Snow melt slows down the trout fishing..
Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2018 10:50 am
Snow water puts a dampener on the trout fishing. 30-8-18
Rain was forecast for later in the day so I thought I'd get a quick spin session in before it arrived. Not sure where to head today with many rivers still being a little on the high side and running very cold I finally decided to head off and try another small stream I've fished last season. It's a lovely scenic little stream that often fishes well early season, so I thought it would be worth the forty kilometre drive. Even with the forecast being eleven degrees here in Sheffield I knew it would be cooler where I'm heading so wore a jumper with me on this trip. Once I arrived there at 11:00am I checked the air temperature and it was sitting on seven degrees, I was glad I had the jumper on. The stream was running at a nice wading height and a little cloudy but still good enough to see the bottom in the shallower runs. I also came across a Platypus in the water which wad good to see. As soon as I hopped into the water I felt the cold hit my feet and legs straight away, even with thermals on the cold came straight through them in a flash. I then remembered that this little stream flows down from the Great Western Tiers where there's been a lot of snow and it's been melting over the past few days, hence the water being so cold. I spotted a few trout just ahead of me but they weren't on the take at all. I tried eleven different Mepps spinners plus a few hard bodies, they didn't show one bit of interest in any of them. I reckon the water temperature was too low & that's more than likely what's shutting them down. My legs and feet were burning from the cold water so I checked the water temperature with my fishing thermometer to find it was only three degrees. After being in the stream for forty minutes with no signs of any trout I decided to give it another twenty minutes before I call it a day. In that time I did manage to catch and release a small 330 gram brown on a rainbow pattern hard body, that was the one and only trout that had a go at a lure for the session. Let's hope the Spring weather will turn things around in the next few weeks.. cheers
Adrian
Rain was forecast for later in the day so I thought I'd get a quick spin session in before it arrived. Not sure where to head today with many rivers still being a little on the high side and running very cold I finally decided to head off and try another small stream I've fished last season. It's a lovely scenic little stream that often fishes well early season, so I thought it would be worth the forty kilometre drive. Even with the forecast being eleven degrees here in Sheffield I knew it would be cooler where I'm heading so wore a jumper with me on this trip. Once I arrived there at 11:00am I checked the air temperature and it was sitting on seven degrees, I was glad I had the jumper on. The stream was running at a nice wading height and a little cloudy but still good enough to see the bottom in the shallower runs. I also came across a Platypus in the water which wad good to see. As soon as I hopped into the water I felt the cold hit my feet and legs straight away, even with thermals on the cold came straight through them in a flash. I then remembered that this little stream flows down from the Great Western Tiers where there's been a lot of snow and it's been melting over the past few days, hence the water being so cold. I spotted a few trout just ahead of me but they weren't on the take at all. I tried eleven different Mepps spinners plus a few hard bodies, they didn't show one bit of interest in any of them. I reckon the water temperature was too low & that's more than likely what's shutting them down. My legs and feet were burning from the cold water so I checked the water temperature with my fishing thermometer to find it was only three degrees. After being in the stream for forty minutes with no signs of any trout I decided to give it another twenty minutes before I call it a day. In that time I did manage to catch and release a small 330 gram brown on a rainbow pattern hard body, that was the one and only trout that had a go at a lure for the session. Let's hope the Spring weather will turn things around in the next few weeks.. cheers
Adrian