Trout Fishing Tasmania
In Tasmania, fly fishers can choose from expansive estuaries and swift rivers, creeks and crystal-clear lakes and remote tarns. These top fishing spots, located in World Heritage landscapes, are within easy travelling distance from Hobart and Launceston, but its a good idea to get a guide to ensure a successful fishing trip. A few of the best spots include:
Little Pine Lagoon:
A sparkling gem south-west of yingina / Great Lake, Little Pine Lagoon is one of just a few Tasmanian sites reserved entirely for fly fishing. “The Pine”, as it’s often called, is shallow, weedy and the colour of a peaty Tasmanian single malt. It’s hard to imagine that the little dam across the river has helped create what many believe to be the best trout water in the Southern Hemisphere.The lagoon lies in a small basin in the shadow of Skittleball Hill, and has some of the best hatch-driven sight-fishing on the Central Plateau. An almost perfect spawning stream makes the lagoon a virtual wild brown fish factory producing consistently great trout, all season long. Little Pine Lagoon is about 10km west of Miena, on Marlborough Rd.
Meander River:
Winding through the central north of Tasmania, the Meander River is a popular fishing stream for both brown and rainbow trout. The damming of the river at Lake Huntsman produces cool, even flows and clear waters that create consistently good fly fishing, all season long. It offers plenty of diversity over a relatively short journey, and you could easily spend a week or longer exploring.Below the dam, the river is still a rough-and-tumble affair, with banks mostly untouched by man or machine. The river’s flow takes effort to cross, but the current is regulated, making it a superb trout fishery.As the river flows from the dam wall to join with South Esk River near the town of Carrick, its character changes with the landscape. The river bubbles and murmurs over boulders, rocks and pebbles to Deloraine and becomes a true tailwater with runs, pools and vigorous trout.Downstream from Deloraine, the river slows down, stretches out and opens into a classic meadow stream – slow and gentle, with big broad waters that hold some spectacular trout. The Meander River has many convenient entry points along its entire length.