More fast water wild trout

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meppstas
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More fast water wild trout

Post by meppstas » Sat Mar 14, 2020 12:17 pm

More fast water wild trout.

After having such a great fast water spin session a few days ago I headed back to the Meander to have another crack at getting a double figure catch. This time it was a mid morning start, a morning that had clear skies, light breeze and a temperature of 22 degrees later in the day. It was 9:45 am when I hit the river above the Chestnut Road Bridge to fish a long nice stretch of fast water, the first thing I noticed was green algae covering the most of the river bottom. Soon as I had seen that I knew then and there it wasn't going to be a good day on the trout here. I did fish around four hundred meters of river without seeing a trout so headed back to the car and drove to the fast waters in the upper Meander River. I didn't go to the same stretch of river I fished three days previously but one a lot further up, an area I haven't fished at all this trout season. This fast water may not look all that tough but I can tell you now it as tough as it gets, much tougher on the body than the one I fished a few days ago. Always remember “looks can be deceiving” and this is certainly one of them. As tough as it is, it does hold a lot of trout and well worth the time and effort one has to put into it, it's also one that's not for the inexperienced trout fisher. It's a mix of long deep fast water, short scattered fast water with the occasional wide medium/deep water, all of which are full of slippery rocks of all shapes and sizes than roll under foot. It only takes one mistake and you will be in the water bouncing your way downstream.
My kind of trout water...JPG
My kind of trout water..
Only for the experience trout fisher here..JPG
Only for the experienced fast water trout fisher..


It was 11:55 am when I was finally back in the river, the first stretch I fished before heading into the fast water was a long deep medium flowing run that could only be fished from the right hand side due it it's depth and a little further up some very unsafe fast water. Anyway all I could manage here while using the #1 Aglia Mouche Noire was two hits for one hooked and lost small brown trout. When I reached the deep, top end of this run I couldn't go on any further, it was time to get out and do a little bush bashing to the more open fast waters a hundred meters upstream. Once I found my entry point I was soon in the middle of the river (11:30) slowly making my way upstream working both sides of the river with the Aglia Mouche Noire. It wasn't long before I had a hit from a medium size trout in a shaded piece of water to the left of me but missed hooking it. A long cast up and across the river to the right hand side I let the lure drift with the fast water while retrieving it at the same keeping the spinner at the same speed as the flow a small brown came out of nowhere and took it. This little 280-290 gram brown gave it's all to toss the spinner making several leaps from the river before I slipped the net under it, the first trout of the session was landed at 11:36am. After that I hooked and lost a couple of small browns before making a lure change, it was on with a #0 (2.5gram) Stone Fly Bug spinner to see if that could get a trout to stay on. Several casts and retrieves to both sides of the river saw trout chasing the Bug spinner in and around the rocks nipping at it but just missing being hooked. To me this is just a part of fast water trout fishing seeing the trout chase a lure only to miss the trebles or being lipped and tossing the spinner as quick as they took it.
Beautifully coloured fast water trout..JPG
A fast water trout...
Fast water fishing is never easy under foot..JPG
Never easy under foot here..
It wasn't until I had reached a slightly slower flowing fast water when the spinner was taken by one solid brown that really took off no sooner had it taken it. This was a good size trout that had the Okuma Celilo Finesse ULS 1-3kg rod well and truly bent over, it made quite a few leaps from the river and was certainly testing out the fine 4lb Platypus Super 100 mono line as it made several hard runs every which way. The little Okuma Inspira ISX20B reel was holding it's own with this trout too as line peeled from the spool, it took a few minutes before the trout tired and I had it in close enough to lead it into the net. With this trout being such a decent size fish I didn't mess around getting the camera out to video it, I didn't want to chance losing it like I've done previously, it was a good decision, once the trout was in the net out popped the lure. After a couple of quick pic's I weighed it while it was still in the net (less handling of the fish the better) and after deducting the 410 gram net weight the trout went 1.04 kgs, my first trout over a kilo for this season. A little further up the river (8 minutes later) I was onto another nice brown trout that quickly snapped up the stone fly spinner, it was taken at the tail end of a long, wide medium flowing stretch of river.
A quality 1.04 kg wild brown trout..JPG
Best trout by far, 1.04 kgs..
March Brown Bug did it's job here...JPG
Another quality wild brown..
Some nice water ahead, RHS is the deep side..JPG
A few solid browns were caught & released in this stretch of water..


