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Platypus Tops Off The Day

By Adrian (meppstas) Webb

It was a pleasure getting up this morning to a beautiful day, clear sky and not a breath of wind, with just a very light frost to contend with for starters. As soon as I saw how good the morning looked, I went online to check out the river height of the Meander River and found it was running at 78cm. Even though it was still a little on the high side, I knew an area where it would be safe enough for me to hop in and see if I could find a few trout. I also knew that it would be a lot colder where I was heading, so I wasn't in a rush to leave.

It was 8:15am by the time I hit the river, had to cross and then walk another kilometre and a half to where I would start some serious spin fishing. As I crossed the river, I did have a couple of cast and retrieves, with a #1 Mepps Aglia-e Brite Pink spinner and had a nice brown move off the opposite river bank. The fish followed the spinner for several metres before it had a nip at it and then turned and headed back to where it came from.

Seeing that trout gave me some hope of catching a few as the day went on. This time last year I only caught one trout here. That fish was caught on a Mepps #1 Aglia Furia. That day (18th Sept), I fished another stretch of water a couple of kilometres further upstream, with the conditions the same as today, as was the water temperature. With the water level still being a little on the high side it was also a very cold six degrees and that always makes the fishing that much harder.

By the time (8:45am) I reached my entry point, I was sucking in plenty of air. This was my first trip to the Meander River for the season and I probably should have picked a spot closer to where I parked the car. With the river running on the high side, this area was the only one that I believed was safe enough to wade. After sitting on a log next to the river to catch my breath, it was 8:50am when I had my first cast and retrieve there.

I had several cast and retrieves, with the Aglia-e, without a sign of a trout. Not the fault of the spinner, the trout just weren't here. So, a change of lure was made. I went for the Mepps Aglia Furia and the same thing happened. Not a sign of a trout. Another change of lure was made as I moved into a wide medium/fast flowing stretch of water. This time I went for a small Mepps Gold #00 Aglia Mouche Noire and concentrated on casting into the flat waters along both sides of the river. If there was trout to be had, it would be there.

As I continued to fish my way upstream, without a sign of a trout, I was wondering if I may have picked the wrong area to fish today. Then I thought, well I'm here now so just stick to it like you have done on previous trips, when it's been tough finding the trout. Not long after thinking that, I had a small trout take the spinner. I lost it as quickly as it took it. A few minutes went by, then I flicked the little Aglia Mouche Noire into a large flat water, that was made by a large fallen tree, and it was there that I had my second hook up of the morning.

This was an aggressive hit too and finally it was fish on! Then, in a flash, it was fish off. The fish made a fast run and leapt from the river. With one solid headshake, it tossed the spinner. I can't repeat what I said when that happened either. I'm sure you can guess anyway. Thirty metres further up the river, while fishing a medium flowing stretch of water, a nice brown followed the spinner from the opposite side of the river, right up to where I was standing, before it turned and moved off.

I had one more flat water ahead of me to fish, before getting out of the river and bypassing a two hundred metre deep run. It was on the third cast and retrieve that I spotted a large brown come up behind the spinner. Like the last fish, this one did the same. It followed the lure right up to where I was standing in the river. The only difference was that this fish had a go at the lure and missed taking it, before it moved back into the flat water, not to be seen again. It was a beautiful size male brown trout that would have been close to one and a half kilos. Had it taken the lure it would certainly have given me a run for my money. Maybe, on my next visit here, it will still be in the area and I'll get to find out who comes out on top.

It was time to get out and move onto the next stretch of river, a long two hundred metres of medium/fast flowing water, that was just above knee deep in most places. It was my last chance to catch a trout before I called it a day here. Once I was back in the river, I tried a Mepps #0 Aglia Fluoro Tiger spinner, all to no avail. I went for the bigger Mepps #0 Aglia Mouche Noire spinner and it only took a few cast and retrieves to get a couple of soft hits on it.

With that happening, it lifted my spirits and a few minutes later I had a solid trout take the lure. This was a decent size brown too. After watching it make several runs and leaps from the river, I managed to get the upper hand and take control of it. It soon tired, while battling against the faster flowing water and I slipped it into the landing net. At last, I had caught the first Meander River trout of the season. All up it had taken just under two hours to do so. This was a beautiful, well-conditioned fish, that was released back into the river in quick time, after having its photo taken. I fished on for another twenty minutes, without a sign of a fish and called it a day here, heading back to the car.

I called into Western Creek on the way home and spent twenty minutes fishing there, where I spotted one medium size trout that wasn't interested in taking a lure. That's when I decided it was time to call it a day and head for home. On the walk back to the car I came across a platypus in a small backwater. I did manage to get a short video of it and seeing that platypus was really the highlight of the day for me, more so than catching that trout. I wasn't all that disappointed on how the day went really. To finish up with one trout caught and released wasn't all that bad, when I look at it. Had it gone my way I could have ended the session with four trout caught. Like I say quite often, "That's trout fishing" for you.

Adrian (meppstas)

Equipment Used:
Okuma Celilo Finesse Spin Rods - ULS 1-3kg 6'6'' trout rod
Okuma Epixor XT Spin Reel - EPXT-20
Platypus Pulse Premium Monofilament Line - 4lb
Platypus Super 100 Monofilament Line - 4lb
Platypus Pre-Test Premium Monofilament Line
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader - 4lb
Assorted Mepps Inline Spinners
Mepps Aglia Mouche Noire Inline Spinner