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Fast Water Delivers #300
By Adrian (meppstas) Webb
After having such a great fast water spin session a few days ago, I headed back to the Meander to have another crack at getting a double figure catch. This time it was a midmorning start, on a morning that had clear skies, light breeze and a temperature of 22 degrees later in the day.
It was 9:45am when I hit the river, above the Chestnut Road Bridge, to fish a long nice stretch of fast water. The first thing that I noticed was green algae covering most of the river bottom. As soon as I had seen that, I knew then and there that it wasn't going to be a good day on the trout here.
I did fish around four hundred metres of river, without seeing a trout, so headed back to the car and drove to the fast waters in the upper Meander River. I didn't go to the same stretch of river that I fished three days previously, rather one a lot further up and an area I haven't fished at all this trout season. This fast water may not look all that tough, however I can tell you now that it as tough as it gets and much tougher on the body than the one that I fished a few days ago.
Always remember 'looks can be deceiving' and this is certainly one of them. As tough as it is, it does hold a lot of trout and is well worth the time and effort that one has to put into it. It's also one that's not for the inexperienced trout fisher. It's a mix of long, deep and fast water, along with short scattered fast water, with the occasional wide medium/deep water, all of which are full of slippery rocks of all shapes and sizes that roll underfoot. It only takes one mistake and you will be in the water bouncing your way downstream.
It was 11:55am when I was finally back in the river. The first stretch that I fished, before heading into the fast water, was a long deep medium flowing run that could only be fished from the right hand side, due it it's depth and a little further up some very unsafe fast water. Anyway, all I could manage here, while using the #1 Mepps Aglia Mouche Noire was two hits for one hooked and lost small brown trout.
When I reached the deep, top end of this run, I couldn't go on any further. It was time to get out and do a little bush bashing to the more open fast waters a hundred metres upstream. Once I found my entry point, I was soon in the middle of the river (11:30), slowly making my way upstream while working both sides of the river with the Aglia Mouche Noire.
It wasn't long before I had a hit from a medium size trout, in a shaded piece of water to the left of me, however I missed hooking it. A long cast up and across the river, to the right hand side, and I let the lure drift with the fast water, while retrieving it at the same time. Keeping the spinner at the same speed as the flow and a small brown came out of nowhere and took it. This little 280-290 gram brown gave it's all to toss the spinner, making several leaps from the river, before I slipped the net under it. The first trout of the session was landed at 11:36am.
After that I hooked and lost a couple of small browns, before making a lure change. It was on with a #0 (2.5gram) Mepps Stone Fly coloured Bug spinner to see if that could get a trout to stay on. Several casts and retrieves, to both sides of the river, saw trout chasing the Bug spinner in and around the rocks, nipping at it but just missing being hooked. To me this is just a part of fast water trout fishing. Seeing the trout chase a lure only to miss the trebles or being lipped and then tossing the spinner as quick as they took it.
It wasn't until I had reached a slightly slower flowing fast water that the spinner was taken by one solid brown, a fish that really took off no sooner had it taken it. This was a good size trout that had the Okuma Celilo Finesse ULS 1-3kg rod well and truly bent over. It made quite a few leaps from the river and was certainly testing out the fine 4lb Platypus Super 100 mono line as it made several hard runs every which way.
The little Okuma Inspira ISX-20B reel was holding its own with this trout too as line peeled from the spool. It took a few minutes before the trout tired and I had it in close enough to lead it into the net. With this trout being such a decent size fish, I didn't mess around getting the camera out to video it as I didn't want to chance losing it like I've done previously. It was a good decision as once the trout was in the net out popped the lure. After a couple of quick pics, I weighed it while it was still in the net (less handling of the fish the better) and after deducting the 410 gram net weight the trout went 1.04kg. My first trout over a kilo for this season.
A little further up the river (8 minutes later) and I was onto another nice brown trout that quickly snapped up the Stone Fly spinner. It was taken at the tail end of a long, wide medium flowing stretch of river. After the release of that brown I moved into the medium flowing water and it was here that the trout were few and far between. Those trout that were about only followed the Stone Fly and March Brown Bug spinners. Other Mepps lures that I tried were the Black Fury and Aglia Mouche Noire, all with the same results. The water that was in full sun was just too clear for the trout to take the spinners.
It was time to give the little thirteen year old, unbranded brown trout pattern lure a go in the clear water to see if a trout may take a liking to it. Well, it didn't take all that long before it was fish on, after a long cast across the river into a small shaded area. This was another decent size brown, that ran me all over the place trying to get rid of the little hard body lure. After it made a couple of leaps from the river, it soon tired and I had it in the net.
It was a beautifully coloured, well-conditioned brown that went 670 grams. It was a little quiet until I was nearing the headwater and the trout came on the take again. It was here that I hooked and landed another four nice browns, from seven hook ups. All of these trout were quality fish and would have averaged around 400 grams. Amongst them was trout number nine, which brought up my 300th trout for the season.
From here on I was back into the fast water, where it was running hard and fast, while the depth varied from just below the knees, up to around eight inches above them. It's here that one has to make sure that each step taken has a good foothold on the slippery, rocky river bottom. There's no room for error at all.
From here on the trout were fussy and well scattered in the fast water. They were into taking the Stone Fly for a short time, then they would go for the March Brown, before I finished the session with the last two taking the White Miller. In all it was a reasonably good session, with fourteen trout caught and released from 24 hook ups.
Adrian (meppstas)
Equipment Used:
Okuma Celilo Finesse Spin Rods - 1-3kg ULS Trout Rod
Okuma Inspira Blue Spin Reels - ISX-20
Mepps Lures - Bug spinners
Platypus Super 100 Monofilament - 4lb
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader