Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Adrian-Webbs-Trout-Tips » Meander River Fires Up
Meander River Fires Up
Fine weather was the forecast for today as I headed off to the Meander River at 6:35am. On the way I found it was pretty foggy for most of the drive to the river. By the time I arrived and completed my twenty minute walk to the river it was 7:25am. The fog was slowly lifting as the sun rose higher into the sky.
With it still being pretty dull, I decided to start off using a Mepps Gold #0 Black Fury spinner. The river was running faster than I had expected. It was supposed to be at 70cm, however it seemed a little higher to me. The river here was right for casting and drifting the 2.5 gram Black Fury spinner. I was going to use a #1 (3.5 gram) spinner, however this stretch of water is very rocky with quite a few snags in, hence why I went for the lighter spinner.
It didn't take all that long to get the first strike, which I missed, however ten minutes later (7:55am) I had the first trout hooked and landed. This was only a small (270g) brown. Not all that long after its release, when I was halfway through the cast and drift with the Black Fury lure, I had another hook up. This was a larger fish that made several runs and leaps from the river. Just when it was in reach of my net... it tossed the spinner. It had been eight days since I had fished this area and the last time here I only had one hit and miss in this stretch of water. This was a better start than the last trip.
While I slowly fished my way upstream, the fog had lifted and the sun was hitting the water. I made several lure changes without a sign of a trout. It wasn't until 9:25am that I hooked and landed the second trout (320g) of the morning. This fish was taken on a small #00 Gold Aglia spinner. The stretch of knee deep, medium flowing water that I caught it in was the same one that gave up eight trout in a row on my last trip here. I was hoping this may be the start of a good run of trout being landed.
It wasn't until I was around six metres from the headwater of the long stretch of river that I caught the third trout. From here on I was fishing fast water runs and the little Gold Aglia inline spinner was on fire. The trout were very aggressive, taking the spinner hard and fast. I caught another four trout in a row on this spinner, until I came to a very deep piece of water on a sharp bend in the river.
I flicked the little spinner into the top end of it and watched a massive trout (4-5lb) rise up from the depths. It came up behind the spinner and took one look at it before going deep again and out of sight. Had it taken the tiny Gold Aglia, I'm sure that it would have wrecked it. Time to go for a bigger lure!
It was on with a #1 Stone Fly coloured Mepps Bug spinner. That lure brought the trout back from the deep as well, however the same thing happened as with the Gold Aglia. I tried a small hardbody lure, to see if that may suck it in, but it didn't. In fact, I never saw that trout again. I was about to move into a long stretch of water that I haven't fished for at least four years. The first sixty metres was mainly fast flowing water, followed by a long run of medium flowing water.
I went back to the little Gold Aglia again, to fish the next fast water and it was there that two trout had a go at it. Both missed getting hooked. It was time to go back to a small unbranded hardbody lure and that decision was a good one because I caught two trout in two cast and retrieves with it.
After catching those two trout in that fast water run, I went back to the Gold Aglia and caught another trout in the same run of fast water. I had now caught nine trout and what a turnaround it had been. The sun wasn't having a big impact on the gold spinner, in the fast water, which was good and there wasn't any need for a change of lure at this stage.
I continued fishing my way upstream, hooking a trout here and there. Before I knew it I had hit the one dozen mark... then lost five trout in a row! The sun was well overhead by now and the trout were still aggressive, however I couldn't hook them. They were hitting the spinner side on and darting off.
The thirteenth trout was the smallest fish of the day. I seem to catch one of these little trout on a regular basis lately. The fourteenth trout was soon caught and released, after having a few more hit and misses. I changed over to a #00 Stone Fly Bug spinner and after having several hit and misses on it, I finally hooked and landed the fifteenth trout.
It was at this point that I had to call it a day. I had been in the river for just over four hours and I was starting to feel it. Not only that, it was hot and I had a forty minute walk back to the car. Just like my last trip to the Meander River the first one and a half hours of fishing was a big disappointment, before it completely turned around and turned out to be a top day on the trout. It was a big day in the river today that's for sure and I was totally done by the time I had made it back to the car. In total I had twenty five hook ups. How many hits and misses did I have... I lost count of them, but I know there were a lot. At the end of the day, as tired as I was, I thoroughly had a ball and yes, I'll do it again before the season ends.
Adrian (meppstas)
Equipment used on this trip:
Okuma Celilo Finesse Spin Rods - CE-S-662UL 6'6'' 2-6lb trout rod
Okuma Epixor Spin Reels - EPXT-20
Platypus Super 100 Monofilament Line - 4lb
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader
Mepps Inline Spinners - Bug
Mepps Inline Spinners - Aglia
Mepps Inline Spinners - Black Fury
Boomerang Tool Products