Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Adrian-Webbs-Trout-Tips » Hard Work Pays Off
Hard Work Pays Off
I was sitting here today, going through some of the 22,000 plus photos that I have taken over the years that I've spent trout fishing rivers, streams and creeks around Tasmania, all since moving here back in March 2000. I know that most trout fishers who fish rivers normally go to the more open accessible areas and rarely try the more difficult, hard to get to, little rivers, streams and creeks that are quite plentiful in Tasmania. The majority of these little waters run into the larger rivers and all contain trout of various sizes. The water colour varies from light tannin to something that looks like black coffee.
As for the fishing tackle used, well it's either the Okuma ULS 5'6'' or 6' LRF Ultra Light 1-3kg rod that I use, coupled up with a small Okuma Ceymar C-10 or a Okuma Helios HSX-20 spinning reel, spooled with thin Platypus Super 100 clear 4lb mono line. The lures that I use in these little streams/creeks are the Mepps #00 inline blade spinners, such as the Black Fury, Aglia (assorted models, gold/copper/black blades) and Bug spinners (Stonefly/White Miller). The reason that I use the smallest spinners in these waters is because they only weigh 1.5 grams and in such narrow, shallow waters, you don't need to be lobbing a heavy lure into them and spooking any trout that may be there. The slightest noise or even a shadow will send the trout darting off, so one must fish as light as possible. I have from time to time also used a small 3cm, two gram lure with some success.
Most times the fishing in these little streams calls for accurate casting and it can become frustrating at times too, even for me as I've missed seeing a thin twig/branch hanging over the water many times. Yes, you can guess what happened... the lure has hit the thin twig/branch and wrapped itself around it. So then one has to go and unwrap the lure from the twig/branch and all that does is scare off any fish that were in the area. It may even be the heavy foliage along both sides of these small streams that will bring you unstuck, with a poor cast or a wind gust. Most of the foliage along these or any waters is very unforgiving once a lure lobs in them. Nine times out of ten you have to go and retrieve it as they rarely fall back into the water. The majority of the time I'm casting directly up the streams because of the narrowness of them. The width of these streams/creeks do vary from a narrow 1.2 metres out to a wide 4.0 metres at times, with most streams that I've fished averaging around 2.1 metres in width about 80% of the time. The only way you can fish these small streams is to be in them, due to the heavy foliage that lines both sides and there's rarely any open space on the banks.
It's never easy getting through the dense foliage to get to one of these streams and keeping a lookout for snakes is important as well. It can take up to an hour of bush bashing just to reach a stream, only to find out there's not enough water in it or there's no fish there, even though it has plenty of flowing water. That's just one of the minor downfalls with this type of fishing, however then there's the times when the effort is well worth it and you find one that's holding trout. Most of them I have fished are usually small, dark tannin coloured streams/creeks that have held browns of various sizes. While going through my photos today I didn't realise how many of them I have fished and the amount of fallen trees, log jams, etc. that are in them. Now when I look back on what I have put the body through to get to and then fish these little streams, I feel the effort put into it was rewarded by some of the beautifully coloured wild brown trout caught and released in them.
Yes, it's hard work and there were plenty of disappointing trips too, but that's what this type of fishing is all about isn't it. These small streams/creeks that flow through heavily bushed areas eventually reach a larger rivers that have trout in them, so that's why these out of the way, small creeks/streams are worth checking out. Once the warm weather arrives I normally stay away from them, due to low water levels and snakes, but not only that, the trout tend to shut down and they also stress very easily. I've stepped on several snakes and been struck once by a tiger snake. Thankfully it didn't penetrate my waders, so remember to keep an eye out for them at all times. It's never been the snakes fault at all, it's been mine for not looking where I'm going. So there you have it. Get onto Google Earth, as I've done, and check out where you may like to take up the challenge in chasing down a few trout in those little out of the way streams and creeks. I always print out a copy of the areas that I'm heading to as well, as that way I know exactly where I am. It's quite easy to lose your bearings in the bush. I also carry a PLB (personal locator beacon) with GPS with me at all times too. They're not cheap but well worth the money as you just never know when you may have to use it.
Here's a short fishing report from a trip to a small out of the way stream... hard work pays off.
After having some decent rainfall over the past couple of days, I thought I would try a small, out of the way, tannin stream. After twenty five minutes of making my way through some heavy scrub, I was at the stream. It was flowing quite nicely and well worth trying out to see if there were any trout in it. I was using the gold Aglia today as it works well in most of the tannin waters that I fish. It was a little on the quiet side over the first fifty metres or so before I had a small brown take the lure, only to see it toss it once it leapt from the river. A little further on and I had my first brown hooked and after a good tussle over a couple of minutes I had it in the net. It was a solid 380 gram brown that was in very good condition.
These little tannin streams and creeks hold some nice trout in them from time to time and are always worth flicking a lure into once there's good flow in them. Early and late season is always the best times to fish them, as once the warmer weather arrives and water levels drop the trout vanish. They head back into the main rivers that these little streams and creeks flow into. A lot of trout fishos don't bother to check out these small tannin waters, mainly because it's very tight fishing and can be tough work because of some very rocky bottoms and lots of thick foliage along both sides of the water. I love giving them a go because you never know if there's trout in them or not. It's always rewarding when one does catch a few trout in them. There's plenty I've had a go at that have given up nothing, but then again it may have just been one of those days too.
Now back to my spin session in this little tannin stream. After releasing that 380 gram brown I continued to battle my way upstream, flicking the gold Aglia into small runs where possible, without a lot of success. I did have two hook ups in a small, narrow stretch of water, but lost both fish. They were only little trout anyway.
A little further up I came to a section of water that was around 2.4 metres wide and around 40cm deep. It was here that I caught and released my second brown of the session.
It was good to see that I had made the decision to give this small tannin water a go today and if we have more good rains before the season ends, I'm sure there will be more trout to be caught here as well. There were several areas here that I couldn't get a cast into, due to the thick overhanging foliage along both sides of the stream.
Over the next hour I fished what open water I could and caught and released another three browns, from five hook ups, with the best one going 420 grams. I called it a day after being in and out (getting around log jams) of this water for just on two and a half hours. With just the five trout caught and released it was still a good spin session and one area that I will have another crack at later on, before the trout season ends, providing we get a little more rain to keep the water flowing at a reasonable level.
Adrian (meppstas)
Equipment used: Okuma LRF & ULS 1-3kg trout rods.
Okuma Ceymar & Helios SX spinning reels.
Platypus fishing lines.
Mepps inline spinners.