Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Adrian-Webbs-Trout-Tips » First Meander Trout for 2022-23
First Meander Trout for 2022-23
By Adrian (meppstas) Webb
On checking the rivers levels of the larger rivers that I fish, I found the Meander River had finally reached a reasonably safe wading height, so I decided a trip was worthwhile. The weather was quite good, a cool eight degrees, but still nice enough to be in a river. Even more so because I've been waiting a while for the Meander to drop to a safe wading height.
I couldn't have an early start due to my doctor's appointment at 9:45am, it was my weekly injection day, so I didn't get to the river until 11:10am. When I arrived at the area where I wanted to fish there were already two cars parked at the bridge. That area was off my list for this trip, so I headed off to another area further downstream. By the time I got into the river it was 11:30am, which wasn't all that bad really. There's no need for early starts at this time of the season anyway.
The river itself was running crystal clear, the rocky river bottom was a little on the slippery side and the water was a very cool six degrees. With the water temp still being very low I knew I would be in for a tough spin session and catching trout here today would really be a bonus. The main thing that I wanted to do was test out the new TT Red Belly ultralight 7' two-piece, fast action spin rod, which I had coupled up with the Okuma ITX-1000 spinning reel. This was spooled with Platypus Pulse 4 lb mono line and the lure of choice to start with was the Mepps #1 Aglia Fluo Micropigments inline spinner.
The river height was sitting at seventy-three centimetres, which was still a little on the high side. I prefer it to be below that height and sixty centimetres is perfect, however it was what it was today, and I put up with it. It meant I would have to bypass several stretches of river, due to it flowing too fast. Not only that, the height of the water in those areas would be unsafe to enter and flowing too fast to be holding trout at this time of the year.
For the first twenty minutes of fishing there wasn't a sign of trout, so it wasn't looking good. It was just as I had expected it to be in this stretch of water as it never fishes all that well early in the season. That was mainly the reason that I headed to the other area first up, a very long stretch of river that does give up a few trout throughout the season, from start to finish.
Once I reached the faster, unsafe water I headed inland to bypass it. Five minutes later I was back in the river where it was much safer. Even though the flow was still on the fast side, the depth of it was only knee deep from here on, providing I stayed on the left side of the river. The biggest problem fishing here today was the lack of flat waters along the opposite side of the river, due to the river sitting on seventy-three centimetres.
The river here is also much narrower than where I had wanted to fish, which was the reason why there were no flat waters along the riverbanks here. Sixty or seventy metres further upstream there is a bend in the river, which has a nice flat water on the inner side of it and I've caught trout in it on previous trips throughout the trout season. As luck would have it, I did catch trout in it. In fact, I caught and released two medium size browns in five minutes.
That's trout fishing for you, no signs of a trout for forty minutes and then two trout caught in five minutes. That's how fast it can turn around. I fished on for another ten minutes, without any sign of a trout and with the water ahead being mainly fast waters, I called it a day. On the way home I called into Western Creek and fished a couple of stretches of water for fifteen minutes, without a sign of a trout there.
The water was on the high side, very cold and discoloured so I didn't bother hanging around there either. I will fish the creek later into the season when the weather becomes more settled. This little creek does give up some nice trout from time to time and is one that I never bypass on the way home. I was very impressed with the new trout set up too. The TT Red Belly rod had a great feel to it and even better, it was christened with a couple of trout.
Equipment Used Today:
TT Red Belly Spin Rod – RBS702L 7’ 1-3kg
Okuma ITX Carbon Spin Reel - ITX-1000
Platypus Pulse Mono Line – 4lb
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader
Mepps Inline Spinners
Mepps Aglia Fluo Micropigments
Adrian (meppstas)