Trout Waters

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Brumbys Creek

One of our favourite trout waters, from day one a trout fisher can expect to find a display of feeding fish in some of the shallow areas - tails and swirls!

When the light is good, at any stage of the season, because the water is mostly crystal clear, the sight fishing is top class.

Situated five minutes from our door, Brumbys Creek is supplied with clean, cool water from Great Lake in the Central Highlands via the Poatina Power Station.

There is a very vide variety of fishing to be found along its course with some beautiful freestone sections and a series of three weirs that fan the water out into weedy broadwaters, lagoons and braided streamlets.

Brumbys has an exceptional population of wild brown trout and provides entertaining fishing throughout the entire season. The excellent water quality of Brumbys supports an enormous food supply and consequently the brown trout thrive.

Right from the start of the season sight fishing is the order of the day with brown trout showing dorsal and tail fins during low light periods while they forage the shallows in search of snails, scud and other tasty morsels.

Early in the season and in the absence of any major hatches, during poor light, prospecting with tiny weighted nymphs through the weed channels bring a good result. Monitoring the flows and temperature changes will lead to where the fish are.

During really foul weather the fish will often smash a wet fly worked around the weedy margins.

As the season warms a plethora of insect hatches and falls take place, with stonefly, caddis, mayfly, damsel and dragonfly, beetles, grasshoppers and ants to name a few that will bring about some classic dry fly fishing.

Calm November mornings mark the start of some terrific mayfly (caenid) hatches, the mornings littered with smutting risers to tiny imitations on fine tippets. This, for many is the pinnacle of dry fly fishing. Good caddis activity is also common on warmer evenings.

As we draw into the warmer months, the damsel and dragonfly skitter about provoking shows of aerobatic leaps in an effort to snatch these large food items in mid air. Sizable browns become airborne in their pursuit much to the astonishment of the visiting angler! We have devised some special methods and flies to undo some of these leviathan trout!

In the full swing of summer the red spinner provide some superb rises on days of light wind.

An extraordinary knowledge of this water is a mainstay, or a cornerstone of our business. When conditions are cold and harsh on the plateau, Brumbys Creek is often a great place to be, usually a few degrees warmer, laced with vegetation and providing calm corners in most conditions.

With most fish in the 700g to 1.5kg class and fish of up to 2kg not uncommon, Brumbys Creek is a challenging prized class fishery. Brumbys Creek trout usually have a very good condition factor and fight like clever demons.

Our clients have found Brumbys one of the most scenically impressive places to fish. With spectacular views of the Great Western Tiers, Brumbys is surrounded by a blend of native and exotic flora. Many visitors from the UK find it reminds them of the chalkstreams of home. International visitors are often amazed to find we have such quality river fishing in Tasmania as well as our excellent and highly promoted lakes.

Brumbys Creek boasts rich weed beds, sandy bottoms, freestone and gravel runs. Walk the banks. Wade the riffle. Drift the currents. Brumbys has something for every taste!

Macquarie River

Adjacent to our property, the Macquarie is a low-lying meadow river through most of its reaches and flows in one of the flattest areas of the northern midlands.

Renowned for its flood fishing mainly in the spring, the rains force the flow over the banks and into the hollows, divots, ditches, swamps and marshes. The result is tailing trout after worms, slugs, snails and the like.

Sometimes there is good terrestrial food available in these floods and trout rise freely to the spiders, beetles and hoppers.

At times a sparkle-bodied wet stripped in front of a fish in the shallows will bring about a snatch and grab response.

In a really heavy flood, when there is too much water between the fish we venture to more productive waters.

As things warm up and water levels recede yet still provide a good flow, close observation of conditions and weather patterns will indicate the beginning of some outstanding mayfly fishing.

The Macquarie River can be temperamental, but fires when the conditions are favorable.

Brumbys Creek enters the Macquarie at the lower end of the town of Cressy to provide a cooler flow and a more refreshed fishery during hotter periods.

During warm calm evenings there are some holes that literally writhe and bulge with rising fish and some can tow a locomotive!

Great Lake

Only 30 minutes from Cressy. Deep and clear, Great Lake is a vast inland sea on the northern rim of the Great Western Tiers in the Central Highlands of Tasmania. It houses an excellent population of wild brown and rainbow trout.

