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Fly Fishing Tasmania

River fly fishing

Fly fishing techniques

Fly Fishing Waters

Fly casting & streamcraft

Tasmanian trout flies

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River Fly Fishing

River fly fishing starts off on opening day at the beginning of August in the lowlands around Cressy. In mild conditions there is always a chance of a fish on the dry, especially in the smaller streams.

Other well known waters around Cressy, such as Brumbys Creek, fish will be collecting snail and depending on water levels, there can be some good tailing and mooching activity.

In years where we have floods the Macquarie has many backwaters and ditches where the trout can be found patrolling, collecting worms and grubs.  A Wigram’s Robin and a fur fly are a couple of favourite in sizes 12 – 8.

Toward the end of August and early September the first stone fly are hatching on Brumbys Creek. Into September and October mayfly activity gets into full swing on many of the streams in the north of Tasmania, such as Brumbys Creek, Macquarie River, Lake River and St Patrick’s to name a few favourites.

On the cooler days snails, scud, caddis patterns suspended under a dry can work quite well.

The well known mayfly of the brown dun emergers in overcast, drizzly conditions as water levels recede on the Macquarie. They return as the famous Red Spinner to lay their eggs during the calmer, warmer days.

Various other mayfly species of smaller sizes such as the baetids and caenids are hatching on the lowland rivers before the real summer heat settles in. Of course rainfall and cooler conditions towards summer can prolong these hatches. By this time on a number of the warm days, especially from October onwards, beetle falls can be an occasional to regular occurrence.

Through the hottest periods, as far as the rivers are concerned, time is best spent looking for cool flows through the Brumbys Creek tailrace, or St Patrick’s River with its generous bank-side vegetation providing shade over riffle along with more consistent terrestrial insects such as grasshoppers and beetles.

As the season begins to cool off a little many good days of dry fly activity with trout sipping down ants and a resurgence of mayfly into March and April rounds the season off nicely.

Fly fishing techniques

Streamcraft & fly casting on rivers