The 2020-21 Season Opening and Covid Implications
The opening of the 20-21 fishing season in Tasmania has been a special time, given the influence of Covid. Covid is a dreadful word that didn’t even exist this time last year but which has become perhaps the most used word world-wide. It’s a word that none of us like, but for Tasmanian fishers it has silver linings that, at least briefly, are worth celebrating.
The initial Covid lockdowns in Tasmania commenced with two months of the season still to fished. This meant that, in effect, our “closed season” started in March and by the time the new season commenced in August the fish had endured, or perhaps celebrated, five months with virtually no interference from fishers.
Some fish did, thankfully, face one of Tasmania’s important off-season traditions - the capture and relocation of thousands of wild brown trout by the Inland Fisheries Service. This annual event takes advantage of the exceptional spawning conditions in lakes like The Great Lake, Arthurs Lake and Lake King William and the reality that those three lakes actually benefit from their resident stock levels not becoming too large.
So out of these three waters thousands of healthy wild brown trout were again distributed to many other waters that do not readily support spawning, and through which our fisheries survive and thrive as locations where fishers can test their mettle. To make it that little bit more interesting, some waters are also stocked with triploid rainbows bred in captivity by one of Tasmania’s aquaculture businesses. The purists do not necessarily welcome the rainbows, but the fun of catching a crazy rainbow should never be underestimated.
I referred earlier to ‘silver linings’ which I have not really described yet, but I might first acknowledge the two significant clouds that still hover. The first is the indefinite closure of our borders, which, although slated to finish on 1 December, is just as likely to be extended yet again, as has been the case on many occasions in recent months. This is a ‘cloud’ from the perspective of the industry that I’m a part of – the industry that seeks to make a living through the Tasmania trout fishery. We are guides, private lodges, accommodation house and fishing gear suppliers.
While nominally there is a small Tasmanian market to support our industry, and which is doing what it can to keep us afloat, the reality is that much of our industry normally relies on the arrival of visitors from interstate and overseas. Prior to the Covid shutdown, in the last season my own business, in only its second year, attracted almost 70% of its revenue from international visitors, 20% from interstate visitors and just under 10% from within Tasmania. So the second ‘cloud’ of Covid is the one that has stymied plans to progress on the basis of the last season and that has moderated business expectations for the immediate future.
That all confirms the reality that we have ‘clouds’ but it cannot stop us from recognising that we do still have silver linings. The “glass half full” perspective on the current predicament comprises a number of factors:
there are still lots of fish to be caught;
five tagged trout offer you a chance to win one of five $10,000 prizes (although one has now been caught - leaving 4 still to go)
there are fewer fishermen around to catch them;
there have been some exceptional rainfalls in recent months;
there are many Tasmanians who have thought about fly fishing but who have never got round to it; and
the Tasmanian Government has come on board to help people get involved.
As a fisherman, I’ve already been able to celebrate some of those silver linings. I’ve caught some fantastic fish in excellent condition in many locations – from the Derwent River in the south to many of the lakes in the Central Highlands. And it’s my intention to keep that success going and to keep visiting more and more locations to take advantage of the low fishing numbers (and the fact that I don’t have much work ahead of me.)
However, perhaps more importantly, as a professional fishing guide I figure I have the potential to celebrate all five of those silver linings. If you happen to be one of those Tasmanians who has contemplated giving fly fishing a go, the timing has never been better. Firstly, the fishing conditions are great – although, of course, that assessment should not be interpreted as confidence in the weather conditions, which are always going to be ‘variables’ way beyond the powers of any guide to influence.
Secondly, there are opportunities around that would probably not be there if our ‘normal’ markets were still functioning. For example, I have teamed up with two other exceptional fly fishing guides – both legends in the Tasmanian fly fishing industry – to offer a series of introductory fly fishing sessions on a private fishery in the Central Highlands.
These have proved pretty popular and so we have now scheduled a fourth session on 16 January 2021
And where the three of us thought our enthusiasm alone would be enough to make these days a great way for people to get a taste for fly fishing, we quickly found that other industry players are equally enthusiastic about encouraging Tasmanians to give fly fishing a go. This has resulted in us amassing a fantastic collection of “lucky gate prizes” with a couple of thousand dollars’ worth of gear on offer. Retail outlets across the state have come to the party and we can’t wait to give the gear away to lucky participants.
And the ‘give-away’ mentality has now also extended into the thinking of the Tasmanian Government, with accommodation vouchers and vouchers for tourism ‘experiences’ on offer.
Someone contemplating a day with a guide or who might want to join on of the introductory fly fishing sessions has the opportunity to cash in on the Government’s support. For my business, I’ve also recognised that I need to bring my regular guiding fees down, and so my services will be cheaper for this season than they have in the past.
As I’m sitting here in front of my computer I have a couple of packets of hooks sitting temptingly in front of me and the sun streaming in the window. I’m torn between tying flies on those hooks in preparation for this weeks’ visit to the Central Highlands and grabbing my gear for a quick swoosh in the Derwent where whitebait reports have started to filter through and where a shiny see run brown trout might be on offer.
See – the silver linings are there for us all. We just have to do something about them!
In case you’re a Tasmanian who thinks they might be interested in giving fly fishing a try, here’s the link to the introductory fly fishing days on offer on September 26, October 25 and November 21. I’d love to see you there.