Excellent windlane fishing, froth lines and food slicks bring about sometimes intense surface feeding frenzies. At other times, subtle rise forms appear in calm slicks as choronomid emerge during cool, overcast conditions. Find the food and you'll find the fish. Rainbows feature well in these conditions and Great Lake rainbows are a real prize.

Great polaroiding along selected shorelines, sandy flats, rocky outcrops, or wherever there is an accumulation of food items, can provide some entertaining sport.

In bright conditions, the sight fishing opportunities from the boat are often outstanding. Long distance polaroiding provides exciting visual fishing.

Arthurs Lake

On the Central Plateau, in Tasmania's Highlands, Arthurs Lake is 45 minutes from Cressy.

Recognised as Tasmania's most productive and popular trout water, we have seen some marked improvements on Arthurs, especially over the last few seasons. Much of this is due to the combined efforts of the IFS, various angling clubs, and interested parties along with an agreement on water levels with Hydro.

Phenomenal wild brown trout populations thrive due to the abundant food supply, made possible by a habitat of extremely rich weed beds, woody debris and surrounding native bush.

Tailing trout are a highlight early season, chasing frogs, tadpoles, shrimp and caddis in shallow, grassy and weedy areas.

Calm and cool conditions often bring on reliable midge hatches. Trout will often continually rise well when this occurs.

Windlanes quite often feature and provide a concentrated food source. Loch style techniques are very productive, even during sporadic feeding activity. Remarkable polaroiding opportunities can be found during bright, calm conditions.

As things warm up in the spring and through the summer, prolific mayfly hatches are a regular feature. In the autumn, beetle, jassid and ant falls provide spectacular sport.

Penstock Lagoon

On the Central Plateau, 60 minutes from Cressy, Penstock Lagoon is a fly fishing only trout water.

Good management of the water levels have seen great improvements over the last few seasons. The population of good sized brown and rainbow trout (average 1 - 2kg) is supplemented and managed by the IFS with adult Great Lake brown trout. Penstock is renowned for its trout having a good rate of growth. A look through the weed in the shallow areas will show a highly abundant food supply.

A shallow, weedy water, Penstock features some of the earliest mayfly hatches of the season and good terrestrial falls in the summer and autumn months.

During clear and calm conditions tiny mayflies provide some exceptional still water dry fly fishing. Evening rises to caddis and mudeyes can be quite entertaining. Damselfly feature heavily in the trouts diet from the onset of summer.

Surrounded by forest, with a variety of grassy and rocky shorelines and scattered marsh areas, Penstock offers excellent shore and boat based fishing opportunities.

Little Pine Lagoon

On the Central Plateau, Little Pine is a fly fishing only trout water, shallow and well suited for wading. With grassy shorelines, marshes and excellent weed growth, it is surrounded by tussocks and heathland.

Tailing trout are a highlight early season. I personally like to put a small dry beetle, such as a red tag, to tailing fish, and when they are on the cruise, showing both tail and dorsal, they are usually obliging. When the trout are being difficult, persistently fishing a suspended nymph will often do the trick.

Little Pine is renowned for its dun hatches which begin early December, often in isolated pockets and sometimes over a large area. Showy risers chomp down emerging duns, even in quite windy conditions. Sultry conditions bring the rise to a peak. When the black spinner get the opportunity to get out over the water, this also creates a memorable fishing experience.

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Nineteen Lagoons

Consisting of a network of lagoons, each with its own individual characteristics, some isolated, others connected via creek systems, these waters are within an easy reach of our highland accommodation base at Miena in the Central Highlands. The lagoons surround Lake Augusta and provide a taste for the more remote section of Tasmania's enchanting fishery.

The lagoons have a varied food supply, due to their individual geography, - some are rocky, some are shallow, some deep, others with sandy bottoms, others with rich weed beds. Everything can occur from great dun hatches to beetle falls, and giant highland hoppers to the tiny scud.

Blue sky days in the Nineteen Lagoons area create top light conditions conducive to unparalleled sight fishing. On such days it is not unusual for a substantial wild trout to glide onto the scene and sip down your little dry fly or inhale your nymph - within seconds, out to the backing!

Very healthy wild populations of mainly brown trout and some domestic and triploid rainbow trout ensure an exhilarating fishing experience.