My first "DONUT" in two trout seasons.

Tasmania Fishing Reports
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meppstas
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My first "DONUT" in two trout seasons.

Post by meppstas » Sat Oct 20, 2018 8:26 am

I've been holding back on this report guys because it's something that hasn't happened to me for quite some time.. It was probably well overdue as I've been very close to it several times lately and finally it happened... There's also a video clip at the bottom of this report if you'd like to watch it..


My first “donut” in two trout seasons..... 8-10-18

I though it was time to give the Leven River a fish for the first time this season seeing as it gave me a great finish to last years trout season. My last three trips of the season were here and I caught & released 31 browns with the best fish going 8 lb 8 ozs. I knew I wouldn't go any where close to catching another brown that size here again, unless he's still in the area. On checking the rivers levels it doesn't show the river height, it only shows how many mega litres (388.8) of water that's coming down the river. So what I did was to compare it with the reading of the Meander River that was running at 435 mega litres which showed it to be at a flow height of 62 cms which was a safe wading height. So that to me was good enough to work out the Leven should be at a safe wading height. There's nothing worse than driving 60 kilometres only to find a river running too high to wade. When I arrived at the river it was at the perfect wading height and had a very nice flow to go with it. I fished two different stretches of river this trip, each one being around 1.2 kms long.
Glassy conditions, Leven River. (Medium).JPG
Glassy conditions on the river..
Looking upstream from a high point on the Leven River.  (Medium).JPG
Beautiful wading depth here..
I was in the river by 9:00 am and started casting the Mepps Aglia Furia up and across the river while letting it drift with the flow while I kept the line tight with a very slow retrieve. I did find that the water was much colder here than the Mersey & Meander Rivers too, this was due to snow still melting in the upper reaches. Nothing happened in the first couple of hundred meters until I entered the faster flowing water. It was on the third cast across the river to where there was some timber debris next to the river bank that the Aglia spinner was taken had it no sooner hit the water. It was a beautiful solid fish (at least a kilo) that made a couple of decent runs and leaps from the river before it tossed the spinner while giving a massive head shake as it made another leap for freedom. As unhappy I was at losing that fish it did give me hope that I may be in for a good spin session in the fast water here today. It wasn't until I had fished my way upstream for another one hundred meters when I hooked my second brown, a small fish that soon spat the spinner. That was the last trout seen for the rest of that stretch of river before I got out and moved onto the next one to be fished.
Large wild brown trout hooked & lost here, Leven River. (Medium).JPG
First solid brown was hooked and lost here..
Small brown hooked & lost here, Leven River. (Medium).JPG
Small brown lost here..
Looking down the Leven River. (Medium).JPG
Looking downstream from where I had fished my way upstream..

The next long stretch of river fished was a mix of fast & medium flowing water, one that usually gives up a few fish. I did have to cross the river where I had parked the car then had a reasonably long walk through the paddocks to reach my entry point where I started session number two. Well, I had plenty of follows from some nice wild browns, not one of them had a go at the variety of lures I threw at them over the 1.2 kilometres of river. Not a single fish touched a spinner or a hard body, I just couldn't believe it. All that distance covered today without a single trout being landed which made for my first “doughnut” in two trout seasons. As beautiful a day as it was there, I wasn't a very happy chappy when I left the river that's for sure. I will return though and the next trip will certainly have a much better ending...
Great fast water stretch, Leven River. (Medium).JPG
Great fast water run..
Had two follows from trout here, Leven River. (Medium).JPG
Had a couple of follows here..
Finished the spin session here, Leven River. (Medium).JPG
Finished the spin session here..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caT0993 ... ture=share

cheers
Adrian
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Re: My first "DONUT" in two trout seasons.

Post by Duffman » Sat Oct 20, 2018 9:53 am

Sometimes its not just about catching. Nice to be out there in some beautiful country. I am sure you will catching soon.

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Re: My first "DONUT" in two trout seasons.

Post by meppstas » Sat Oct 20, 2018 11:03 am

Duffman wrote:Sometimes its not just about catching. Nice to be out there in some beautiful country. I am sure you will catching soon.
Yes, I've had a few trips since this one and have managed to catch a few trout.. just held this report back for a couple of weeks.. :-D :-D

cheers
Adrian
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Re: My first "DONUT" in two trout seasons.

Post by Paulanderson » Sat Oct 20, 2018 11:44 am

Well Adrian it is not as if there were no fish - they were just not in the mood.

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Re: My first "DONUT" in two trout seasons.

Post by Lightningx » Sat Oct 20, 2018 1:20 pm

We all have those sessions from time to time Adrian!
You will probably catch 20 in your next one mate :rofl:
Nice report and pics as always!
Cheers :thumbsup:

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Re: My first "DONUT" in two trout seasons.

