After a bitterly cold and snowy start, the fishing season in Tasmania has now flipped completely and is running ahead of schedule. The continued heat and bright sunshine has made for excellent, unseasonal fishing but has also caused a few concerns. As I write this, many stream levels are very low and a recent trip to the Tyenna in the State’s south found levels which I would expect at the end of February! Fortunately, fish are eating dry flies very well although nymphs still tend to be the most productive option. Small mayflies and more recently, caddis, are hatching and fish are happy to rise freely. This is all very good for now but unless we get some rain, the rivers may suffer badly in the post Christmas period. We’d better make hay while the sun shines – no pun intended!

On the stillwaters, Lake Crescent has been up to its usual tricks with great number of large fish being caught up until recent weeks. We have been fortunate enough to land in excess of thirty fish from the lake this season with the largest being almost 13 pounds and the smallest has been a mere 7.2  pounds!

Four Springs started the season extremely well before going through a slow period. Mayflies are expected any day now and the lake will fire back up. Having said that, the mayflies should have started some time ago but as ours do not like hatching in the sunshine, they have been on hold. I simply have never known such bright weather at this time of year.

On a positive note, the sun has made for excellent fishing in the Western Lakes. Once the snow and ice melted, Nineteen Lagoons anglers had one of the best starts to the season imaginable with frog numbers seemingly on the rise. Any marshy area seemed to house numerous fish in reasonable condition. Fish in the area have already switched onto eating dry flies but once again, keep nymphs handy.

I had an extremely productive trip into Lake Fergus a few weeks ago. Fish were tailing well although again, levels were down. Dry flies worked very well but for every fish that ate off the surface, I would have seen two snakes. Not a great ratio!

Sea trout are still eating bait in rivers around the State and this has without doubt been the best year for catching them in almost a decade. Those who have been brave enough to book a sea trout outing this season have been rewarded with many fish to cast at. When those fish are smashing through the whitebait it is surely the most enthralling fishing of the season.

Penstock has been the most productive highland lake for pulling wet flies. Huge numbers of fish are coming from the lake and it is primed for a sensational season (though again, we need the cloud cover.) Woods Lake has produced fewer fish than is usually the case by this time of the year but once again, the low levels have contributed. The amount of good fishable water is greatly reduced and with angler pressure and a poor spawning winter, big numbers this season may be hard to find. The flip side of this is that the quality of fish here has not been seen for many years.

As an interesting footnote, the water clarity in Arthur’s lake has improved in the Cowpaddock. This may be short lived but for now, it is certainly polaroidable. For those in boats, low water levels have exposed rocks all over the lake. A very experienced boater who has fished Arthur’s for most of his life recently wrecked a prop on a rock. If this can happen to him, I would suggest that everyone takes it easy. The fish numbers here are still down on previous years and to add insult to injury, the size of most fish being caught is disappointing. A fish of two pounds would almost be a trophy. I know how important and popular Arthurs is and I will do my best to keep readers updated on its progress.

With the South Esk, Macquarrie, Brumbies and other rivers coming on line very soon, the river fishing will only improve. Mayflies will start on lowland lakes and they will progressively start to hatch in higher altitude lakes. Exciting times ahead.