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Chasing Fast Water Trout
By Adrian (meppstas) Webb
I checked the water heights and found the Meander River level was down to 65cm, which was safe enough for wading the fast water runs, so that's where I headed today. After a forty minute drive through heavy fog, it was 7:20am when I hit the river. It looked to me like it was running a little more than the 65cm that was on the BOM site. To me it seemed like it was close to 70cm. The water running at that height meant that it was still a safe wading height anyway, it's just that I'd have to take it a little slower when crossing from one side of the river to the other.
Seeing as I had a Mepps #0 White Miller coloured Bug spinner already set up on the trout rod, that's what I started the spin session with. Why did I decide to start with the White Miller, mainly because it was a dull morning and the river had a light mist over it, so I felt the trout would spot the White Miller before they would spot a darker colour like a Stone Fly or a March Brown Bug spinner.
After quite a few cast and retrieves, without any signs of a trout, it was off with the White Miller and on with a #0 Mepps March Brown coloured Bug. It wasn't until I had moved up the river and made a long cast into a flat water, near the opposite river bank, then let the Bug drift with the flow, that it was taken by a small brown. It had taken the spinner in the middle of the river and even though it was only a small brown, it certainly knew how to put up a fight in the fast water. Ten minutes into the spin session and I had the first trout in the net. From then on I had several hits and misses. I just couldn't get a hook up!
The fog had lifted and the sun was filtering through the tree lined river bank now. I thought about making a change of lure to a Stone Fly coloured Bug, then decided to stick with the #0 March Brown. It was a good choice to stay with it too as a few minutes on and I was onto the second trout of the morning. This was another small brown that made it to the net.
With the river running a little higher than what was on the BOM site there weren't as many flat water areas along both sides of the river. This was making it tougher to find the trout. I kept casting into the ones that were available along the river and had the odd hit and miss. It wasn't until I had reached the top end of the fast water that I hooked the third trout. It was, like the last two fish, a small brown. Where were the bigger fish? Surely there had to be some larger trout in this area. I was now into a medium flowing stretch of water, below the cattle bridge. This is a stretch of water that usually gives up a couple of trout. Today it didn't, though I did have a couple of solid hits and that's as far as it went. Once past the bridge it was fast water all the way to Huntsman Dam.
Fishing this fast water above the bridge is always tough going, as there's no breaks in it. One just has to take it slow and easy. With the water looking like it had already risen a little more since I started the spin session, I'd certainly be taking it slow and easy. The fishing was pretty slow going above the bridge, with just one hit and miss, after trying several different Mepps spinners (Gold Black Fury and Gold and Copper Aglia).
I went back to the #0 March Brown coloured Mepps Bug. As I fished my way up past an irrigation pump shed, I noticed a small pocket of flat water close to the river bank that had been created by a couple of large fallen tree branches in the river. It was a small flat water that many anglers wouldn't notice or not bother to flick a lure into. These are the ones that will often hold trout and should never be bypassed. Accurate casts into these are very important. Drop it short and you'll get nothing. Cast too far ahead and the lure will get snagged on the fallen branches. The cast has to be spot on to get an instant hook up. When I say spot on, the lure has to lob a few inches behind the fallen timber and also a few inches from the river bank to get a result... if there's a trout holding out there.
These are the challenges I love when trout fishing and it can be very rewarding with a solid trout being caught. There might not be fish there either, but unless you have tried it you'll never know. This is what fast water trout fishing is all about. My cast was spot on and the result was great, a beautiful brown trout took the March Brown Bug in a flash and after a good tussle it was soon in the net. After forty-five minutes, since the last trout was caught, I had my fourth (385g) of the day. It could have been a much better tally, had I not lost several others early on.
I continued to slowly make my way upstream, flicking the spinner into every bit of flat water that I could find and after five minutes I was onto a lovely solid brown. This one was taken after a direct cast straight up the river, followed by a fast retrieve back downstream to keep the spinner at the same pace as the flow. Once in the net I thought it was the same size as the last one I had caught, however after weighing it in the net it went 485 grams. I'm glad I weigh the larger trout and not take a guess at the weight.
Once released I made a long cast into a flat water in the middle of the river, twenty metres ahead of me, and after a couple of turns of the Okuma Helios HSX-20 reel handle I was onto another trout. Two trout in two casts was the best of the day by far. It was a smaller fish too, one around the 280/290 gram mark. After its release I was seriously thinking about getting out and heading to another nice trout water five kilometres downstream.
I didn't get out. I fished until 10:35am, for just one more small trout. I did hook a solid brown but that fish ran into a small tree branch in the river, which helped it to toss the spinner. Just the seven trout landed, in just over three hours, was pretty disappointing, mainly due to the number of trout that were hooked and lost. It could have been a more productive session had they all been landed. Then there were the hits and misses that I had in the time also. It was just one of those days here and that's what fast water fishing is like.
On another day it could have been the opposite way around, with the loss of only two or three trout from eighteen hook ups. From here I headed off to the lower stretch of the Meander River. I didn't stay in the river all that long, in fact I was only in the river for twenty minutes. Not a trout was seen at that time, my body was tired and I knew I was just wasting my time. It was time to head back to the car and go home.
I'll return to the Meander fast water again very soon and as long as the river stays at the lower levels I'll still catch a few trout there. With autumn not all that far off, the trout will still be here and there should be some larger trout to be caught as well.
Adrian (meppstas)
Equipment used on this trip:
Okuma Celilo Finesse Spin Rods - CE-S-662UL 6'6'' 2-6lb trout rod
Okuma Epixor Spin Reels - EPXT-20
Platypus Super 100 Monofilament Line - 4lb
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader
Mepps Inline Spinners - Bug
Mepps Inline Spinners - Aglia
Mepps Inline Spinners - Black Fury
Boomerang Tool Products.