January is one of the biggest times of the year for anglers on the northwest coast.

There are plenty of different species that you can expect to catch over the first month of 2011.

Over November and December the rain kept falling to the disgust of a lot of anglers but this made the trout fire up and by January there will be trout hotspots all over the region.

Some of the top locations on the northwest are Huntsman Lake, Talbots Lagoon, Guide Dam, Lake Burbury, Lake Rosebery, Lake Mackintosh, Lake Rowallan, Leven River, Mersey River, Forth River, Inglis River and a lot of other small rivers and creeks.

Don't limit yourself to these spots; go out and fish other waters as well there is no reason why you wouldn't pick up a good bag of fish from a lake or river out of this list.

All methods will work in both rivers and lakes. There were a few grasshoppers jumping around at Christmas so by January these will be thriving and are a good choice of bait or fly imitation for the stream angler.

As for lure anglers, a number of lures are really snagging trout. Soft plastics will be high on the list along with lures such as Celtas, Tassie Devils, and a big favourite of mine at the moment the Diawa SC Shiner 40.

This is a brilliant lure that been getting me a lot of trout recently. All colours work well but ghost olive, black and gold fire, brown trout and rainbow tout are the standouts for me.

As mentioned before, there has been plenty of rain over the previous few months that has slowed down the expected saltwater smorgasbord.

When the expected hot summer weather hits us in January there will be species such as silver trevally, Australian salmon, snapper, mackerel, and particularly bream at Port Sorell and its two feeders, the Rubicon and Franklin rivers.

The saltwater scene at Port Sorell is also the place to be for big Australian salmon in January – the past few years have seen some big fish move in on schools of bait, giving everyone some great fun.

When fishing around rivers and lakes to be very careful and keep your eyes open for snakes now that were coming in to summer. They have been on the move for quite some time.

I always see the New Year as a new start and if you have struggled to snag many fish over the extended winter and the months before, it is now time to wipe the slate clean and start over.

But for those who have been a fish magnet and have got fish coming out of their ears keep up the good work and be ready for a big summer season to come.