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Winter Trout Fishing
By Adrian (meppstas) Webb
The conditions were ideal for a late afternoon spin session in a small tannin stream this afternoon. After a fifteen-minute walk I was in the water, ready to start flicking a #00 Mepps gold Black Fury inline spinner around, in the hope of catching a few trout. One thing that I did notice was how low the water level was in this small tannin stream, however, thankfully I knew that there were some deeper runs further upstream from where I had hopped into the water.
The main problem is that, when the water is so low, the slightest noise on the rocky river bottom as a take each step is enough to send trout darting off and those trout can be fifteen metres or more ahead of me. There is still trout to be caught in shallow water if one is lucky enough not to spook them.
The first small narrow stretch of water that I slowly moved towards, and three trout darted off in no time at all, even before I had the chance to cast a lure into it. Then, to my amazement, in the next shallow water I flicked the 1.5g spinner into, I hooked and landed a small brown trout. That same little shallow water also gave up another trout on my second cast into it. The second trout was a ripper of a fish too. It had to be one of the smallest brown trout that I have ever caught in all my years of trout fishing. Thankfully it was slightly hooked in the lip and was released unharmed.
A little further upstream there was a nice knee-deep stretch of water that I was confident of catching trout in, and it did give up a small brown trout too. There was a larger trout in that same run of water too. That trout was a bigger fish and more cunning than the small aggressive fish. It only followed the spinner for a short distance before it turned and moved back into the deeper water.
From there I moved a little further upstream and came to a deeper pocket of water. This was one that I've caught trout in each time I have fished it. It took a few casts and retrieves before a trout finally had a go at the lure, missing being hooked. A few casts later, to the top end of the water, and I did hook and land a small trout. With four trout caught in the last fifteen minutes I was already thinking of a double figure catch spin session. A few minutes later I picked up another small brown, taking the tally to five.
I then had to hop out of the stream to bypass a deep washout from the last flood that we had a few months ago. Once around it I hopped back in the stream. Ahead of me was a nice, above the knees, stretch of water. This was one that regularly gives up a large trout or two each time I fish it. Before catching the fourth trout I had also made a change of lure. I had replaced the little gold Mepps Black Fury with a small #00 Aglia Mouch Noire and I decided to stick with it for a while longer.
The decision to stay with it was a good one and my first cast here I lobbed the spinner close to the righthand riverbank. No sooner had I started to retrieve it and a large brown appeared behind it. With the water being a very dark tannin colour, it was hard to see just how big the trout was at first. I could see the white inside of its mouth opening and closing behind the little spinner and that's when I knew it was a decent size trout.
The trout kept coming at the lure and then slowed its approach to it. What I did at this point was lift the rod tip and give the rod a light twitch, before letting the lure drop a couple of inches. That was enough to get the trout to take the Aglia Mouche Noire. Once it was hooked all hell broke loose as it took off and headed toward several small tree branches in the river!
I couldn't let it peel line from the little Okuma ITX-1000 spinning reel because I didn't want it to head into the tree branches. That worked, however the trout still managed to get near one small branch, which then became tangled on the mainline a foot above the fish. Now, not only was I fighting the fish, but I was also having to contend with it dragging a small branch around with it.
I was thinking the worst. I could see the fish was going to eventually get away as it kept pulling hard and going from one side of the stream to the other. Thankfully it didn't toss the lure and as soon as I had it close enough, I slipped the net under it. The trout was in the net and the small branch was there with it.
After untangling the line from the branch, I could finally get to do something with the trout. The small treble hook was only on the inside of its jaw and there was a small bleed but nothing to worry about. After weighing it in the net, then deducting the 300g net weight, the trout ended up at a very nice 610g. This fish was in top condition too and after a couple of photos it was released for another day.
A little further up, and in the same stretch of water, I hooked and landed another solid brown. That trout was a little smaller than the last one, it weighed in at 580g and was also in top condition. After the release of that trout, it was a little quiet, mainly due to the water being so shallow and the trout that were there darting off. Not only that, the river bottom had also quite a lot of green algae on it that fouled the blade spinner.
Thirty minutes passed by before I finally caught and released my eight trout of the afternoon, fishing a plain gold #00 Mepps Aglia inline spinner. That trout was a medium size fish, and like the others it was in good condition too. With the water ahead of me being mainly all shallow runs and full of green algae, I called it a day and started to make my way back to the car.
I was within sight of my car, and I just happened to look down from the riverbank at a deep stretch of water and spotted a trout surface feeding in it. Seeing that trout surface feeding was enough for me to climb down the riverbank and flick the little gold Aglia spinner into the area where I first spotted it feeding. I cast the spinner well past the area where I had spotted the trout and it wasn't until I had retrieved all the way into where I was standing that a small trout took the gold spinner. No sooner had it taken the lure, it tossed it.
Seeing as this deep stretch of water was also around four metres wide, I flicked the lure to the righthand side of the stream, near some overhanging tea trees. No sooner had the lure hit the water and it was smashed by a solid trout. That fish fought hard and made several leaps from the stream before I finally had full control of it. What seemed like five minutes (but was only 45 seconds) later, I had it in close enough to ease it into the net. Once it was in the net, I saw how good this fish really was. It was beautifully coloured and solid as a rock. It was also the second heaviest fish of the afternoon, weighing 595g.
Now my spin session was over and what a great way to end it with a beautiful wild brown trout of that size. Even though I didn't reach a double figure catch today, I was still satisfied with the outcome. Nine trout was good enough in the end.
Adrian (meppstas)
Equipment Used Today:
Okuma Celilo Finesse Spin Rod - CE-S-662UL-1 6’6” Ultra-Light 2-6lb
Okuma ITX Carbon Spin Reel - ITX-1000
Platypus Pulse Mono - Premium Nylon Monofilament Line
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader
Mepps Black Fury Inline Spinner
Mepps Aglia Mouche Noire Inline Spinner
Mepps Aglia Inline Spinner