught in total with ten of them being caught on one of those trips. My last trip to this river I covered 1-1/2 kms of river and never saw a trout, other rivers/streams have been the same that's how bad it's been. cheers Adrian (meppstas)

You can also muck around with "flavouring" the cockles in the jar if you want - curry powder, oil from cheap sardine cans, tuna oil, aniseed etc etc. Does it work, well I guess so. Still get Whiting. I find if Whiting are fussy, then some pilchard slithers do wonders or peeled prawns. Even Trumpeter slithers do well dipped in tuna oil..Always good to experiment as some days just need something different.

Hi mate. Once mine are defrosted I put the meats in a small container in one layer. Then sprinkle table salt over them. Another layer and so on. As the water comes out of them I pour it off until they are almost dry. Store in fridge or in the boat. They take ages to go off if done correctly. Very rubbery and stay on the hook for ages. Just as good as fresh cockles

Thankfully this medium size brown trout made it into the net before it tossed the lure... The full video of this trip will be on YouTube in a day or two.. cheers Adrian (meppstas) Nice shallow fastwater run.. Small rainbow that fell to the Mepps Aglia Fluo brown spinner. Another nice stretch of water. Once in the net, out popped the lure.. This was the best fish of the spin session, a nice well conditioned 400 gram brown. Ready for release...

The conditions weren't all that flash on this trip, very cold conditions and heavy fog topped off with ivy cold water made for a tough spin session.. Not one of my better trips to this beautiful stretch of river. cheers Adrian (meppstas)

This trip was short & sharp, very cold water & weather didn't make it easy at all. Just a couple of wild browns caught & released before all hell let loose with the wind. Thanks for watching & enjoy the musical photo slideshow after the short rundown.. Cheers Adrian (meppstas) #mepps #meppsaglia #tackletactics #okuma #platypuslines

Weather is really crappy again here in Tassie so no fishing done, did get to see the spine specialist on Wednesday, not a thing they can do for my spine. Getting closer to 78 years of age had a lot to do with it not that I minded as I wouldn't have gone for the operation anyway. They've put me on a trial run of anti-inflammatory tablets that I can take each day without having any effect on the kidneys. Hopefully this weather will settle down soon so I can get back in a river.... cheers Adrian

Bit over 3kg from Victoria PPB

Another (mid January) of my 23/24 trout season spin sessions, this one was a good one when I caught & released my 300th trout of the season. This spin session was just before the Cormorants arrived in big numbers, there were already a few here but when the rest arrived this little stream was hit hard and hardly a trout was seen from then on. Thanks for watching & stay safe on/in the water..Our trout season opens again on the 3rd August so it will be quite interesting to see how the rivers & streams fish, they weren't all that good from mid January right up to the end of the season

Snapped my testing rig and punched myself in the face - but it got to about 18kg before the wire testing rig snapped - The fishing hook glued into the jighead did not budge

Seeing as the rivers here in Tasmania aren't holding all that many trout and it's a waste of time trying to track them down I thought I'd put a video from a trip that goes back 1-1/2 years, it's one that I haven't had on this site before. It was a trip when the trout were plentiful in the Meander River, enjoy the trip.. cheers Adrian (meppstas)

I have bought spinning reels from Temu as well - 2000 size. 12 ball bearings etc. with a spare "plastic spool". They work smooth as silk. Drags works well too - Only $35. Cant go wrong I reckon..........

We fished a couple of spots out from Moonta. Friday was poor with only 3 keepers but many baby snapper all of which went back. On Saturday when they were on they were on. Bites were solid with not many missed whether using live or frozen. We kept 16 whiting, threw as many undersized ones back, and also managed a good sized flatty. Had there been many nuisance fish such as small leatherjackets stealing the bait I would bet they'd have a hard time stealing the live cockles and would have easily stripped hooks of the mushy frozen ones; that would have been reflected in whiting having a

Yep you were correct. Froze some, kept the others in seawater which I changed a couple of times. The cockles that I did not freeze were still alive and well for both Friday and Saturday fishing sessions.

This is the full video of the spin session in the Mersey River when the trout tossed the lure in the net,, This trip was one of my better ones for this season, even though the trout were mainly small fish it was still good to catch & release ten fish. It was also good to see the trout were starting to show up again after the large influx of Cormorants that have been in the rivers in big numbers since early January 2024. I still feel that the fishing in most of the rivers/streams that I fish will still be tough going. Thanks for watching & stay safe in/on the water. cheers Adr

This short video probably doesn't concern those who fish the rivers here in Sth Aust, but it's still one to keep in mind as you should still know the rivers you fish like the back of your hand just in case there's flash flooding that can occur from time to time after heavy rainfalls like we get here in Tasmania. A river can rise very fast and it's easy to get caught out..This video is one from when I got caught out when Hydro let water out from Huntsman's Dam for irrigation.. cheers Adrian (meppstas)

I have used the artificial gents, white ones. They are a hit or miss scenario. Personally have had much better success with live gents or any small fish bits/cockle if no gents. Can use the flesh from a gar when you catch your first one. IMO not worth while. I generally try all sorts of new plastics, lures etc. etc so I know myself if any good.......but always revert back to fresh bait..