Post by Texas » Sat Oct 20, 2018 2:18 pm

Beautiful Adrian
Is this normal at the start of the season ????
I'm used to you reporting 10 - 15 in a session
Cheers Gra

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Re: My first "DONUT" in two trout seasons.

Post by meppstas » Sat Oct 20, 2018 2:46 pm

Texas wrote:Beautiful Adrian
Is this normal at the start of the season ????
I'm used to you reporting 10 - 15 in a session
Cheers Gra
No Gra, the rivers have been as tough as ever so far this season, lots of complaints about the lack of trout in them.. lots of reports of Cormorants in the rivers too.. I had a late stat due to the poor weather & high rivers, but even when they have been good enough to hop in and fish, they've been few and far between.. Not many insect hatches yet either, just a few midges, duns & caddis moths around but in small numbers at the moment.. The IFS won't stock the rivers down here either but they put thousands of trout into the lakes for tourism.. they rely on self recruitment in the rivers.. I bet when the World Fly Fishing Championships are on here in Nov-Dec 2019 they'll suddenly find trout for the rivers where the Championships held.. :down:
cheers
Adrian
Cormorants, Tasmania...jpg
Cormorants perched in a dead trees next to a river here in the North of Tassie..
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Re: My first "DONUT" in two trout seasons.

Post by Sinsemilla » Sat Oct 20, 2018 3:31 pm

Still a good read Adrian. I wouldn't call hooking and dropping a good fish and getting follows a donut session. As they say, there is always next time! or that's why they call it fishing and not catching! or a bad days fishing is better than a good day at work!.. Which ever one you fancy ;)

Cheers, Anth

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Re: My first "DONUT" in two trout seasons.

Post by meppstas » Sun Oct 21, 2018 12:32 pm

Sinsemilla wrote:Still a good read Adrian. I wouldn't call hooking and dropping a good fish and getting follows a donut session. As they say, there is always next time! or that's why they call it fishing and not catching! or a bad days fishing is better than a good day at work!.. Which ever one you fancy ;)

Cheers, Anth
Thanks Anth, always good to be in a river at any time and that's what it's really all about.. getting out there enjoying what we have.. :victory:

cheers
Adrian
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Re: My first "DONUT" in two trout seasons.

Post by April Fool » Sun Oct 21, 2018 4:25 pm

Your 'donut' effort is still worthy of a report! You 'tangled' with a couple fish which on the day got the better of you...a typical 'donut' for me could mean sitting on a drab channel for a few hours without even getting a bite! Then there could be 2 or 3 of these sessions in succession with no luck. But at the end of the day, I would rather be out there than at home doing nothing and I know you mentioned you would rather be out there anyway.
meppstas wrote:…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
The IFS won't stock the rivers down here either but they put thousands of trout into the lakes for tourism.. they rely on self recruitment in the rivers.. I bet when the World Fly Fishing Championships are on here in Nov-Dec 2019 they'll suddenly find trout for the rivers where the Championships held.. :down:
cheers
Adrian

..........
From what I have learnt attending the trout conferences put on by Victorian fisheries, your 'IFS' is not the only ones who will not stock trout into rivers or creeks. Victorian fisheries surveyed (electro-fished) some rivers a while after they were stocked to see how many stocked fish remained. Their findings, well, they couldn't find any stocked fish except for a few. They stated that they had no idea where the fish are going. But...they do stock the Goulburn River. I am not sure why they classify this as being different, perhaps because the water is cooler coming out of Eildon. They may see it as being worthwhile to put limited resources into the Goulburn but do not bother with others where the success rate has not been that good.

The first conference I attended, April Vokey spoke about her 'home' (Canada I think) trout fishery. Much the same...they do not stock trout into rivers as they believe it ruins the native stock in regards to genetics or something. I am not sure, I was too busy checking her out! This years speaker was from the US, the boss man of fisheries and game. Same thing...they do not have any large scale river stocking programs. From memory, they may have some small scale stockings in rivers where they know the trout will likely be removed quickly by anglers but my memory may have failed me with the last couple facts.

The conferences are great and this year they were attended by NSW and Tasmanian fisheries officers. I am not sure what NSW does in regards to stocking trout in rivers. I know the hard core Vic trout fishos often bag the Vic fisheries and say they should do what NSW does!

Your 'IFS' may change their plans anyway if things get a lot worse there. I can't see them not protecting such a great fishing asset. It may take a while before they respond. I know you send them your fishing stats...maybe you have been going too well! Let them know you missed out...that may change their attitude! (inset smilie face here)

cheers
Team Bender
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