Mudeye Flyfishing for Trout

Mudeye flyfishing with Troutfit Guiding

Mudeye flyfishing is one of the highlights of the summer season on our highland lakes. When the mudeye move, the trout feed hard, and it can produce fast, exciting fishing right on dark. It is a style that brings good numbers of fish up in the water and gives the angler a real chance at a memorable evening on the Central Highlands lakes in Tasmania and the Snowy Mountains waters.

If you time it right and fish it well, a mudeye evening is hard to beat. On a guided trip we put you in the right place at the right time and coach you through the fishing as the light drops.

What is a mudeye

A mudeye is the nymph, or larval stage, of the dragonfly. It lives among the weed and along the lake edges before it climbs out or swims to the surface to hatch into the adult dragonfly. Trout know them well and hunt them hard, so a good mudeye pattern fished on the right night can draw confident, positive takes.

The evening summer migration

Through the warmer months, and often on still, warm evenings, mudeye migrate toward the shallows and the surface to hatch. This movement usually peaks in the last hour of light and into dark, which is when the trout switch on. Calm bays, weed edges and shorelines are the places to be, and part of the guiding is reading the conditions to pick the night and the spot.

Patterns and how to fish them

We fish mudeye and emerging dun patterns both wet and in the surface film to match what the trout are eating. Early on, a mudeye fished slowly under the surface will find fish that are hunting deeper, and as the migration builds we move up to patterns worked in the film where the trout are taking them right on top. A slow retrieve with the odd pause, and a steady hand when a fish boils on the fly in low light, is what puts trout in the net.

Mudeye fishing suits anglers who enjoy an evening session and do not mind fishing into the dark. Get in touch to book a guided trip and we will have you on the water when the mudeye are moving.