Great start to 2017 with 29 trout caught...

[meppstas]

Well I had my first session for 2017 yesterday and it was one of my best days of the trout season so far.. Using a little gold black fury blade spinner I managed to catch 29 browns from 35 hook ups which wasn't all that bad over three hours in the river.. Had several hit & misses during that time too.
Tried a new area south of Ulverstone some 45 kms to the West of Sheffield, it's an area I have fished before but not the two little streams that I tried for the first time. Sort permission from a couple of land owners and got the all clear to access the rivers that ran through their properties which was good and also got the okay from them to come back when ever I wish to.. The trout were all well conditioned and ranged in size from a small 260 gms up to 530 gms. Out of the 29 caught I had to keep the 530 gm brown much to my disappointment due to it having damaged gills from taking the spinner to deep. Tried for ten minutes to get it going but it kept going belly up so it got the "Donger", dropped it off on the way home to an elderly 82 yr old lady who loves her trout. In all it was a good session on two small streams on the day. The little Mepps had to be repaired a few times after being smashed by the larger browns, it did it's job on the day..

cheers
Adrian

Fist trout for 2017

Two browns taken here..

Well conditioned brown..

Solid fish..

Another nice brown..

The little black fury, worse for wear..

530 gm brown that got the donger..

Solid brown caught here..

[Marty.A]

What a way to start the year mate great report as usual :thumbsup:

[Lightningx]

Top report Adrian and great pics as always! :thumbsup:

[meppstas]

Thanks guys, One of my better days on the river... :water:

cheers
Adrian

[barra mick]

Thats a ripper little trout stream

[drew 2]

Thank's for another great post mepps :thumbsup: :thumbsup: I alway's enjoy your writing and photography.

[brybry]

Sensational Adrian.

Spent a few days myself on the Goulburn and smaller rivers for very average results. Fish were definitely there but not playing. Perhaps the hot weather had them a bit lethargic.

With this in mind I've a question re. lure colour and size selection.

What factors do you look at before deciding which colour/size to use?

Typically I'll just start with a couple of old faithfuls like blue/black/silver celtas or black and gold T tails (gotta get some of those black furys!) and keep changing until something works. A little random. Perrhaps if a bit more stream craft application and observation might improve my results.

Cheers and thanks in advance

Brian

[meppstas]

This trip the river was still a little dark tannin colour so I went with the #00 gold blade black fury, the copper is usually a good colour too. But seeing they were happy taking the gold blade I stayed with it.. It was overcast for the majority of the session and when the sun did break through they went off the gold colour so it was on with a #00 (1.5GM) black bladed Aglia and I picked up a brown on the very first cast. Cloud cover came back so it was back to the gold blade and I didn't have to change it again after that. There were times when some browns would just tap the lure, but most times they were pretty aggressive. Most times (95%) I would use the small #00 1.5 gm black fury or Aglia spinners throughout the season with plenty of success. Knowing how to read a river is also a big help and after 52 yrs of trout fishing rivers is a bonus.. Trout are very light sensitive so bright sunny days the dark lures are best suited, overcast days gold & copper work well as does the black if the water is clear. Tannin and light turbid (cloudy) water copper & gold are the go.. I sometimes go up one size ( #0 2.5 gm) or even two sizes (#1 3.5 gm) if the river is deep and running a little faster than normal..

cheers
Adrian

[brybry]

Thanks Adrian, some interesting things to ponder.

I must admit I haven't really been that observant of cloud cover or water clarity when selecting lures but will monitor this next trip and adjust accordingly.

[meppstas]

One other thing I forgot to mention brybry, early season when the water is very cold the trout may be sluggist and need to be stimulated into taking a lure this is when a Silver or fluro coloured blade spinner works well..

cheers
Adrian

Fluro spinner, great for cold water early season..