''Give Spinning Tasmania's Rivers A Go''

[meppstas]

Wrote this article a year or so ago, it may be of some help to the trout angler here on this site or if you get to Tassie one day.
'' GIVE SPINNING & WADING TASMANIA'S RIVERS A GO '' page 1..
I began spinning for trout in 1965 in the Finnis River, Yundi, Sth. Aust, at the age of 19 and now at the age of 67 I am still loving it just as much, if not more than the first time. I now live here in Sheffield, Tasmania and spin the rivers in the north, and they are some of the best rivers in the State to fish.. Rivers like the Meander, Mersey, Leven, Iris, Vale, Emu,& Flowerdale Rivers are just a few of the many across the N. West to try. In the south there are rivers like the Huon, Russell, Tyenna, Little Denison and the Weld plus many others. These like many others are all good for Spinning and Wading. To start with a good setup is essential,a light wt.,rod is a must,plus a good quality spinning reel & line and your nearly there. The other piece of gear you need is a good pair of waders, a belt and a fishing vest. The rod I use is a l/wt. Diawa Procast 1-5lb,with a Okuma 15a V-System reel filled with a good quality 4lb mono-line. When spinning you must also have an anti-kink set above the spinner, about 450mm, is ample, as this will stop any line twist that can occur when using mono-lines. Then from the anti-kink to the spinner I have a 6 lb leader plus a drop fly attached to the anti-kink. The reason for the drop fly is because this is the first thing that passes the trout and quite often the fish will have a go at it. So by having a fly attached to the anti-kink one will often have a hook up resulting in a fish being landed. I also paint the anti-kink black and add a few very small yellow dots on it. Braid line is very popular now days but I prefer to keep with the nylon mono-line. There are several other good brands of rods and reels available for you to choose from and also suit your budget. The most expensive equipment doesn't mean that you will catch more fish, it is the way you go about it,so shop around and you will find a setup that suits the pocket. I will give one bit of advice though, if you do intend fishing on a regular basis then it would pay you to spend that little bit more than usual. A suitable pair of waders will set you back anything from $55.00 to $150.00. I use a pair of Horne's waist waders, and this is where the belt comes into it. Once on, put the belt around your waist and tighten, this will stop them from taking in water if and when you happen to take the plunge, and one day you will. I don't know of too many fishermen that haven't taken a dive. I have gone in several times. The most important thing to remember when wading is not to take any silly risks. SAFETY must be your first priority as no fish is worth drowning over, water depth can be deceiving. It is always deeper than it looks,so DO NOT go out of your depth,it is not worth it. Now with that out of the way your next items you need are a small landing net plus fishing vest which can be purchased from most tackle stores, but make sure you pick one with plenty of pockets for your lure boxes, shop around as prices vary. Now it's time for the range of lures. I am not a hard body or a soft plastics spin fisher, I am a metal blade spin fisher and this is one of the easiest methods of fishing when you first start spinning rivers. You can move on to the others once you've gained enough experience and are confident to try them if you wish to do so. There are several different brands of metal blades to choose from like Mepps, Vibrax, Celtas and Maruto to name a few. I use the Mepps as they have a large variety and sizes available for trout fishing and have been around since around 1950's. The models I use are Black Fury, Comet and Aglia in the size 00, 0 & 1, as these are quite suitable for every river in Tassie. The blade colours come in silver,copper,gold and black and they are light in weight starting at 1.5 gms,2.5gms,& 3.5gms.''What colour and what type of spinner to use'' Just because a spinner looks good doesn't mean it's going to catch fish. Here are a few things you may want to consider when selecting a good spinner. But which one do you choose? The following may help you.* Silver: for morning light or when it is not strong ( evening, overcast or shadowy places ) and when the water is cold as the metabolism of the trout is really low that they need to be stimulated into attacking the spinner. *Gold: work most times of the day in most river systems.* Black: are very good under strong sunlight, also shows up well in cloudy or flooded discoloured water.* Copper: for tea-coloured waters and there are plenty of them in Tasmania.. My first choice of spinner to use is the Black Fury copper or gold colour, these have been my most productive spinners followed by the Aglia range. One other I forgot to mention was the Bug Spinner another great trout catcher and there are many different brands and varieties of spinners that you can try.
When you have yourself set up, it's time to practice your casting! Go to a reserve and place a several objects around some to the left, ahead and to the right of you, then stay in one spot and practice casting at them. Vary the distance with the objects as too get the hang of different casting distances. Keep this up until you get within 150mm (6 inches) of them, and the closer all the better, then move yourself to another spot and start again. Do this for as long as possible until you feel comfortable with your casting and accuracy, because when you fish the rivers you will need it. Once on the river you will find it quite different than the reserve, keeping your footing and balance for starters. Pick a open section of river that has a gentle flow and not over deep, then go out a few meters from the river bank and have a few casts to different areas around you. Face yourself upstream and cast that direction and bring the spinner back downstream as this appears more natural to the trout, as they always face upstream waiting for food to drift downstream. Once you get the hang of it the confidence will follow, then you can start to venture out to the centre of the river. Most rivers and streams in Tassie have very rocky bottoms and can be quite hard to wade and pretty rough on the body as well. So don't rush into it, take one step at a time and make sure you have good footing before taking the next step. A lot of the rivers I fish are all like this so care must be taken, this is when the experience of many years of river fishing comes into play. Given time, and if you go often, you too will gain the knowledge of wading a river. When you fish the same river over a period of time you get to know the sections of river that are easy and those that are not. Don't forget once you are out in the middle cast towards the river bank and continue the casting until you have worked a full 180deg, to the opposite bank. By doing this then you have covered every section of water around you. When the water depth is between the knees and the belt around your waist then that is the deepest you should go, any deeper can become a risk. Trout are quite often caught in fast water stretches of rivers as well and I have caught the majority of my fish in these areas. Care must be taken with this type of fishing as you can come unstuck easily, DO NOT go above knee depth if and when you fish these sections of river. Wait until you have had many more hours of wading a river before you enter this type of water. The top and bottom ends of pools are always good spots to cast a spinner into as well, the trout will sit there waiting to pounce on anything that comes towards them.
Trout fishing can take as long as you want it too, especially when fishing rivers as there are so many stretches of river to fish. I am in the river on an average of 4 hours every time I go spinning, as you always wonder what is in the next section of water ahead of you. It's like a disease and hard to get out of ones system once it's there. For the best results though, you do have to cover a good length of the river. No less than 1 km otherwise you may as well put a worm on a hook and sit back and hope for the best. Another way of gaining experience is to join a Angling Club, there are plenty of good fishermen in these clubs that will gladly offer you advice. Also check out fishing sites on the web as there are plenty of reports and fishers willing to give advice.
So here are a few pointers to remember that may help you once you are starting to have a spin in a river.
1 : Firstly '' DO NOT TAKE RISK BY GOING TOO DEEP'' this is one rule you must abide by as '' SAFETY '' is your first priority.
2 : Have some one with you on your first few trips and preferably a experienced river angler.
3 : Work the lure from one river bank to the other bank.(180 deg) when fishing from the center of the river, then keep on moving on upstream 6 meters (20 feet) at a time and repeat again as you progress your way upstream.
4 : Work the spinner across the river by letting it drift with the flow and a slow retrieve with the occasional light twitch of the rod will often produce a hook up.
5 : Early morning (first light) or late afternoon fishing are usually the best times to be on the water.
6 : Don't take more fish than you need for a feed, try to practice catch and release as much as possible. This way there will still be fish in the river for next time.
7 : Make sure you have a variety of spinners with you and more than just one of the same as you could lose a few from getting snag on a sunken log or a stray cast into a tree. It does happen!!
8 : Remember to always work your way upstream as to approach the fish from behind.
Good Luck and get out there and have a go at Spinning and Wading some of Tasmania's great rivers not only in the North but all over this great State, you won't regret it. I have had some very memorable times fishing the rivers here in Tassie and hopefully can get many more in over the next few years or so. Go and check out what your local tackle shops have available to get you started into Spinning one of Tasmania's great trout rivers or streams. Cheers and Good Luck.
Adrian.
** PS: since writing this article last trout season I have since purchase a pair of l/wt breathable Remington waders & a pair of Korkers wading boots with interchange able soles . This has made a lot of difference being so light and it makes it much easier on the old body that's for sure.

