Get the Knowledge - Get the Fish - with TasFish.com

Coming to the 2019 World Fly Fishing Championships?

Why not send Mike a small donation for this incredible resource !
Contact Mike via this link for a paypal donation.
Or subscribe to his email newsletter.

2019 02 02 Mepps Stone fly bug spiiner wild brown trout Hit the Mersey River just on 7:00 am in what was cool foggy conditions to start with, but a good mild 19 degree day was forecast. My last trip here was back on the 5th December when I had a tough spin session chasing trout in similar conditions. As soon as I hit the water I could see plenty of trout on the rise in a wide long slow flowing flat water which meant I was in for another tough spin session. I fished a short fast water to start with just like I did on the last trip with the same result, no fish. As I headed into the wide long stretch of river with the fog slowly lifting there was a line of trout rising ahead of me which was quite good to watch. Trout were rising everywhere,

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: Mersey River; Published: 09 February 2019; Hits: 880

2019 02 01 Mersey River brown trout caught in back water I Headed over to the Mersey River and walked down through several paddocks for a good kilometre or so below the Union Bridge then started fishing my way back upstream. I haven't fished here for quite some time due to the lack of trout being in the river, today I mainly wanted to see if it has improved with trout stocks. The river was running at a nice wading height and a dark tanning colour. I started off with a Mepps #1 gold black fury working it in several fast water and medium flowing runs without a sign of a trout over the first two hundred meters of river. I changed over to the #1 Aglia Furia and the first stretch of water I used it in I had a couple of follows from brown trout that were mainly out of interest, not a sign of aggression from either fish. Then decided to try hard body lures in that same stretch of water, all to no avail as I never had a follow on any of the five different hard body lures I tried.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: Mersey River; Published: 08 February 2019; Hits: 676

2018 12 15 The one and only trout caught Very wet & windy weather was the forecast here today, well by 2:30 PM I was sick of waiting for it to arrive so headed over to Merseylea for a short spin session. As soon as I arrived so did the rain, thankfully it was only light and wasn't a problem. As the time passed by so did the rain, the trout were few and far between here too. All I could manage was three hook ups for just the one small brown landed. Another one had its revenge with me as I went to lift it from the water it tosses the lure which in turn sliced through my finger. All good in the end as I always carry a small first aid kit in my vest for this very reason. I often have to yank a treble hook from a lure that has embedded itself in a finger or some other part of my hand from time to time.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: Mersey River; Published: 23 January 2019; Hits: 725

2018 12 13 Beautiful rainbow trout With overcast damp conditions today I headed over to the Mersey River, soon as I arrived (5:45am) I saw trout surface feeding in the wide slow flowing water. Seeing that always means I'm in for a tough session & as it turned out it was just that. I still flicked the Mepps spinners & a few hard body lures around in the slow flowing water for just the one follow. Heavy rain was forecast for later in the day, at the moment it was just a light drizzle on and off which I didn't mind. I decided the only place I'll catch trout today was the fast water runs, that's where I headed.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: Mersey River; Published: 23 January 2019; Hits: 785

Finally I managed to get to a river earlier that I normally do, though it wasn't all that much earlier as it was 7:00am when I was finally in the Mersey River. This trip was to the same area that gave up 22 trout six days ago, I'm hoping it will again today. There was only a few problems I had to contend with, that was clear sky, clear water & thousands of insects hovering above the river & on the water surface. The trout were there in large numbers too, they were all surface feeding, so today wasn't a day for the spin fisher at all. A top morning for the fly fisherman providing they can match the hatch with a trout fly. There was still plenty of good flow in the river & with the trout surface feeding, fishing the fast water runs will be where I'll have the best chance of catching a few trout.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: Mersey River; Published: 07 January 2019; Hits: 806

2018 11 30 Finally one is in the net Headed off around 8:00 am for a spin session in the river this morning only to find the river was running a little on the high side and it wasn't safe enough for me to cross over. That's what I get for not checking the river levels before I left home. I decided to head on up to the upper reaches of it where I knew it was safe enough to hop in and wade. This is when it's handy knowing the rivers I fish so after so many years of fishing in them, one gets to know them like the back of your hand. I headed to one of my favourite areas only to find someone else already in the river fishing which meant I had to fish elsewhere.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: Mersey River; Published: 12 December 2018; Hits: 746

2018 11 16 2018 11 16 Well conditioned brown Perfect weather conditions for trout fishing today saw me head to the upper reaches of the Mersey River chasing the trout. It was a dull overcast day with a light shower of rain every now & then, it couldn't have been a better days for chasing trout. The area I headed to is probably one of the toughest to get to and also not the easiest on the body either.

The river bottom is always slippery, even worse the rocks roll under foot making it so hard when wading up the river. Just staying upright in the river is a bonus. In saying that, the fishing has been great for the majority of trips I've had here, it can also have it's off days too. Those off days are usually when the river is low and clear with full sun on it. Today is the ideal day to fish this area, it's in these humid, damp conditions when this area fishes really well. I arrived at 7:50am then headed off to the river,I started fishing just after 8:30am.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: Mersey River; Published: 03 December 2018; Hits: 838

Mersey River

2018 11 14 A well conditioned rainbow A gusty Easterly wind was forecast as the day went on so I hit the Mersey River just after 8:00 am in what was a lovely morning with overnight fog lifting and no wind to worry about for now. I spotted several trout on the rise in a wide open stretch of water which was a good sign. Seeing them on the rise meant there were a few insects around, so I'm hoping the fishing may improve here at last. I started of using a #1 Mepps Aglia TW Streamer spinner, mainly because it has a small fish like streamer attached to the main body.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: Mersey River; Published: 02 December 2018; Hits: 572

2018 11 17 Ready for release Storms were forecast to hit around midday do I headed over to the Mersey River for a quick spin session before it hit. Started of with the #1 Aglia furia and picked up a very tiny brown trout on the very first cast, it was that small I didn't bother to photographed it. The less these little trout are handle the better their survival rate is. From there I decided to head downstream for some three hundred meters and fish my way back upstream. As I made my way over a very rocky old back water I spotted a few cormorants fly over head which wasn't a good sign, then when I arrived to where I was about to start fishing two more of them took off from the edge of the river.

: Written by Stephen Smith - Rubicon Web and Technology Training; Category: Mersey River; Published: 19 November 2018; Hits: 828

2018 10 15 5 Best trout of the day Another day that is forecast for fine weather with a E/NE winds that will pick up as the day goes on so I had a slightly earlier start on the river today. It was 9:25 am when I first stepped into the Mersey River to wet a Mepps spinner and maybe, just maybe get into a few trout. The conditions were perfect as was the river level, though it wasn't as clear as what I thought it would have been. Still good enough to fish, see the lure & even fish in it and that's all that mattered. This trip I started off using a Mepps #1 Aglia TW Streamer gold blade lure just for something different, hopefully it will be the lure that will do the job today in picking up a few trout. I have used it here before and caught a small brown on it, that day the fishing was very tough going so I had to make a change of lure. Today I started out using it in a headwater where a back water entered the river & never had a single touch or follow from a fish. From there I moved into a large back water and fished my way upstream for close on fifty meters, all I could manage was a few follows from non aggressive trout.