Rainbow trout
Excellent
Prime. Shore fishing along the edges with bait, spinners and flies, and the rivers if the season is open.
St Pauls River above the South Esk Fishing Report
Updated Mon, 9 Nov 2026 from live weather and tide data
The St Pauls River above the South Esk near Avoca: brown trout in the midlands, with a Bureau gauge above the junction.
3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Level
0.64 m
Air / High
9 °C / 18 °C
Wind
ENE 7 km/h
Sources: Bureau of Meteorology gauge 18311.1, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.
Today's Fishing Report
St Pauls River above the South Esk rewards patience today, with cool water and short feeding windows. The gauge reads 0.64 m, up 0.06 over the week. Today brings a mixed sky, wind ENE around 8 km/h, steady pressure near 1022 hPa and a high of 18 °C. Water sits around 13 °C for the season (estimated). With the new moon, the solunar majors run 11:15 PM-1:15 AM and 11:44 AM-1:44 PM: the windows to build the day around.
Brown trout
Excellent
Prime. Nymphs and streamers on the rivers, and the lake edges on the overcast days.
Tie on: Blade or vibe, slow hops · Lightly weighted plastic · Whole pilchard or squid on the bottom · Suspending hardbody. Prime windows: 11:15 PM-1:15 AM, 11:44 AM-1:44 PM, 4:44 AM-5:44 AM. Similar at 19 °C. 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 St Pauls River above the South Esk today
Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today from sunrise (05:45), sunset (20:00), the moon and today's score. Tap a bar to see why.
Bite planner
Solunar majors 11:15 PM-1:15 AM and 11:44 AM-1:44 PM; minor 4:44 AM-5:44 AM. New Moon, 0% lit.
Water and weather
Live readings from Bureau of Meteorology station 18311.1 (ST PAULS RIVER US SOUTH ESK RIVER).
River level, last 30 days
Bureau of Meteorology Water Data Online, station 18311.1. Latest reading 2026-11-08 07:00.
Right now
Latest readings
Air temp9 °C
High / Low18 °C / 5 °C
WindENE 7 km/h, gusts 25 km/h
Pressure1021.5 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain59% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset05:45 / 20:00
MoonNew Moon, 0%
Water temp (seasonal)~13 °C est.
7-day fishing forecast: which day to fish St Pauls River above the South Esk
The best day on St Pauls River above the South Esk this week looks like Thursday 12 Nov, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.
Best day this week: Thursday, 12 Nov — good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.
Today, 9 Nov — Fair
A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
- Solunar majors
- 11:15 PM-1:15 AM and 11:44 AM-1:44 PM
- Minor period
- 4:44 AM-5:44 AM
- Sun
- 05:45 to 20:00
- Moon
- New Moon, 0% lit
- Sky and wind
- Overcast, 16 km/h
- Rain chance
- 0%
Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out.
Species guide
The species that matter on St Pauls River above the South Esk: seasons written for the southern year, and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.
Rainbow trout
Streams from October to June in NSW and from September to June in Victoria; lakes open all year; Tasmania from the first Saturday of 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. Prime. Shore fishing along the edges with bait, spinners and flies, and the rivers if the season is open.
Brown trout
Streams from October to June in NSW and from September to June in Victoria; lakes open all year; Tasmania from the first Saturday of 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. Prime. Nymphs and streamers on the rivers, and the lake edges on the overcast days.
When to come: the St Pauls River above the South Esk 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 13 °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 St Pauls River above the South Esk today.
Water log, last days
Auto-logged from live dataSun, Nov 8
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 13 °C, wind to 13 km/h.
Sat, Nov 7
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 13 °C, wind to 19 km/h.
Fri, Nov 6
3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 19 °C, wind to 24 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
On the St Pauls River above the South Esk a Tasmanian inland angling licence is needed from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the fees.
About this water
St Pauls River above the South Esk is a river in Tasmania, Australia, covered from the Tasmania reports and listed in all Australia waters.
Fishing St Pauls River above the South Esk: the full guide
The St Pauls above the South Esk
The St Pauls River runs through the grazing country of the eastern midlands to join the South Esk near Avoca; the gauge sits just above the junction. The Bureau of Meteorology’s gauge there supplies the level of the St Pauls River above the South Esk and the 30-day chart on this page. The South Esk at Llewellyn has its own page.
Species and seasons
Brown trout are the fish of the St Pauls, in the pools and weedy runs on the fly, lures and bait. The St Pauls River above the South Esk follows the Code’s 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. The South Esk below the Storys Creek Road bridge at Avoca, just downstream, is an extended-season water, open in 2026-27 from 1 August 2026 to 30 May 2027.
Where to fish it
The road crossings around Avoca give access to the river; the valley is private grazing land, so ask before crossing.
Planning a visit
Avoca is the nearest village, and Fingal and Campbell Town have more. Bring light trout gear.
The river through the year
The St Pauls River drains the dry eastern midlands, so it is a modest stream that runs well after winter rain and falls low through the summer. The season opens in August with the river at its fullest, when the trout keep to the slower water; from spring the water warms and the trout take up station in the weedy runs and rise on still evenings. In a dry summer the St Pauls can drop to a trickle between pools, and the trout in the deeper holes become wary. The country around it is open grazing land, and access is from the road crossings. When the river is that low, a small nymph fished upstream into the head of each pool, with the angler kneeling well back from the water, catches more than a long cast across it.
Reading this report here
The chart shows the St Pauls rising after rain on the eastern hills. The water temperature estimate, labelled as one, is cool in spring and autumn; pressure and sky build the score on the St Pauls.
Licence, access and rules
On the St Pauls River above the South Esk a Tasmanian inland angling licence is needed from age 14; our Tasmania licence page has the fees. The Inland Fishing Code, which sets the rules on the St Pauls River above the South Esk, is in the sources.
Common questions
When is the St Pauls River open for trout?
The St Pauls River above the South Esk opens on the first Saturday of August and closes on the Sunday nearest 30 April.
Does the South Esk extended season apply here?
No. It covers the South Esk below Avoca, not the St Pauls.
Do I need a licence here?
Yes: anyone aged 14 or over needs a Tasmanian inland angling licence on the St Pauls River above the South Esk.
Is fishing good at St Pauls River above the South Esk 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 18311.1 — ST PAULS RIVER US SOUTH ESK RIVER
- Open-Meteo forecast model
- https://open-meteo.com/
- Moon and solunar windows
- Calculated on this site
- Pages checked
- 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.