Great Lake, on Tasmania’s Central Plateau, was one of Australia’s largest lakes even before the first dam was built in 1916.

A second larger dam was built in 1922, and again in 1967, and in 1982, the dam was raised.

Raising the water levels did not improve fishing however, as many of the original shallow weedbeds were destroyed.

This relatively shallow lake now covers almost 18,000 hectares when full.

It is managed for hydro-electricity generation.

The lake is fed by the Ouse River in the west and from Arthurs Lake in the east.

Augusta Dam stores the headwaters of the Ouse River, and the outflow is transported to Great Lake by Liawenee Canal.

Water from the lake flows down a tunnel beneath the Great Western Tiers, and into Tasmania’s second largest power station at Poatina.

Great Lake became a premium trout fishery shortly after it was first stocked in 1870, and soon produced trophy fish.

Today it produces mixed bags of brown and rainbow trout. The browns are naturally spawned and the rainbows are stocked.

The fish usually run to about 1.5kg, with rainbows making about 10 per cent of the catch.

Most fishing methods are permitted, except at Tods Corner and Canal Bay, which are for lures only.

At first glance the lake appears as a moonscape to newbies, especially when the water level is low, as the shoreline is mostly just a shallow gradient of rocky rubble.

Don’t be put off.

Landbased fishos can do very well. Bait fishing with mudeyes, crickets and worms is productive.

For bait fishing, find a shoreline that the wind is blowing onto.

In calm weather the water is very clear, and sight-fishing works well.

Blind-casting lures along a choppy, stirred up shoreline can also produce good fish.

In summer there are insect hatches and beetle falls, usually best from December to February, with associated good dry fly fishing.

Try fishing the lee of points, with Tods Corner being a prime area.

For boaters, trolling deep diving lures, or using downriggers or leadcore lines to get lures down, works well.

Get lures down deep enough to swim just above weedbeds.

Trolling is particularly good in the south-western area, including Swan Bay.

Windlane fishing is a prime sport for boaters.

Midge pupae hit the surface when the wind drops in the evenings and this continues into the night and morning.

There can be constant visible surface activity.

Land insects are mixed up with the midges and this means the fish often take large flies and not just tiny midge patterns.

Wind lanes are where the midge rafts and land insects gather, and the fish follow the most dense food sources. As well as wind lanes, try fishing foam lines.

Sometimes there are rafts of midges on the water and large groups of fish feeding.

Gum beetle falls happen during the warm days in summer and can bring on good fishing in hot weather.

Around wind lanes, the fish can often be sight-cast, just look for any sign of activity.

In windy weather fish are often visible in waves.

Northerly winds create waves that travel south, which makes it easy to see fish in the back of the waves when the sun is behind the angler.

When beetles and midges aren’t out in the lake, fish the shorelines.

Shorelines that have silt or weed bottoms, and with the wind blowing onto them, are ideal.

Four native fish species are present in the lake, including Great Lake paragalaxias and Shannon paragalaxias, both being threatened species.

The others, being spotted and clombing galaxias, are widespread in Tasmania.

The lake has five species of shrimp, and native Charophyte weedbeds.

The lake falls to low levels after periods of poor rainfall.

A low level boat ramp allows boating in these conditions.

Current lake water levels are available at https://www.hydro.com.au/water/lake-levels

The lake is considered a unique aquatic environment that requires special protection.

Anglers should bring portable toilets or walk 100m or more from the waterline, and dig at least a 15cm hole to bury toilet waste.

No fires are permitted on the foreshore of Great Lake.

Formal camping and caravanning is at Miena.

Other campsites are at nearby Jonah Bay and Pump House Bay at Arthurs Lake, and at Penstock and Little Pine Lagoons.

There are launch sites at Swan Bay, Cramps Bay, Brandum Bay, Tods Corner and Haddens Bay.

These ramps are serviceable between full and 17m below full.

A gravel low level launching area is at Boundary Bay on the western shore, south of Liawenee.

There is a silted bay at the north end of Renolds Neck which can fish well when waves are hitting the shore.

Canal Bay has some shallow weed and is a good spot to fish.

Great Lake experiences extreme weather and can become rough without warning.

At low water it is shallow and has many submerged navigation hazards.

Great Lake fishing spots summary

The northern part of the lake is open and gets rough in westerlies. Northerlies are best for fly fishing here, although trolling is the most popular method in the open water.

Smaller bays in the northern end such as Little Lake Bay, Cramps Bay and Canal Bay are ideal for wading. Flycasters can sight-fish stick caddis feeders – try using a generic dry fly and if that doesn’t work use a stick caddis imitation.

In rough weather try the rocky shores where the wind is blowing in and use sufficiently heavy lures that can be cast into the wind.

The southern send of the lake has a more varied shore and is also near the Great Lake Hotel. The south produces fewer fish than the north but they are often bigger, possibly because there is more weed in the southern section.

The west section from One Tree Point to the Beehives has good access if you have a 4WD. Try the Kangaroo Islands, Beehives, Tods Corner, Swan Bay and McClanaghans Island.

Tods Corner receives water from Arthurs Lake and this seems to supercharge the fishing, as there is more weed here than other bays. The boat ramp also makes it popular.

The two Kangaroo Islands in the middle of the lake have adjacent weedbeds, with good windlanes during strong northerlies. Look for foam lines that come off the islands. Bigger fish are caught here, including many rainbows.

The Beehives is a peninsula that sticks out towards McClanaghans Island. In a northerly there is usually a windlane that fishes well. Lure fishing from shore works. A 4WD track from the highway north of the hotel goes to the point. A drop-off extends down to 6m deep and produces plenty of rainbows.

Swan Bay near Miena has extensive weedbeds. Expect midge hatches in the morning and evening here during calm spells.

McClanaghans Island has rocky patches that fish well. Try the east side between the island and point, where shrimps congregate and produce some fat fish.

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Arthurs Lake has been historically one of Tasmania’s best stillwater trout fisheries.

The lake is about an hour by road from Launceston and 90 minutes from Hobart.

It is open to bait, lure and fly fishing and an annual open/closed season applies.

The impoundment’s water is used for hydro electricity, with water pumped into Great Lake to feed Poatina power station.

The lake level varies by only a couple of metres so the four boat launch sites are usually serviceable, but navigation hazards are more numerous at low water.

The lake fishes best when there have not been major drawdowns of water, as low water levels kill the weedbeds that support good stocks of big fish.

Fish to 2kg are regularly caught, along with some much bigger fish, but most are up to 1kg.

The brown trout population is maintained by natural recruitment, with spawning monitored each year.

The condition of fish is usually high.

Angler surveys for the past 20 years have shown the fishery produces about two fish per angler per day, but skilled fishos can usually better that.

Before the dam was built in 1965 the lake was two lakes, along with the adjacent Morass Marsh.

The east side of the lake, known as the “Sand Lake”, is a popular spot for trolling.

Sand Lake has some drop-offs along the edges which hold fish.

The west side is known as “Blue Lake”.

For boaters, trolling and casting lures around the Morass area’s timber is usually productive.

The Morass is a good place to troll if you don’t mind dealing with snags.

The islands in the lake also have some structure, along with weedbeds.

Arthurs has many trees and trolling the tree lines usually produces fish.

As with all Tasmanian lakes, fishing along the shores is best at dawn. Try the eastern bank of the Cowpaddock, as it misses the early rising sun so the fishing lasts longer before the fish go deep.

Cowpaddock Bay is arguably the best spot for shore-based fly fishing during the mayfly season from November to February.

Fishing around semi-submerged bushes is good when the water is up.

The east shore of the lake is quite bare and exposed but can fish well in rough weather.

Bait fishing from shore with worms, mudeyes and wattle grubs works well.

Casting soft plastic lures from shore also works.

Early in the season, boaters should use deeper lures, or leadcore line or downriggers.

Open water trolling is best in the very early morning and late in the day, as the fish usually go deep when the sun is up.

Fly fishing is usually best at the north end at Hydro Bay, Cowpaddock Bay, Jonah Bay and Fleming Bay.

Dun hatches occur in summer alongside gum beetle and ant falls.

Fly-fishers can also sight-fish cruisers and galaxia feeders.

If fish aren’t surface feeding then use wet fly, lures or bait.

There are many good fishing spots accessible from shore, with roads along most of the lake’s western and southern shore.

Arthurs Lake has camping areas at Jonah Bay and Pumphouse Bay.

The lake contains the native saddled galaxias and Arthurs paragalaxias.

Both species are protected.

There are boat launch sites at Jonah Bay, Pumphouse Bay, Arthurs Dam and the western end of Morass Bay at Yangeena.

Public camping areas are located at Pumphouse Bay and Jonah Bay, fees apply.

The lake is exposed to all winds and gets rough with little warning.

Freezing conditions can occur quickly, carrying suitable warm weather gear is a must.

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Trout fishing spot access programs
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Buy a freshwater fishing licence
Tasmanian lake levels (hydro)
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The Huon is Tasmania’s fifth longest river, at 174km, flowing from Lake Pedder and emptying into the D’Entrecasteaux Channel south of Hobart.

The Huon produced Tasmania’s biggest single trout, caught quite close to the town of Huonville.

Despite the river’s impressive size, ready access to the lower reach, and good stocks of bream, the tidal waters see very little fishing pressure.

Upstream, much of the river is difficult to fish, with the pools and rapids running through thick forest and private property.

The Huon often flows high and fast, the water running past banks lined with logs, which makes access difficult.

The river has mainly brown trout, and the bigger trout tend to hide under submerged timber during daylight hours.

Aside from occasional hatchery escapes of rainbow trout and brook trout – and Atlantic salmon from pens outside the river mouth – the river is stocked by natural recruitment of browns.

There are hatcheries on the tributaries Little Denison River and Russell River.

For the most part the upper river is a brown trout and Atlantic salmon fishery.

Occasional wild rainbows are caught that have presumably migrated from the Weld River tributary, a self-recruiting rainbow fishery.

The tidally influenced freshwater section below Huonville’s town bridge is wide and slow moving, and the most easily accessible area.

The tidal section produces mainly black bream, along with juvenile Australian salmon, sand flathead, barracouta, cod, mullet and congoli (sandies).

Tailor have also shown up at times.

From Huonville downstream to Franklin there are deep sections mixed with broad areas of shallow gravel bottom, with some snags and drying flats that present a navigation hazard at low water.

The largest mudflats are around the Egg Islands, which begin near Franklin, extending downstream.

The tidal reach up to Ranelagh has large resident and sea-run brown trout, as well Atlantic salmon.

Bream are found well above the Huonville bridge in summer during low rainfall periods.

There is good access to the river’s banks at Huonville, Franklin and Port Huon and in places between these townships, with the road following the river most of the way.

There is also good road access along the bank near Cradoc.

A notable easy spot is the small creek that flows into the river next to Franklin Marine, where there are walking platforms. On a good day this spot will produce bream and occasional trout.

Earthworms are as good as any bait for Huon bream and congoli, and a fillet of a congoli (sandy) will catch the bigger bream.

Live congoli baits are used at night to target large wily trout.

The lower Huon can be fished for its sea-run and resident whitebait feeders, caught from late winter into spring. Some of these are large fish.

The whitebait run comprises a mass migration of juvenile galaxia, Tasmanian smelt and Tasmanian whitebait, along with migrations of juvenile eels and lamprey.

The baitfish migration is usually strongest from early September until the end of November, and the bait moves mostly when the river is not flowing hard from rain.

Whitebait schools congregate in eddies as the fish move upstream and the trout often hit them at pockets along the bank and in slack water behind logs.

Try fishing above and around the Egg Islands on the last incoming tide around sunrise or sunset.

Fish can be targeted with livebait, lure or fly from shore or boat, but a boat makes it easier to find feeding fish.

Bubbles on the surface give away where a trout has recently slashed at bait.

Showers of bait also indicate feeding trout.

The area immediately around Huonville bridge is a prime spot for sea runners but its popularity is not what it used to be, with fishermen historically lined up on the bridge at night in years past.

The freshwater section between Huonville and Judbury runs through a mix of private pasture, orchards and timbered land with sections of reasonably deep water intersected by riffles and rapids.

There are some signposted public access points.

The Huon River usually runs too high to wade, only flowing low enough for wading for short periods during summer.

When it does drop enough to expose the gravel and stone riverbed, access along the riverbank becomes much easier.

The tannin stain of the water also reduces in summer when the river is running low.

The Huon’s abundance of submerged timber means big fish can easily stay hidden during the day, and are usually only caught by using livebait at night.

Soft plastic lures sunk among logs in daylight will get big fish but expect to work hard for fish, and to be snagged often.

The upper section of the Huon between Judbury and Tahune runs through dense forest and is mostly inaccessible.

A 4WD vehicle or offroad motorcycle can be used on some riverside tracks, otherwise the river crossings provide the only easy access, unless you fish from a kayak or inflatable.

Fishos who have someone to drop them off and pick them up downstream can launch a yak or inflatable from Southwood crossing and drift down the river. Substantial paddling is required in the slow sections, especially if wind is blowing up the river.

This trip is not technically too difficult or dangerous if the river is low and not running hard, with the main rapids being in the section below Southwood, and again further downstream towards Judbury.

It it is safer to do such trips in pairs.

Above the Picton River tributary the Huon runs through thick forest, with the only access being the Huon walking track which goes into the Southwest National Park above Manuka Creek.

The Huon contains freshwater blackfish, which were translocated from the state’s northern waters. These were reportedly once common but don’t seem to be abundant now.

Redfin are abundant in Lake Gordon and probably exist in the associated Lake Pedder, however redfin have not been formally recorded in the Huon.

Unlike the Derwent estuary, the Huon estuary is considered largely free of pollution that might make fish unsafe to eat.

There is legacy pollution in sawmill-related timber waste sediment around Hospital Bay at Port Huon, and it may be best to avoid eating bream from this area, but as far as this writer is aware there have been no official warnings about eating Huon fish.

There are boat ramps at Huonville, Franklin, Port Huon and near Cradoc.

Tidal movement averages up to a metre or so.

Tasmanian fishing regulations
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Trout fishing spot access programs
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Tasmanian lake levels (hydro)
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