After the release of that brown I moved into the medium flowing water, it was here the trout were few and far between, those trout that were about only followed the stone fly & march brown Bug spinners. Other Mepps lures I tried were the Black Fury and Aglia Mouche Noires all with the same results, the water that was in full sun was just too clear for the trout to take the spinners. It was time to give the little thirteen year old unbranded brown trout pattern lure a go in the clear water to see if a trout may take a liking to it. Well, it didn't take all that long before it was fish on after a long cast across the river into a small shaded area. This was another decent size brown that ran me all over the place trying to get rid if the little hard body lure, after it made a couple of leaps from the river it soon tired and I had it in the net. It was a beautifully coloured, well conditioned brown that went 670 grams. It was a little quiet until I was nearing the head water when the trout came on the take again, it was here I hooked and landed another four nice browns from seven hook ups. All of those trout were quality fish too and would have averaged around 400 grams, amongst them was trout number nine which brought up my 300th trout for the season. From here on I was back into the fast water where it's running hard and fast plus the depth varies from just below the knees up to around eight inches inches above them. It's here one has to make sure each step taken has a good foot hold on the slippery, rocky river bottom, there's no room for error at all. From here on the trout were fussy and well scattered in the fast water, they were into taking the Stone fly for a short time then go for the March Brown before I finished the session with the last two taking the White Miller. In all it was a reasonably good session with fourteen trout caught & released from 24 hook ups.
The fouteenth & last trout of the day..JPG
The last trout of the spin session..
Yes I slowly made my way up here...JPG
Yes, I fished all that fast water & more..
I kept well to the left hand side, no margin for error...JPG
End of the road for me..time to head back to the car.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsXdwgCGp0M

cheers
Adrian
'' Brand Ambassador for Mepps Lures in Australia '' Tackle Tactics, Okuma, Mepps & Platypus lines Pro Team Member

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClk58e ... m8yelCSKCw

Texas
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Re: More fast water wild trout

Post by Texas » Sat Mar 14, 2020 1:52 pm

Great report and photos Adrian
How does 300 odd ( at this stage) compare to previous years ??
Cheers Gra

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meppstas
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Re: More fast water wild trout

Post by meppstas » Sat Mar 14, 2020 2:31 pm

Texas wrote:
Sat Mar 14, 2020 1:52 pm
Great report and photos Adrian
How does 300 odd ( at this stage) compare to previous years ??
Cheers Gra
Thanks mate,
300 odd is very average Gra, well down on previous years for me, though I have had less trips so far this season due to lower back, hips & shoulder problems..
I had set myself a tally of 600 at the start of the season, hopefully I may reach the 500 if all goes well..We did finally get some rain here a over a week ago, 66mms in twelve hours that gave the small streams a lift.. caught & released 47 trout in four trips over five days before the water levels dropped back to low levels again.
At this stage I'm on 362 for the season, hopefully we'll get some decent rain again very soon..

cheers
Adrian
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Lightningx
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Re: More fast water wild trout

Post by Lightningx » Sat Mar 14, 2020 3:08 pm

Always enjoy the read Adrian and looking at the pics as well!
Great vid too 😃
Cheers 👍🏻

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meppstas
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Re: More fast water wild trout

Post by meppstas » Mon Mar 16, 2020 8:06 am

Thanks Lx, I'm out of action now for how long I'm not sure.. damaged the right hip in a river a few days ago which ruined my day for the Pirtek Challenge..Dosed up with pain killers & heat patches yesterday and headed to the Mersey River for a fish, hooked one small 29.5 cm brown that was it.. only lasted and hour before having to give it away..
Hopefully I won't be out of the rivers for too long..

cheers
Adrian
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Re: More fast water wild trout

Post by Sebb » Mon Mar 16, 2020 11:31 am

Always good to read your reports, photos and few fish caught too.
Salut to your resilience, despite what you are experiencing, not stopping you to do what you love... fishing. :nw:

"looks can be deceiving" is so true. Sometimes we don't know how fast and how it can be dangerous.
------------------------------
A fish is a fish :ft:
No fish is worth a life, stay safe

MasterBaiter24
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Re: More fast water wild trout

Post by MasterBaiter24 » Tue Mar 17, 2020 10:34 am

meppstas wrote:
Sat Mar 14, 2020 12:17 pm
More fast water wild trout.

After having such a great fast water spin session a few days ago I headed back to the Meander to have another crack at getting a double figure catch. This time it was a mid morning start, a morning that had clear skies, light breeze and a temperature of 22 degrees later in the day. It was 9:45 am when I hit the river above the Chestnut Road Bridge to fish a long nice stretch of fast water, the first thing I noticed was green algae covering the most of the river bottom. Soon as I had seen that I knew then and there it wasn't going to be a good day on the trout here. I did fish around four hundred meters of river without seeing a trout so headed back to the car and drove to the fast waters in the upper Meander River. I didn't go to the same stretch of river I fished three days previously but one a lot further up, an area I haven't fished at all this trout season. This fast water may not look all that tough but I can tell you now it as tough as it gets, much tougher on the body than the one I fished a few days ago. Always remember “looks can be deceiving” and this is certainly one of them. As tough as it is, it does hold a lot of trout and well worth the time and effort one has to put into it, it's also one that's not for the inexperienced trout fisher. It's a mix of long deep fast water, short scattered fast water with the occasional wide medium/deep water, all of which are full of slippery rocks of all shapes and sizes than roll under foot. It only takes one mistake and you will be in the water bouncing your way downstream.
My kind of trout water...JPG
Only for the experience trout fisher here..JPG

