Trout Fishing Tasmania in Grandfather's Day

Several specimens of large Tasmanian
salmonids were sent to England to be 
displayed at the Great Fisheries Exhibition
of 1883. Presumably these fish were
netted from Great Lake. Because of their
proportions they caused great excitement, admiration and wonder, generating envy
and skepticism within the English angling community. It was reported that the
Great Lake was swarming with specimens
of Salmo fario, Salmo trutta, and some
other doubtful species. Since the original
trout eggs were sourced from various
areas, to clear up the question of exactly
what species they were, Sir Thomas
Brady, the eminent English authority on
fish, was called upon to visit Great Lake
to bear witness and determine species. 

The first Great Lake trout caught using a rod and reel was landed in 1895 by Mr. Aubrey Weedon,
some 25 years after the fry were liberated into the lake. Shortly after, Mr. Matthew Seal caught one
with a ‘Brown Devon’ spinner. In 1897, Mr. Seal caught the largest fish for the lake, a trout that
weighed in at 25¼ pounds. That fish is still the record for the lake - legally taken.

The word was out: ‘Great Lake held some monster trout, which could regularly be taken and even
larger ones were in there!’ In those early times, only two or three-dozen wealthy anglers regularly
took the arduous journey up to the lake on a fishing safari for a week or so. Among these first
eminent anglers were Aubrey Weedon, Matthew Seal, Tom Carr, Russell Ritchie, Dr. Hallowes,
Dr. Irvine, Robert Headlam, G.D. Gleadow, W.L. Sidebottom and W.G. Stewart.

Great Lake lure anglers considered a large spinner around 8 cm long with at least five treble hooks spaced around its shape essential. The native Great Lake galaxias were nearly 12 centimetres long; therefore, large spinners were appropriate. The lure was heavy and had to be retrieved rapidly so as to stop it sinking to the bottom. If the lake happened to be at a very low level, large heavy spinners were virtually impossible to use in various parts of the lake without snagging or collecting weed. Confronted with this situation, anglers were forced to use slightly smaller lures with only three treble hooks. The big trout would swim up quietly behind the lure, mouth it and continue swimming the way of the retrieve. It was not until the fish sighted the angler that it exploded in a fountain of froth, usually startling the angler. 

The general tackle consisted of a greenheart timber rod around 10 to12 feet long with a brass ferrule midway along its length. A large revolving-drum reel like the game reel of today was loaded with
braided Irish linen line. Floats were used to hold whatever natural bait an angler fished off the lake bottom. 

Spin fishermen carried an assortment of spinners for use in various conditions and locations. On calm bright days when the big fish were difficult to catch in the lake,
a small, 2-inch, black, green or brown ‘Devon’ could be used in the lagoon, although catching small 6-pound trout was normally frowned upon. Most of the lures were homemade and they came in many different designs. These designs were generally influenced by English lures such as the ‘Phantom Minnow’ and the ‘Devon.’ Mr. Clary Arnott and a Mr. Calbfell were some of the early lure makers. Necessity
is the mother of invention and with typical Aussie ingenuity one particular Great Lake lure was made by soldering ‘Devon’ type fins onto a .303 shell.  In the Derwent River area anglers were experimenting with lures of Scottish design to catch sea-runners. These lures consisted of colourful feathers tied in around the eye of the spinner. When pulled through the water the feathers laid back over the spinner, which had been reduced to about 4 cm in length. In Hobart, the feathers were replaced with coloured cloth on a lure of similar size. Red was popular with some anglers blending different coloured cloths. They called this lure the 'Phantom' and it was one of the main fish-takers for many years. This lure was modelled or based on one of the oldest known manufactured lures, the English-made 'Phantom Minnow' a lure of the early 1800s. The English ‘Phantom Minnow’ had a metal head with metal fins on a soft body, usually of silk.

About the time when the Tasmanian version of the 'Phantom' lure was being used in the estuaries for sea-run trout, a major event occurred in the highlands. A Mr. Jones, a road-worker was camped where the creek entered the Shannon Lagoon. Desiring eel for his evening meal he dropped a line in before his day’s work. That evening, having skinned the eel he’d caught, the eel skin was haphazardly thrown away and happened to land in a pool of water. Whilst cooking his eel, Mr. Jones noticed how the eel skin, illuminated by the firelight, glistened in the puddle. Inspired by this occurrence, the next day he ingeniously sewed some of the eel skin around the barrel of a smallish spinner. Thus was born the famous ‘Eelskin Spinner’, which for many years was the main fish-taker in the highland and lowland lakes such as Lake Leake.  

Soon after Jones conceived the ‘Eelskin’ lure, Mr. W.G. Stewart made a particular version that was especially good in rough weather. The lure became known as ‘Carr's Spinner’. It consisted of a flight of hooks on a toothbrush handle covered with eel skin. A fan was fixed at the front so as to spin the lure.

The Governor of Tasmania was partial
to the invigorating lake air. Each time he visited Great Lake, he’d order the local Constable to gather his staff and assisted by several locals they had the task of netting the area around the mouth of the outgoing Shannon River. The Governor could then proudly return home laden with big trout, skiting how good an angler he was. At this point, dare it be said, that in the Huon River in 1887, Governor Sir Robert Hamilton, is reported to have caught the largest Brown trout landed in
Australia using a rod and reel? That fish was 35½ inches long with a girth of 26 inches and it weighed 29 pounds.  In 1898, via New Zealand, Rainbow eggs were introduced to Tasmania and, a year later; Brook trout eggs were successfully shipped across from New Zealand.

The development of fly fishing is another story for later. 

We should remember that, way back in Grandfather’s day, it was the importation of salmonoids and fishing with natural bait and large spinners that set the scene and put Tasmania on the map as one of the greatest trout fishing regions of the world. 

Copyright © 2004. Don Gilmour and Alan Shepherd.
All rights reserved.  Reprinted by permission.