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Double Figure Days

By Adrian (meppstas) Webb 

Unpredictable weather was forecast again today, and with the major rivers still running high it was back to what's turning out to be my most reliable trout water, the tannin waters. Rain, wind and thunderstorms were on the forecast and I'm never all that happy being in the water when thunderstorms are forecast because graphite rods are a great conductor of electricity.

This time I was in the water by 10:30am, in what was dull, overcast and mild weather. Perfect conditions for trout fishing. The one and a half kilometre stretch of water that I had planned on fishing today is one that runs hot and cold with the trout. They're either on or they're off. I reckon I've had more off trips here than on trips over the past couple of seasons, however when the trout have been on, the catch rate is well into double figures.

The water was running at a light to medium tannin colour and running marginally higher than my last trip to the lower reaches, where I had a good few hours fishing a few days ago. The first small stretch of water that I fished was in a well-covered area and I had a follow from a small, half interested brown trout on the first cast, using a Mepps #0 Aglia Fluo rainbow spinner. After having a few more cast and retrieves, without a sign of a trout, it was onto the next stretch of water. There I didn't even see a trout and I was starting to think that this was going to be one of those off days with trout fishing.

As I made my way into the next run, I thought I would remove the Aglia rainbow spinner and go to a #0 Aglia Fluo brown trout pattern spinner. This was one that got the majority of trout on my last trip. The first cast and retrieve into the following water and it was fish on. A medium size (290g) brown had snapped up the spinner in quick time.

A couple more cast and retrieves in this short run didn't attract any trout, however the first cast to the top end of it did. A small brown had darted out of nowhere and grabbed it. Two trout in three minutes was more to my liking and the change of spinner was a good one too.

Over the following couple of narrow fast waters I did manage two hits, for one hooked and lost trout, before moving into a wide, deep stretch of water. This was one of two deep waters that are not all that far apart in the stream I was fishing today. It was in the first stretch of water and with a long cast and retrieve to the left side of it, where I hooked and landed my third trout. This was another small (285g) fish.

With this water being too deep to wade, as was the next one ahead, I had to hop out and bypass it and then hop back in at the tail end of the next deep stretch of water. Once there, I started off casting and retrieving the lure to the right hand side of the stream and continued to work the stream in an arc by lobbing the casts around a metre apart.

It wasn't until I made my last cast, to the left hand side of the stream, when a trout took the lure and trout number four was landed. This long stretch of water ahead of me was way too deep to wade, plus both sides of it were too high above the water to fish from effectively. Once out of the tail end of it I had a three hundred metre walk to where I could hop back in and safely fish my way upstream.

Fishing the first few runs of medium/fast flowing water and things were very quiet, with no signs of trout. As good as they looked, there wasn't a fish to be had. It wasn't until I reached a narrow piece of water, when I picked up another trout. It had been holding out on the edge of a flat water that had a nice bubble line on it. The trout wasn't a large fish, just the average small/medium size fish that is common in small streams. As most trout fisher's know, trout can bob up in areas where you least expect it, and that's why I never bypass any small waters, especially those that have a flat water in them like the one I caught that trout in.

I still had plenty of good trout water ahead and I was feeling very confident of breaking the double figure catch in consecutive trips to this tannin stream. Over the following fifty metres of water I hooked and lost four trout in a row, with two of them being good size fish in the 400 gram range. For some reason they were tossing the Aglia Fluo lure. It wasn't from blunt trebles either because I regularly check them and run the sharpening stone over the trebles.

I reluctantly made the decision to go for a change of lure and I went with a #0 Mepps White Miller Bug spinner. I didn't have any success with the Bug spinner at all, which was unusual because it's normally a trout killer in these waters. Today it wasn't.

Another change of lure was made and it was on with my trusty, old and well used #00 Gold Aglia spinner. This little Mepps spinner has more than done its job on the trout over a very long time. Off the top of my head I'd say it's caught around ninety trout. How much longer it will last... only time will tell. The treble hooks were showing a lot of wear and tear from so much use and today may be the day it breaks down and is placed into retirement.

The choice to use the little Gold Aglia turned out to be the right one and from here on I went on to catch another seven browns, with the trout of the day being one of them. The trout of the day wasn't anything big at all. A fish of 345 grams was as good as it got here today and I was happy with that. So, with a dozen trout caught today, it was just the session I wanted to lift my season's catch rate. With twenty six trout caught in the past two trips it has now given my season catch rate a much needed lift.

I did keep three of the biggest trout today for two young (9 and 11 year old) lads who live on a farm nearby and they're always on the lookout for when I return to the car. I did promise to keep a few for them the last time I saw them here. I'm also teaching them the basics of trout fishing as they're wanting to learn how to catch trout. Their father (Reg, who I've met) isn't into fishing, so I'll help them out as often as I can. With a lot more rain forecast over the following week, I'm not sure when I'll be back in a river or stream. Let's hope it's not too long...

Adrian (meppstas)

Equipment used on various trout trips:

Okuma Celilo Finesse Spin Rods - ULS 1-3kg trout rods
Okuma LRF Spin Rods - Split Grip 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
Platypus Super 100 Monofilament Fishing Line
Platypus Pre-Test Monofilament Fishing Line
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader
Mepps Inline Spinners
Boomerang Tool Products