Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Adrian-Webbs-Trout-Tips » 2021-22 Trout Season Report

2021-22 Trout Season Report

By Adrian (meppstas) Webb

Well, another trout season has come to an end and for me it was one that had quite a few ups and downs in the rivers, which had a lot to do with the weather conditions. At the start of the 2021/22 trout season, I set myself a target of 500 trout and thankfully I did manage to reach this goal on the April 18. I went on to end the season with a total of 536 trout caught, in 90 trips, of which four were kept due to gill damage.

The three large rivers that I fished were the Mersey, Meander and Leven, all of which had some problems with them. The Meander and Leven were two that had a lot of green cotton like algae on the river bottom, on every trip that I had to them. The Mersey River was the worst river of all, as not only was the river bottom in poor condition, with it being full of silt and slime on the rocky river bottom, it was the water weeds that made fishing a waste of time in the upper reaches, in and around Weegena. Wading and fishing in the river, when it was full of water weeds, was near impossible in several stretches of the river. Long strands of weed wrapped around one's legs, while heading upstream was a battle and it was much worse when the water level was low.

As for the trout in the three large rivers, my catches were mainly small to medium size fish, with the odd large fish being few and far between. Only twenty-three trout of the 341 trout caught in the Mersey and Meander were over the 500g mark. The three trips that I had to the River Leven saw the biggest trout out of the twenty six fish caught weigh in at 460 grams, though I did lose a couple of trout that would have been in the five hundred gram plus range.

The small tannin waters that I fished were down in fish numbers this season for some reason and in thirty-one trips I caught and released 119 trout, compared to last season's thirty-two trips for 197 trout being caught and released. I feel that low water levels may have had a lot to do with this throughout the trout season.

The other small river that I fished (on private property) nine times during the season was the Dasher. That small river gave up 48 trout, all of which were very small fish, with the best weighing in at 350 grams. Western Creek was a short spin session that I had on the way home where I caught and released two small browns in very low water.

Highlights of the 2021/22 Trout Season

There were a few highlights and memorable moments during the season. Firstly, was catching my 11,000th wild Tasmanian trout, since moving here back in March 2000. It was caught on the January 14, in one of my favourite small tannin waters. As much as I would have liked it to be a large fish, it wasn't to be. Trout number 11,000 was a medium 370g brown trout and another milestone in my years of trout fishing rivers and streams.

The Meander River was a river that gave up two of my best trout caught in it for quite some time too, the first one being a 1.4 kilo brown, that was caught on the January 4. The other solid brown caught in the Meander River was on the April 11 and that fish weighed 1.25 kilos. Both trout, like all the trout I catch, were released for another day.

Another highlight was the brown trout that I caught on the April 14, in the Mersey River. This was a fish that took me by surprise, a beautiful male brown trout that tipped the scales at 2.2 kilos. It's been at least twelve years since I've caught one in the two-kilo range. It was also the biggest trout caught for the 2021/22 season.

My best number of trout caught during a spin session was in the Meander River, when I caught 21 browns on the January 1. Other trips to the Meander also gave up several double figure catches, including 20, 19, 16 and 15 trout sessions, plus a few more in the lower double numbers.

Reaching the 500 trout target that I set myself at the start of the season was also a highlight and finishing above last season's total catch (501 trout) topped off what was a reasonably good season for me.

 

Stats for the rivers and streams fished throughout the 2021/22 trout season

Location	Trips	Browns	Rainbows	Best Brown	Best Rainbow	Av. Fish Caught
Meander River	28	238	2	1.4kg	290g	8.57
Mersey River	19	71	30	2.2kg	610g	5.32
Dasher River	9	48		330g		5.33
Western Creek	1	2		230g		2
River Leven	3	26		460g		8.67
Tannin (Private)	31	119		625g		3.84
Total	90	504	32	2.2kg	610g	5.96

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's my stats since moving down to Tasmania back in March 2000. The first 4 years were a little on the low side (catch rate) due to me getting to know the rivers and where I could get in and fish them. After that and getting to know several farmers and landowners, along with the purchase of a better pair of waders, the fishing really went up from there on. Having access to many more sections of rivers and wading them really opened some great fishing seasons for me from then on that's for sure.

Season	Trips	Total Browns	Total Rainbows	Total Other
2000-01	76	57
2001-02	54	63	2
2002-03	66	93	13
2003-04	48	98	2
2004-05	96	347	35	1 Blackfish
2005-06	107	652	24	1 Blackfish
2006-07	87	354	83	2 Blackfish
2007-08	109	629	74	1 Blackfish
2008-09	106	599	67	2 Atlantic Salmon (7kg / 15lb 7oz
2009-10	126	1167	89	2 Blackfish, 1 Australian Grayling
2010-11	91	819	52
2011-12	81	481	33	1 Atlantic (9kg / 19lb 13oz), 1 Brook
2012-13	75	318	52
2013-14	65	320	77
2014-15	91	405	78	1 Redfin, 1 Australian Grayling
2015-16	106	744	78
2016-17	79	575	71
2017-18	92	586	62
2018-19	76	549	24
2019-20	63	407	12
2020-21	89	443	58	1 Australian Grayling
2021-22	90	504	32

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2000-2022 season stats updated each season by Adrian Webb.

Less than 1% of my catch is kept. All blackfish and Australian grayling caught are released.

Only trout are counted in my total catch and averages. Biggest trout: brown at 3.85kg (8lb 8oz) on 27th April 2018, River Leven. Since moving to Tasmania to live (March 2000) and trout fish, I've had 1873 trips to rivers for a total catch of 10,210 brown trout, 1018 rainbow trout, 1 brook trout, 3 Atlantic Salmon, 6 blackfish, 6 redfin perch and 2 Australian Grayling.

Average for trout caught (11,229 in total) over the 1873trips = 6.00 (5.995)

Since moving to Tasmania in March 2000 I caught my 10,000th trout on November 3, 2019 and on January 14, 2022 I caught my 11,000th trout.

Member: Ulverstone Angler's Club Inc.

Vic Whitehouse Memorial Trophy holder for most trout caught in rivers/streams 2006/07, 07/08, 08/09, 09/10, 10/11, 11/12, 12/13, 13/14, 14/15, 15/16, 16/17, 17/18, 18/19, 19/20, 20/21, 2021/??

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