Ask a northern Tasmanian angler where to take a visitor for a day of upstream nymphing and the answer is the Meander below Huntsman Lake. From the Great Western Tiers south-west of Deloraine the river runs a hundred and seventeen kilometres to the South Esk at Hadspen, and Inland Fisheries Service describes it in three parts that fish three ways; this guide gives each its own page, and a fourth for the lower river where the season runs longer. Above Huntsman Lake it is fast, clear, boulder-strewn water through State Forest, with small resident browns that take some catching. From the dam to Deloraine it is long runs and pools between shingle riffles, the stretch IFS itself calls the most attractive from a fly fisher's point of view, wadeable with care since the regulated flows and made for the nymph fished upstream and the dry when fish show. From Deloraine to Hadspen it lives up to its name, slow runs and broadwaters between high banks through pasture and poppy country, fishing well for every method and opened up to the shore angler by willow removal between Strath Bridge and Hadspen. Huntsman Lake, built in 2007, changed the river: IFS says the fishing below the dam has improved since, particularly in summer. The browns are wild and dominate; rainbows turn up below the dam and river blackfish and redfin live in the lower water. The Deloraine gauge has watched the river since 1954 and its record is the river's year drawn on this page. Come in spring for the hatches, in summer for the cool regulated water when the other rivers are low, and mind the poppy crops.
Meander River
Imagery © Esri
Not published
Choose your stretch
Choose your stretch of the Meander River
-
Stretch 1 · 13.1 km Headwaters to Huntsman Lake The mountain Meander — thirteen kilometres off the Great Western Tiers from thirteen hundred metres to the head of Huntsman Lake, over Meander Falls and through State Forest, fast clear boulder water with small resident browns that take some catching, and the only part of the river the dam has not changed. Rainbow Trout Brown Trout
-
Stretch 2 · 27.1 km Huntsman Dam to Deloraine The Meander's fly water — twenty-nine kilometres of long runs and pools between shingle riffles from the Huntsman Lake dam through Meander township to the Deloraine bridge, regulated and cool in summer since 2007, wild browns with the odd rainbow, the water IFS itself calls the most attractive on the river for a fly fisher, and the Deloraine gauge at its foot. Rainbow Trout Brown TroutLive gauge
-
Stretch 3 · 45.3 km Deloraine to Strath Bridge The Meander slowing down — forty-four kilometres from the Deloraine bridge under the Bass Highway, past the Quamby Brook junction and through the poppy and pasture country to Strath Bridge, long runs and broadwaters between high banks, wild browns for every method, hoppers along the farmland in autumn, and a season that closes at the start of May at the bridge where the lower river's longer one begins. Rainbow Trout Brown TroutLive gauge
-
Stretch 4 · 25.7 km Strath Bridge to the South Esk The lower Meander — twenty-nine nearly flat kilometres from Strath Bridge past Carrick and the Liffey River junction to the South Esk at Hadspen, broadwaters between high banks opened to the shore angler by willow removal, wild browns with blackfish and redfin below them, and the extended season IFS gives the lower river, open to the end of May. Rainbow Trout Brown Trout
River map
River map of Meander River
When things happen
When things happen
The year on this water
A guide's calendar, not a rulebook
- Winter water · Jun to Sep The Deloraine gauge runs six times its summer flow in August. Wets and nymphs while it drops back into the band.
- Upstream nymphing · Oct to Apr The Huntsman Lake to Deloraine water is made for it. Shingle riffles, long runs and pools, wadeable with care since the regulated flows.
- Mayfly and caddis · Oct to Mar The riffles and runs below the dam hatch through spring and summer. Dries when they show, the nymph when they do not.
- Hoppers on the farmland · Jan to Apr Pasture and cropping country from Deloraine to Hadspen. A hopper tight to the high banks in the afternoon.
Water and habitat
A hundred and seventeen kilometres of mainstem falling from thirteen hundred metres on the Tiers to a hundred and thirty at Hadspen. The fall of the river drawn on this page has the steep upper river coming off the mountains, the flat shelf of Huntsman Lake, and the long gentle run across the farmland to the South Esk. The Deloraine bridge gauge sits at about forty-four kilometres and Strathbridge at eighty-eight, both reading flow and height. The bank survey from space describes the lower river's country: two-fifths of the corridor under crops, a third open woodland, a fifth dense timber up toward the Tiers.
Three rivers in one, and four pages, because IFS draws a fourth line where the season changes.
Headwaters to Huntsman Lake is the mountain stream: thirteen kilometres off the Tiers from thirteen hundred metres, over Meander Falls and through State Forest to the head of the lake, fast and clear, small wild browns.
Huntsman Dam to Deloraine is the fly water: twenty-nine kilometres of runs and pools between shingle riffles on the regulated flow, past Meander township to the town bridge, with the Deloraine gauge at its foot.
Deloraine to Strath Bridge is the farmland river slowing down: forty-four kilometres of long runs and broadwaters between high banks through pasture and poppy country to the Selbourne Road bridge, where the upper river’s season ends.
