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Tough Day on the River
By Adrian (meppstas) Webb
Finally, we had a few nice warm days ahead of us, so today I headed to the upper Mersey River for a spin session. The morning started off with very cool conditions, due to the river being well shaded from the Eucalyptus trees, that blocked out the sun for a short time. The water level had dropped to a nice wading height and the river itself was running clear. The rocky river bottom wasn't all that good as it was covered in slime and was slippery under foot.
It was 8:10 am by the time I had my first cast of the morning and the lure that I started off with was the Mepps #1 March Brown coloured Bug spinner, mainly due to the water being so clear. The first area I fished was a wide, deep stretch of water, that had a nice medium flow. The only problem with it was that I didn't have a single touch from a trout, let alone see one. To make matters worse, I couldn't cross the river where I normally did. Even though the river level had dropped quite a bit, it was still too deep for my liking and not worth the risk.
From there I made my way along the riverbank and crossed over where it was knee deep and safe enough to make my way to the opposite side of the river. I was really waiting for the sun to rise higher so that I could warm up, as it was so cold in the shade and the tips of my fingers were burning because of the air being so cold. It wasn't until 8:30 am that I was fishing in full sunshine and not all that long after that when I had a couple of solid hits from trout but missed hooking up.
Now that the sun was on the water it was much easier to spot any trout that followed the spinner. I did hook and lose two medium size brown trout in three casts and retrieves, with both fish tossing the spinner in the first few seconds of being hooked. This didn't go down all that well with me. It was only a minute or two after the loss of those trout when I cast the Mepps Bug spinner straight up the river and into a shallow stretch. No sooner had I started to retrieve the Bug spinner and a medium size rainbow took the lure. That fish put up a good fight too, and being in shallow water I was worried it may toss the spinner, especially when it made a couple of leaps from the water. Thankfully it was well hooked, and it was soon in the landing net.
Once released, I made my way into a small backwater to the right of where I was in the river. This was a nice little stretch of water that has never let me down each time I've fished it. Today was no different and it only took a few casts and retrieves to have a small brown trout take the lure and make its way into the net.
After its release I headed back into the main stream, and from there it all went downhill. The wind, that wasn't forecast for the morning, arrived from the East and it wasn't a light breeze either. I stuck to my guns and continued to fish my way upstream, making several lure changes, all to no avail. The trout were there in several areas, but they had completely shut down. I knew I was wasting my time continuing on with the easterly wind blowing, but kept fishing the river until 10:35 am, without seeing a trout. Then, I called it a day. It was a pretty disappointing time spent in the river with just the two trout caught and released. Hopefully the next time I make a return trip it will be more productive than it was today.
Adrian (meppstas)
Equipment Used During my Trout Season
TT Red Belly Spin Rod - RBS702L 7’0”, 1-3kg
Okuma Celilo Finesse Spin Rod – CE-S-602UL-1 6’0”, 2-6lb
Okuma Celilo Finesse Spin Rod – CE-S-662UL-1 6’6”, 2-6lb
Okuma ITX Carbon Spin Reels – ITX-1000
Epixor XT Spin Reels - EXPT-20
Okuma Ceymar HD Spin Reels – CHD-1000HA
Platypus Pulse Mono Fishing Line
Platypus Super 100 Mono Fishing Line
Platypus Pre-Test Mono Fishing Line
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader
Mepps Inline Spinners
TT Spintrix Inline Spinners