Another tough day at the office...

Tasmania Fishing Reports
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meppstas
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Another tough day at the office...

Post by meppstas » Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:50 am

Another tough day at the office...

I left home just after 5:30 am this morning and headed to the upper Mersey River for an early spin session in what was a reasonably cool morning with the lightest of breeze. As soon as I arrived it was on with the wading gear and off for a forty minute walk to where I would start the spin session. I was trying a new stretch of river (that I checked out on Google Earth) for the first time this trip so I didn't know what to expect. It looked okay on Google Earth at the time, now I'm just hoping it will give up a few trout at some stage of the spin session. When I finally arrived there I could see I was in for a tough day at the office, it was a very long rocky stretch of river and it looked like the river bottom was going to be my biggest test, on the body that is. Once in the the river I knew right away I was going to finish the day a very sore man indeed as I struggled to keep my footing on the rocky river bottom. Most of the water I'm fishing here is fast water and it varies in depth from shallow to just below the waist. I was now thinking why the hell did I have to pick an area like this, had I known before hand what it was like I would have stayed well away from here.
IMG_5358 (Medium).JPG
It was hard work getting up through this..
IMG_5361 (Medium).JPG
Nearly at the end of the tough sections..
I started flicking the little gold spinner around and let the water do the work in carrying the lure down in between the rocks in the fast water runs where I had a hook up in no time at all. It was a nice medium size brown, it made a dash downstream & with one decent head shake it tossed the spinner. At least I new there were trout here which was good ,so I may catch a few trout after all this morning. As I continued to struggle my way upstream I did have the odd hit and miss as well as several follows but couldn't manage to get any hook ups. I changed over to the little ghost brown hard body as that usually sucks the trout in most times I've used it. After twenty minutes of working the river with it all I had was two follows from a couple of nice size browns and that's as far as it went. Not a sign of aggression from those two browns at all.
IMG_5366 (Medium).JPG
Finally some slower water, still rocky but much easier..
IMG_5362 (Medium).JPG
Still a rocky section here & there..


I had at last come to the top end of the very fast water and was now into a nice stretch of medium to fast water runs which I found to be a lot easier to wade, still slippery and rocky but nowhere near to what I had just fished over the past hour and a half. I decided I'd give the Rapala F3 rainbow lure a go now seeing as the trout weren't interested in taking the ghost brown. I think it was on the third or forth cast when I had a trout take the lure as I retrieved it down a fast water run that flowed between a couple of large rocks. After a short tussle with this trout it came to the surface and that's when I saw it was a nice medium size rainbow. Once again it's the rainbow that's been the first trout taken on a spin session.
IMG_5367 (Medium).JPG
Rainbow taken here..
Lovely rainbow, Mersey River (Medium).JPG
Solid 'bow and well deserved..
After that the trout became more aggressive for one reason or another and I caught and released three nice browns over the next four short medium flowing runs and lost two others as well. The Rapala rainbow pattern lure seemed to be the right choice after all. The wind had now picked up from the West and was blowing straight down the river making it near impossible to get a decent cast in. It was a matter of waiting for a lull in it then casts as quick as I could before it hit again. A few times the wind hit just as I cast the 3 gram balsa Rapala and it carried it right back to where I was standing in the river. Not only that I was getting quite a few wind knots in the line too which was starting to annoy me.It was a little quiet over the next hundred meters of river before I picked up another rainbow and one more brown. The wind wasn't easing off and I was nearly back to where I could get out and head back to the car so I called it a day.. It certainly was a tough day in the office today with just the four browns and two rainbows caught, not only that the old body was feeling it too and it was nice to get back to the car.
IMG_5368 (Medium).JPG
Finally a brown took the lure..
IMG_5373 (Medium).JPG
and another..
Wild Mersey River brown, Liena.5371 (Medium).JPG
This was the last of the session..
IMG_5369 (Medium).JPG
Brown taken here..
cheers
Adrian
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Truedogz
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Re: Another tough day at the office...

Post by Truedogz » Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:06 am

Adrian.

By your standards it may have been a tough day but by most people's standards it was a great session. The heat though definitely puts a dampener on the trout.

I can relate to your pain, I am feeling it today too. Out of all the fishing hazards eg. scrub, blackberries, snakes, what I most dread are large slippery rocks and rivers with rocky bottoms - this makes wading treacherous.

Google earth is a great way to explore and plan fishing trips!

Best Wishes

Truedogz

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Re: Another tough day at the office...

Post by smile0784 » Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:34 am

Well done Got a few fish in hard conditiona

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Re: Another tough day at the office...

Post by Lightningx » Mon Jan 08, 2018 10:53 am

Enjoyed the read Adrian!
Great pics as always :thumbsup:

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meppstas
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Re: Another tough day at the office...

Post by meppstas » Mon Jan 08, 2018 4:55 pm

Thanks guys..
With the fishing hazards you mentioned Truedogz, scrub & snakes are bad enough at any time but how bad are the blackberry bushes there in the bush..
Down here they're running rampant and nothings being done about it at all, I've taken plenty of photos and sent them to the councils, State Gov & newspapers, still no action or replies.. pathetic really.. The photos below are just a few of plenty..
Blackberry bushes at Liena. (29-2-16) (Medium).JPG
Blackberry bushes taking over an area once full of ferns..
No end to the blackberry bushes, Liena.(29-2-16) (Medium).JPG
No end to the blackberry bushes here..
This area was once full of ferns, Liena.(29-2-16) (Medium).JPG
Another area that was once full of ferns..
cheers
Adrian
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Marty.A
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Re: Another tough day at the office...

Post by Marty.A » Mon Jan 08, 2018 7:41 pm

Your bad sessions would be my awesome sessions Adrian :rofl: Another great report mate :thumbsup:

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Truedogz
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Re: Another tough day at the office...

Post by Truedogz » Mon Jan 08, 2018 8:19 pm

meppstas wrote: how bad are the blackberry bushes there in the bush..
Adrian, I had a 20 year absence from Victoria from the end of 1996. Since my return the impression I have is that the blackberries are nowhere near as bad as they were some 30 years ago. Apart from spraying programs I think some of the biological controls such as the rust have had a definite impact.

While they are certainly common and widespread I haven't come across any thickets as bad as in the images you have posted. I can recall them being like that here in the past but I haven't seen any in the last two years. They are still common enough that I always wear long pants when fishing but I haven't come across impenetrable jungles of them.

Best Wishes

Truedogz

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meppstas
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Re: Another tough day at the office...

Post by meppstas » Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:09 pm

Thanks Truedogz.. :thumbsup:

Marty I'm sure if you had the time to go more often you'd do well mate.. :fish22:

cheers
Adrian
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