[Blackflyz_01]

very helpful and a great read!now to grab some waders!!
:thumbsup:

[meppstas]

Thanks for that, hopefully I will soon be able to put some fishing reports on this forum. We've had so much rain here in the North that I haven't been able to get into a river yet, plus it's been gale force winds as well. Now they're forcasting snow down to 100 meters here tomorrow so it's another day stuck inside. I wanted plenty of rain so the rivers would have a good flush out, but enough is enough now. Time it stopped I'm over it.
cheers
Adrian

[Tomcat1]

im going to get on out to taz one of these days and looking forward to hitting the rivers for some trout when i do. back in the USA in louisiana we use to catch white trout and speckled trout on spinners and soft plastics. great eating fish and loads of fun to catch. i use t go up north in the USA to catch the rainbows and browns. i had a uncle that was a avid fly fisherman but i never could get the hang of the fly rod. i always did okay with the spinners though.

[meppstas]

im going to get on out to taz one of these days and looking forward to hitting the rivers for some trout when i do. back in the USA in louisiana we use to catch white trout and speckled trout on spinners and soft plastics. great eating fish and loads of fun to catch. i use t go up north in the USA to catch the rainbows and browns. i had a uncle that was a avid fly fisherman but i never could get the hang of the fly rod. i always did okay with the spinners though.

I was the same TC, could not ( little patience too) get the hang of fly fishing although love watching them fish.Probably because I started on the spinners and still feel can fish many rivers that are not suited to the fly fisher. By that I mean narrow and very heavy low under growth along them. That's where a L/W 5'6'' rod and a closed faced spinning reel does the job.
Hope you do get down here one day, you won't regret it that's for sure.
cheers
Adrian

[Rod Bender]

Some great pics as usual. From memory I have seen some pics of you bait fishing. Would you have a go with worms when the rivers are in the condition pictured (flooded)? Or do you tend to use bait just as the water becomes discolored and the river first starts to rise? I think it would be a waste of time to try bait ( or anything) when the water is dropping after a flood but I wonder if fishing with bait will still be good at the peak of the flood - or are the fish 'stuffed' with food by then?
thanks
Jim

[meppstas]

When the water is on the rise and starts to break the river bank is usually the best time to drop a worm into those areas, once it's peaked it still fishes well and even when it starts to receed you'll still pick up a few. Once it's dropped then the fishing slows down, but fish will still be holding away from the strong flow and then I fish the slack pockets of water close to the river bank where possible. And yes Jim they're absolutely full of worms as they just guts every thing down while they have the chance. Bit like Salmon when caught off the beach and they throw up heaps of baitfish. There should be some nice solid plump trout about once things settle down here, when ever that is. It's still not that flash at the moment that's for sure. Today we've had sleet,rain and gale force winds here in Sheffield and 6 degs at the moment and it's not going to get above that now. Supposed to be moderating from tonight. Oh and it doesn't seem to matter that much Jim if the water is discoloured or not most times they'll still take the worm.
cheers
Adrian

[WyldFisher]

Good advice mate for any beginners looking to tackle stream side Trout.