Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Adrian-Webbs-Trout-Tips » My PB Tasmanian Wild Brown Trout 7-2-2014
My PB Tasmanian Wild Brown Trout 7-2-2014
By Adrian (meppstas) Webb
With Adrian (meppstas) having a break and letting the body recover through the Tasmanian trout closed season, he decided to share with us the story of his PB Tassie wild brown trout. We hope you enjoy an adventure on the river that Adrian won’t forget anytime soon. Fish on!
With a north easterly wind blowing this morning I wasn't even thinking of going fishing today, that was until around 1.00pm when it died off. It was cloudy and even a little humid, so it was on with the fishing clothes and then off to the Meander River at Meander. No sooner had I arrived, the sun had broken through, however there was also a reasonable amount of cloud around that still made it pretty good conditions for a spin session.
The river itself was medium to low in height and running clear, making me stick with the small Mepps #00 black bladed Black Fury. Today I would be fishing the fast waters and nothing else, because I know that's where the trout will be holding out in these conditions. The first section that fished didn't give up a fish, but the next section did. It was only a small (240g) well-conditioned brown trout, but it was a start and that's all that matters.
The next section was a deep run of fast water that tapered off at the lower end, where it turned into a hard flowing fast water. I cast the little Black Fury close to the opposite bank, and on the second turn of the reel handle the lure was hit hard and fast. A massive brown had taken it! Now, I wasn't expecting a fish of this size because majority of trout have been averaging around 300g and smaller for the season. This one looked ten times that size!
Once hooked, the fish headed straight into the fast water below. I thought the 4lb Platypus mono line would not hold this fish in this run of fast water. Luck was on my side as the trout turned and started heading back upstream, turning the odds in my favour. This was a relief for now. After battling this fish for around four minutes (which seemed like 30 minutes) and still not knowing if the 4lb mono line was going to hold on, the trout finally tired. I slipped the net under it!
The trout itself was a beautiful well-conditioned female brown trout. Wow! What a start to the afternoon session this was. I have seen and had quite a few hits and misses from large trout in the river from time to time, but never this size. It took several minutes working her in the water before I was satisfied to let her go on her way. The big girl slowly moved off, into the deeper run of this long section of fast water, to fight another day.
That beautiful brown weighed 2.9kg (6lb 6oz), which is a PB for me in any of the rivers that I have fished here in Tasmania. My previous PB was a 2.4kg (5lb 5oz) brown trout, caught in the Mersey River 10 years ago. My previous best Meander River brown was a solid 1.3kg (2lb 14oz) fish. I was over the moon now and didn't care if I caught another fish today. With a lot of fast water ahead of me still to be fished, I wasn't about to call it a day.
The next couple of fast water runs gave up five medium (350-400g) browns and a very small redfin perch. I also hooked and lost three brown trout as well. That was the first redfin I had caught in this area since Huntsman Dam was completed. I have caught them in the lower Meander River but not this far up in the fast waters. Redfin perch are normally caught in the slow flowing runs.
After 1 1/2 hours in the river, I was reasonably happy with having caught and released the seven browns. I still had a lot of fast water ahead of me and I was looking forward to increasing my catch a little (or a lot) more. I did just that, over the next three long stretches of fast water, where I caught and released another six browns, with the best trout going 560g. A few others went 540g, while four others were hooked and lost. The river was fishing well, and the fish were aggressive to go with, which was even better.
So, it was onto the next piece of fast water, where I flicked the battered and worse for wear little #00 Black Fury across the river, only to see it smashed by another big brown! Now, this fish raced off downstream and was peeling line from the reel quicker than I could move downstream with it. With the river bottom being so rocky and the water being fast flowing, it was impossible to keep up with this fish as it just kept on going with the flow. All that I could do was keep the pressure on, but not too much as I didn't want a break off.
With only half a spool of line left on the little Okuma Epixor 15a spinning reel (it only holds 110 metres of 4lb), I was getting a little worried about what the outcome was going to be. I was really struggling to control this large fish in the fast water and after battling with this fish for several minutes, it was gone. I lost it. It didn't bust me off as I first thought it had. The spinner had come away from the fish, so it must have been lipped. I was a little relieved in one way, but also disappointed in another, as I would have loved to have battled this one to the end. I didn't think that fish was as big as the previous one that I had caught. It probably would have been around the 2kg mark.
Over the next two fast water runs I went on to catch a nice (530g) brown trout and a solid (620g) rainbow, that put up a great battle before I eased it into the net. This fish I had to keep as it had engulfed the Black Fury, it was bleeding and had severe gill damage. There was still a lot of fast water ahead of me, that I would have loved to keep on fishing, but the body was starting to get a little too sore. It was not worth pushing it over the limit and making it any worse for wear. There's always another day to come back and fish the area, plus it was now 6.30pm and it had been a very good session.
Fourteen browns and a nice rainbow was a pretty rewarding afternoon's fishing, that I was pretty happy with. Even better was the size of the trout caught today, as they were much larger than any of my previous trips to the fast waters.
Adrian (meppstas)
Equipment Used:
Okuma Celilo Finesse Spin Rods ULS 1-3 kg 6' trout rod
Okuma Epixor Spinning Reel
Platypus Super 100 Mono – 4lb
Mepps Inline Spinners – Black Fury