Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Adrian-Webbs-Trout-Tips » A better than average day on the trout 24-2-21

A better than average day on the trout 24-2-21

With poor weather forecast I thought a late afternoon trip to a tannin stream may be worth a shot, so off I went to my favourite little stream.

It was 3:05 pm when I hit the river, and thankfully where I fished was sheltered from the gusty 15-20 kph winds. The water level was very low and a light tannin colour in the shallow areas to a dark coffee colour in the deeper runs. Even though the water level was much lower than I would have preferred, it was still worth trying to see if I could catch a trout or two. I started off using a small Mepps #00 Stone Fly Bug spinner and had a follow from a small brown trout on the first cast, a good sign to see a trout show some interest so early in the session. The only problem was the lack of aggression from that little trout.

The next stretch of water the same thing happened, no sooner had the spinner hit the water a trout came straight at it, this time it did have a half hearted nip at the spinner. My main problem at this stage was the low water level, with each step I took the slightest noise of my wading boots on the gravel bottom sent trout darting off every which way. I was starting to wonder if I had made the right choice heading here today instead of putting up with the wind and fishing one of the larger rivers.

One good thing I noticed was that the heavy rains we had a couple of weeks ago had moved a couple of small log jams and made it a little easier to fish my way upstream. I'm sure the larger ones further up the stream will still be there, in fact they may be worse now than they were before the stream flooded.

After having that hit and miss I gave a Mepps #00 Gold Aglia a bit of a work out, however it didn't attract a strike either. The trout were still darting off as I slowly made my way upstream, the water was just too shallow at this stage. I knew there was some deeper stretches of water ahead of me and that's the only reason I pushed on. In the meantime I went for another lure change, this time it was the one that's been doing well on the trout for a few weeks now, the #00 March Brown Bug spinner. I felt it was worth a shot because it's very similar in colour to the grasshoppers that are out and about at this time of the year. It wasn't all that long before I came to a deeper, narrow stretch of water and it was here I had a solid hit from a trout but missed a hookup. Even though the fish failed to find the hooks, the attack on the spinner was aggressive and that's what I was wanting all along.

A little further on near a bend in the stream was a shallow run that had a small deepish area close to the right side of it, and that's where I flicked the March Brown spinner. On the retrieve I felt a bump on the spinner, I wasn't sure if it was a hit from a trout, or did the spinner bottom-bounce as it was retrieved back into the shallower water? Another cast was fired back into the same area and this time as I retrieved the spinner it was taken hard and fast... at last it was fish on, the first trout of the session was well and truly hooked.

Fifteen minutes on I hooked and landed another small brown in a wide but shallow stretch of water, then ten minutes later the third trout fell to the little March Brown spinner. Three trout caught and released in the last twenty minutes wasn't too bad, I hooked and lost a couple more before catching the forth trout fifty minutes later.

It was time to try another spinner, this time I went for a #00 Bug spinner, and what a great choice that was. While fishing a deep dark tannin slow-flowing stretch of water, the trout of the day was caught and released, which came out of nowhere for the strike. It went 420 grams, a beautiful well-conditioned fish that was very dark in colour, not the usual deep golden colour like most of the trout in this stream.

The next piece of water I fished was similar to the one I had just been in, the only difference was that it was divided by a large fallen tree that I had to climb over. On the first cast and retrieve into it, the lure was hit hard and fast and I had another solid brown on that tried its hardest to run me into the snags. It didn't succeed and I came out on top with that fish.

I was feeling a lot happier with how the afternoon was going with six trout now caught and released, so decided to go for another change of lure as I moved back into the shallower waters again. Over the following thirty minutes I caught and released two more well-conditioned medium size trout - a double figure catch may well happen before I call it a day. After having a couple of hits and misses I made another change of lure, this time it was a #00 Stone Fly Bug spinner that went on. It didn't take all that long until I missed a brown that had a good go at the spinner in a shallow run. A little further up I flicked the spinner into a narrow snaggy piece of water, and had an instant hookup. This trout did its best to run me into the tight debris-filled water, so I kept the pressure on the fish with the rod tip high to stop it. It didn't take all that long before I had full control of this trout, and had it in the net. It was only a medium size trout but it was a tough one, and had it made its way into any of the snags or debris, I would certainly have lost it.

Looking ahead there was another massive log jam. I just couldn't be bothered climbing over it, so my day was done and I finished it one short of the double figure score I would have liked to end with. The spin session turned out a lot better than I had anticipated that's for sure... with the water so low I did quite well in catching nine trout.

Equipment used during my trout season:
Okuma Celilo Finesse Spin Rods - ULS 1-3kg
Okuma LRF Spin Rods - 1-3kg
Okuma Inspira Blue Spin Reels - ISX-20B
Okuma Helios SX Spin Reels - HSX-20
Okuma Epixor XT Spin Reels - EXPT-20
Okuma Ceymar Spin Reels - C-10
Mepps Inline Spinners
Platypus Super 100 Monofilament Fishing Line
Platypus Pretest Monofilament Fishing Line
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader