Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Adrian-Webbs-Trout-Tips » Finally Some Aggressive Trout 17-04-2021

Finally Some Aggressive Trout 17-04-2021

By Adrian (meppstas) Webb

Adrian shares with us another report from the 2020-21 Tasmanian trout season, finding some aggressive trout in his search for a Pirtek Fishing Challenge winner.

Today was day one of the Pirtek Fishing Challenge, a fishing competition that I have entered in over the past ten years. Today I headed to the Meander River in the hope of catching a decent size trout that may be worthy of a prize. This competition is based on the longest fish and not on the amount one catches. I know I won't be in the running for a prize for the longest fish, however I may be lucky enough to get the mystery length prize.

The morning was quite cool, with just the slightest breeze coming from the West. The river was sitting at 70cm, which was a little high for my liking but still at a safe wading height for where I fished today. The long stretch of river that I fished today was a nice medium flowing, 1.5km run of clear water. The only problem that I had was the green algae covered river bottom, which fouled the spinner every so often when it bounced off a rock.

It was 9:10am by the time I hit the river and it only took seven minutes to catch the first trout of the spin session, landed on a Mepps Gold #00 Aglia Mouche Noire spinner. That fish was a nice medium size brown. Unfortunately it wasn't the length that I was hoping for, so I didn't bother placing it on the brag mat and taking a photo. The one problem I have when fishing in a river and having to measure a fish, is finding a place to lay the brag mat. High river banks, uneven ground and thick foliage make it tough. Then, when one does find an area that's reasonably flat enough, trying to get the wet fish to lay still on the plastic brag mat is near impossible. Once I do catch a decent size trout that I do decide to measure on the brag mat, that's when the fun starts... with both the fish and fisherman stressing out. There's been plenty of times that I've given up and just released the fish, without bothering to get it and myself stressed out.

After the release of the first trout of the morning, it wasn't all that long until I picked up another trout from a flat water close to the opposite river bank. That one was worthy of being measured on the brag mat. Thankfully, I found a small, flat grassy opening, a metre above the river bank nearby, where I could lay the brag mat. The trout measured 35cm, which was a reasonably nice size trout for this river. A little further up I picked up the third trout of the session. That trout wasn't worthy of being measured. Then, I lost the next three trout in a row. Thankfully they were all small fish. It was good to see the trout were back in this area as the last time I fished here I gave up the fishing and moved elsewhere as there wasn't a sign of a trout to be had.

I was feeling quite confident of having a good catch rate here today. The trout were here and it was just a matter of them staying hooked. After I changed to a #0 Gold coloured Mepps Black Fury spinner, the fishing picked up and I didn't lose a fish. It wasn't until I caught the sixth trout that the brag mat came out again because this trout was a bigger fish that measured 36.5cm.

I did have some problems with that trout and it did not want to stay still on the brag mat. Eventually it did and I managed to get a photo and release it. After checking the photo I found that I had placed the fish with the dorsal fin facing to the bottom of the brag mat and not the top, so the photo was ineligible for the competition. I needed to catch a larger fish now, which wasn't going to be all that easy as this river hadn't given up many large trout this season. Well for me it hasn't anyway. My best for the season was 900 grams, back on the November 3, 2020. I did catch one more trout, before getting out of the river to bypass a long, deep stretch of water, then hopping back in some two hundred metres further upstream.

Once in the river, it wasn't all that long before I had a follow from a nice non-aggressive trout. A little later on and I had another follow, this time from a trout that wouldn't take the spinner. It was time to go from the Gold coloured Mepps Black Fury spinner to a copper blade Black Fury spinner. I thought that the copper colour, being a little duller than the gold, may be what was needed to turn the trout on again.

From here on the trout were caught on a regular basis, with both sides of the river giving up fish. Before I knew it I had caught and released a dozen trout, all of which were legal size fish. As I continued to fish my way upstream, using the cast and drift method, I went on to catch another two trout and lost a few others on the way. The second to last trout that I hooked and I lost was a very solid fish that pulled hard and stayed deep, before getting away. When I checked the treble hooks, I found that one had been straightened.

So, my day in the Meander River was a good one, with fourteen trout caught and released from twenty hook ups, plus a few hits and misses. On the way home I did hop in Western Creek, where I spent twenty minutes flicking several different coloured spinners around, without having a touch from a trout. This was unusual as it normally gives up a fish or two. Tomorrow I would be heading to the Mersey River, closer to home, where I hoped to catch a larger trout than what I had today.

Adrian (meppstas)

Equipment Used for the Trout Season:

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