Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Adrian-Webbs-Trout-Tips » Fast Water Fish and Slips
Related Products...
Fast Water Fish and Slips
By Adrian (meppstas) Webb
Adrian (meppstas) Webb reflects on a session from last season as he gears up for a new Tassie trout season that is now just around the corner. Fish on!
This trip was one that I won't forget for a while. It was another Meander River fast water spin session starting at 7:55am. The weather was forecast for heavy cloud cover, which is what I like when fast water fishing, however it wasn't like that at all. The cloud was thin and with the sun out, it was near impossible to see the river bottom from the cloud reflection on the water surface. Even the polaroid sunglasses didn't help.
Making my way upstream was tough going, with the rocks being so slippery and it was near impossible to see the bottom in 65cm of water. To make matters worse was the lack of trout as I cast and drifted the Mepps #0 March Brown coloured Bug spinner in the fast-flowing water, with just the one fish hooked and lost. It had taken twenty minutes to finally get a hook up, only to see the trout toss the spinner.
The way the spin session started, I had a feeling it was going to be one of those days when the trout will be few and far between. I was really having trouble making my way upstream, with the cloud glare on the water surface and several times I nearly toppled over when a rock rolled underfoot.
With no signs of a trout, as I continued to slip and slide my way upstream, I went for a change of lure. It was a Mepps #1 Aglia Fluo Micropigments brown spinner that went on, another colour that works well in clear fast waters. Finally, at 8:40am I hooked and landed a small brown trout, that took the spinner on the drift. After the release of that small brown and deeper water ahead of me, I had to make my way back across the river where the water was at a safe wading height.
Fifteen minutes later, after a long cast into a flat water near the opposite riverbank, a solid medium size brown took the spinner. That fish made a couple of good runs and leaps from the river. Once I had it close enough, was filming it… and saying I was about to get it into the net, the trout tossed the lure. The loss of that trout was my fault as I should have had the landing net ready sooner than later. It's not the first trout I’ve lost by being slack with having the net ready when filming.
It was only five minutes later when I caught and released a small brown trout. That little brown was picked up from a small flat water, behind a boulder in the middle of the river. Not long after its release and several casts and retrieves later I hooked and lost another small brown.
After losing that little trout I made another lure change, this time I went for a Mepps Black #0 Aglia Mouche Noire and it didn't take all that long before I had hooked into another trout. This fish was a nice, medium size brown that made it into the net. It turned out to be the best trout caught so far and it weighed 465 grams after I deducted the weight of the net from the total weight.
A little further up the river I picked up another trout. That one was a tiddler, which I didn't bother to film or photograph. I was still having trouble making my way upstream and just staying upright was becoming more difficult the further I went. Then it happened… while I was heading upstream, near the left riverbank and not being able to see the river bottom due to the cloud glare. I tripped on a medium size, slippery boulder and fell forward into the river.
Thankfully the water was just above knee deep, however it was still enough to get me a little on the wet side. I drowned the Okuma Celilo Finesse trout rod and Okuma Inspira ISX-20 reel but didn't damage them. Thankfully the water didn't get down the front of my waders and drown my camera. The wettest thing was both of my shirt sleeves. Other than that, the rest of me was dry, though I did hurt the left knee and right shin when they hit the rocky river bottom.
After shaking the water from the spinning reel, I continued to fish my way up the river with hardly a sign of a trout. So, another lure change was made and this time I went for a Mepps #1 Aglia Furia. I thought that I had nothing to lose by giving it a go as the trout were few and far between anyway. My second cast was up and across the river and as I let the spinner drift with the fast water it became snagged on a small, submerged tree branch in the middle of the river.
That was the last thing that I needed to happen! I slowly made my way out to where it was snagged and released the spinner. Instead of making my way back to the left side of the river I just flicked the spinner into a flat water near the righthand riverbank. On the retrieve a trout took the spinner and I had my fifth trout in the net. After I released the fish, I decided it was time to get out, head back to the car and drive to the slower flowing waters a couple of kilometres away. As I was nearing the riverbank to get out the cloud cover dispersed… and the sun was on the water.
On the walk back to the car a gusty easterly breeze arrived and by the time I reached the car it was 10:30am, so I made the decision to call it a day. The one thing I did notice was the grass was pretty well flattened by vehicle traffic, so this stretch of river had been heavily fished since my last trip. This was probably another reason why the trout were few and far between.
Adrian (meppstas)
Equipment Used During My Trout Season:
Okuma Celilo Finesse Spin Rods - ULS 1-3kg
Okuma LRF Spin Rods – 1-3kg
Okuma ITX Carbon Spin Reels – ITX-1000
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 Pulse Mono Premium Monofilament – 4lb
Platypus Super 100 Monofilament – 4lb
Platypus Pre-test Monofilament – 4lb
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader
Mepps Inline Spinners
Mepps Bug Inline Spinner
Mepps Aglia Mouch Noire Inline Spinner