Trout already hungry should have appetites sharpened even further by recent rises in levels of some streams like the North Esk, Nile, Liffey, Lake, Ringarooma and George Rivers.

Anglers and others visiting Four Springs Lake, however, have been warned by the Inland Fisheries Service that its water is to be sampled to find out if it contains toxic blue green algae.

The IFS and Meander Valley Council are urging anglers to wash fish in clean water and to cook them thoroughly before eating.

They advise against drinking Four Springs water and suggest avoiding unnecessary contact through recreational activities like swimming or canoeing as this contact may cause sickness in humans and animals and skin and eye irritations.

For further information, ring the council on 6393 5300.

Meanwhile, saltwater anglers are reminded that on Tuesday, May 1 the recreational season for taking rock lobster in Tasmania’s Eastern Region closes while on that date the season for banded morwong re-opens.

Game fishers down East have been pleased with the sizes of mako sharks caught in recent weeks with one of 400kg boated seaward of St Helens and another of 200kg taken off Schouten Island.

Then for all those trout anglers anticipating the re-opening of Lake Sorell, the good news from the Inland Fisheries Service is that carp do not appear to have spawned there this year.

With recent extensive netting and electro-shocking resulting in many eels and golden galaxiids but no young-of-the-year carp, efforts can now focus on the few adult carp remaining.

Also welcome is the service’s failure to find any carp next door in Lake Crescent, free of them since 2007 but still checked every year. No carp were found in the River Clyde either.