The last of the Meander is the flattest water on the river and the last to close. From Strath Bridge, where Selbourne Road crosses and the upper river’s season ends, it winds twenty-six kilometres through pasture to Carrick, takes in the Liffey River four kilometres from the end, and joins the South Esk at Hadspen below the Westwood Road bridge. The fall of the river on the gradient chart is a line you could rule. Below Deloraine the river is long runs and broadwaters between high banks that fish well for every method, and one thing belongs to this stretch alone: willow removal between Strath Bridge and Hadspen has opened the bank to shore fishing. The other thing that belongs to it alone is the calendar. IFS lists the Meander below Strath Bridge among the extended-season waters, with the Macquarie, the lower Brumbys and the South Esk, staying open a month longer than the rest of the river. The fish are wild browns, with
river blackfish and
redfin in the lower sections. The Strathbridge gauge sits at the top of the stretch, on the bound, and reads on the Deloraine to Strath Bridge stretch. In our experience the reasons to come are the mayfly on still spring days, the hoppers of autumn, and the May bonus: cooling water, browns feeding before winter, and often a river to yourself.