Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Adrian-Webbs-Trout-Tips » Wet Weather and Wild River Trout

Wet Weather and Wild River Trout

By Adrian (meppstas) Webb

We’d had seventy-five millimetres of rain over the past couple of days and with the rivers running higher than they were three days ago, I thought I would give the upper reaches of the Mersey River a go. More rain was forecast for today and as I headed off to Weegena, I could see the rain wasn't all that far away. Once there, I could see the river level was well up since my last trip here back on the December 24. In fact, I reckon it's risen by 20-25cm. The good thing was that it was still at a reasonably safe wading height.

The water clarity was very low, which meant I would be using brighter coloured Mepps blade spinners, such as the Aglia Fluo Micropigment brown and rainbow spinners to start with. If they don't work, I could fall back on the ever-reliable Black Fury with the gold, copper, or silver blades. Once I had the wading gear on, I headed along a small dirt track that ran along the side of the river. I bypassed a nice piece of water that I always have a few casts and retrieves to start off my spin session. The reason that I bypassed it was because those dark rain clouds were getting closer by the minute and so I continued to the first fast water, three hundred metres further up the river. What I did notice, as I bypassed the long and wide flat water, was trout surface feeding. This was a good sign that they were at least out and about feeding.

After a ten-minute walk I was finally in the river and flicking an Aglia Fluo Micropigments rainbow spinner up and across the river, then letting it drift with the fast flow of the water, while slowly retrieving it. It was pretty quiet, with no signs of a trout to be had over the first twenty metres of water. It wasn't until I changed to an Aglia Fluo Micropigments brown spinner and moved into a narrower stretch of water that I had my first hit from a trout. I missed hooking it.

A few casts and retrieves later and the same thing happened, so it was off with the Aglia brown and on with the ever-reliable Mepps Black Fury. I thought I would try the gold blade spinner to start with and if that colour didn't attract trout in the cloudy water, then I'd try a copper or silver bladed one. On the third cast and retrieve, into a shallow fast-flowing run, I had my first hook up of the afternoon. This was a small brown trout that had taken the spinner and it stayed on. I had my first fish of the day landed. A few minutes after that, and a little further upstream, I picked up another trout. This one was a larger fish and one that was in top condition. It too made it into the net and just after I released it, the rain arrived. Thankfully, it was only light rain at this stage.

I reached the end of the fast water, without any further hits from trout, and to make matters worse, the rain had become a little heavier. The next fast water ahead of me was at least two hundred and fifty metres away. As much as I wanted to head there, I knew it wasn't worth it with the rain that had set in. I had a few more casts and retrieves as I made my way towards the riverbank and was lucky enough to catch and release another small/medium size brown trout.

On the walk back to the car, the rain eased off as I neared the area of water that I normally like to start my spin session in. I decided to hop in and give myself ten minutes to see if I could pick up a trout. Once I was back in the river the rain increased a little more, so I was fishing hard and fast to get as many casts and retrieves in as I could before it pelted down. Luck was on my side here too and I went on to catch and release two small/medium size browns and a nice plump 340g rainbow trout.

May day was done as the rain became much heavier. Thankfully my car was only thirty metres away and it wasn't all that long before I was in it. I knew that I should have headed up here a lot earlier than I did. Had I done so, and fished the fast waters further upstream, I believe I would have had another double figure day.

Adrian (meppstas)

Equipment Used During My Trout Season:

Okuma Celilo Finesse Spin Rods - ULS 1-3kg
Okuma LRF Spin Rods – 1-3kg
Okuma ITX Carbon Spin Reels – ITX-1000
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 Pulse Mono Premium Monofilament – 4lb
Platypus Super 100 Monofilament – 4lb
Platypus Pre-test Monofilament – 4lb
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader
Mepps Inline Spinners