It was 11:55 am when I was finally back in the river, the first stretch I fished before heading into the fast water was a long deep medium flowing run that could only be fished from the right hand side due it it's depth and a little further up some very unsafe fast water. Anyway all I could manage here while using the #1 Aglia Mouche Noire was two hits for one hooked and lost small brown trout. When I reached the deep, top end of this run I couldn't go on any further, it was time to get out and do a little bush bashing to the more open fast waters a hundred meters upstream. Once I found my entry point I was soon in the middle of the river (11:30) slowly making my way upstream working both sides of the river with the Aglia Mouche Noire. It wasn't long before I had a hit from a medium size trout in a shaded piece of water to the left of me but missed hooking it. A long cast up and across the river to the right hand side I let the lure drift with the fast water while retrieving it at the same keeping the spinner at the same speed as the flow a small brown came out of nowhere and took it. This little 280-290 gram brown gave it's all to toss the spinner making several leaps from the river before I slipped the net under it, the first trout of the session was landed at 11:36am. After that I hooked and lost a couple of small browns before making a lure change, it was on with a #0 (2.5gram) Stone Fly Bug spinner to see if that could get a trout to stay on. Several casts and retrieves to both sides of the river saw trout chasing the Bug spinner in and around the rocks nipping at it but just missing being hooked. To me this is just a part of fast water trout fishing seeing the trout chase a lure only to miss the trebles or being lipped and tossing the spinner as quick as they took it.
Beautifully coloured fast water trout..JPG
Fast water fishing is never easy under foot..JPG

It wasn't until I had reached a slightly slower flowing fast water when the spinner was taken by one solid brown that really took off no sooner had it taken it. This was a good size trout that had the Okuma Celilo Finesse ULS 1-3kg rod well and truly bent over, it made quite a few leaps from the river and was certainly testing out the fine 4lb Platypus Super 100 mono line as it made several hard runs every which way. The little Okuma Inspira ISX20B reel was holding it's own with this trout too as line peeled from the spool, it took a few minutes before the trout tired and I had it in close enough to lead it into the net. With this trout being such a decent size fish I didn't mess around getting the camera out to video it, I didn't want to chance losing it like I've done previously, it was a good decision, once the trout was in the net out popped the lure. After a couple of quick pic's I weighed it while it was still in the net (less handling of the fish the better) and after deducting the 410 gram net weight the trout went 1.04 kgs, my first trout over a kilo for this season. A little further up the river (8 minutes later) I was onto another nice brown trout that quickly snapped up the stone fly spinner, it was taken at the tail end of a long, wide medium flowing stretch of river.
A quality 1.04 kg wild brown trout..JPG
March Brown Bug did it's job here...JPG
Some nice water ahead, RHS is the deep side..JPG

After the release of that brown I moved into the medium flowing water, it was here the trout were few and far between, those trout that were about only followed the stone fly & march brown Bug spinners. Other Mepps lures I tried were the Black Fury and Aglia Mouche Noires all with the same results, the water that was in full sun was just too clear for the trout to take the spinners. It was time to give the little thirteen year old unbranded brown trout pattern lure a go in the clear water to see if a trout may take a liking to it. Well, it didn't take all that long before it was fish on after a long cast across the river into a small shaded area. This was another decent size brown that ran me all over the place trying to get rid if the little hard body lure, after it made a couple of leaps from the river it soon tired and I had it in the net. It was a beautifully coloured, well conditioned brown that went 670 grams. It was a little quiet until I was nearing the head water when the trout came on the take again, it was here I hooked and landed another four nice browns from seven hook ups. All of those trout were quality fish too and would have averaged around 400 grams, amongst them was trout number nine which brought up my 300th trout for the season. From here on I was back into the fast water where it's running hard and fast plus the depth varies from just below the knees up to around eight inches inches above them. It's here one has to make sure each step taken has a good foot hold on the slippery, rocky river bottom, there's no room for error at all. From here on the trout were fussy and well scattered in the fast water, they were into taking the Stone fly for a short time then go for the March Brown before I finished the session with the last two taking the White Miller. In all it was a reasonably good session with fourteen trout caught & released from 24 hook ups.
The fouteenth & last trout of the day..JPG
Yes I slowly made my way up here...JPG
I kept well to the left hand side, no margin for error...JPG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsXdwgCGp0M

cheers
Adrian
Nice write up mepps, what are your thoughts on the okuma epixor LS-20?

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meppstas
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Re: More fast water wild trout

Post by meppstas » Wed Mar 18, 2020 7:37 pm

Thanks MB24, as for the Epixor LS-20 I can't help you out there but the XT Epixor spinning reels are used by other TT Pro Team Members and they rate them highly... So far I've only used the Helios HSX-20, Inspire ISX20B & the Ceymar C-10 spinning reels and found them to be of a high standard & good quality reel. I still have a few of the old Okuma Epixor & VSystem spinning reels that I used a few years ago and I couldn't fault them over the years I used them in the rivers chasing trout.

cheers
Adrian
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