If you fish one stretch of the Meander, fish this one. From the wall of Huntsman Lake the river comes out cool and even, runs past Meander township, gathers Jackeys Creek and Western Creek and drops through long runs and pools between shingle riffles for twenty-nine kilometres to the bridge in Deloraine, and Inland Fisheries Service says of it what it says of no other part of the river: that from a fly fisher's point of view it is the most attractive stretch. The dam, built in 2007, made it what it is. Before that the Meander below the Tiers dropped and warmed in summer like every other northern river; now the release holds it cool and steady when the South Esk and the Macquarie are low, and IFS notes the fishing has improved since, particularly in summer. The price is that it wades harder than it looks, and IFS says so too. The fish are wild browns, with rainbows turning up below the dam as they do nowhere else on the river. The Deloraine bridge gauge at the foot of the stretch has read the river since 1954; its latest reading is on this page and its record is the river's year drawn on the whole-river page. Come from October to April, wade with care, lead a weighted nymph up through the runs and the riffle tails, and change to a dry the moment a fish shows. New parking on Warners Road off Jackeys Marsh Road, and the walking tracks built from it for the 2019 World Fly Fishing Championship, put you on the upper end of it without crossing a paddock.
Huntsman Dam to Deloraine
Imagery © Esri
Not published
River map
River map of Meander River
Conditions
Meander River - at Deloraine Bridge
14.598 m³/s
recorded 2026-09-05 17:45
About normal for early September. Typical is 12.697 m³/s, the middle half of years 8.012 to 25.718. The orange strip is the wadeable band.
Read this as a trend, not a verdict — rising and coloured matters more than the number on its own.
0.858 m
recorded 2026-09-05 17:45
Read this as a trend, not a verdict — rising and coloured matters more than the number on its own.
These are automatic readings that have not been quality-checked, so treat them as a guide to the trend rather than exact figures.
Readings from the Bureau of Meteorology's Water Data Online, © Commonwealth of Australia, licensed CC BY 4.0. Gauge data supplied by © Hydro Tasmania (Hydro-electric Corporation). Nothing here is a forecast. Check the gauge before you rely on it.
Weather
Live weather for Meander River - at Deloraine Bridge loads here. If it does not, check the Bureau of Meteorology forecast before you go.
When things happen
When things happen
The year on this water
A guide's calendar, not a rulebook
- Winter water · Jun to Sep Deloraine runs six times its summer flow in August. Wets and nymphs through the pools while it drops back into the band.
- Upstream nymphing · Oct to Apr The method this stretch was made for. A weighted nymph led through the runs and the riffle tails on a tight line, wading with care.
- Mayfly and caddis · Oct to Mar The shingle riffles hatch through spring and summer. A dry when fish show, the nymph when they do not.
- Cool summer water · Dec to Mar The dam's advantage. While the rivers around it drop and warm, the regulated release keeps this stretch cool and steady; IFS says the fishing has improved here in summer since 2007.
Water and habitat
Twenty-nine kilometres of mainstem from the lake outflow at three hundred and sixty-six metres to the Deloraine bridge at two hundred and thirty-two, and the fall of the river on this page shows the gradient easing as it goes: a quick tailrace below the dam past Meander township, a step down around the twenty-four kilometre mark, and a river nearly on the flat by the time it reaches the town. Jackeys Creek comes in three kilometres below the dam, Western Creek at thirty-six and a half, Dampers Creek just above Deloraine with a rapid beside it. The Deloraine bridge gauge reads flow and height at the bottom of the stretch.
Shingle riffles, long runs, pools. IFS's description, and the reason this is fly water: the riffles make the insects, the runs hold the fish, and the pools are where you look for a rising one in the evening. The bank survey on the whole-river page reads the corridor here as a mix of dense timber toward the Tiers and open woodland and pasture toward the town.
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, and this is the stretch where that happens. The stocking record on the whole-river page shows brown trout fry in 2025 and rainbows between 2010 and 2013, small numbers against a river that breeds its own.
The riffles grow mayfly and caddis, hatching through spring and summer, and the cool regulated water keeps them coming when other rivers have gone quiet. Beetles off the bank timber in summer, and the odd grasshopper as the pasture opens out toward Deloraine.
When to fish it
Read the Conditions card on this page. The Deloraine record puts the high water from June to September, six times the summer median in August; from October the gauge drops into the wadeable band and the hatches begin. Then this stretch has the longest season on the river: cool, steady water from the dam through December, January and February when the rivers around it are low, and hatches that run with it. Autumn brings the last dries before the upper-river season closes at the start of May.
If the reading is above the band, the release is up and the runs are not for wading. Fish the edges from the bank and wait.
How to fish it
Upstream nymphing is the method IFS names for this water and the one it rewards. 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 on a second rod or a quick change for the fish that show. A five weight, a floating line, and a long leader for the pools. Where the runs are short, a dry-dropper with a Stimulator over the nymph covers both at once.
Wade with care; IFS says the higher regulated flows have made it harder than it once was. Fish the runs from the tail up, the riffle tails first, and the pools in the evening.
Access and safety
Between Jackeys Creek and Huntsman Lake, at the top of the stretch, IFS describes new parking areas on Warners Road off Jackeys Marsh Road, connected by walking tracks built for the 2019 World Fly Fishing Championship to sections of the river. The Cheshunt Road bridge at Meander township, the road bridges between there and the town, and the Emu Bay Road bridge and riverside in Deloraine put you on the water lower down. Foot access along the river is by the goodwill of landowners and is a privilege, not a right: where access is not signed you must ask, or you are trespassing. Leave gates as you find them, stay off the fences and out of the crops.
The hazard is the flow. The regulated release is stronger than it looks, the shingle moves underfoot, and the water is cold. Studded soles, a staff, and a look at the Deloraine reading before you step in.
Regulations
This stretch lies above Strath Bridge, so it carries the rules Inland Fisheries Service states for the upper Meander: a minimum size, a small daily bag, all methods permitted, and a season from the first Saturday in August to the start of May. 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
More river data The fall of the whole Meander River and its bank survey, with this stretch marked
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
Where does this stretch start and end?
From the Huntsman Lake dam above Meander township to the Emu Bay Road bridge in Deloraine, about twenty-nine kilometres. Below the bridge the river slows into the farmland water that is its own page.
Why does IFS call it the best fly water?
Because of its shape and its flow. Long runs and pools between shingle riffles suit the nymph fished upstream and the dry fly, and since the dam was built in 2007 the regulated release keeps the stretch cool and fishable through summer when the rivers around it are low. IFS notes the fishing below the dam has improved since, particularly in summer.
What does the gauge tell me?
The Deloraine bridge gauge sits at the bottom of this stretch and has read flow and height since 1954. Its latest reading is on this page under Conditions and its record is the river's year on the whole-river page. In the wadeable band, fish the runs; above it, the regulated flow is stronger than it looks and you fish from the bank.