Fishing in Tasmania Part 1

While we were driving around in Tasmania, I always had my fly rod with me. The idea was to stop and fish here and there when I saw good rivers or estuaries, and I have found some interesting and beautiful places to fish.

Having said that, I didn't feel fishing in Tasmania was necessarily easy though. It took me a few days to figure out how to go about it, and even then, it required a fair amount of effort to catch those fish.

タスマニアは、北の町、ロンセストンから南の町、ホバートまで車で三時間。その気になれば一日で一周できる小さな島。そういう事で、今回のタスマニアの釣りは、行き先を一カ所の決めるのではなく、ドライブしながら良さそうな川や入り江があれば釣る、行き当たりばったり作戦にする事に。数日色々と走って、幾つか良い川や湾やビーチを見つける事ができましたが、釣りの方は、正直簡単ではありませんでした。

First of all, rivers in Tasmania seem to be much smaller than rivers in New Zealand, and we passed many dried up ditches or stagnant pools where they said "river" on the map.

So it wasn't just a matter of driving to a random river that you see it on a map to find fish as I was doing in NZ last year. In some areas, finding a running water was challenging enough.

まず、タスマニアの川は、日本やニュージーランドの川などに比べると小規模。それどころか、場所によっては、川に水が全く無い状態。これには正直おどろきました。

地図を見て、良さそうな川だなあと思っても、行ってみると川幅は、２、３メートル、しかも水は流れていなくて、ところどころに濁ったプールがある状態。去年のニュージーランドの時の様に、どの川にも水があって魚がいたわけではありませんでした。これは、短期間で結果を求めざるおえない旅行者にとっては、問題かなあと思いましたし、タスマニアで釣りをする多くの人が、湖で釣りをする理由が分かった様な気がしました。

Secondly, I felt that finding an access to a river was more difficult in Tasmania compared to my experience in NZ last year.

Generally speaking, finding an access to a river was straight forward as long as you get into water from a bridge. However, based on conversations I had with local people as well as some information that people gave to me, I was given an impression that getting a river access through farmland isn't easy or permitted in some areas.

For instance while I was there, I got hold of some brochures for different rivers. They are issued by IFS (Inland Fisheries Service) which show angling accesses points along various rivers. It was interesting to see that on a particular river, there were more places marked as "NO ACCESS" as if the purpose of the booklet was to tell people where not to fish rather where to fish.

In Tasmania's defense though, I met a raspberry grower on the bank of a river running through a tiny country town, and she was kind enough to give me a permission to go through their property, and in the end, we were given free raspberry as well.

川へのアクセスも、ニュージーランドに比べると良く無い様な印象を受けました。基本的に橋から入る場合は、問題ありませんでしたが、それ以外の私有地からは、簡単には川に入れない感じでした。

ニュージーランドの場合だと、マタウラやオレッティーなどの有名河川には、川に沿ってところどころに、「アングラー・アクセス」の看板があって、そこが私有地の牧場であっても川へ入れるのですが、タスマニアでは、橋があるポイント以外では、その様な看板は殆ど見ませんでした。逆に、インフォメーションセンターでもらえる釣りのパンフレットには、「アクセス禁止」とされている区間が数カ所載っていて、ロンセストンの町に近い川だと、立ち入り禁止の場所の方が、フィッシングアクセスよりも多く表示されていました。

それでも、やはり田舎の方に行けば、人も親切で、町から１時間半くらいの川に行った時は、車を止めた近くにラズベリー農園があって、そこのおばさんは、「自分たちの家の裏で釣って良いわよ」といって川へのアクセスポイントまでわざわざ案内してくれました。

Finally, it seems that there is a big difference between a good river and bad river in terms of the fish count, and I am still unable to work out why.

I came across with some rivers where I walked miles but I didn't see any fish. I didn't spook anything let alone catching one. On other rivers, however, I was catching fish within 20 m from a bridge and catching a couple more in next 20 m.

Some unproductive places had usual signs of being unproductive like other people already fishing or trace of human activities like trash cans, pieces of broken glass, and some tangled fishing line. What I didn't understand was some places looked like top trout rivers yet got no fish, while others just looked like a drain with fish in it.