Strath Bridge to the South Esk is the lower river: twenty-nine nearly flat kilometres past Carrick and the Liffey junction to Hadspen, opened to the bank by willow removal, and open to the end of May.
Fish and forage
Brown trout dominate, wild, in a river IFS manages as a wild trout fishery. Rainbow trout may be met below Huntsman Lake. River blackfish and redfin perch live in the lower sections, and tench with the redfin in the system as pests; IFS asks that any pest fish caught be killed and disposed of. The stocking timeline on this page shows brown trout fry released in 2025 and rainbows between 2010 and 2013, small numbers against a river that breeds its own. The survey record is drawn on this page.
Mayfly and caddis hatch from the shingle riffles and runs below the dam through spring and summer, and from January the grasshoppers come off the pasture along the lower river.
When to fish it
Read the river's year on this page. The Deloraine record puts the high water from June to September, peaking in August at six times the summer median, then a long settled summer that the regulated flow from Huntsman Lake keeps cooler and steadier than the rivers around it. From October the river drops into the wadeable band and the hatches begin. Summer is this river's advantage: IFS says the fishing below the dam has improved particularly in summer since the flows were regulated. Autumn brings the hoppers along the farmland banks. The river above Strath Bridge closes at the start of May; below it, to the South Esk, it runs to the end of May.
How to fish it
Above Huntsman Lake, small-stream fishing in fast clear water: a four weight, a dry-dropper with a Royal Wulff over a tungsten Pheasant Tail, one cast per pocket for small wild browns that have seen few flies and take some catching anyway.
From Huntsman Lake to Deloraine, the method is upstream nymphing: a weighted nymph led through the runs and the tails of the riffles on a tight line, a Hare's Ear when the water is up and a slimmer Pheasant Tail when it is low, with a parachute Adams or an Elk Hair Caddis ready for the fish that show. Wade with care; the regulated flow is stronger than it looks.
From Deloraine to Hadspen, slow water from high banks: a long leader, a Klinkhammer for the sippers in the backwaters, a hopper tight to the bank in summer and autumn, and a Woolly Bugger through the broadwaters when nothing shows.
Access and safety
IFS says convenient access points exist along the whole river, and the lower river's willow removal between Strath Bridge and Hadspen has opened the bank. Foot access along the river has been provided by the goodwill of landowners and is a privilege, not a right: where access is not signed you must ask, or you are trespassing. Between Jackeys Creek and Huntsman Lake, new parking areas on Warners Road off Jackeys Marsh Road connect by walking tracks built for the 2019 World Fly Fishing Championship to sections of the upper river.
Poppy crops along the lower river are licensed areas under strict enforcement: walk their perimeter, never through them. Do not stray into paddocks or trample crops, avoid disturbing stock, leave gates as you find them, and stay off the fences. The river itself is the other hazard: regulated flow below the dam that is stronger than it looks, deep broadwaters below Deloraine, and cold high water in the early season.
Regulations
Inland Fisheries Service states the rules for the Meander in two parts, split at Strath Bridge. Above it, a minimum size, a small daily bag, all methods permitted, and a season from the first Saturday in August to the start of May. Below it, down to the South Esk, the same size, bag and methods with a season to the end of May; IFS lists this lower river among the extended-season waters with the lower Macquarie, the lower Brumbys and the South Esk. An inland angling licence is required.
Take the numbers and the dates from the current Tasmanian Inland Fishing Code and the IFS A to Z page for the river before you fish. They move, and this page does not carry them.
What the record shows
What the record shows
The river's year
Daily flow at Meander River - At Deloraine Bridge, every year 1954 to 2026
How often it runs this high
14,617 days at Meander River - At Deloraine Bridge, 1954 to 2026
The fall of the river
Elevation along the river, source to end
The banks, seen from space
Land cover in the 120 m beside the water, Landsat 2023 to 2024 to 2025
Questions anglers ask
What did Huntsman Lake change?
Everything below it. The dam above Meander township was built in 2007, and IFS says the regulated flows have improved the fishing downstream, particularly in summer, when the river below the dam now runs cool and steady while rivers around it drop. It also means wading the Huntsman Lake to Deloraine water needs more care than it did.
Where does the season change?
At Strath Bridge. IFS states the river above it closes at the start of May and the river below it, down to the South Esk, stays open to the end of May. Size, bag and methods are the same on both.
Which gauge should I read?
Two sit on the river and both are on this page under Conditions: the Deloraine bridge, whose record since 1954 is the river's year drawn here, and Strathbridge further down. Both read flow and height.
Is it stocked?
IFS manages the Meander as a wild trout fishery. Its stocking records show brown trout fry released in 2025 and rainbows between 2010 and 2013; the timeline is drawn on this page. The browns that dominate the river breed in it.
Stocking on record
5 stocking records between 2010 and 2025. These are individual release records. The source record is not a promise that stocking continues, and not evidence of what is in the water now.
- Brown Trout — 20000 fish across 2 records (2025)
- Rainbow Trout — 14900 fish across 3 records (2013, 2011, 2010)
Source licence unconfirmed, so these counts are held back from public pages.