Imagery © Esri
The Delatite is a high-country trout stream with rainbow and brown trout, and summer dry-fly fishing is what people drive up for.
It runs from the slopes of Mount Buller down toward Lake Eildon, cool and shaded in its upper reaches.
Start at Merrijig, where the Mansfield to Mount Buller road crosses the river, and fish upstream with a dry fly in summer. Short, careful drifts suit it.
Fishing rules and seasons change, so read the current Victorian Fisheries Authority guide before you go.
FlyLife's writers describe the Delatite as a classic high-country stream, running from Mount Buller to Lake Eildon. The steep, tumbling headwaters give way to slower, slightly murky tail waters. Upstream of Merrijig the river is well shaded, and the cool, clear water keeps the fishing productive through the season.
The river is small and twisting, so you rarely have room to cast far. That shapes everything else about how you fish it.
Rainbow and brown trout are the fish to plan for; FlyLife calls the Delatite a smaller, lively cousin of the Howqua with a healthy, self-sustaining population of both. Rainbows have been stocked recently, and the stocking chart shows when.
Other species turn up in the river too, carp among them.
For the fly box, attractor and terrestrial dries work well, as do smaller mayfly and caddis nymphs. A Hopper and a Stimulator in sizes 10 to 14 are both listed for brown and rainbow trout.
Summer dry-fly fishing is a listed highlight of the river. FlyLife's writers describe early-season flows as often high with snowmelt, settling by November to suit a dry-dropper and then a straight dry fly as summer warms up.
Keep it short. Long casts are unnecessary and rarely possible, and backcast room is limited, so short, careful drifts are the way to work a run.
Start with an attractor or terrestrial dry. A Stimulator or Hopper in sizes 10 to 14 is a fair place to begin. When nothing is rising, in our experience a small mayfly or caddis nymph is a sound fallback.
The Mansfield to Mount Buller road crosses the Delatite at Merrijig, and there is fishable water from there up into the headwaters at the base of Mount Buller. FlyLife lists the road access as a highlight. A walking trail follows the river from the Carters Mill picnic area through the Mount Buller resort entry and on into the headwaters.
FlyLife's writers say reaching some of the better water means pushing through a grove of invasive sycamores or picking a careful line through blackberries. As on any bush river, take care with your footing, and read the signs and fences on the ground before you cross land.
Take the season, bag and size limits, and any trout-water or closed-waters listing, from the current Victorian Fisheries Authority guide before you fish.
The year on this water
A year at a glance; check current rules
How well this water has been surveyed
254 capture records, 5 decades of 5 on file
Atlas of Living Australia — freshwater fish occurrence records (open licences, with coordinates). Occurrence records from the Atlas of Living Australia and its contributing datasets, including the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas, NSW BioNet Atlas, Sustainable Rivers Audit, Murray-Darling Basin fish monitoring programs, OZCAM museum collections and iNaturalist Australia. Each record carries its own licence and originating dataset. retrieved 2026-08-13.
Stocking on record
25,203 fish in 6 records, 1990 to 2024
Victorian Fisheries Authority fish stocking database. retrieved 2026-08-21.
Delatite River @ Tonga Bridge
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No reading shown: No reading has been captured for this gauge yet, so none is shown.
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No reading shown: No reading has been captured for this gauge yet, so none is shown.
Delatite R @ Sawmill Settlement
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No reading shown: No reading has been captured for this gauge yet, so none is shown.
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No reading shown: No reading has been captured for this gauge yet, so none is shown.
Readings from the Bureau of Meteorology's Water Data Online, © Commonwealth of Australia, licensed CC BY 4.0. Nothing here is a forecast. Check the gauge before you rely on it.
Live weather for Delatite River @ Tonga Bridge loads here. If it does not, check the Bureau of Meteorology forecast before you go.
Rainbow and brown trout, in a population described as healthy and self-sustaining. Rainbows have also been stocked recently, and the stocking chart shows when.
Attractor and terrestrial dries, plus smaller mayfly and caddis nymphs. A Hopper or a Stimulator in sizes 10 to 14 is listed for both trout.
No. Long casts are unnecessary and rarely possible on this small, twisting river, so short, careful drifts are the way to fish it.
Take the season, bag and size limits, and the closed-waters list, from the current Victorian Fisheries Authority guide before you fish.
