Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Adrian-Webbs-Trout-Tips » Aglia Furia Browns & Rainbows
Aglia Furia Browns & Rainbows
By Adrian (meppstas) Webb
Storms were forecast to hit around midday, so I headed over to the Mersey River for a quick spin session before it hit. I started off using a #1 Mepps Aglia Furia and picked up a very tiny brown trout on the very first cast. It was pretty small, so I didn't bother to photograph it. The less that these little trout are handled, the better their survival rate is. From there I decided to head downstream for some three hundred metres and fish my way back upstream.
As I made my way over a very rocky old backwater, I spotted a few cormorants flying overhead which wasn't a good sign. Then, when I arrived where I was about to start fishing, two more of them took off from the edge of the river. I could hear the rumble of thunder in the distance, so I thought I had better get my act together and get stuck into flicking the Aglia Furia around.
Two casts later I had my second trout on and soon in hand. It was another small fish and once photographed it was back in the river. A few casts and retrieves, while fishing the headwaters, and I was onto another small brown. Another cast, back into that same piece of water, caught my fourth small trout of the day. All these fish had taken the Aglia Furia.
Even though they were small trout, it was better than not catching a fish, that's for sure. I headed a little further downstream and started casting the Furia up and across the river, letting it drift with the flow. That's when a solid rainbow took the spinner. This fish put up a great fight all the way into the net. It was a beautifully coloured 'bow, that went just on 410 grams.
After a quick photo it was soon back in the river. From here I fished my way back upstream, without seeing another fish for at least four hundred metres. Finally, I had a nice rainbow trout come up behind the spinner. That's as far as it went with that rainbow, it just would not take the lure. The thunder seemed to be getting much closer now and it had started to rain, so I decided to head back to the car.
On the way back I noticed a few small duns hovering above the water and then small trout started jumping from the river trying to get hold of them. I made my way across the river and headed up a small stream that flowed into the Mersey. It was here that I noticed a trout rise and sip something from the surface. I cast the lure a few feet past where I had spotted the trout and slowly retrieved the lure, while keeping the rod tip high to keep the spinner close to the surface.
It didn't take all that long before the Aglia Furia was taken by a solid medium size brown. I had taken a punt on catching that brown too. Normally when they're surface feeding, they rarely take a lure, however keeping the spinner close to the surface was what did the trick and sucked that fish in. Like the rainbow, it was back in the water in quick time, after taking a photo of it.
The rain finally stopped, as did the thunder, then the sun broke through making it quite steamy. The sky was still very black toward the north and the wind had picked up from that direction too… the weather was moving in again. As much as I would have liked to keep on fishing, I thought it was best to call it a day. The decision to call it a day was a good one, as no sooner had I reached the car the sky opened, and the rain set in… as did the lightning show.
Adrian (meppstas)
Equipment Used on this Trip:
Okuma Celilo Finesse Spin Rod - ULS 1-3kg 6' trout rod
Okuma Epixor Spin Reels – EPXT-20
Platypus Super 100 and Platypus Pre-Test Mono
Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader
Mepps Inline Spinners - Mepps Furia