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After the quietest tuna season in four years on the Tassie east
coast, the first consistent numbers of southern bluefin finally
appearedoff Eaglehawk Neckinearly April. Patchesof fish were
seenbustingupandjumping,withmostof theactionconcentrated
aroundTheLanterns,HippolyteRocksand TasmanIsland.A wide
rangeof sizeswerepresent, includingschoolsof fishbetween 30
and45kg,butalsosomesurprisinglysmallindividualsaround4kg,
whichareapproximatelyoneyearold.Bluefinof thissizearerarely
encounteredin Tasmania,morecommonlyfoundalongthecoastof
WesternandSouthAustraliawheretheyarrivefromthespawning
groundssouthof Indonesia.
Someanglersalsofoundbigbarrelbluefinbustingupamidpacksof
sealsandbirds,buttheyseemedfocussedonthesmallredbaitand
provedverydifficulttohook. Asa result,manyboats spenthours
trolling throughtantalising bust-ups,and overschools markingon
theirsounders,butwithoutturninga singlereel.However,PaulHicks
wasableto finda hook-upforhis14-year-oldsonLachie.
Paul washeadingback to the boatramp when he noticeda big
bust-up.Asheswepthisluresthroughthecentreof theaction,the
15kgoutfitin the short-cornerpositionbeganhowling. Lachiewas
abletoknockthehugefishoverin just 45 minutes,aneffortfora
junior.Hisfishweighed 114kg, a beautifullyconditioned specimen
which wasvery fat forits length. It is now a pending State and
AustralianJuniorrecordfor15kgtackle.
Withplentiful numbers of tuna arrivingall along Tasmania’s east
coastin May,hopefullytherearesomeexcellenttunamonthsahead.- JonahYick
Interesting bycatch in
Tassie sword season
This year’s swordfish season was disappointing for many in
Tasmania. Despite a reasonable amount of fishing effort,
only a handful of swords have been caught over the last few
months. However, the bycatch has been interesting, with lots
of mako sharks and a number of large bluefin tuna. Bluefin
from 60 to 95kg have been caught on deep sword baits this
year, with one boat landing three big tuna in a single day.
While swordfishing off Eaglehawk Neck aboard his boat
Choonachasa in mid-April, Leo Miller also fished the bottom for
table-fish with an electric reel. Sure enough, he hooked a large
fish on the electric reel!
After a dogged one-hour fight, Leo had a 100kg thresher
shark alongside, which was tagged and released. Reviewing
the photos later, Leo’s shark was identified as a Pacific bigeye
thresher, a species not commonly encountered from southern
NSW down to Tasmania. It was also found to be the first bigeye
thresher shark recorded in the Australian Tagging Program.- Jonah Yick
While fishing for
swordfish off
Eaglehawk Neck
in south-eastern
Tasmania, Leo Miller
tagged this 100kg
bigeye thresher shark,
which is likely the
first of its kind tagged
in Australia, as well
as the only recorded
capture in Tasmania.
(Photo: Leo Miller)Tassie bluefin finally arrive
Lachie Hicks with
his 114kg southern
bluefin tuna, caught
at the Hippolyte Rocks
near Eaglehawk Neck
in south-eastern
Tasmania. It is now
a pending Australian
and State Junior
record on 15kg tackle.
(Photo: Paul Hicks)