Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Adrian-Webbs-Trout-Tips » The Bug & Small Stream Trout

The Bug & Small Stream Trout

By Adrian (meppstas) Webb 

Rain and windy conditions were the forecast of the day again today, so I had planned to stay home. As the day went on however the weather wasn't all that bad, so I headed off for a spin session in the tannin waters. It was 1:30pm when I finally hopped into the water and started flicking a small #00 Mepps Bug spinner around in the tannin stream.

The flow was pretty good, due to recent rain and the water was a little cloudy but still had that nice tannin colour to it and that's the reason I went with the White Miller Bug spinner. This session I was fishing approximately one kilometre of water and one that has quite a few log jams on it. It is also one that hasn't given up a trout in the two previous trips, let alone even seeing one. Several days ago though I had caught seven trout two kilometres downstream from here and that's why I wanted to give this area a go today. I felt there may be a few trout here now.

It only took a few casts in the first stretch of water and I had a trout come out of nowhere and have a go at the Bug spinner, however it missed being hooked. That was a good sign, seeing a trout here so early into the spin session, and it gave me hope that there may be a few around today.

As I moved into the next slow flowing stretch of water I spooked a small trout that had been sitting in shallow water near the river bank. That gave me a lift and I knew that I would be onto a trout sooner than later. Just ahead of me was a nice wide run of flat water that had an old log three quarters of the way across it. That's where I saw a small circle appear on the surface just ahead of it. I was sure it was from a trout sipping something from the surface, however with a small wagtail darting around there as well I thought it could also have dropped something into the water.

I needed to get as close as possible to the fallen log without creating a bow wave. I was in stealth mode as I got as close as possible to the fallen log, allowing me to get a decent cast into the area that I felt the trout was in. Once I felt I was close enough, without disturbing the water and spooking the trout, I then had to do a low backhand cast to avoid hitting the overhanging foliage near the river bank on my right. I had to get the backhand cast right the first time. If I muffed it, the trout that I was hoping was there would dart off.

I concentrated on the spot where I needed to lob the spinner, for a short time before letting the little Mepps Bug go with the cast. It landed within ten centimetres of the riverbank, a perfect cast. No sooner had I started to retrieve the spinner when a bow wave appeared behind it. I was right, there was a trout here after all. As it drew closer to the lure I gave the Okuma Finesse rod a light twitch, to make the spinner blade flutter and that was enough to get the trout to take it.

Once hooked it made a couple of runs towards some debris, however I managed to turn it before it could reach it. All I could say was "please stay on". It did stay on and soon tired. I was quite relieved once I had it in the net as it's always good to land the first fish. That trout was a nice length but it was very thin in the body, which I feel may have been from late spawning, due to low rainfall during June and July. It will fatten up once the weather gets warmer and insect life appears in big numbers.

I had a few more cast and retrieves in this wide, shallow and slow flowing water and had a follow from a small non-aggressive brown. The following run was also a nice wide, slow water. Unfortunately nothing happened there, however in the next stretch of water the result was much better. This narrow stretch of water was faster flowing and it had a nice piece of flat water on the left hand side, with a bubble line next to it. The perfect spot for a trout.

I was pretty confident of picking a fish up there because I had caught trout in this same spot on past trips last season. The first cast, to the top end of the flat water, was all it took to catch the second trout of the session. This fish was bigger than the first one. Once hooked it headed straight into the faster flowing water and made several leaps and runs before I had it in close enough to lead into the net. This trout was in excellent condition and full of fight as it played up in the landing net. It weighed 440 grams. Two trout landed in seven minutes was a great start to the spin session.

With plenty of good trout water ahead of me I was hoping to catch a few more trout before the rain arrived that was forecast for later in the day. There were a lot of very dark clouds overhead and the rain wasn't all that far away. I needed to push on a little quicker than I normally do when fishing rivers and streams.

After having a few hits and misses as I fished my way upstream, it took thirty-five minutes to catch and release trout number three, a small/medium, beautifully coloured brown. A little further upstream and ten minutes later I was onto another trout but lost it just after turning on my camera. After the loss of that trout I fished my way up a long narrow run of medium flowing water, where I had a couple of hits and misses.

Once at the top end of that run I had to contend with a log jam and once over it I was back into some nice open water. There I caught a couple of small browns in fifteen minutes and they were the last of the trout caught for the rest of the spin session. I had fished on for another fifty minutes and climbed over a few more log jams for two hits and misses, before I called it a day.

At the start of the session, when I caught two trout in quick time, I thought I was going to be in for a good tally of trout but it wasn't to be. The good thing that came from it was the fact the trout were moving back into this area for the first time this season. Definitely something to look forward to in the coming months.

Adrian (meppstas)

Equipment used on various trout trips:

Okuma Celilo Finesse Spin Rods - ULS 1-3kg trout rods
Okuma LRF Spin Rods - Split Grip 1-3kg
Okuma Inspira Blue Spin Reels - ISX-20B
Okuma Helios SX Spin Reels - HSX-20
Okuma Epixor XT Spin Reels - EXPT-20
Okuma Ceymar Spin Reels - C-10
Platypus Super 100 Monofilament Fishing Line
Platypus Pre-Test Monofilament Fishing Line
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader
Mepps Inline Spinners
Boomerang Tool Products