Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Adrian-Webbs-Trout-Tips » High Water and Nice Trout
Related Products...
High Water and Nice Trout
By Adrian (meppstas) Webb
With more rain forecast later in the day, I thought I had better get my act together and head off for a short spin session in a small tannin stream. With the larger rivers still running on the high side and a little unsafe for wading, I headed to a tannin stream. Not that I had an early start to the spin session either and it was 10:35 am by the time I hopped into the tannin stream. I also used the same setup as I used in another small tannin stream six days ago (28th August), when I caught and released eleven trout.
This stream was running a little high as well and I felt it was going to be hard work catching a trout or two in the couple of hours that I set myself to do so today. For some reason I just can't shake off the flu, that I've had now for four weeks. Not that I'm sick, it's the persistent coughing that comes with it that tires one out. Going fishing, in the clear open air, to me is the best way to get one's mind off it. Well, that's the way I see it anyway.
The areas that I concentrated on were the flat waters on each side of the fast-flowing stream. If the trout were here, then this is where they'd be. For the first forty metres of water things were pretty quiet, with no signs of a trout. It wasn't until I came to a wider stretch of water that things livened up. On the second cast and retrieve of the Mepps #1 Aglia Fluo Micropigments brown spinner, a small brown took the spinner but missed being hooked.
The next cast was to the top lefthand side of this medium flowing water and on the retrieve, I felt a bump on the spinner from a trout. That bump was followed by a solid hit, and it was fish on! This fish was a decent size to get onto first up too and it fought hard in the flow, making several leaps from the water attempting to toss the spinner. Thankfully, it made it into the net and that's when the spinner popped out of its mouth. This fish weighed in at 510g, and like all the trout I catch, it was released for another day. Catching a nice solid, well-conditioned trout of that size doesn't happen all that often in this small stream, so it's a real buzz when one does catch one over the 500-gram mark.
From here on things were reasonably quiet. I did have a couple of trout look at the spinner and that's as far as it went for the next twenty minutes, before I entered a shallow, medium flowing stretch of water. I made several casts and retrieves into the top end of it before a nice medium size trout took the lure. This fish made a few runs before it tired and I had it in the net. Like the last trout, no sooner was the trout in the net and out popped the spinner. The fishing gods were certainly helping me today.
After the release of that trout, the trout fishing didn't get any easier. The fish were reasonably scarce, and it wasn't until I changed over to a Mepps #0 Aglia Fluo Micropigments rainbow spinner that I caught the third trout of the morning. That small brown was caught in a very shallow pocket of water, on the right-hand side of the stream, and thankfully it was well hooked and made it into the net. With just three trout caught and released in just over one hour, it wasn't what I was hoping for. Perhaps I was expecting too much, given that the water was running on the high side, with the water temperature being a very cold six degrees.
It may be spring here in Tasmania, but that doesn't always mean fine and sunny weather conditions, in fact September here can be the wettest month of the year going by the BOM records that I've looked up. After the release of that trout, I moved into a wide, waist deep stretch of water and boy was it cold on the legs and feet. The rainbow spinner did attract the attention of a small trout and that's as far as it went, so a change of lure was made. This time I thought I'd try a #0 Mepps White Miller Bug spinner. The White Miller Bug is one that I would normally use in late October onwards, when the water and air temps are much better. It is also a spinner that picks up a trout or two when one least expects it, so I had nothing to lose by giving it a go.
As it turned out, it was a good choice of lure as the Mepps Bug went on to catch the next two trout in reasonably quick time. In fact, it took only five minutes to catch both fish. After that things went back to how they were before I changed to the Bug, and there wasn't a sign of a trout from then on, until I went back to the #1 Mepps Aglia Fluo Micropigments brown inline spinner. A little further up the stream and five minutes on from when the fifth trout was released, I caught and released a medium size brown after it had chased the spinner downstream for a couple metres before taking it.
After its release I decided to call it a day. Then, as I was about to hop onto the riverbank, I felt I had to finish fishing the fast-flowing run that had just given up that medium size trout. There was a nice flatwater on the lefthand side of the stream a little further ahead of me. This is a flatwater that has given up a trout on other trips here, from time to time, and it was well worth making it the last water to fish before heading back to the car.
That pocket of flatwater was well protected by overhanging foliage and the cast had to be spot on. There was no margin for error at all. The cast was as good as it gets and the Mepps Aglia brown lobbed right where I had hoped it would. Right at the top end and close to the riverbank. No sooner had I started to retrieve, and the spinner was smashed by a beautiful wild brown trout. This was certainly the fish of the day by far. It was a beauty! It made quite a few runs and leaps from the water, and I could see that it was only hooked in the soft tissue on the outer side of its mouth. Seeing that made me a little worried as I was filming it too. So many times, I have done this and lost the fish.
Thankfully today it made it into the net. Once again, the fishing gods were there to help me out. No sooner was this solid trout in the net and out popped the lure. This fish was a gem of a trout; beautifully coloured, in top condition and it weighed in at 710g. Now, my day was done. There was still some nice trout water ahead of me, that I knew would more than likely give up a fish, but I decided it was time to call it a day. That water will still be there for another day, and with seven trout caught and released today it was a good result overall and one that I was quite happy with, given the high water and cold water temperature.
Adrian (meppstas)
Equipment Used Today:
Okuma Celilo Finesse Spin Rod - CE-S-602UL-1 6’ Ultra-Light 2-6lb
Okuma ITX Carbon Spin Reel - ITX-1000
Platypus Pulse Mono – 4lb Premium Nylon Monofilament Line
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader
Mepps Aglia Fluo Micropigments Inline Spinners
Mepps Bug Inline Spinners