もう一つタスマニアの川で気になった事は、川によっては、当たりハズレが相当大きかった点です。去年釣ったニュージーランドの場合、コンディションが悪くて釣りにならなかった場合を除いては、釣れる釣れないは別として、どの川にも魚はいました。今回釣ったタスマニアの場合、良い川は、橋から入って数メートルで魚が釣れるのに、そうでない川は、いくら歩いても魚を一匹も見ませんでした。

アクセスポイントに空き缶やら絡んだ釣り糸なんかがある様な所は、やっぱり魚の数も少なかったです。ただ、川も綺麗でいかにも釣れそうな場所なのに、全く魚が居なかったという川を数本見たし、逆に、町の真ん中を流れている排水路みたいな流れに良いサイズの魚が泳いでいたりと、正直不思議に思う事がありました。

それから、釣りのガイドブックやお店で仕入れた情報は、正直当てになりませんでした。「良い」と言われて川に行ってみると魚がまったく居なかったり、逆に、「そんなに良く無い」と書いてある川を覗くと、橋の下のプールで魚が数匹ライズしているのが見えました。ガイドブックの情報よりも、自分の勘の方がよっぽど当たっていました。

I guess a good thing about fishing in Tasmania is that it is easy to move from one place to another as the size of the land is being quite small, and after checking 2 or 3 rivers, you will eventually find a nice flow to fish as I did. Rivers on this side of a mountain are dry or fishless, but rivers on the other side of the mountain can be running OK and full of fish, and they can be only 30min apart.

I quite liked the idea that I was able to fish in a variety of places in a short space of time in Tasmania. It was working for me as I was traveling with my family. You can hit a classic free stone river in the morning and fish on a low land river, where the water runs through thick weed beds, at lunch time. If you are keen (or your family still put up with you fishing), you can follow the river all the way down to the river mouth to fish in the estuary in the afternoon.

タスマニアの良い点を一つあげるとすれば、小さい島なので、ポイントを移動しやすい事でしょうか。最初に行った川が駄目でも、山の反対の川は、良いかもしれません。半日あれば、川の３、４個をチェックできます（逆にニュージーランドのマタウラリバーなんてのは、クライストチャーチから車で６時間も掛かるので、そこまで行って釣りが出来ないとなるとがっかりです）。

良い川は、それこそ橋の上からでも釣れるので、ちょっと歩けば一日釣り上がるのに値する川なのか、そうでないかの判断は簡単に出来ると思いました。一日目で、川を数本チェックしておいて、次の日にじっくりと攻めるのが得策かと思いました。

それから、川の規模が小さいので、一日に色々な場所で釣る事ができるのは、良い事だと思いました。朝は、上流部のフリーストーンの流れをちょこっと釣って、お昼は、中流部の水草がユラユラしているようなゆったりとした流れでライズしている魚を狙って、それから川をそのまま下って、夕方は、河口で海の魚を釣るなんて事もできますから。

Photos on this entry were taken around Tasmania's North.

Here, I had a chance to fish on rivers like South Esk, Macquarie, Meander, and etc.

Also there are places which have a reputation as top bream fishing spots on the North East coast. We actually got down to one estuary which looked quite fishy to me, but I didn't get to spend enough time there to find out the place as we wanted to go back to our hotel in Launceston before getting too dark.

After seeing hundreds of dead animals on the road, we thought it would be better not to drive during the night especially on a hire car.


このページの写真は、サウス・エスクリバーなど、ロンセストンの周辺の川やクロダイを釣りに行った海（まったく釣れませんでしたが）で撮ったものです。次回は、ホボート周辺で撮った川や魚の写真をアップロードしたいと思います。

Fish can be at your feet

According to my friend, fish were cruising around weed beds on the north side of the river along the lower part of the Swan last weekend. So, we went to check them again on Wednesday.

Yes. It was another story of "you should have been here last week". Other than groups of blow fish and people enjoying a public holiday, I did see nothing.

As my last resort, I dropped my fly straight under the jetty. More less just dangling my fly at a leader length to see if I can pick up a blowfish or two. Well, to my surprise, there was a nice bream waiting to get his afternoon snack.

When we fish, we tend to try to cast for a long distance as if we are targeting fish on the other side of the river. It feels like we can catch more or bigger fish, if we were able to punch out a full line. We then fail to see that fish can be found at our feet sometime. It is same for our life, I guess.

Fishy economics

I just don't get it. You have to raise chickens, pigs, and cows, and they cost some money, I guess. Whereas fish are being taken care by the ocean. Fish get big by themselves. So, how come fish costs more than meat? Does a fisherman get paid more than a farmer? Is it something to do with the demand and supply curve?

Whatever the economic reason behind it, I am a fisherman, so I get my own fish by myself.

I went out in the afternoon to get some fish to eat, and it was a good day to chase some fish. I got some small tailors and hooked up 8 or 9 herring. At the end I kept a few herring and gave away a fishy head or two for pelicans to make them happy too.

Travelling around Tasmania

After leaving Melbourne, we flew to Hobart where we stayed the first couple of nights, then traveled north to Launceston. We stayed there for 3 nights, and we moved back to Hobart to spend another few nights.

Perhaps it is not fair to compare Melbourne and Tasmania in terms of things like shops, restaurants, galleries, etc, however, I must admit Tasmania was not terribly exciting in that regard. Having said that we saw some nice arts and crafts at the Salamanca Arts Centre in Hobart, and we stumbled across some cafes and restaurants in Launceston as well as in Hobart which offered great food.

