The saltwater fishing in Tasmania is often overshadowed by the trout fishing, which is a shame. Tasmania features some fantastic saltwater fishing for a wide variety of sporting species and methods. Everything from flathead to marlin can be caught in Tasmanian waters – in fact nearly twice as many people in Tasmania fish saltwater as fish fresh – which is a great indication of how good it can be.

Spring – September, October, November:
The spring months are dominated by the Australian salmon – these fish are on show just about everywhere that there is saltwater. From estuaries, coastal bays, surf beaches and rocky headlands, the ubiquitous salmon are everywhere. Salmon tend to be smaller in the estuaries and closed in bays, but along the coast they do get quite large. For big salmon look at Eddystone Point, Elephant Rock and Georges Bay on the east coast, Croppies Point and Waterhouse on the north coast, around the coast each side of the Arthur River in the north west and all the way down the west coast – they are often the biggest you will encounter down here. The south and south east coast from Southport, D’Entrecasteaux Channel and Derwent estuary also provide great fishing for them.

Lure and fly selections are pretty simple – silver slices and white Clousers are best and simple. Look for plenty of water movement and tidal flow. Salmon also love to bust up on whitebait in estuaries, but are often feeding on krill in open coastal waters. Irrespective of what they feed upon, the same lures always work well!

In the estuaries black bream and silver trevally is the mainstay for lure fishers and soft plastic devotees: Tasmania has probably the best numbers of thumping black bream in Australia! Estuary systems such as the Derwent River in Hobart, the east coast systems such as the Swan, Scamander, Ansons, Georges Bay, Piper, Mersey, Tamar and a multitude of small and shallow lagoons and estuaries in-between are all fantastic options. For those keen to travel further off the beaten track, then the Lune and Esperance Rivers can be added.

The best lures are legion for bream, and while a few years ago it was all soft plastics, we now see a larger dependence upon hard body lures and even fly fishing! Plastics are probably the easiest method to ensuring a bream, but cast and retrieving hard body lures in shallow water is a very exciting method, and casting flies around structure (especially dead timber and rock walls) can be a brilliant way to spend a few hours.

Silver trevally is a vastly underrated species – they fight hard, take all manner of lures and flies and are a very pretty fish to boot! Many of these fish, especially around Georges Bay will regularly top 40cm in length, and at that size provide a fantastic sportsfishing challenge.

Add to that a vast array of lesser species such as mullet, whiting, garfish (massive ones too) luderick, flathead, tailor and leatherjacket and springtime will keep you well and truly busy.

Offshore fishers are generally looking for striped trumpeter and morwong, and the cray season generally gets underway during November.

Summer - December, January, February:
Summer is the time that most Tasmanians spent fishing in the salt – in fact nearly 80% of the fishing effort in Tasmania during summer is salt water based. The estuaries are the main focus for anglers looking for salmon, trevally and bream, while anglers with larger boats look of the offshore species such as albacore, yellowfin tuna, striped tuna and striped marlin.

The first of the game fish can begin to show up as early as Christmas, however it really isn’t until January that the best game species turn up. Albacore are usually first, although the striped tuna can show up at any old time once the water temp gets past 18°. The east Australia current winds it way past Flinders Island and brings warm water all the way down the east coast to at least Eaglehawk Neck. February is the beginning of the game fishing peak, and the best fishing can be found as close as a kilometre to the coast and all the way out to the continental shelf, which is around 20kms off shore at some points. Around St Helens, places such as Merricks Reef, which is only about 2kms off shore will deliver most gamefish apart from big yellowfin tuna, although they are captured here as well; just not as prolific as further offshore.

The coastal areas are amazingly good for Australian salmon and big couta, and locations such as Elephant Rock, Eddystone Point and Croppies Point in Tasmania’s north east are very reliable spots.

Yellowtail kingfish are an increasingly popular species along the east coast during summer – their numbers have swelled dramatically in recent seasons, with plenty of anglers taking good numbers of fish up to 10kgs. They are predominantly targeted on the east coast from Cape Portland down to Bruny Island, but may do show up along the north coast, especially on the Southern Cross Reef at Bridport and at the mouth of the Tamar River.

Autumn – March, April, May:
Autumn is the real time for serious game fishers, as the bigger species start to make their presence felt. Southern bluefin tuna are the Holy Grail of game fish for many anglers, and the further south you go the better the opportunities seem to be. Bluefin tuna prefer the cooler water temperatures, and as the east Australia current cools and disapates the tuna start to get going. Water temps as low as 12° are great for tuna, and locations such as Eaglehawk Neck and all the way down to Pedra Branca generally provide some sport for anglers with plenty of local knowledge. May is generally (historically) the time when the really big southern bluefin turn up, and in recent years this has continued on into August for really keen anglers.

In the estuaries it is the staple species such as bream, flathead and Australian salmon, although autumn rains can push freshwater through the systems and cause a drop in fishing action.

The bigger bream tend to become the target of many keen anglers during the autumn months, particularly in the Scamander and Swan rivers, and of course the Derwent River.

Winter- June, July, August:
Fishing activity during winter realty drops off, however this isn’t based upon the opportunities. There are usually heaps of Australian salmon around the estuaries and rocky coastlines, and surf fishers have a ball on salmon and reasonable gummy sharks. Big systems like the Mersey, Tamar, Georges Bay, D’Entrecasteaux Channel and Derwent have reliable fishing all through winter, as the flathead and salmon don’t worry about cold water or cold weather!