Maria Island

[Beevor]

Not really Estuary, but not Bluewater either But....

Hey all....

Ashamedly, I must admit, that up until the weekend I had never bothered to make the journey to Maria Island. I don't know why though, it's only an hour and 1/4 to the Ferry at Triabunna from Hobart

I went on the weekend with the missus and another couple, along with our tents , mountain bikes , and fishing rods

What an amazing place, typical of the Tasmanian Mainland but unique in it's own historical way. I never really knew the history behind Maria, it stems back to 1825. So much wildlife around too with some BIG 'Roos, Shy Wombats and Pshyco Cape Barren Island Geese The Painted Cliffs are definately a sight to see, Mother Nature churns out some fantastic natural patterns

We didn't pick the best weekend eh - there was even snow on Mt Maria Sunday was a great day though, we spent the best part of the day riding around the Island. We stopped off at an awesome beach for some lunch - and to have a fish

It was too windy for the fly rod, so we gave some plastics a flick. Tried the sand flats for a bit - with no luck. Decided to head along the rocks and tempt some humble Wrasse. JEESARZ!! They went hard!! I've caught them on placcies before but these ones were so aggressive, almost every cast would result in a hook-up

Myself and my mate Ben had to have the drag set pretty tight as it was fairly shallow a few rod lengths out, and they were heading straight for cover Managed to land both species of Wrasse and the gun colour was anything orange or pumpkinseed. They were smashing them though, so we found that something small and tough like a Curl Tail Grub was most efficient.

Thanks to Col and Nik for their article in The Tasmanian Sportsfisher which gave me the inspiration to keep smacking them

I wasn't the only Goose on the Island: