North East Tasmania - Dean Price

I really like Tasmania it is just lovely and the fishing was really good on this trip. I hired a pushbike and it slowed things down for me to really experience the locations in a way that motorized transport cannot. I met some other pushbike riders and they said they cover anywhere between 60-100 kilometers a day. I probably did about 30-40 a day as I was fishing a lot of the time. One of the advantages of tenkara is the minimal gear that I could carry on the bike. I had three rods, several spools of different level line and more than enough flies.

A great place to fish tenkara style is the North Eastern part of Tasmania. Medium and small streams of great variety are offered to fly fisherman with a week or two to spare. January has nice summer weather with the occasional day or two that can be cold and wet. Bridges and high banks reveal cruising hungry fish often feeding and ready to eat flies. Grasshoppers and other insects become the fish’s main diet in the summer, so dry flies work well.

Fishing a well-known camping ground that borders the Saint Patrick's River proved challenging as fish had adapted living alongside mankind becoming familiar with anything on a hook. Many casts in the park only produced one fish although the rises here where in there hundreds. A short travel away from the park and the fishing is not so challenging.

Predominately brown trout are the main target in these rivers. I have never had brown trout fight as hard as these North East Tassie fish. One of the fish caught took to the air just like a rainbow, others rushed hard at any available snag shaking their heads to remove the hook fighting right ‘til the end. There aren’t many fisherman in this part of the island.

Occasionally you might see a stationary figure with a spinning rod. Most trout fisherman seem to head south a bit to the more world renowned places attracted to rivers because of their famous name like some sort of river brand appeal.

A chance meeting took me off track to the northern seaside and away from the streams for a couple of days. This only makes me want to go back to next year to the places l missed and it was good to catch up with a mate I hadn’t seen for many years who now runs a pub. The people are really friendly, and the scenery is beautiful. I found myself in a relaxed state very quickly and was very pleased with the quality of the fishing which was all sight fishing to rises or cruising fish with dry flies.