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Cattle End the Trout Fishing

By Adrian (meppstas) Webb

I headed off for another afternoon spin session in a tannin stream and hit the water just on 1:45pm, in what was reasonably good conditions. The water level had dropped by a few inches since yesterday's trip, so I was hoping that there would be a few more trout out and about today. When I left home it was nice and overcast, however by the time I hopped into the water the clouds had parted and the sun was out. It was a good thing that there was plenty of insect life hovering above the water.

The first thing that I noticed was a small trout jumping in the pool that I had just entered, which was a good sign. After several casts around this knee deep tannin water, with a Copper Mepps Aglia, I finally had a hit from a small trout and that's as far as it went. I moved on to the next narrow stretch of water. Half a dozen cast and retrieves there and the same thing happened, with one solid hit and miss and that was it.

Feeling a little frustrated that the trout hadn't taken the little Aglia, I went for a change of lure and it was on with a #00 March Brown coloured Mepps Bug spinner, a lure that's sucked in quite a few trout in these tannin waters this season. The next stretch of water looked good for holding trout and a couple of casts into it I managed a hook up. I lost it as fast as it took it... which didn't go down all that well with me at all.

The trout were showing some aggression, however they were not taking the lure full on. They were coming hard and fast at it, then snapping at it as they turned away. It was more like they were acting in a territorial manner, rather than attacking the lure as if it were food. A little further up the stream and the same thing happened again. Another hooked and lost fish, plus a hit and miss. By now I was really getting ticked off!

It was time for another change of lure and this time it was on with a Gold #00 Mepps Aglia Mouche Noire. The very first cast, straight up another narrow run and the lure was taken by a trout as soon it hit the water. This trout was well hooked and after a brief battle I had the trout in the net. It had taken forty minutes to catch the first of the session.

Over the following couple of runs I had a couple more light hits, before reaching a very long deep stretch of water. One that was way too deep to wade. I had several cast and retrieves into it, for just the one hit and miss. There was some good trout water half a kilometre further up, so that's where I decided to head. There was one thing that stopped me from going there though and instead sent me back to the car.

As I climbed the river bank to head there, I came across thirty or more cattle in the paddocks and there wasn't any way around them. To make matters worse they were a mix of young and old bulls and they spotted me as I went to enter the paddock. No sooner had they seen me, they ran to where I was standing next to the electric fence. That was enough for me to call it a day here. Had they been dairy cows it wouldn't have been a problem, however, being bulls, well I just don't trust them.

I did think about heading off to another area once I was back at the car, then thought twice about it and headed on home. With this COVID-19 virus that's spread across the country I'm only fishing the small tannin streams close to home and still in my council area, which was allowable at the time or writing.

Equipment Used:
Okuma Celilo Finesse Spin Rods - ULS 1-3kg trout rod
Okuma Inspira Blue Spin Reels - ISX-20B spinning reel
Platypus Super 100 Monofilament fishing line
Platypus Pre-Test Monofilament fishing line
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader

Mepps Inline Spinners
Boomerang Tool Products

Adrian (meppstas)