After one of Tasmania’s wettest winters, October finally brings some good weather.

This weather will heat up the fishing as well and with water levels up, anglers should be able to get out more without having to get wet.

The trout season has been going off since the start with hotspots like the Guide Dam, Pet Dam, Huntsmans Lake and Lake Mikany sporting good numbers of fish. These lakes will keep fishing well into October. Others to add to the hotspot list include Lake Burbury and west coast lakes Rosebery and Mackintosh, which will start to show their true colours for the next few months.

Lake Barrington will also jump into action around this time of year and I would start to look at this lake about halfway through October. While you can have some success from the shore, Barrington is predominately a boating lake.

Lake Mikany in Smithton was quite unknown for a number of years, but it’s really getting its 15 minutes of fame at the moment, producing great fish. But with the amount of weed around the shores you really need to be on the water at Mikany, however only kayaks and boats running electric engines are permitted on the lake, as it’s a town water supply.

There is no need to drive to the highlands to find the fish, because they are about and they are hungry, right here on the northwest coast.

Silver trevally is not just one of my favourite fish, but many other Australian anglers share this sentiment. If you have ever caught one, you can understand why: they fight hard.

Silver trevally will first appear on the coast in October and anglers go crazy for the following months. These fish can be caught in the Leven River, Mersey River, Port Sorell, Burnie, Rubicon River and a few other rivers and estuaries.

Lures and bait will catch these fish. Chicken is the best bait, and bluebait a suitable alternative. There is a lot to chose from when it comes to lures, but soft plastics are the best lures to go with.

The silver trevally is a brilliant fish to get the kids onto and can be found along side the Australian salmon most of the time and best of all they are right here on the coast.

I can remember this time two years ago where we saw a massive amount of rain that drove the salmon away leaving anglers wondering when they were coming back.

This year we have been lucky with the Australian salmon sticking around and still being caught around hotspots like Emu Bay in Burnie, Port Sorell, Marrawah/Arthur River area and some rivers throughout those rainy winter months.

By October the salmon season will be in full swing. With the warmer climate and less rain we should see them spread right along the coast into most rivers and estuaries.

Salmon are a versatile fish and can be caught using many different methods. Lures such as River2Sea Sea Rock 7s, Tassie Devils (fluoro colours), Sliver Slices and many different soft plastics will all catch salmon. Bait fishing is also versatile with many different types of bait attracting these fish.