We also met some nice people in Tasmania, and of course, what Tasmania can offer which Melbourne can not are beautiful mountains and rivers which I will write about bit more later.

メルボルンの後は、飛行機でホバートへ移動。ホバートに二泊した後で、ロンセストンで三泊。それからホバートへ戻って４泊の日程。

正直メルボルンの後では、ホバートもロンセストンもだだの田舎町にしか見えませんでしたが、ホバートのアートセンターでは、色々とセンスの良い店やギャラリーを発見する事ができましたし、ロンセストンでもホバートでも、おいしいいレストランにも巡り会いました。

そもそも、タスマニアは、買い物などをする所ではありません。タスマニアの良さは、やはり綺麗な自然です。こればっかりは、メルボルンの様な都会では見る事ができません。行ったのはちょうど秋でしたが、山や川の風景は、とても良かったです。

タスマニアの川や釣りに関しては、後ほど書きたいと思います。

Historic site of Port Arthur

Very good breakfast at Laundry Cafe in Hobart

The bakery called Jackman & McRoss in Hobart has great stuff

Try ice cream at Honey shop in Chudleigh

A cute little boat that I saw at Huonville.

A view of the Huon River

The Salamanca Arts Centre

Did I bring back Tasmanian weather?

I went fishing on Saturday evening to catch some bream.

The rain clouds moved in soon and it got cold and wet quickly.

Perhaps I brought back Tasmanian winter with me.

Walking around the city of Melbourne

Although we were in Melbourne only for 3 days, we have managed to look around fair bit of what the city offers.

Firstly, wherever I go, I love to go to a local museum, so we went down to Melbourne Museum. The Museum in Perth is free to enter (although they ask for some donation), so we were bit hesitant to pay $10 to get in, and I must admit that I have been to other museums which got more to see than the Melbourne Museum offers and was cheaper to get in. Having said that, it is still a good place to visit, if you are museum lovers.

メルボルンの市内には、市電が走っているので、どこに行くにも市電に乗れば簡単です（一日券がおすすめ）。色々と市内を見て回りましたが、数カ所紹介します。

まず、メルボルン博物館ですが、恐竜関係は、面白いと思いましたが、それ以外は、他の博物館とそれほど変わりは無いと思います。僕は、博物館が好きですが、そうで無い人には、入場料の１０ドルは、高いかもしれません。

After the Museum, we went to Melbourne Aquarium, but personally, I think the entry fee was overpriced. Don't get me wrong, it is still a good place to go, and they have some interesting fish to see like murray cod, barramundi and giant grouper, however, the place is quite small compared to other aquariums I have been to, and for what they are, $35 entry fee is asking too much. We manged to get some discount to enter the aquarium with a coupon that we got when we bought tickets for the Sky Bus (the airport shuttle bus).

博物館の後に、水族館に行きましたが、ここの入場料は、正直言って高すぎです（３５ドル）。 何週類かのオーストラリアの固有種以外は、ペンギンや小型のサメなどの、ベタな魚ですし、水族館自体もちいさいです。

In terms looking around shops, we felt shops on the streets in Fitzroy area were much more unique and artistic than those we see in Perth especially compared to those boring franchised shops found in every suburban shopping center. Unfortunately many of them were closed during Easter holiday, so we just saw things through windows.

ショッピングに興味がある人には、メルボルンは、面白い場所だと思います。特にFitzroyというエリアには、変わった店が幾つもありました。ちなみに、オーストラリアは、物価が高いので、売っている物は、安くはありません。服などは、日本の方が安いと思います。











On the streets of Melbourne, we came across with a number of cafes and coffee shops in arcades and on narrow lanes and side streets, and our absolute favourite was a patisseries in the heart of Melbourne (I think it was on Lt Collins Street). Although things were bit pricy, they have very nice cakes and sandwiches. They were so great, we went there twice while we were in Melbourne.

メルボルンには、レストランやカフェが沢山ありますが、今回の旅行で当たりだったのは、Lt Collins Street にある、写真のケーキ屋さんです。ケーキの他にパンやサンドイッチなどもありました。値段はどれも高かったですが、美味しかったです。

If you are fellow fly fishers, then you can do all shopping you need at Complete Angler / Fly fisher on Flinders Lane. It was a very neat shop and guys at the shop were pleasant (which was generally the case in the other shops in Melbourne)

それから、メルボルンには、綺麗なフライフィッシングのお店もあります。店員もフレンドリーで良い感じのお店でした。ただ、釣具の値段は高いし、フックやタイイングのマテリアルの種類も日本の店と比べると少ないので、オーストラリアへ釣り旅行に来る場合は、日本で全て道具をそろえた方が良いです。