Not The Best Conditions For Trout Fishing.

[meppstas]

''NOT THE BEST CONDITIONS FOR TROUT FISHING.'' 3-1-14
Well Craig and myself went for another spin session together yesterday in what wasn't the best weather conditions for trout fishing that's for sure. With a very strong Nor-Westerly breeze and a change on the way I thought it was going to be a tough day on the river, and it was too. We arrived at Merseylea close on 3.30pm and after a one kilometre walk downstream we hit the Mersey with the hope of catching a couple of smokers for Craig. The first section of river we fished looked like it would produce a fish or two, but it didn't. I did manage a follow from a small brown and poor Craig started his day off by flicking his Mepps #00 Copper Black Fury into a willow on the opposite bank. Luckily he retrieved it without too much difficulty.

The next stretch of the Mersey was a fast water and I cast into a small pocket of water that flowed around a log and instantly had a hook up from a nice solid brown that was a keeper. This fish didn't stay on though, as soon as it made the first leap from the river it tossed the spinner. That brown would have been close on a pound and would have been a nice fish for the smoker, but it wasn't to be. We kept on working or way upstream having the occasional trout follow the spinner but they weren't really that interested in them at this stage. The sky was fairly clear with a few clouds building up which is what I was hoping for, as once we had full cloud cover the fishing may hopefully improve. The wind was playing havoc with casting the light weight (1.5gm) Black Fury's and Craig was really having a few problems casting the lure with accuracy in these tough conditions. This was mainly due to the fact that he hasn't been able to get out and have a fish for so long due to his work commitments, but this will all fall in place with a few more trips under his belt.

We had now been fishing for around an hour now and I finally hooked and landed a smoker for Craig. This brown (380gm) was the ideal size for smoking too. Finally we had a score on the board and we were hoping for a few more fish similar to that one. As we worked our way upstream I managed another six small browns on the copper Black Fury that were just legal size and were nice solid fish, but I released all of them. They weren't big enough for me to keep for smoking as 220mm legal size just seems too small to me, I would prefer to see the size limit increased to at least (11 inches) 275mms. Craig would have to had one of his worst days in a river today I'd reckon, as nothing went right for him at all. He did have a few follows, I said to him I think you had your spinner in the willows more today than you had it in the river. The wind gusts were the reason for a lot of this, as it would carry the spinner in various directions making each cast much harder for accuracy. He agreed too, it was just one of those days for him and hopefully the next trip we will see him bag a few decent fish,as he deserves to get into a few that's for sure.

[malleestump]

great report guys sounds like the windy condition made things pretty tough for casting.I hate fishing in wind and usually give it a miss on these days.Great pics of the Mersey river though.I fished the Start of the Derwent at Derwent Bridge in March.aA nice stretch of water but didn't have any luck that day.Cheers Gus

[mcbain]

love your reports!

Do you ever fish the hydro outlet near trevallyn?

When i was at uni i caught some nice escapee trout down there

[meppstas]

Thanks guys, appreciate your comments.
The wind this season would have to be the worst I've experienced since moving to Tassie close on 14 years and it's still blowing today, though it has eased a little from what it has been the past few days.
No mcbain I haven't fished that area at all. I'm in the Sheffield area and I only fish the rivers within approx 60km radius from home most times. Have heard of a few good reports from that area though.

[Miffy & Sparkles]

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