Tough spring, great summer:
We hit the ground running on my return from America in spring, only to hit the roadblock of prolonged cold weather. The combination of this cold weather and the prolonged winter drought (which broke in spring), meant that the river fish had effectively only just finished spawning. Fortunately the fish began getting back to usual habits by late-October, but this makes it the latest start to spring river fishing that I’ve ever experienced in Tasmania.
The usual hatches were in full swing by the 3rd week of November, including caddis and mayfly. Mixed weather continued into December, with afternoon thunderstorms bringing on some of the biggest baetid hatches I’ve ever fished, and first big dry fly fishing days of the season. Curiously the fish have been shy on the snowflake caddis this season, and seemingly fixated on size 20 baetid mayfly on many rivers instead.
December and January also brought out masses of beetles and grubs in some of the most consistent numbers in years, with soldier beetles, lady beetle larvae, gumleaf skeletoniser catepillars, and eucalypt gum beetles all making regular appearances on warm days. Just last week myself and a friend camped at the far end of a wilderness lake containing a 3km slick (lake current) turned yellow by the sheer numbers of gum beetles on the water. As you’d expect the fish were full to the brim, but a massive spinner fall on evening brought about an hour and a half of very fun Tasmanian dry fly fishing.
If you’ve read my last cormorant blog post, you’ll know that the cormorant plague is over and the fisheries are bouncing back. The key is targeting the right habitats, and using a bit more stealth than normal (for instance, wading up the middle of a river is a bad idea if you want to see fish). Two northern streams already have the largest fish that we’ve seen for five or so seasons, and combined with the baetid hatches this has led to some great fishing since the end of November. The lower fish numbers will ensure that larger than average river fish will be a feature for atleast the next 12 months.
Similar to the rivers, the 19 Lagoons and Western Lakes have also had some great sight fishing opportunities. Once again post-cormorants, it is a case of knowing what habitat and lake structures to target. Since Christmas we’ve been hitting really solid black spinner mayfly falls and dun hatches on a couple of the 19 Lagoons, and on campouts further west. The fish numbers have been really good across the Christys Creek and Pine River systems, and the average fish size has been as big as they ever get: guests have landed one five pound brown, and snapped off two others of the same size in the past fortnight during dun hatches on overcast days.
The river and lakes levels are ideal going into late summer. Fingers crossed for a dry spell to brown the grasses off, and bring the hoppers on. More consistent hydro flows at Brumbys Creek would also be good, but the smaller streams and Western Lakes are looking prime for the next eight weeks of what is typically Tasmania’s best weather and fishing. If you are keen to join us for a guided fly fishing trip, send me a quick email here
