Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Adrian-Webbs-Trout-Tips » Wet & Calm Conditions 9-11-18
Wet & Calm Conditions 9-11-18
I was thinking about heading off for a spin session early this morning and then thought twice about it with rain forecast as the day went on. Anyway, after lunch the weather at Sheffield wasn't all that bad, so I decided to head off to the Dasher River and have a bit of a spin session.
As I was heading to my destination I could see it was getting pretty dark and there were a lot of very dark clouds moving in... the rain wasn't all that far off. Just as I parked the car the sky opened up and it bucketed down for at least ten minutes before it stopped as quickly as it had arrived. I was out of the car quick and on with the waders, boots and other kit, then on my way down a steep hill through some bush and across the paddocks to my entry point in the stream. I was about to fish an area that I haven't fished for just on two trout seasons, so I didn't know what to expect. I noticed a lot had changed since the clean up after the 2016 record floods, with many alterations to the river banks along it.
As I approached my entry point, I could see more rain clouds moving in and I knew I was in for a soaking sooner than later... plus I didn't think to bring my lightweight rain jacket with me either. As I hopped into the water I could see it was a little low in some areas, with plenty of others that looked pretty good to flick a lure into.
The lure used again was the Mepps Aglia Mouche Noire. It's actually an older, well used one that I had on the trout rod I had taken from my rod rack. A rack that is fully set up with ten ultra light weight trout set ups. I had a few casts downstream and during those few casts I had a hit from trout on each occasion but missed hooking them. That was a good sign that there were a few trout in the area for starters.
There's only one problem when fishing these skinny little streams and creeks, I can't use the cast and drift method in them. Being so narrow and shallow there's no allowance to use that method of fishing and that's why I lose a lot of trout from time to time. One has to cast directly upstream and retrieve the lure straight down the stream.
I still can cast to either river bank and retrieve the spinner, however the trout are still having to take the lure from directly behind it. If you watch a trout taking a lure, ninety percent of the time they grab at it as they turn and that's why they're often lipped and toss the lure so easily. That's just a part of trout fishing these narrow little streams and I still catch my fair share of trout in them anyway.
One thing that works very well when fishing these little waters is that when you see a bow wave or a trout appear behind the spinner give the rod a light twitch. By doing that it makes the spinner blade flutter and nine times out of ten it results in a strike.
So back to how the trout fishing went. It started reasonably well as I fished my way upstream, picking up several little wild brown trout in quick time. Those dark clouds I saw earlier moved in and decided to pour a few litres of water down on me. I sheltered under some heavy foliage against the river bank, which kept me reasonably dry until it eased off to a light drizzle and finally stopped. The sun even shone on and off briefly too.
I was soon back in the water, flicking the little Aglia Mouche Noire upstream and I continued catching a trout here and there, as well as losing the odd fish from time to time. The rain came and went several more times and I was drenched in one heavy downpour, before the clouds parted and the sun broke through again.
The trout were really aggressive in attacking the little Aglia spinner and I was having a lot of fun with these little battlers on the light tackle. It was near on 3.30pm when I called it a day, as more rain clouds started moving in. I still had at least a twenty minute walk back to the car so I wanted to reach it before the rain set in again.
On the way back I came across a tiger snake curled up in the grass, which took me by surprise especially when I was only four feet from it! At the end of the day I had caught and released 16 small to medium size browns from twenty six hook ups. The little lure was much worse for wear and it did finish up looking like a normal Aglia spinner at the end of the session. That little lure had caught more than forty trout since it was new so it had done its job well...