Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Adrian-Webbs-Trout-Tips » Meander River Browns
Meander River Browns
I headed off at 4:30am this morning and with clear skies and warm conditions forecast it was best to hit the river early. By the time I drove to my destination, then walked some 1.5 km I was in the river at 5:50am, a little later than I had wanted. The river height was running at 62cm which was still a little high for my liking for the area being fished.
I was also using a new set up, an Okuma LRF 6' light weight spin rod, coupled up with an Okuma Ceymar C-10 spinning reel, spooled with a thin, clear 4lb mono line and rigged with a #1 Mepps Aglia Furia spinner.
The area fished this trip was one that's fished poorly for some time and this was my first trip back here for around two months or so. Well, it hadn't changed all that much either. It was a very slow to start, so it was running true to form. It took twenty minutes before I had my first hook up from a medium size brown that tossed the Furia as quick as it took it.
Fifteen minutes later I had my second hook up of the morning and this 320 gram brown stayed on which meant no 'donut' today. That was the last trout for some time, until I reached a long stretch of medium flowing river. It wasn't until I was at the head water where I hooked and lost two browns.
The first one lost was only a little brown, whereas the second brown trout lost would have been in the 1.5kg to 2kg range. For some reason I had set the rod up last night with one of the very small snap swivels that I only use in the small streams. I played the trout for around two minutes before it did a crocodile roll and it was gone. The small snap on the swivel had straightened and so I lost the fish and the Mepps Aglia Furia.
Boy, I was doing a bit of cursing too, not at the loss of the fish but at myself for putting such a small snap swivel on the set up. I made up a new rig (yes with a bigger and stronger swivel) and continued working my way upstream.
The sun was starting to hit the opposite river bank so I had to get a move on before it was full sun on the surface. I picked up three more medium browns that were all in the 320 gram range, before I hooked and landed a decent size brown.
That brown was taken in a wide medium flowing run and was taken using the cast and drift method. It put up a decent fight all the way to the net and went 640 grams. It was the best fish of the spin session, a small reward for the one I lost.
When I took a photo of it I noticed it had a large scar close to its ventral fin that could have been from a cormorant. It may also have been from a lure as well on closer inspection. That was the last trout of the session and fifty minutes after the release of that beautiful brown I hadn't seen a single trout so called it a day.
The sun was now full on the clear water and the air temp was on the rise. It was time to end the session. I did think about heading to another stretch of river that I knew would still be in shade but by the time I had reached to car, I knew I'd had enough. For once I listened to what my aching body was telling me.
To top off the day, when I got home and downloaded the video from the little action camera I somehow had managed to hit the mute button when I turned it on first up in the morning. Thankfully I did use the video on my Canon camera a few times, so I did get some footage with sound. When I stuff up, I always do a good job of it... Not the greatest of spin sessions that's for sure.
Tight Lines,
Adrian (meppstas) Webb