Great idea,as i usually carry 3/4 rods on the day yes it can get messy.If the carrier works then the price doesn't matter..

Here's a short 2-1/2 minute video for the coming trout season using a Mepps Aglia Furia inline spinner, it's just one of a large variety of Mepps inline spinners that work well on the trout throughout a trout season. Thanks for watching & stay safe in/on the water this coming season. cheers Adrian (meppstas) #mepps #tackletactics #okuma #platypuslines #meppsaglia #meppsbug 4 Comments Sort by

114cm. Photo doesn't do it justice tho. Caught off foul bay on whitting rig. Grose...

I am jealous of the amount of time you get to go fishing.. and envious of your prowess. Long may you continue! .... and keep rubbing it in to us mere mortals...

Go you Dockers!

I meant to put this short six minute musical photo slideshow with the photo books a couple of days ago.. I kept it short as not to send the viewers to sleep, the original video runs for 20 minutes.. It was hard working out what photos to use as I had so many, there's probably (& there is) a lot more good photos that I could have added, but one has to stop somewhere don't they. I will have 101 videos "My Rivers & Fish" (when I put 98, 99, 100 & 101 together) that go back a long time, and boy has the rivers/streams changed over those years with the many floods that we've had in that

Thanks Bjorn & Des, it's something I like to do at the end of each trout season, always to look back on when I can't fish the rivers/streams in the near future.. I have 15 seasons of photo books now.. cheers Adrian

Fantastic post mate! This will be great reference and repeat reference for years to come.

A great write up again...You certainly do your homework...and the results show that...Very nice indeed.

If you want to add a tow point to a jighead. Just cut a hook - drill a hole and super glue it in gives a surprisingly strong hold. I couldn’t pull it out with 2 sets of pliers

This trip was early on in the season, a spin session when the trout went from one lure to another. It turned out to be quite a good spin session as well with some beautifully coloured wild brown trout being caught & released. cheers Adrian (meppstas)

@Meppstas Thanks for sharing Adrian, sad to see what is happening to your rivers/fish

You can leave the water in the container as long its not overflowing. I use a glass jar with twist lid & keep in fridge ready to go.

@Meppstas once again, thank you, beautiful areas you're fishing Yorky

Well I finally managed to have my first trip of the season a couple weeks ago, haven't been able to hit the water due to constant lower back problems with (spinal stenosis) 5 discs in poor condition. The weather wasn't all that flash but it was certainly good to get back in a river that's for sure. Haven't been fishing since this trip either, seeing another spin specialist next Wednesday. This is the first time in the 24 years year in Tassie that I've only had one trip to a river seven weeks into a trout season, not happy Jan.. The cormorants (Shags) are still in the rivers as well, so it will

Fair call. It still interests me but I'd have to weigh up the costs vs results if I were to take it further. Again, I'd want to be doing real budget builds to wrap my head around it all, something the kids can drop, break, drag on the ground and it won't bother me. Then maybe try and make myself something of a higher standard. But I don't really need another hobby either. If I could get some dirt cheap components - to build something that could be used afterwards - then I'd probably at least try to make a few rods just for the hell of it Sent from my SM-A525F using Tapatalk

I've caught a 48 and a mate catch a 50 the last 2 years. ill look for some photos if your interested

Savage Gear Gravity Minnow?

thank you for taking the time and effort to write such a detailed report. I can only dream of such a haul. Cheers

Here we go again;Semaphore Academy Grnd. S.34'37.787-E.138'23.713 Broken Bottom/ledge, whiting, garfish. (2) John Robb S.34'49.380-E.138'20.266 Ship wreck, whiting. (3) Naval Ground S.34'47.662-E.138'26.073 Whiting, garfish. (4) Norma Wreck S.34'49.349-E.138'25.111 Sunkem Wreck, whiting (5) Pound Ground S.34'54.215-E.138'26.336 Broken bottom, whiting. (6) Ribbon S.34'46.289-E.138'22.609 Mainly weed, Squid whiting, garfish. (7) Semaphore S.34'51.630-E.138'26.796 Large weed area, whiting, Crabs. (8) Semaphore Reef S.34'50.472-E.138'27.637 Reef, whiting, Crabs, garfish. (9) Wonga Shoal S.34'49.53