Some years ago, I attempted to walk along the beach in the firm compacted sand left by the retreating waves wearing only my underpants. The intention was to make myself as light as possible so as to leave no footprints, as if no-one was to know I had ever been there. Passers-by surely felt they had an encounter with a bunyip, but no – it was me, gliding along the sand ballet-style. I failed miserably and surmised that I’m far too heavy and hairy for this sort of caper, plus my enormous hammer-toes leave a really weird imprint…

Luckily, there’s someone out there willing to take up this challenge and are offering up some special seats on this unique ride. Introducing: RiverFly Wilderness Huts.

RiverFly Wilderness Huts are located on the iconic conservation property, Skullbone Plains, which shares a 16 kilometre boundary with the World Heritage Area. These are the only commercial huts in Tasmania with direct access to the famed Western Lakes fishery.

Skullbone Plains

The camp consists of three accommodation huts (sleeping a maximum two persons per hut), along with a communal hut, discretely located on the edge of an un-touched forest and moorland. Just 250 metres away is the beautiful Lake Ina and the Walls of Jerusalem National Park & World Heritage Area. RiverFly have formed a partnership with the Tasmanian Land Conservancy (the local land owner), ensuring that a proportion of income from every fly fisher that stays at the Wilderness Huts goes directly to the TLC, in support of their New Leaf Project and conservation efforts.

The huts themselves are simple, modern & lightweight structures, constructed of insulated steel and timber walls, canvas roofs and ceilings, decks and raised platforms. Built to strict environmental principles, the huts are fully removable, and built to leave little or no trace of their presence within the environment after removal. In addition to the huts themselves, the camp also utilises a fully enclosed toilet pod system, which is emptied off-site each season. Cooking is done on gas and methylated spirit burners, and water is collected on site. All rubbish is removed off-site, each trip.

Wilderness Huts During Construction

Spanning an area of 40 kilometres by 20 kilometres, the Western Lakes has few comparisons globally. The fly fishing is dominated by lake-edge sight fishing and wade-polaroiding, in shallow and crystal clear waters. Dry flies are the norm. The only other comparison to this style of fly fishing is flats-fishing for bonefish. Lake-shallows are scanned for cruising browns, which are targeted with a quick presentation, and the rest is up to the trout and angler.

Beach Polaroiding – Lake Ina

This is an amazing opportunity to come and experience wilderness fly fishing and low-impact camping in Tasmania, in an environmentally sustainable way. Please contact RiverFly for more information, pricing and availabilities.