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Waters

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Fly fishing Tasmania's Central Highlands

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Penstock Lagoon

Stillwater

1.47 km²

Water area

Species recorded

Ways in

141

Stocking records

A small, shallow lagoon on the Central Plateau, a square kilometre and a half of weedy water with prolific mayfly and caddis hatches from November, browns and rainbows kept up by IFS stocking, sight-fishing the western margins early, and wet-fly teams from a drifting boat all season.

Penstock Lagoon began life in 1916 as the storage and intake for the Waddamana power station, and when the station was decommissioned the lagoon stayed, a square kilometre and a half of shallow highland water with mayfly hatches off the weed that, in our experience, are the reason the lake is famous. Inland Fisheries Service tops up both the browns and the rainbows with regular stocking; the stocking chart runs from 2010. Early in the season, with the level high, the browns sight-fish in the shallow weedy margins of the western shore. From November the mayfly and caddis come off in numbers, and the fish reportedly switch onto them for the rest of the season, with dries and dark nymphs through the hatches. A team of wets from a drifting boat is also rated as good all season, and much of Penstock is fished that way.

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.

Confirmed

Recorded on this water in the last 15 years, or named for it by a fishery agency, its fishing rules or a fishing publication.

Brown Trout

Named by a fishing publication

Rainbow Trout

Named by a fishing publication

No live gauge

No gauge readings are available for this water.

Season

Regulations

Driving directions

Water and habitat

A square kilometre and a half of shallow water on the plateau, made in 1916 as the intake for the Waddamana power station and kept as a fishery since the station closed. Weed beds, some submerged timber and rocks, a shoreline that runs from weedy marsh to forested rocky bank, and a level that peaks in spring and does not vary greatly the rest of the year under Hydro Tasmania and IFS management. The weed is the fishery: it grows the mayfly and caddis, and it is fragile, which is why the boating rules are what they are. Satellite observation of its wet surface goes back to 1987.

Fish and forage

Brown trout and rainbow trout, kept up by regular IFS stocking. The stocking timeline runs from 2010.

The mayfly is the forage of the year from November on, with caddis beside it, both hatching in numbers. Between hatches, in our experience, the fish work the small stuff of a weedy lagoon.

Observation history

Stocking history

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

1986–2006 · 2 records · Penstock Lagoon

Unstated or other method (2)

Data: Tasmanian Natural Values Atlas (CC-BY 3.0 (Au))

Atlas of Living Australia ↗

Shannon Paragalaxias

Paragalaxias dissimilis

1970–1976 · 2 records · Penstock Lagoon

Unstated or other method (2)

Data: Tasmanian Natural Values Atlas (CC-BY 3.0 (Au))

Atlas of Living Australia ↗

When to fish it

Early season, with the level high, is sight-fishing to browns in the shallow weedy margins of the western shore. From November the mayfly and caddis start and dry-fly fishing comes into play, and the fish reportedly stay on them for the rest of the season. A team of wets from a drifting boat is rated as good throughout. In our experience, on a dull, humid day in the hatch months, be here or at Arthurs; on a bright windy one, the western shore and a wet fly. Check the current IFS Fishing Code for the season dates before you plan a late trip.

THE YEAR ON THIS WATER

Sight-fishing the western margins

Fly · Aug–Oct

Early season, water high, browns in the shallow weedy margins of the western shore. Look, then cast.

Mayfly and caddis

Food · Nov–Apr

From November the mayfly and caddis hatch in numbers, and the fish reportedly stay on them for the rest of the season.

Wet-fly teams from a drifting boat

Fly · Aug–Apr

Said to be good all season. Damsels and Woolly Buggers when nothing shows, dark mayfly nymphs and dries through the hatches.

How to fish it

Early, walk the western margin and look before you cast; a small Pheasant Tail or an unweighted nymph ahead of a browsing brown is a good bet. Through the hatches, a dark mayfly nymph or a Klinkhammer as the fish bulge, and a parachute Adams or a highland dun pattern once they are taking duns on top. From a drifting boat, a team of wets on a floating or intermediate line with a damsel or a Woolly Bugger at the point, all season. A five or six weight and a long leader; in our experience the fish here have been fished for.

Access and safety

There is one boat ramp, at the northern end on the western shore, with a landing beside it to help launching and boarding. The usual way in is off Waddamana Road, with the ramp by the canal and signed parking a short walk from the water. An easement ten metres above full supply level runs around the eastern shore for foot access only. Two designated camping areas on the western shore; camping or caravanning is capped at fourteen days. Both dam walls and Beginners Bay are good starting points.

Boating rules protect the weed beds and the boats. A marked twenty-five-metre corridor guides petrol-powered boats from the ramp end down to the Lilly Pond at the southern end; a five-knot limit applies over the whole lagoon and trolling is not permitted. The lagoon is shallow with some submerged timber and rocks, so boat operators should watch for them.

Ways in

Where roads, tracks and paths reach the water, from mapped roads. Not a right of entry: check gates, land tenure and closures.

Track off Waddamana Road

0.13 km · Not recorded · off Waddamana Road

Track off Waddamana Road

0.25 km · Unsealed · off Waddamana Road

Track off Waddamana Road

0.35 km · Unsealed · off Waddamana Road

Track off Penstock Road

0.76 km · Unsealed · off Penstock Road

Penstock Road

1.12 km · Unsealed · off Waddamana Road

Waddamana Road

5.95 km · Unsealed · off Barren Plains Road

See them on the map

Regulations

Trolling from a boat is not permitted, and a low-wake limit of under five knots applies across the whole lagoon to protect the weed beds. Penstock is said to be fly-fishing only; take that, the size and bag limits and the season dates from the current Tasmanian Inland Fishing Code and the IFS A to Z page for the lagoon before you fish. They move, so read them there on the day you go.

Access restricted

TAS

A low wake speed limit of under 5 knots applies across the whole of Penstock Lagoon in Tasmania, to avoid damage to the lagoon's fragile weed-bed habitats.

Tasmanian Government (Inland Fisheries Service), under the Inland Fisheries Act 1995 and Inland Fisheries Regulations 2019

Read the rule at source ↗

Prohibited

TAS

Trolling from a boat is not permitted at Penstock Lagoon or Little Pine Lagoon in Tasmania.

Tasmanian Government (Inland Fisheries Service), under the Inland Fisheries Act 1995 and Inland Fisheries Regulations 2019

Read the rule at source ↗