Ranging from highs of 8 degrees to 39 degrees in the past fortnight, the weather is dictating the fishing day-by-day. The dull and overcast days have brought on great tailing and mayfly, while the bright and hot days have resulted in mega-hopper days, or completely underwhelming days, depending on where you are! Here’s the latest hatch chart to help you hit the best fishing…
St Patricks – Good summer height, with quality fish. Patchy, look for chutes and shin-deep runs.
Esk rivers – Low, but good levels for the headwaters. Hoppers and black spinners (nousia sp.).
Meander – Great levels, and excellent mix of hopper and spinner events. A few good tiger snake hatches of late…
Brumbys – Up and down like a yo-yo.
Lake River – Solid hopper fishing
Mersey – bit low, and a victim of last seasons’ excavations in the lower stretches. Solid fish from Alum Cliffs to Parangana.
Penstock – Good damsel action
Woods – Excellent dun hatches in the last week
Arthurs – Sneakily great fishing, particularly in the northern bays.
Great Lake – Windlanes have been fishing well, fish spewing up hoppers, Mini WMD Hopper doing the trick
Pine Tier – Damsel, damsels and more damsels.
Bronte – Patchy damsel fishing.
St Clair Lagoon – More damsels and solid leapers
19 Lagoons /Fergus – Looking like no ill-effects from the fires, beyond some landscape charring in patches.
Northern Tasmanian hopper feeder. Pic by RiverFly guide Peter Broomhall