South Esk River

The headwaters have a relatively large number of smaller fish which, like their North Esk counter parts, love eating dry flies and small nymphs. As the river flows towards the city of Launceston, it flattens out and provides exceptional sight fishing.

It's a very clear river, which has good mayfly hatches and well-conditioned fish. Summer floods provide real 'red-letter-day' fishing, as fish tail and feed in the newly-created backwaters and side channels.

Grasshopper fishing is a feature of this river and many larger fish are enticed at this time.

Autumn usually sees fish feeding heavily on dunns and spinners in the calmer conditions of March and April. This is our favourite time of the year on the South Esk.

Parts of the river have excellent nymphing water, while other areas are slow and deep. This is a very fishy river that screams 'trout' and 'sight casting' at every corner.

The South Esk River could be a possible venue for the World Fly Fishing Championships, held in Tasmania, in 2019.