Catching escapees from fish farms may not live up to your dream of landing an Atlantic Salmon on fly, but trout guide Brett Wolf says that they are great to catch, and good to eat as well!

The pioneers of the salmonid fishery in Tasmania originally tried to establish wild stocks of Atlantic salmon in our waters but their attempts failed. Fortunately, the introduction of brown trout was a spectacular success and a superb trout fishery developed. Same 130 years later a thriving Atlantic salmon farming industry in Tasmania has inadvertently created a limited recreational fishery for salmon.

Although restricted in range and based on farmed escapees, the de facto Atlantic salmon fishery does offer some exciting fly fishing opportunities, especially early in the season when trout are sluggish in the highlands. For a start, most of the salmon fishing is sight based-the fish are often seen jumping, swirling and bow-waving, and recently we've been polaroiding them. Best of all, these fish are BIG and spectacular when hooked on fly gear-they run hard and strip line from the reel while doing five or six almighty jumps. If you aren't prepared they will run deep and cut your tippet on
oyster shells.

SALMON PLACES
The salmon cages are mainly in the Huon district, south of Hobart, so it is no surprise that the best Atlantic salmon fishing areas include the Huon, Esperance, and Lune rivers. An added bonus is that these rivers also offer superb sea-run trout fishing. Within these river systems the hot spots for escaped salmon include extensive shallow flats, the mouths of small inflowing streams, and pools immediately below rapids.

Usually, if you arrive at a likely looking fishing spot in calm conditions you will soon know if any Atlantic salmon are present. A sure sign is something that looks and sounds like a small child doing a belly flop into the water. We have often debated why these fish feel they have to launch themselves into the air every half hour or so, and the weird thing is they all do it at pretty much the same time. One theory involves the caged salmon becoming accustomed to automatic timed feeders, which may explain the periodic bursts of activity-but who knows?

SALMON TIMES
Naturally, at $15 per kilo for Atlantic salmon at the farm gate they don't just throw them away, so it takes a major equipment failure, a severe storm or a rogue seal to spill these valuable fish into the sea. The best time to try is immediately after a significant escape has occurred, but unless you live in the Huon district or know someone who works at a salmon farm, this sort of information is not readily available.

Unfortunately the locals soon know when an escape has occurred and they set gill nets to catch them. Needless to say, the impact of gill netting on other recreational fish species, including bream and sea-run trout, is devastating. The fact that it is still legal to set gill nets in many Tasmanian estuaries is regrettable to say the least.

At the time of escape the salmon are in prime condition, having been fattened up on a special diet, but a lifetime inside cages has not prepared them for the hard life outside where food doesn't come so easily. Of all the Atlantic salmon we have caught, only two have had anything at all in their stomachs (one had a small eel, and the other a shrimp). It was interesting that one afternoon we caught a 5 Ib searun trout which was cram-packed with shrimps, while five salmon caught on the same day had absolutely no sign of food in their shrunken stomachs.

This paints a rather grim picture for salmon fishing in Tasmania-if the escaped farm fish successfully negotiate kilometres of gill nets they will eventually succumb to starvation! But the good news is that enough salmon do avoid gill nets, and do manage to take a fly before they starve, to make fly fishing worthwhile. In fact, all of the big fly-caught salmon I have seen have been in tip-top condition. That is not to say they are all in farm condition, but compared to average wild trout, escaped salmon are in equal, if not better condition.

If you are interested in catching an Atlantic salmon on fly and you don't have access to information on escape events, I recommend you target these southern waters between August and November when whitebait runs produce the best sea-run trout fishing - then, either species can offer great sport. Like me, you might even get an additional surprise and catch a nice sized bream on the fly.

SALMON TACTICS
The most important tip is to find the fish first. Look and listen for salmon jumping, boiling and bow-waving. When one does jump within casting distance it can leave the uninitiated trembling at the knees.

Recently I took fellow Tasmanian trout guide Peter Hayes on a mission to catch an Atlantic salmon. Peter fished from a high bank where he polaroided and eventually hooked several fish. When I joined Peter on the high bank, where I too, for the first time, was able to polaroid salmon, I learnt some valuable lessons about the behaviour of these fish. 1) They often hang around in loose groups. 2) They appear to be site attached. 3) They will not always respond to a fly. 4) They do not spook easily.

This confirmed why my Atlantic salmon fly-fishing tactics had been successful in the past. Upon seeing signs of a fish I always persistently cover the immediate area with a fly, until I either hook a fish or a more attractive opportunity arises. Another useful tactic is to slap the fly down into any disturbance created by a salmon-as Peter confirmed from his high vantage point, this often results in a positive response. Also, it pays not to give up on a pricked or lost salmon because you might unknowingly be fishing to more than one fish, or a change of fly may bring a pricked salmon undone.

Another very important tactic is a slow, twitched retrieve. When fishing with my friend Adam Uytendaal one day I agreed to row the dinghy and put him into good casting positions until he caught a salmon. On previous outings together I had been lucky enough to catch salmon each time but he had missed out.

Some four hours later, Adam was sick of casting and I was sick of rowing. His fast stripped retrieve had resulted in several boils behind the fly, but that was all. Having tied the boat up to a log, I decided to have a few casts with exactly the same rod and fly but using my usual slow twitched retrieve. Third cast I hooked a 7 Ib salmon and within an hour or so I had boated three big salmon and a nice trout. After slowing down his retrieve, Adam quickly boated two eight pound salmon!

When Adam hooked those first two salmon he hung on so tight that I was terrified he would break the tippet or, worse still, my expensive fly rod. The best tip I can offer for playing big salmon is to be prepared to give line when they jump, because they will run hard, jumping as they go. When an angry fish of this size leaps from the water it will test your tippet and knot strength.

Oyster shells are another hazard, as I have found out on several occasions. The best way to avoid oysters is to keep your hooked salmon near the surface, but this is easier said than done, because experience has taught me that once hooked they go pretty much where they want to. Don't be too disappointed if you lose one-there's always next time.

SALMON TACKLE
Access along the shores of these southern rivers is restricted by dense bankside vegetation, so a small boat is a definite advantage. In some areas, however, I have caught salmon while wading from the shore. It's just a matter of getting out there and having; a look.

I use a 6 - weight rod with a weight forward floating line and a 1O - foot leader. A minimum 6 Ib tippet should be used. A large, strong landing net is a must, especially for those anglers not accustomed to picking up a big fish in one hand.

We have experimented with several flies. The most successful to date is the 'Salmonator', a white marabou pattern tied on a long-shank #6. We have also caught salmon on Fur Fly variants with painted eyes-an added advantage is that these flies will also take sea-run trout.

Recently while polaroiding salmon we've noticed that they don't always respond to the Salmonator. I read somewhere that chartreuse is a good colour for salmon, so I've tied up a chartreuse Salmonator and can't wait to give it a go.