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Perseverance Pays Off
I did want to head over to the River Leven today, however, with mainly clear skies and the water level being on the low side, I headed over to the Meander River instead.
The river was running at 70cm, which in my book is on the high side for the fast waters that I love to fish, though I did head directly to them. I got into the wading gear and was in the fast waters by 8:10am, just as I thought it was running too high for my liking and not safe enough to fish... well not for me anyway.
I did spend five minutes flicking a Mepps #1 gold Black Fury around, without moving from a shallow piece of water near the river bank. I could see that I was wasting my time here, so I headed back to the car and over to my original destination where I had planned to be fishing from the start. Once there I found that the water was still on the high side but running much slower than the upper reaches. This was perfect for wading, providing I took it easy. I know this river (and all of the rivers that I fish) like the back of my hand, so I also know where to cross the river and where not to cross over, along with the safest areas to fish from.
I know that I keep on saying this, however if you go and fish a river that you've never fished before and you're not fully experienced in river fishing, then please don't hop in it. Some of the larger rivers here in Tasmania have a lot of open areas along the river that can be fished from the river banks and that's where you should concentrate your trout fishing. Look at the river and get to know it. Look for deep holes, fast waters that aren't safe and fast waters that are shallow and safe enough to cross over. Also check the river levels before you head off, on the BOM site, and get to know the safe water levels of each river that you are going to fish. By doing this, it can also save you a long drive to a river only to find it running too high and fast to fish for trout. Anyway let's get back to the spin session that I had today.
It was 8:45am when I hopped in the river. It looked fishy too as there were some nice flat spots along the opposite river bank, meaning nice areas for trout to be sitting in waiting for a feed to pass by. I did have a follow on the gold Black Fury and that's as far as it went. A small trout sat a few inches behind it and followed the spinner all the way in, before it turned and darted off.
With the water being deeper here and the flow much slower, I decided to change over to a Mepps #0 March Brown coloured Bug spinner. It took at least fifteen minutes before I had my first hook up, from a small brown. That little fish tossed the lure as fast as it took it. After that I never came across another trout until I reached the tail end of a fast water run and changed spinner again.
It took several casts and retrieves with a Mepps #0 Aglia Micropigment brown lure before I was onto another small trout. That hooked fish lasted as long as the previous trout that I hooked and lost. It was gone in a flash. With two chances of catching a trout gone begging, I was starting to think that it was going to be one of those days. It was back to the March Brown Bug spinner.
To make matters worse, half an hour later I spotted a trout surface feeding in a narrow shallow side water and here's what unfolded. This required an accurate cast, as I had to lob the lure in between some debris and the river bank. In all I had a metre wide stretch of water to lob the spinner into from fifteen metres away. I did and the March Brown was snapped up as soon as it hit the water. This time the fish was hooked and the first thing it did was to run upstream, before it turned and headed back down with the flow. It ran straight into the debris and I lost it. It was nearly time to let out some frustrating screams, with three trout hooked and lost in the past hour and twenty minutes it was doing my brain in. I've been in this situation before and it's just a matter of carrying on and persevering with the fishing. It would turn around before too long.
I continued fishing my way upstream, without any signs of a trout. It was time for a change of lure, as I headed into a long stretch of water that has given up trout on previous trips, when I had been in this same situation. It was the #00 Stone Fly Bug spinner that I went for this time. This was the same model that had done the job here previously.
I thought I would give the fast water at the tail end of it a go, before moving into the wide, medium flowing stretch of water. On the third cast and retrieve a trout took the spinner and this time it stayed on and after a short tussle it was in the net. At last the drought was broken. No sooner the trout was in the net and out popped the Bug spinner. The fishing gods had given me a helping hand with this trout and at 10:42am I had my first trout on the scorecard.
This was just the beginning of what turned out to be a top day in the river and perseverance had finally paid off. From here on, while casting and drifting the Stone Fly coloured Bug spinner, I went on to catch another ten trout without loss. The best trout went 440 grams and they were all in top condition and full of aggression. What a turn around to the spin session it was!
The funny thing was that three of the eleven trout that I landed today tossed the spinner once in the net, while the rest all stayed well and truly hooked. The day may have started off rough, losing three trout in a row, however the ending (11: 50am) was a great one. My perseverance had paid a bit part in how the spin session turned out, with a little help from the fishing gods to go with it. The only downside was the forty minute walk that I had back to the car in warm sunny conditions and a head wind. The ice cold Pepsi Max went down well once I was back at the car.
Adrian (meppstas)
Equipment used on this trip:
Okuma Celilo Finesse Spin Rods - CE-S-662UL 6'6'' 2-6lb trout rod
Okuma Epixor XT Spin Reels - EPXT-20
Platypus Super 100 Monofilament Line - 4lb
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader
Mepps Inline Spinners - Bug
Mepps Inline Spinners - Aglia Fluo Micropigments
Mepps Inline Spinners - Black Fury
Boomerang Tool Products.