2020 02 22 Stone fly bug spinner did the job on this troutSeeing as it's been around ten or eleven weeks since I've fished the upper Mersey River I thought today would be the ideal day to do it with light winds & overcast conditions forecast. Getting to the river where I'll be fishing is one that's as tough as it can get, it requires bushing bashing though dense scrub and steep hills. It's also an area than runs hot and cold with the trout fishing too, they're either on in big numbers or they're few and far between. I'm hoping it's going to be a day when the trout are out and about and full of aggression, I'm not fussed about the size as long as they are in big numbers over the one and a half kilometres of river I'll be fishing.

2020 02 03 Small Mersey River wild rainbow trout WeegenaCalm humid conditions today that were ideal for trout fishing saw me head up to Weegena to chase the trout in the fast waters of the Mersey River. I wasn't in a rush to get there seeing it was overcast and humid, it was 8:10 am when I arrived at Weegena. From where I parked the car I had a fifteen minute walk to the fast water I was going to fish, on the way I bypassed a long wide slow flowing stretch of river that had a lot of trout surface feeding in it. There were black spinners hovering above the water surface that had quite a few trout fired up as they were leaping from the river trying to grab a few.

2020 01 07 Mersey River brown troutDull overcast conditions and a gusty South Westerly helped me make the easy decision to fish the lower Mersey River this morning mainly because I knew it would be reasonably sheltered from the winds. It wasn't an early start either because the air temp was only eight degrees when I left home, so there was no rush to get in the river. I was on the river bank by 9:05 am and spotted several trout on the rise plus a few small jumpers as well. As always the first lure of choice was a Mepps spinner, the #0 Stone Fly Bug was what went for starters as it's the lure that's done a great job on several trips lately. I spotted a trout on the rise close to the opposite river bank so that's where the first cast headed.

2019 12 14 The only rainbow troutcaughtWith the lower back and hips not feeling all that good this morning I thought I'd have a break from river fishing for a few days to give the body time to recover from a couple of tough river trips two days ago. Then seeing how good the weather was and with some windy conditions forecast again I decided not to rest up but to go a chase a few trout in the upper Mersey River again.

After placing eight heat pads on the lower back & hips and taking a few pain killers I was on my way, this trip wasn't in the same area where I caught ten trout from eighteen hook ups a few days ago, it was further downstream from there.

The weather this morning was absolutely beautiful, probably the best day for some time with no wind, clear skies, it couldn't have been better. It was around 7:05 am when I hit the dead flat glassy crystal clear waters on the Mersey, the first thing I noticed was trout surface feeding on small Mayfly duns and midges.

2019 12 13 The ever reliable Stone Fly BugspinnerFeeling the effects this morning of the long stint in the upper Mersey River yesterday I was going to have a rest day then when I saw how overcast it was I just had to go chasing trout. Trout fishing in these conditions is what I like best and I couldn't sit home and let it pass me by. After taking a couple of pain killers and placing several heat patches on the lower back and left hip I was on my way to the lower reaches of the Mersey River.

I did think of heading to another area in the upper reaches but with the body being on the sore side I thought it best to go closer to home. As I approached the river I spotted several trout surface feeding in a wide slow flowing stretch of water, perfect for a fly fisher, not so good for the spin fisher such as me.

2019 11 12 Beautiful red spots on this little brownFine warm weather was forecast for today but when I looked out the window this morning it was windy, very overcast and quite cool. I had intended to fish the upper reaches of the Mersey River then changed the trip to a small tannin stream. I was hoping it may still be at a reasonable wading height after the 6mms of rain we had a few days ago but I wasn't expecting too much. No sooner had I arrived the cloud started to break up something I didn't want to happen after seeing how low the water level was.

2019 11 09 Ready for releaseWith another change due plus not having wet a line for a week I headed back to give the Mersey River another crack, this time I was there much earlier too. Still a little later than I would have liked given the conditions were nice and cool as well as being heavily overcast it was the perfect morning to be chasing trout in a river. The river level was around the same height as the last trip and it was still running nice and clear, I felt the fast water runs would be the ones that would give up the trout again today.

2019 10 23 The first of thesessionAfter checking out the rivers levels on the BOM site I noticed the Mersey River had dropped to a lower level that made it ideal for wading in the area I like to cross over and fish. When I arrived to where I cross the river I noticed that the river bottom wasn't looking all that good, I'd have to make sure to take it slow & steady as I crossed over. The water was nice a clear, but the rocky river bottom was covered in a brown slimy algae and heavily silted.

2019 06 27 Lovely wild brown troutThe morning was a low three degrees as I was heading to the upper reaches of the Mersey River, then I had a change of mind and decided to head to the small tannin stream I fished several days go. On my arrival I found the water level was the same as the last trip (a little on the low side) so I thought I would be in for another tough time fishing here. This trip I thought I'd start the session using a copper blade #00 Mepps Aglia Mouche Noire to see how it would go on the trout in the tannin water, not that the copper colour would be a problem as it's worked well before in tannin waters.

2019 04 02 Fish of the day 690 grmsWith poor weather forecast later on this afternoon & with the conditions being overcast & cool this morning I thought a trip to the upper Mersey River may be worth the trip. Half way to where I was heading I came across some light fog which I didn't mind as it meant there wouldn't be any sun on the water for an hour or two. I hit the river at 7:10 am and the first thing I came across was water weeds & plenty of it. Not the ideal thing one wants to see when lure fishing that's for sure as it restricts the fishing quite a lot.

I was starting the session of with the Mepps #1 March Brown bug spinner to see if it may attract a trout or two, it did the job in the Meander two days ago so why not try it here. The water was clear and glassy, there were plenty trout feeding on a massive hatch of midges that covered the wide slow flowing water ahead of me. With thousands of these small midges floating on the surface as well as in the air, the trout were going to be hard to catch this morning.

2019 03 22 Mepps stone fly bug spinner catches another troutWith some light cloud around this morning I thought I would head over to the Mersey River and have a short spin session before the sun burnt the cloud off. Conditions were quite nice with hardly a breath of wind and the river was at the perfect wading height. As I entered the river (7:40am) I noticed a few trout on the rise just ahead of me so I flicked the Aglia Furia well past the fish and retrieved the spinner back a little faster that the flow.

Go to top
JSN Boot template designed by JoomlaShine.com