History of Lake Pedder Anglers Club
The club history is currently being compiled for the clubs 40th Birthday Celebration in 2016.
If you have information or photos for the club history collection please contact us.
This page will be updated as archived club material is sorted.
History of Lake Pedder and Lake Pedder Anglers Club
1972 The flooding/filling of Lake Pedder begins
July 1976 25 people attend the foundation meeting of the Strathgordon Licensed Anglers Club (SLAC).
First President R. Seily
Secretary H Cornelius
Treasurer G Parker
First Year Membership was 130
note: official minutes from these early meetings tell of liaison with other departments, ie Inland Fisheries, National Parks and Hydro Electric Commission to keep angler facilities upgraded and visitors informed (much like today).
note: Official weigh in of Trout commences average weight in 1976 - 7.6 kgs
1977 - 1979
8 & 9 kilo trout were common so the club prepared itself to officially break the record for the Heaviest Trout from Inland Waters. 13.1 kg from the Huon River in 1887 caught by Sir Robert Hamilton.
In 1978 the first Australia Day competition was held, this became an annual event within the club. In later years this was renamed Back to Pedder
1980's
The eighties saw the club focus on becomming more of a social club and catered for events such as the Childrens christmas party and the opening weekend trophy dinner which were very important events on the clubs calender.
The weight of the trout slowly declined, average weight 1981 7.1 kg and 1989 1.8 kg.
1990's
The nineties see the club promoting and improving the area for anglers and it managed to hold an average annual membership of about 100 even with the gradual down sizing of the Strathgordon township.
In 1991 the official name changed from Strathgordon Licensed Anglers Club to Lake Pedder Anglers Club
The Caravan Park in Strathgordon was closed and a club working party built the Teds Beach BBQ shelter
2000's
June 2009 saw the closing of the Lake Pedder Chalet resulting in the Club slowing down to one event a year held in January and now titled the Back to Pedder Competition. For two years Hydro Tasmania reopened the Chalet for Club events until Dec 2011 when the Lake Pedder Chalet was reopened.
In 2011 Lake Pedder Anglers club conducted improvements around the lake and installed navigational lights at boat ramps on the northern end of the lake and a navigation light on Teds Beach island was upgraded. Club memorabilia and history information was placed on display at the Lake Pedder Chalet.
Club website established.
2011 and 2012 club membership remains steady with 140 members.
2012 - Trevor the Trout - mascot of the club and the town of Strathgordon was refurbished by the club and reinstalled once again in his home at Strathgordon
History of Lake Pedder Empoundment
The Lake was named after Sir John Pedder, the first Chief Justice in Tasmania. The name of the original lake was officially transferred to the new man made impoundment. Although the new Lake Pedder incorporates the original lake, it does not resemble it in size, appearance or ecology.
It consists of a large empoundment contained by three dams:
Serpentine Dam - a 38m high rockfill dam with a concrete upstream face on the serpentine river
Scotts Peak Dam - a 43m high rockfill dam with a new bitumen upstream face on the upper reaches of the Huon River near Scotts Peak.
Edgar Dam -a 17m high rockfill dam at Lake Edgar near Scotts Peak.
The dams were designed and constructed by Tasmania's Hydro Electric Commission (HEC) as part of the Upper Gordon River hydro-electric generation scheme. This scheme was developed to substantially increase Tasmania's capacity to generate Hydro-electricity in accordance with the Tasmanian Government's policy of attempting to attract secondary industry to the state with the incentive of cheap renewable energy.
The new Huon Serpentine impoundment, which filled after the dams were completed in 1972, drains into Lake Gordon via the McPartlan Pass Canal. Together, the lakes form the biggest water catchment and storage in Australia.
