Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Adrian-Webbs-Trout-Tips » Brown Trout on Brown Bugs
Brown Trout on Brown Bugs
By Adrian (meppstas) Webb
It's now been five days since we had 46mm of rain here and the level of the tannin waters are dropping fast, so I only had today and tomorrow left for a spin session in them before they're too low to fish. This trip required a forty-minute walk to where I started off the spin session, in what was quite good conditions. Apart from the lack of cloud, it was a top morning to be chasing trout.
It was 8:50am when I hit the river and started the session off with a well-used #00 Copper Mepps Aglia, mainly because I was fishing in shade and the water was still reasonably dark in colour. If it didn't catch a trout, then I would make a change. The water level had already dropped by a few inches since my last trip, so I had to make the most of fishing these tannin waters while there was still some decent water flowing in them.
Casting up and across the stream, into the flat water near the riverbanks, I had a few light hit and misses on the Aglia. I wasn't sure whether to stick with it or give it a bit longer. I did the latter and it wasn't all that long until I had my first hook up and trout in hand. It was a small/medium brown and a plump fish it was. I continued working the spinner from one side to the other in the stream, as I slowly fished my way up it. I had a couple more hook ups but lost both fish. I don't mind losing the odd trout, every now and then, but when I lose two in a row then it's time for a lure change. It was off with the Aglia and on with a #00 March Brown coloured Mepps Bug spinner.
The water level varied quite a lot, from knee deep water to some very shallow runs of only a few inches, as I fished my way upstream. It was the knee deep runs where I was having the odd hit and miss. The trout came hard and fast at the spinner but were missing the trebles, even when they did go at the lure, to me they seemed a little skittish. The water being much lower and becoming a little lighter in colour probably had a lot to do with it. Several times I saw trout darting off at the slightest movement that I made in the water.
What seemed like ages after catching the first trout, it was only ten minutes later when I had my second trout take the Bug spinner in a nice medium flowing stretch of water. A little further up and five minutes on, I landed two trout from three hook ups and four casts in a small shallow piece of water. With four trout caught and released things were looking good and a double figure session was on the cards today.
Well... I spoke too soon as the following half a kilometre of this stream only gave up three hits, for one hooked and lost fish. It took forty minutes before I landed trout number five. The water that I was now fishing had a lot more shallow stretches along it, than any of the ones I fished earlier this morning. Not only that, the sun was now hitting the water which meant the trout could shut down at any time.
From here on the trout were pretty well scattered in the stream, with up to fifty minutes without a fish being caught, down to three trout caught in eight minutes. This went on until I called it a day at 12:40pm. Due to the stream now being in full sun and lower water levels the further I went upstream it was enough to end the spin session.
The good thing was that I did finish up with fifteen trout, ranging from 260 grams through to 325 grams. I did hook and lose quite a few and had many hit and misses during the time spent in the water. It was a long time chasing trout today, in what was difficult fishing conditions overall, however it was still well worth the time and effort that I put into it.
With the water level dropping at a fast rate now, I'll only get one more spin session in before it's no longer viable to head back here until we get another decent dose of rain. My next trip will be tomorrow, in another area a couple of kilometres further upstream. Here's hoping there's a few trout to be had up there...
Equipment Used:
Okuma Celilo Finesse Spin Rods - ULS 1-3kg trout rod
Okuma Helios SX Spin Reels - HSX-20 spinning reel
Mepps inline spinners
Platypus Super 100 Monofilament fishing line
Platypus Pre-Test Monofilament fishing line
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader
Boomerang Tool Company Products