Fly fishing in Tasmania – spring 2025 is underway

 

The Tasmanian fly fishing season 2025/2026 is off and racing, with much improved conditions over the previous two: consistant early spring rains have topped up water tables, and the majority of the natural rivers and streams such as the St Pats, North Esk, South Esk, Great Forester, Georges and Groom are running consistently high and clear. Key Hydro storages have filled compared to previous springs: Great Lake looks like it will end up >1.5 metres higher than the past two years, the north-west dams are spilling (including the Mersey catchment), while Hunstman and Camden are spilling into the Meander and St Patricks.

Trout populations across the state have bounced back from the natural coromorant predation cycle, and this season is where we are reaping the rewards, with strong year classes of young and very fat fish. Fish activity is much more normal this season, with fish sitting on station in all the likely places. By the end of last season we had set new size records on one small stream (the largest average size in 24 years!), while larger catchments such as the South Esk system had some brilliant 1-2lb pound fish coming through. Don’t expect any old dinosaurs, these territorially dominant fish slabbed out over the past two dry seasons and re-entered the foodchain. The same occured out west: the average size was the equal largest we’ve seen in 15 season in the Western Lakes (young and super hefty fish), but we had to change tactics. Expecting fish to cruise shallow beats across the silt or along the lake-edges was not an option, as the trout had adopted hit and run tactics to adapt to resident cormorant predation. Instead, we found fish racing in from deepwater for smash-and grab runs on black spinner mayfly, before heading straight back out again. An 1864 Ostrich Herl Nymph was the best fly on these fish, cast a couple rods lengths ahead of the retreating trout.

As I type there are a series of embedded fronts crossing Tasmania, with high winds and steady rain. This will be ideal for small waters such as Little Pine Lagoon and Lake Augusta which have been drawn down by Hydro (not great for tailers), but expect them to fill to spilling again in the next day or two (great for tailers and frog feeders)! The same can be said for the flooded edges of Hunstman and Camden dams. Sea runners and whitebait prey have been sporadic to date, with the bait being held back closer to the estuaries, or deep down in the haloclines due to the consistent rain. If we are going to have a good run of sea run browns and bait, I expect this to occur sometime in the next fortnight.

Have a great spring of fly fishing! Daniel Hackett and the RiverFly team.