Rainbow trout
Slow
Winter lakes: bait on the bottom in the deeper bays through the middle of the day, or polaroiding the shallows on the bright days in Tasmania.
Clyde River at Bothwell Fishing Report
Updated Fri, 25 Sept 2026 from live weather and tide data
The Clyde at Bothwell in the Central Highlands foothills: wild browns in the river that drains Lake Crescent, with a Bureau gauge at the town.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
0.05 m
Air / High
8 °C / 19 °C
Wind
W 10 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 54.1, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
Clyde River at Bothwell is in its winter rhythm: deep, slow and around the middle of the day. The gauge reads 0.05 m, holding steady. Today brings cloud cover, wind W around 10 km/h, rising pressure near 1024 hPa and a high of 19 °C. Water sits around 8 °C for the season (estimated). With the full moon, the solunar majors run 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM: the windows to build the day around.
Brown trout
Slow
The lake fishery: bait or slow lures in the deeper bays; the rivers are closed in NSW and Victoria.
Tie on: Bait on the bottom, running sinker · Heavy blade, deep · Slow-rolled swimbait · Live bait, deepest hole. Prime windows: 10:25 AM-12:25 PM, 10:25 PM-12:25 AM, 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Cooler at 9 °C with likely rain: fish ahead of the front. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.
Before you go
Tasmania requires a fishing licence for most fishing, from A$29.00. Tasmania fishing licence: cost, rules and where to buy →
Chasing rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with IFS Tasmania before you keep anything; the Rainbow trout page has the seasons and the tactics.
Fishing times for Clyde River at Bothwell today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:56), sunset (18:11), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM; minor 4:55 AM-5:55 AM. Full Moon, 99% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 54.1 (CLYDE RIVER AT BOTHWELL).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 54.1. Latest reading 2026-09-24 08:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp8 °C
High / Low19 °C / 8 °C
WindW 10 km/h, gusts 22 km/h
Pressure1023.7 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain98% cloud, 100%
Sunrise / Sunset05:56 / 18:11
MoonFull Moon, 99%
Water temp (seasonal)~8 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish Clyde River at Bothwell
The best day on Clyde River at Bothwell this week looks like Sunday 27 Sept, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today. Every day is scored by the same engine as the report above: pressure trend first, then wind, sky and season. Pick a species and the plan for that day changes with it.
Best day this week: Sunday, 27 Sept — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 25 Sept — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 10:25 AM-12:25 PM and 10:25 PM-12:25 AM
- Minor period
- 4:55 AM-5:55 AM
- Sun
- 05:56 to 18:11
- Moon
- Full Moon, 99% lit
- Sky and wind
- Showers, 19 km/h
- Rain chance
- 100%
Scores are a planning aid built from forecast data, not a promise.
Species guide
The species that matter on Clyde River at Bothwell: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Rainbow trout
Open season from October to June in NSW and Victoria; Tasmania from August
Open now Closes 3 May 2027. Most waters open from the first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April; designated rainbow trout waters run from the Saturday nearest 1 October to the Sunday nearest 31 May. Rule as read from Inland Fisheries Service Tasmania on 2026-09-23.
The stocked lakes of the Snowy Mountains, the Victorian highlands and the Tasmanian central plateau. Closed seasons apply on the rivers: check the state rules. Winter lakes: bait on the bottom in the deeper bays through the middle of the day, or polaroiding the shallows on the bright days in Tasmania.
Brown trout
Open season from October to June in NSW and Victoria; Tasmania from August
Open now Closes 3 May 2027. Most waters open from the first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April; designated rainbow trout waters run from the Saturday nearest 1 October to the Sunday nearest 31 May. Rule as read from Inland Fisheries Service Tasmania on 2026-09-23.
The wild trout of the highland rivers and Tasmania's lakes. Spawns in autumn, hence the closed rivers through winter in NSW and Victoria. The lake fishery: bait or slow lures in the deeper bays; the rivers are closed in NSW and Victoria.
When to come: the Clyde River at Bothwell calendar
Activity by species and month for the southern year, and how the water warms and cools. Tap any cell.
Species activity by month
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted. January is midsummer here.
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
SlowPeak
Water temperature through the year
Typical surface temperature for this water type in degrees Celsius; today is around 8 °C (estimated, not a reading).
Angler reports
Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. Nothing here is copied from a shop or a charter. The water log below tracks each day automatically.
No angler reports yetBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Clyde River at Bothwell today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataThu, Sep 24
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at slow. High of 19 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Wed, Sep 23
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at fair. High of 15 °C, wind to 11 km/h.
Tue, Sep 22
4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Rainbow trout led the card at fair. High of 13 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Before you go
Licence
Tasmanian Inland Angling Licence, from A$29.00, the same for residents and visitors. Details and where to buy →
Regulations
Size and bag limits, closed seasons and marine park zones are set by IFS Tasmania and change: confirm the current rules on the agency page linked from the Tasmania licence page before you keep anything.
Access
The Tasmanian inland angling licence applies on the Clyde from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the fees.
About this water
Clyde River at Bothwell is a river in Tasmania, Australia, covered from the Tasmania reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing Clyde River at Bothwell: the full guide
The Clyde at Bothwell
Bothwell is the historic Central Highlands town on the Clyde River, the stream that drains Lake Crescent and runs south through sheep country to Hamilton and the Derwent. The town is known for its sandstone buildings and its place in Tasmanian trout fishing history. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge at Bothwell supplies the river level and the 30-day chart on this page. Lake Crescent and Lake Sorell have their own pages.
Species and seasons
Wild brown trout are the fish of the Clyde at Bothwell, in the runs and the weedy pools on the fly, lures and bait. The Clyde is not listed separately in the Inland Fishing Code, so it follows the general river rules: open from the first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April, computed on the species card, with a bag of five fish over 220 mm.
Where to fish it
The reserves and the bridges at Bothwell give access to the Clyde, and anglers walk the banks from them. The river is small and often low in summer, so the spring and autumn months fish best. The pools and the weed beds near the town bridges are where the browns hold, and a small nymph or a dry fly in the spring and autumn hatches is the classic Clyde method.
Planning a visit
Bothwell is on the Lake Highway between Hamilton and the Central Plateau, with a pub, a store and accommodation, and it is the gateway to lakes Crescent and Sorell and the Great Lake. Bring light trout gear, and combine the river with a plateau lake in the same trip.
Reading this report here
The Clyde’s flow depends on the releases from Lake Crescent and on rain, which the chart shows; in dry summers the river runs very low. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is cool in spring and autumn; pressure and sky build the score at Bothwell.
Licence, access and rules
The Tasmanian inland angling licence applies on the Clyde from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the fees. The general river rules and the season are in the Inland Fishing Code in the sources.
Common questions
When is the Clyde open for trout?
From the first Saturday of August to the Sunday nearest 30 April.
Where does the Clyde River start?
At Lake Crescent in the Central Highlands.
Do I need a licence on the Clyde?
Yes: the Tasmanian inland angling licence, from age 14.
Is fishing good at Clyde River at Bothwell right now?
Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Nearby waters
Where this page's numbers come from
- Storage and river readings
- Bureau of Meteorology, Water Data Online, station 54.1 — CLYDE RIVER AT BOTHWELL
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on How our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.