Deloraine to Strath Bridge

Reach 3 of 4
·
Meander River
45.3 km
Reach length
55%
Tree cover on banks
4
Species recorded
24
Ways in
The Meander slowing down: forty-five kilometres from the Deloraine bridge under the Bass Highway, past the Quamby Brook junction and through the poppy and pasture country to Strath Bridge, long runs and broadwaters between high banks, wild browns for every method and hoppers along the farmland in autumn.
Below the Deloraine bridge the Meander lives up to its name. The quick shingle river of the stretch above slides under the Bass Highway, takes in Dungiven Rivulet, Quamby Brook and Black Sugarloaf Creek, and settles into forty-five kilometres of long runs and broadwaters between high banks, winding through pasture and poppy country to Strath Bridge, where Selbourne Road crosses. It is water that fishes well for every method; in our experience the fly angler’s share of it is the mayfly on the slow water, the hoppers along the farmland in autumn, and a long leader from a high bank to a fish you have found by walking. It is walking water: find the fish in the backwaters and along the banks, cover it from above, and mind the crops, because IFS means what it says about the poppies.

Fish in this water

Each fish is rated by its strongest evidence. A rating says how sure we are a fish is here, not how many there are, whether it is worth fishing for or whether you may keep it.

Likely

Older records here, recent stocking, a local guide or fly shop, a guide listing, or recent records on connected water nearby.
Brown Trout
Named for this river by Tasmania's Inland Fisheries Service
Rainbow Trout
Named for this river by Tasmania's Inland Fisheries Service
Redfin
Named for this river by Tasmania's Inland Fisheries Service
River Blackfish
Named for this river by Tasmania's Inland Fisheries Service
Tench
Named for this river by Tasmania's Inland Fisheries Service
No live gauge
No gauge readings are available for this water.
Season
Regulations
3
Driving directions

Water and habitat

Forty-five kilometres of mainstem from the Deloraine bridge to Strath Bridge, and the fall of the river is a long, easing slope with one clear step down. The Bass Highway crosses a kilometre and a half below the town; Dungiven Rivulet joins at forty-eight, Quamby Brook, the largest tributary on the stretch, at seventy, Brushy Rivulet just below it, and Black Sugarloaf Creek at seventy-six. The Deloraine bridge gauge sits at the top of the stretch and the Strathbridge gauge at the bottom.
Long runs, broadwaters, high banks, backwaters. That is the river below Deloraine, and the map of how to fish it.
BANK COVER ALONG THIS REACH · SATELLITE-CLASSIFIED, 2023–25
Dense trees
Open woodland
Sparse trees
Native grass & tussock
Cultivated
Built

Fish and forage

Brown trout, wild, the fish of the whole river. IFS manages the Meander as a wild trout fishery. River blackfish and redfin perch live in the lower sections of the river; tench and redfin are pests, and IFS asks that any caught be killed and disposed of.
In our experience the slow water is mayfly water: duns and spinners from October through summer, with sippers along the high banks and in the backwaters on still days. From January the grasshoppers come off the pasture and the bank fish learn to wait for them. Caddis in the runs in the evening.
Occurrence records do not establish present abundance or angling suitability. Counts are records, not fish. Environmental DNA indicates a detection in water, not a captured fish.
These records fall inside the mapped waterbody or within 250 m of a mapped waterway. Records with stated positional uncertainty above 1 km were excluded; some included locations have unstated uncertainty.
Brown Trout
Salmo trutta
1986–2005 · 31 records · Meander River as a whole; not specific to this reach
Backpack electrofishing (28) · Unstated or other method (3)
Data: Tasmanian Natural Values Atlas (CC-BY 3.0 (Au))
Atlas of Living Australia ↗
River Blackfish
Gadopsis marmorata
1986–2005 · 17 records · Meander River as a whole; not specific to this reach
Backpack electrofishing (13) · Unstated or other method (4)
Data: Tasmanian Natural Values Atlas (CC-BY 3.0 (Au))
Atlas of Living Australia ↗
Southern Shortfin Eel
Anguilla australis
1981–2005 · 14 records · Meander River as a whole; not specific to this reach
Backpack electrofishing (8) · Unstated or other method (6)
Data: Tasmanian Natural Values Atlas (CC-BY 3.0 (Au))
Atlas of Living Australia ↗
Redfin
Perca fluviatilis
1997–1999 · 3 records · Meander River as a whole; not specific to this reach
Unstated or other method (3)
Data: Tasmanian Natural Values Atlas (CC-BY 3.0 (Au))
Atlas of Living Australia ↗
Goldfish
Carassius auratus
1976–1980 · 2 records · Meander River as a whole; not specific to this reach
Unstated or other method (2)
Data: Tasmanian Natural Values Atlas (CC-BY 3.0 (Au))
Atlas of Living Australia ↗

