TROUT anglers in Tasmania are taking advantage of the internet to check the conditions at their favourite fly-fishing spots around the state.
Gary France from Anglers Alliance Tasmania (AAT) said people regularly check weather conditions before heading out and now there is a far more accurate way to check.
He said the alliance had just brought its ninth webcam to broadcast fishing conditions online.
“Six or seven years ago, our first camera went in at Arthurs Lake,” he told the ABC.
“You can even see fish moving around on some of the camera shots.”
Denis Edwards from the AAT said it had been more popular than he expected, with about 7,200 hits on average per month for the past 12 months.
Most of the people who checked the cameras were from Tasmania but there was a growing number from the US, UK and even Brazil.
“I can’t get my head around that one so maybe they are great travellers, but I haven’t seen many [Brazilian tourists] up here around the lakes, I must say,” Mr Edwards said.
He said the AAT was trying to find the money to broadcast another lake live online.
“We’re looking at Lake St Clare [in Tasmania’s Central Highlands] for number 10,” he said.
Mr Edwards said he believed finding sponsorship would be an option, with the website recording abut 300 unique views every day.
But he said getting the pictures from some of Tasmania’s most isolated locations was not easy.
“It’s where you can get a signal basically, so you need a 3G signal,” he said.
Each camera is powered by solar panels and costs about $30,000.
