Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Adrian-Webbs-Trout-Tips » One Rainbow & One Hundred Dollars 1-11-13
One Rainbow & One Hundred Dollars 1-11-13
By Adrian (meppstas) Webb
The weather is poor, and the rivers are running high, so Adrian shares with us a flashback to a cool adventure in the river that produced a rainbow and what's at the end of it. Fish on!
It took me until 2.00pm today, to recover from yesterday's spin session in the upper Mersey River, before deciding to try the lower section in the Kimberley area. With my lower back not being all that good, I took a few painkillers to help numb it before I left home. The track that I normally drive to the river was really cut up, so I decided to park the car then walk the 100 metres to the Mersey.
Once there I couldn't believe how much the river had changed since the last big flood a few weeks ago. One whole section of riverbank, that was lined with wattles, was gone and the river had changed its course here as well. So, where I would normally enter the river, I couldn't, and I had to bush bash my way to get to the river a little further downstream. Once there, it was fine and easy to enter the river, however the rocky river bottom was just like the upper Mersey, covered in slime and slippery as ever. This I didn't need at all. This is what really knocks my back around, jarring it every time one slips and slides on the rounded, rocky river bottom.
The river was flowing faster and a little higher than the upper Mersey and that was because of several other small rivers and streams that run into it down this end. Still, it was running clear and looked good. I was into the first section of fishy looking water and stuck with the same little 40-year-old Mepps spinner that did the job for me yesterday. Not a sign of a fish in the first couple of sections of river, which was a little disappointing as it looked really good.
The next area of the river was much wider and a little shallower, plus I noticed a couple of small fish jumping from time to time which was a good sign. Not that these fish would normally take the lure when they're jumping and feeding on small insects, however there may be a few other fish in the area that would hit the lure. After several casts across the flow, letting the spinner drift with it and a slow retrieve, I had a hook up.
It wasn't a big fish, but it was a typical river fish that was full of fight. It was a small, beautifully coloured rainbow. The colour of this fish was really different to most rainbows that I have caught in the Mersey as it had a real tinge of yellow along it's flanks. I've seen photos of rainbow trout with this colouration on them but have never caught one myself. Once I released it, I was straight back into the fishing. There were still quite a few fish rising and jumping in most places in the river and those fish were not one bit interested in the spinners today
I decided to head up a small backwater of the Mersey and give that a go. There was reasonable flow and I thought it may be worth a try. I have fished this backwater on several trips here and it often gave up a fish or two, so I had nothing to lose. It is just a small stream that runs for around 500 metres from further upstream of the Mersey and it is around 300mm deep in most sections. I worked it all the way up to where it starts, for just two hits and misses. At least I did have a couple of hits.
Back into the main stream now and I was still seeing a fish rising here and there, however all I could manage was another few hit and misses over the next 600 metres or so. Finally, I hooked a nice solid brown! This fish made two fast runs, before leaping and throwing the spinner. That wasn't part of the plan, that's for sure!
I had now been in the river for a couple of hours and was thinking it was about time to call it a day. I'd just have another couple of casts to the opposite bank, before finishing the session. On the last retrieve I had a brown follow the spinner and just nudge it, but it wouldn't strike it. As it moved off, I noticed what I thought was an old cigarette packet (light green, similar to an Alpine packet) caught up on the river bottom... but it looked a little long to be that. I was around four metres away from it, so I thought I would go and remove it from the river anyway.
Well, when I got to it, I could not believe what I was looking at... it was a $100 note! Now, I'm in the middle of the Mersey River and there's not a house anywhere further upstream at all... plus I'm in a section of river that is flowing reasonably fast and has been in flood up until a few weeks ago. How long it had been sitting in this part of the river I had no idea however I didn't mind getting wet up to my armpit to retrieve it from the rocky river bottom I can tell you. It must have been there for some time though as it had a light film of slime on it. Hey, that didn't bother me one bit. So, that was a great finish to my two-hour session in the Mersey today. Like the title says... One Rainbow and One Hundred Dollars. Catches like this are hard to find 😉
Adrian (meppstas)