Tasmanian Trout Opening Feature 2025
by Spot On Fishing Hobart 30 Jul 13:48 PDT
Trolling at Great Lake © Spot On Fishing Hobart
As the 2025 Tasmanian trout season approaches, anticipation is high among anglers across the state. With cooler temperatures lingering and water levels stabilising after some winter rainfall, conditions are shaping up for a fairly strong start across rivers, lakes, and highland waters.
Here are some top spots to try over the coming weeks:
Arthurs Lake
- Fly Fishing: Excellent early-season choice. Bays like Seven Pound Bay, and Creely Bay are prime locations.
- Use Yellow Rabbit, Shrek, and Cormorants near rocky shores.
- Lure Casting: Try shallow-running hardbodies (50mm - 70mm) or soft plastics like Gulp Swimming Mullet near submerged trees.
- Trolling: Flatline with Tasmanian Devils (S11, 125, 50)
Great Lake
- Fly Fishing: Limited action until water warms, but deeper rocky shores with onshore breeze can produce well with weighted Galaxia style streamers. Look to Elizabeth Bay or the rocky western shores.
- Lure Fishing & Trolling: Excellent for rainbows and browns—troll metallic or pink lures, or deeper running Bibbed minnows like Double Clutch 70s and Rigge 70 DEEP around Swan Bay. Lead lines can help to reach 3-4m depth if your lures won't reach.
Penstock Lagoon
- Fly Fishing Mecca - Best for early-season streamer fishing with Mcgoo's, Black Fuzzle Buggers, and the Penstock Fly. If fishing from a boat a range of different sink rate fly lines really helps find where the fish are feeding.
- Edge polaroiding is possible on calm days with fish charging lightly weighted wet flies.
- Lure and trolling not permitted - fly only.
Little Pine Lagoon
- Water levels are ideal for early morning tailers after some recent heavy rains.
- If Fish are close to the edges—try nymphs under dry or small fur flies.
- Lure and trolling not permitted - fly only.
Central & Southern Lakes
Bronte Lagoon
- Fly Fishing - Good for all methods. With recent rains there will hopefully be some excellent flooded edge fishing. Use 007s and MK11s along flooded edges.
- Lure Casting: Work soft plastics and small spinners near the Bronte Canal and Long Shore.
- Trolling: very productive in the middle of the lake, Strike Pro and FishCraft Lures are popular choices.
Lake Echo
- Trolling hotspot - work the western shore and Northern shores using deep-diving minnows or use lead lines with 13g Tassie Devils (48, 450 and 94) and Stump Jumpers.
- Fly anglers will do well around Brocks, Teal and Large Bay. Popular fly choices are Small black nymphs for sight fishing to fish sitting on edges or Green Machines for blind searching around drop offs and rocky edges.
Eastern Lakes
Tooms Lake
- Great early season edge fishing for fly anglers - Olive yetis and Hummies fished hard against the shores.
- Lure Fishing: Gold minnows (shallow running) and wonder spoons.
- Trolling: Effective in deeper arms, particularly with Wonder Spoons or small Rapalas.
Lake Leake
Often underrated- has both browns and rainbows.
- Fly Fishing: Olive/Orange buggers slowly stripped along weed edges particularly along the northern end of Big timber and Red Beach.
- Lure: Drift Spinning or Casting from the shore using Rigge 70sp and Hawk Snipers in darker colours.
- Trolling: is productive around the entire lake and due to the large amounts of sunken timber around the lake it's advised to troll from Spot A to Spot B as you will be surprised where fish are found. Shallow running Lures are best.
Western & Northern Tasmania
Lake Burbury
- Prime trolling water - regarded as one of the best trout fisheries in the state by many, Burbury is primarily a boat fishing lake and early season is best suited to trolling. Pinks, Blues and Silvers are popular choices in lure colours with the lake having HUGE populations of both rainbow and brown trout.
Lake Plimsoll: Is a designated Brook Trout water and currently the best the state has to offer if you wish to catch one of these fish. The northern end around Anthony Dam is a popular shore-based choice and brightly coloured soft plastics like orange and pink are favoured among anglers.
AFTA New Gear
Staff members Alex Green and Rob Miller have just returned from AFTA - Australia's largest tackle show
where they got to see a lot of great new products that will heading to our store in the following weeks/months.
We will be highlighting some of these products that we think will be fantastic for tassie on social media as they arrive.
IFS Hotspots
This year the IFS has put together their top 10 spots to fish early season.
Top 10 Early Season Spots
Final Thoughts
Early August offers a mix of challenge and reward. The fish are hungry but cautious, and water temps demand slower, deliberate tactics. Whether you're stripping wets in a highland lagoon, bouncing a lure past a snag, or trolling a Tassie Devil in a lake, there's every reason to hit the water early and often this season. We hope all anglers have a fantastic season and hope to see you in store soon and would really love to see the photos of your catch over the season.
Cheers from the team at Spot On Hobart.