When to fish it

Read the Conditions card. Deloraine runs highest from June to September and the broadwaters are deep and coloured through those months, water for wets and lures rather than the fly. From October the river drops into its band, the duns start on the slow water and the bank fishing begins. Summer is steadier thanks to the release from Huntsman Lake, though in our experience the broadwaters warm in a hot spell and the fish go deep by day. Autumn is the hopper season.
Still days for the mayfly. A breeze for the hoppers. Evenings for everything.
THE YEAR ON THIS WATER
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Winter water
Flow · Jun–Sep
Deloraine runs highest in August and the broadwaters are brown and deep. Wets and lures until it settles.
Duns and spinners on the broadwaters
Food · Oct–Feb
The slow water is where the mayfly show. Look for sippers along the high banks and in the backwaters on still days.
Dry-fly from the bank
Fly · Nov–Mar
A long leader from a high bank, a Klinkhammer or a parachute dry to a fish you have seen, and a slow retrieve of a wet when nothing shows.
Hoppers on the farmland
Food · Jan–Apr
Pasture to the water’s edge. A hopper dropped tight to the bank on a warm afternoon.

How to fish it

Bank fishing on slow water. A five weight, a floating line, and a leader long enough to keep the fly line off the fish from a high bank. Walk, look, and cast to what you have seen: a Klinkhammer or a parachute Adams for the sippers in the backwaters, a hopper dropped tight against the bank in summer and autumn, and a Woolly Bugger or a Pheasant Tail fished slow through the broadwaters when nothing shows. In the runs below the town, a dry-dropper still works.
Approach from downstream and below the bank line where you can. Fish on slow, clear water see a walking angler a long way off.

Access and safety

Where access is not signed, ask.
Poppy crops along the river are licensed areas under strict enforcement: walk their perimeter, never through them. Do not stray into paddocks or trample crops, avoid disturbing stock, leave gates as you find them, stay off the fences. As on any river with high banks and slow, deep water, fish from the bank unless you can see the bottom.
Ways in
Where roads, tracks and paths reach the water, from mapped roads. Not a right of entry: check gates, land tenure and closures.
Johns Road
Drive-up
Porters Bridge Road
Drive-up
Selbourne Road
Drive-up
Track off Johns Road
0.17 km · Unsealed · off Johns Road
Track off Johns Road
0.21 km · Unsealed · off Johns Road
Track off Selbourne Road
0.25 km · Sealed · off Selbourne Road
See them on the map

Regulations

Take the numbers and the dates from the current Tasmanian Inland Fishing Code and the IFS A to Z page for the river before you fish. They move, so read them there on the day you go.
Prohibited
TAS
Tasmania's designated rainbow trout waters, together with the extended-season waters of Lake Mackintosh, Lake Rosebery, the lower section of Brumbys Creek, the Tinamirakuna / Macquarie River, the Meander River and the South Esk River, close for the 2026-27 season on Sunday 30 May 2027, later than the standard 2 May close.
Tasmanian Government (Inland Fisheries Service), under the Inland Fisheries Act 1995 and Inland Fisheries Regulations 2019
Read the rule at source ↗
Permitted with conditions
TAS
On the Meander River upstream from Strath Bridge, IFS lists a 220 mm minimum size, a bag limit of five, all methods (bait, lures and flies) permitted, and a 2026-27 season running from 1 August 2026 to 2 May 2027.
Tasmanian Government (Inland Fisheries Service), under the Inland Fisheries Act 1995 and Inland Fisheries Regulations 2019
Read the rule at source ↗
Permitted with conditions
TAS
On the Meander River from Strath Bridge downstream to the South Esk River, IFS lists a 220 mm minimum size, a bag limit of five, all methods (bait, lures and flies) permitted, and a longer 2026-27 season running from 1 August 2026 to 30 May 2027.
Tasmanian Government (Inland Fisheries Service), under the Inland Fisheries Act 1995 and Inland Fisheries Regulations 2019
Read the rule at source ↗

Questions

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Related

Meander River
The whole river.
Huntsman Dam to Deloraine
The riffle-and-run fly water above the town.
Strath Bridge to the South Esk
The lower river.
Brown trout
The fish of the broadwaters.
Tasmania
Jurisdiction guide and current authority links.
Page reviewed 2026-09-06
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