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Good Weather for Tannin Water Fishing
By Adrian (meppstas) Webb
The conditions for trout fishing today couldn't have been better, with a clear sky and hardly any breeze. It was a beautiful day and a good one for tannin water fishing. I had a few things to do during the morning, so I couldn't get to the water until after 2:00pm. I was in the water by 2:35pm and it was still running on the high side and at a cool 3 degrees. This was my second trip to this small tannin stream, mainly because it's currently the lowest and safest water to hop into for a spin session. Not only that I also felt it would give up a few trout, whereas reports from those fishing the larger rivers weren't all that flash. I'll more than likely be hitting the larger rivers again very soon, if all goes well and water levels continue to drop in them.
The area that I fished today was one that I fished several times last season, this being the first time this season. It's another beautiful area to fish. I started off using a #0 Mepps Aglia Fluo Micropigments brown trout inline spinner and caught my first trout on the second cast into a small well covered flat water. It took me by surprise because it happened so fast. It was only a little brown, that was soon put back in the water.
A few more backhand casts into the same piece of water and another brown had a crack at the spinner but missed taking it properly. With two trout having a go at the lure so early into the spin session I thought I was in for a top day in the water. The following few runs were narrow, tight, and medium-flowing waters, that looked really fishy. Well, they weren't. All I managed was a follow from one brown trout, so I changed over to a rainbow coloured Aglia Fluo Micropigments to see if that would draw the attention of a trout and have it take the lure.
The sun was starting to get low, which put more shade from the foliage on the water, as well as dropping the air temp to around six degrees. That, combined with the low water temp, ensured I was now feeling the cold. There were some lovely long, medium-deep stretches of water ahead, which I thought would be holding a few trout. They only held the one trout and it took the spinner and spat it out as quick as it took it. These small streams, early in the season, are tough to work out at times. They look fishy but have nothing in them. I suppose it is because I'm used to them holding fish later in the season, rather than early with the water being so cold. Once it warms up later in the season it will all turn around and the trout will be a lot more active in them. I stuck to casting into every bit of water where I felt trout would be holding out... still no trout. They just weren't in these stretches of water yet, and if they were here, they sure weren't in the mood to chase the spinner.
It wasn't until I came to a 90-degree bend in the river, where I flicked the lure into a small flat water, close to the riverbank in a shallow run of fast water, that I finally had another trout take the spinner. This brown stayed on all the way into the net. It was 4:18pm when it was caught, going by the time on the camera. It had taken quite some time to catch the second trout of the day, that's for sure. My third trout was taken ten minutes later, in a short medium/fast flowing stretch of water. This fish was picked up from a small flat water, close to the left riverbank, just as the last trout was.
With three trout caught and released from five takes, I was feeling much better in terms of how the afternoon session was panning out. I just needed a few more to finish it off. The air had become much cooler as the sun sank a lot lower and I was really feeling it. I decided I would fish two more stretches of river and then call it a day. The first one I fished was one where I had caught several trout on previous trips last season, so I thought I was in with a chance of adding a few more to my catch rate. I didn't land any trout, but I did have two hits for one hook up, which I lost.
At the top end of that run, I had a brown come at the lure and once it was behind the lure it just mouthed it and swam along with the spinner as I retrieved it. It didn't take the treble hook, so there wasn't a thing I could do. It held onto the spinner right up to when I had it close to me, then it let go and darted off. That was a first for me. I've never had anything like that happen with trout before. I've had them come up behind the lure and nudge it several times but never like what happened today. I suppose there is a first time for everything.
It wasn't until I fished the last stretch of water that I caught my fourth trout of the afternoon. This fish was taken from a flat water under some overhanging tea trees. It was the most aggressive take of the trip by far. That trout was a medium length fish and a bit on the skinny side. My day was done, I was cold and as much as I would have liked to fish a few more runs that were ahead of me, it was time to head back to the car. It was 4:45pm when I exited the water and 5:15pm when I arrived back at the car. Four trout from seven hook ups wasn't all that bad. I know it won't be all that long until I'll be having catches of 12-15 trout on some trips as the season goes on...
Adrian (meppstas)
Equipment used during my trout season:
Okuma Celilo Finesse Spin Rods - ULS 1-3kg
Okuma LRF Rod - 1-3kg
Okuma ITX Spin Reels – ITX-1000
Okuma Epixor XT Spin Reels - EXPT-20
Okuma Ceymar Spin Reels - C-10
Platypus Pulse Mono
Platypus Super 100 Mono
Platypus Pre-Test Mono
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader
Mepps Inline Spinners