Fishing in Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park

Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park spans the central Tasmanian highlands, running from the alpine country around Cradle Mountain in the north down to Lake St Clair in the south.

The park sits within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area and holds a network of glacial lakes, tarns, and rivers that drain through some of the most remote terrain in Australia.

The fishing here is almost entirely trout fishing — brown and rainbow — in cold, clear water at altitude. Lake St Clair is the anchor.

Australia's deepest lake, it fishes well from late spring through autumn, with gum beetle falls, mayfly hatches, and midge activity in the mornings giving fly anglers reliable surface fishing through the season.

Fishing and boating are both permitted on the lake. One rule applies across the entire park: bait fishing is not permitted. That shapes how you approach every water here — fly or lure, nothing else.

The rivers that feed and drain the park — the Derwent, Narcissus, Forth, Mersey, Murchison, Dove, and others — run through country that is only reachable on foot or by boat across the lake.

The Narcissus River meets Lake St Clair at its northern end, accessible via the ferry that crosses the lake or by walking the Overland Track.

That remoteness is part of what defines the fishing: most of these waters take real effort to reach, and the ones that do see pressure are still fishing within a protected landscape where the habitat is intact.

Check current regulations with the Inland Fisheries Service Tasmania and the Parks & Wildlife Service Tasmania before you go.

Rules around seasons, bag limits, and any water-specific conditions are updated regularly, and fishing inside a national park adds a layer worth confirming before you rig up.