Fly fishing Tasmania's Northern Rivers

The river country Inland Fisheries calls its North region — the Macquarie, South Esk, Meander and Brumbys Creek, meadow water and shingle riffles in the northern Midlands — wild browns, red spinners in spring, hoppers late in the season, and access negotiated across private land.

Waters

Brumbys Creek

River · Tasmania

Stillwater · Tasmania

Brown

Rainbow

Tinamirakuna / Macquarie River

Southern Shortfin Eel

Southern Shortfin Eel

If the Central Plateau is Tasmania’s lake fishing, the country below it to the north is the river fishing. The Macquarie meanders gently through northern Midlands farmland with no rapids, and in spring its red spinner hatches bring the browns up to the dry fly. The South Esk, the state’s longest river, runs from wadeable headwater riffles at Upper Esk to the broadwaters between Fingal and Conara and the canoe and kayak water between Clarendon and Hadspen. The Meander comes off the Great Western Tiers, and from Huntsman Lake to Deloraine its long runs, pools and shingly riffles are the section IFS calls the most attractive from a fly fisher’s perspective. Brumbys Creek is a chain of three weirs, and weir 1 is the pick of its fly fishing. Inland Fisheries Service groups these under its North region. The Macquarie, South Esk and Meander are managed as wild trout fisheries, and brown trout dominate all four, generally small and fit on the South Esk with the odd larger fish, with rainbows in the lower Macquarie and Brumbys. Much of the foot access crosses private land through the goodwill of landowners; IFS negotiated it, and on Brumbys calls it a privilege, not a right.

The country

Farmland. These rivers run through the pasture and cropping country of the northern Midlands, with willows along the banks and poppy crops behind the fences. They run slow through the long glides and broadwaters and quicken over shingly riffles. On the South Esk, IFS notes that heavy rain in the upper catchment can affect the fishing and advises checking flows before you leave home. The Meander rises in the Great Western Tiers and has run on regulated flows from Huntsman Lake since the dam was built.

The fishing

Four rivers to choose from. Tinamirakuna / Macquarie River is one of Tasmania’s finest trout fisheries, IFS says: wet flies and lures in the high water early in the season, the red spinner hatches of spring, early and late sessions and polaroiding through summer, hoppers late in the season. South Esk River is three rivers in one, the headwaters, the Fingal to Conara broadwaters, and the Clarendon to Hadspen kayak water, with red spinner, mayfly and caenid hatches in spring and summer and black spinners and grasshoppers in autumn. Meander River is long runs, pools and shingly riffles from Huntsman Lake to Deloraine, and slow runs, higher banks and backwaters below. Brumbys Creek is the weir water, where weir 1 is the fly water and its weedy margins hold fish rising to hatches as the weather warms.

Brown trout dominate all four, with rainbows in the lower Macquarie and Brumbys, below Huntsman Lake on the Meander, and occasionally in the upper South Esk. Redfin and tench are in all of them.

Where to start

In our experience, start on the Macquarie around Cressy from a signed access point in spring, when the red spinners are up. Start on the Meander between Huntsman Lake and Deloraine if you would rather fish shingly riffles. Leave the South Esk between Clarendon and Hadspen for a kayak day, and give Brumbys a session at weir 1. For the rig, the dry-dropper page is a good bet for much of this water, and the national brown trout page carries the fish.

Through the year

Early in the season the water is high, and wet flies and lures fish. Spring is the red spinner season on the Macquarie and brings mayfly and caenid hatches to the South Esk, and in our experience it is the reason to time a trip. Through summer IFS recommends the first and last hours of the day on the Macquarie, though polaroiding can be rewarding. Late in the season the grasshoppers come, with black spinners on the South Esk.

Rules and access

Seasons, limits, methods and licence requirements differ from stretch to stretch and change; check the current Tasmanian Inland Fishing Code and the IFS A to Z before you fish. IFS says foot access along these rivers comes through the goodwill of private landowners: observe the access signs, ask the landowner where access is not signed, and walk around the poppy crops, never into them.