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The Bug Saves the Day
By Adrian (meppstas) Webb
Seeing as it had been five days since my last trip to a tannin stream, I thought I would head back and have another go at catching a few wild browns. My last trip yielded half a dozen trout, of various sizes, the with best one a beautiful and solid fish that tipped the scales at 435 grams.
Today the water level was several inches lower, so I was hoping to get onto quite a few trout this trip. The only problem was the late (10:30am) start. After having 42 injections in my lower back and ribs yesterday, I was a little stiff and sore. To make matters worse, by having a late start, the stream was now in full sun, so the trout would be very skittish in the area I was going to fish.
When I entered the stream it had good foliage cover, with plenty of shade on the water, so I felt sure that I would have some luck there with a small #00 gold Mepps Aglia spinner. After five minutes of casting and retrieving the spinner in two stretches of water, without a single trout to be had, I changed over to a copper Mepps Aglia. The gold spinner was standing out too much in the light tannin water, as did the copper Aglia, and with trout being very light sensitive, I didn't hesitate to change over to a #00 March Brown coloured Mepps Bug spinner.
The choice was a good one and on the first cast and retrieve a nice brown came out of a shaded area and followed the spinner for a short distance, before turning and moving back into the shaded area where it had come from. My next cast was meant to go a little longer and lob the spinner into the shaded area that the trout had moved into. The cast was a little offline and went a few feet to the right.
No sooner had the lure hit the water and a small trout darted out and grabbed it. This little brown fought hard as every small trout does, however it never lasts all that long, so I soon had it in hand. Even though it was a miss directed cast, it was good to have a score on the board.
My next cast had to be on target, to see if I could lure that bigger trout out of the shade again. The cast was spot on, the little March Brown lobbed well into the shaded area and as I retrieved the spinner the trout did come at it. A light twitch of the rod was enough to get the trout to take the spinner. This trout was a little larger than I initially thought, making several hard runs and leaps from the water, trying to toss the lure. Thankfully it didn't, making it into the net. This was one of the better trout that I have caught in this little stream. Most fish have been small, so it's always nice to catch a decent one for a change.
Two trout caught in two casts and retrieves was more like it, but would it continue with the sun well overhead and on the water. My next cast was back to where I hooked the first trout, except this cast was a little longer and into a deeper piece of water. Before I had time to turn the handle of the Okuma ITX-1000 reel, the March Brown was hit hard and fast by a nice brown that missed taking the treble hook.
I was so close to catching three trout in three casts, which would have been a hat trick. It just wasn't to be. That was the last trout that had a go at the spinner for quite some time. I did see several small browns dart off, in a shallow stretch of water, as I slowly made my way upstream.
It wasn't until I had hopped out of the river and moved to another nice stretch of water a hundred meters upstream, that I caught my third and last trout of the spin session. I was about to call it a day then, like I always do, I just had a couple more casts and retrieves. It was good that I did too as it was on the third cast and retrieve that a nice medium size brown took the spinner.
The first thing that it did was to head for some debris near the riverbank, but it didn't make it as I held the rod tip high and kept the pressure on the fish. Twenty seconds later it was in the landing net and my day was done, with a total of three trout caught and released for the session. The late start really ruined what I feel could have been a top day on the trout. Next trip here will be much earlier that's for sure.
Adrian (meppstas)
Equipment Used Today:
Okuma Celilo Finesse Spin Rods CE-S-602UL-1 6' 1-3kg
Okuma ITX Carbon Spin Reels - ITX-1000
Platypus Pulse Mono Fishing Line – 4lb
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader – 4lb
Mepps Inline Spinners – Aglia and Bug