2019 11 11 Trout fell to the hard body lureMore lousy weather forecast for the next few days I thought I would get a few hours of trout fishing in today seeing most of the day was going to be reasonably good before the change arrives later on. I was in two minds whether to head over to the Meander River at Meander or to the shorter trip to the Mersey River at Weegena, I chose to head to the Meander River. I was originally going to fish at Weegena then after checking the BOM site to see that the water level at Meander had dropped to a decent wading height helped me decide where to go.

2019 11 10 Small brown trout that fell to the Aglia bug spinnerWith poor weather forecast over the next few days I thought I would get one more trip into the tannin water before the change arrives, at the moment the conditions were perfect for trout fishing. I wasn't sure how much lower the water level had dropped in the small stream until I arrived (11:45am) to find it was very low and it was going to be quite a challenge chasing the trout. In low water levels the trout are very alert and will dart off with the slightest bit on movement, even when using a lightweight 1.5 gram Mepps spinner is enough to send them heading for cover.

2019 10 06 First of several caught and releasedIt's been a week since my last fishing session due to a trip to the hospital & today I was finally well enough to head off in the hunt for some wild brown trout. The weather was sitting on 17 degrees when I arrived at my destination, once in the water I knew that I would get a few trout seeing as the water temp was touching seven degrees. The water level was down by around three inches since my last visit but it still had enough depth and flow for a spin session. The Okuma Finesse ULS 6' 1-3kg trout rod couple with the Helios SX20 reel was already set up with the small Mepps #00 gold Aglia spinner and that's what I started the session with.

2019 10 01 2019 10 01 Ready for releaseA light breeze and a forecast temperature had me heading off to fish another tannin water, it's one I had partly fished sometime ago but really would like to fish a lot more of it. Today was the day because that's the area I felt would fish well and give up a few wild brown trout. The water level was around the same as last time, running at a medium to low level and a good rich tannin colour with a water temp of four degrees. There's been some more snow falls in the highlands and we've also had some heavy frosts, that's why the water temperature had dropped two degrees since the last trip.

2019 09 29 First of the sessionBeautiful warm (17 degrees) conditions saw me heading off for another spin session in a small stream this afternoon. This trip was one to a stretch of water I haven't fished since the 12th August so with the warmer temps I felt it was time to give it another go. The last trip this area only gave up two small browns, today I'm looking for a big improvement with the fishing. I had a twenty minute walk to where I started the spin session off and found the water was still running at a nice wading height. The water temp sitting on six degrees, a rise of three degrees which was good, three degrees doesn't sound a lot but it is when chasing trout.

2019 09 08 Trout number 3 ready for releaseThe conditions for trout fishing today couldn't have been better with a clear sky and hardly any breeze, it was a beautiful day. I had a few things to do during the morning so I couldn't get to the water until after 2:00pm, I was in it by 2:35, it was still running on the high side and a cool 3 degrees. This trip as like all my trips so far this season was to a small tannin stream, mainly because they're the only ones that are low enough to hop in for a spin session. Not only that, they're giving up a few trout where as reports from those fishing the larger rivers aren't all that flash.

2019 09 07 Aglia Fluo did the job hereVery cold blustery conditions today and again tomorrow had me thinking there wouldn't be any trout fishing going on for me until around Thursday or Friday. At 1:30pm the wind was only blowing around 10 kph & the air temp was hitting 11 degrees so that was enough to get me off my backside, grab the fishing gear and head of to a small tannin water for a spin session. The large rivers were still running on the high side so really the small streams are my only alternative for now. No sooner had I hit the water at 2:00pm up came the wind, and it hit with force, very strong hard wind gusts that would have been in the 25-30 kph range.

I only realized a few days ago that during the 2019/20 trout season I will be going for my 10,000th trout since we moved to Tasmania back in March 2000.

With a total catch of 8,956 brown trout, 914 rainbow trout & 1 brook trout (total 9,871 trout) to the end of the 2018/19 season I only need 129 trout to reach it.

With 16 trout already caught & released in three trips I hope to catch another 113 by the end of October- early September providing the weather improves.

I have also set myself a target of 600 again for the 2019/20 trout season, same as I set last year & fell 27 short of the target. Will I reach it, who knows but I'll certainly be having a good crack at reaching it. Look forward to getting back into the rivers once the levels drop to a safe wading height and become a little warmer too.

Adrian Webb

PS - If you want to read Adrian's complete tally sheet, click HERE

 

2019 08 22 Aglia Fluo wild brown troutMore poor weather was forecast for later in the day so I was a little undecided whether or not to head off for another spin session in a small tannin stream. At the moment I'm staying away from the larger rivers due to the lack of trout being caught in them as well as the high water levels & water temps being so low. Not only that, I really do love fishing the little tight tannin streams, even though the trout may be small it's still a challenge finding them. In the end I got my act together & headed over to the same little stream I fished back on the 12th August where I caught a couple of browns on the Mepps #0 Aglia fluo rainbow trout coloured blade.

2019 07 19 A well deserved troutToday being the last day of the trout season saw me heading off to try another piece of tannin water in the middle of the bush and yes it did require a little bush bashing to reach it. As tough as it was getting to that small tannin water it was well worth it because I was sheltered from the gusty wind that was still blowing. As I reached the water I could see it will be a pretty tough spin session, the water was very shallow, this meant I was having to go into stealth mode.

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