Today marks the opening of the 2017-18 brown trout season and the Hodgman Liberal Government is a passionate supporter of Tasmania’s world class inland fisheries which attracts more than 25,000 recreational angler licence holders each year.
This season is being celebrated with the opening to anglers of an additional 40km of riverfront on the South Esk River.
The improvements are the result of the $132,000 South Esk River Anglers Access Project funded by a $66,000 grant from the Tasmanian Community Fund and matching funding from the Inland Fisheries Service (IFS).
It will provide parking areas, gates, steps, fence stiles and paths and will further increase the popularity of the river with local and visiting anglers.
The South Esk is a highly-regarded brown trout fishery and is the third most popular river fishery in Tasmania with more than 2000 anglers fishing it during the 2016-17 season.
The enhanced access and infrastructure will be a boon to the Tasmanian angling experience by dispersing anglers throughout the catchment.
This is the 10th river access project completed by Anglers Alliance Tasmania (AAT) and the IFS. Since 2007, more than 300km of rivers across Tasmania have benefitted from Anglers Access projects.
The participation of 18 private landowners who agreed to allow access to the river
from their properties has been crucial to the project.
A number of canoe launch sites will also be available to anglers and the guiding industry enhancing the guided fishing experience and tourism.
A brochure highlighting angling regulations, access rules, fishing information and high-quality maps of the access area is available at tackle shops, Visitor Information Centres at Deloraine, Evandale and Longford and www.ifs.tas.gov.au and http://anglersalliance.org.au
The coming 2017-18 trout season is shaping up as even better than last year and I would encourage as many people as possible to buy a licence through their local tackle shop, or online from the IFS, and enjoy the great trout fishing that Tasmania has to offer.
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