Tasmania

Overview

Tasmania, the island state off Australia's southeastern coast, has quietly built a reputation among serious trout anglers as one of the finest sight fishing destinations in the Southern Hemisphere, a place where large, wild brown trout cruise the margins of highland lakes and shallow river flats in water clear enough to spot fish at distances that test even the sharpest eyes. The Tasmanian technique of polaroiding, named for the polarized sunglasses essential to the method, involves walking the shores of lakes and lagoons, scanning the shallows for cruising or feeding brown trout, and making precise presentations to individual fish that may weigh five to ten pounds. It is a hunting style of fly fishing that demands patience, stealth, and the ability to deliver a fly accurately under pressure.

The Central Highlands of Tasmania, a wild plateau of button-grass moorland, eucalyptus forest, and thousands of lakes and tarns ranging from vast impoundments to tiny pothole waters, is the heart of Tasmanian trout fishing. Lakes like Arthurs Lake, Great Lake, Little Pine Lagoon, and Penstock Lagoon produce brown trout of exceptional quality, their spotted flanks and butter-yellow bellies evidence of a diet rich in freshwater shrimp, mayflies, and beetles. Little Pine Lagoon, often called Australia's premier trout water, is managed as a catch-and-release fishery with fly-only restrictions, and its shallow, clear water provides the quintessential Tasmanian sight fishing experience.

The rivers and streams of Tasmania add another dimension to the angling experience. The Meander, Mersey, South Esk, and Macquarie rivers offer freestone trout fishing through pastoral valleys and native forest, with brown trout that rise to dry flies during hatches of mayflies, caddis, and the distinctive Tasmanian spinner falls that occur on warm summer evenings. The wild rivers of the western wilderness, accessible by bushwalking through some of Australia's most rugged terrain, hold populations of trout that see almost no angling pressure and respond to well-presented flies with an eagerness born of complete naivety.

The Tasmanian trout season runs from the first Saturday in August through the end of April, with the best fishing typically occurring from November through March during the Southern Hemisphere summer. Early season brings spinner falls and dun hatches on the lakes, while midsummer delivers the peak of the polaroiding season with warm weather driving trout into the shallows to feed on terrestrials and aquatic insects. Late season in March and April offers cooler conditions, active fish preparing for winter, and outstanding dry fly fishing on both lakes and rivers.