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Sea run trout tactics – Craig Vertigan

Sea run trout tactics – Craig Vertigan

During the trout off-season I tend to spend a bit of time chasing bream, to continue getting a fishing fix, and spend time tying flies and dreaming about the trout season to come. It’s a time to spend doing tackle maintenance, stocking up on lures and dreaming up new challenges and goals for the trout season ahead. When the new season comes around I usually spend the first few months targeting sea runners. Sea run trout are simply brown trout that spend much of there lives out to sea and come in to the estuaries for spawning and to feed on whitebait and the other small endemic fishes that spawn in late winter through spring. Mixed in with the silvery sea runners you can also expect to catch resident fish that have the typical dark colours of a normal brown trout as well as atlantic salmon in some of our estuaries that are located near salmon farm pens. Living in Hobart it is quick and easy to do a trip on the Huon or Derwent and is a more comfortable proposition compared to a trip up to the highlands with snow and freezing winds to contend with.

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Merseylea 21/3/2014

CATCHING  GRASSHOPPERS  AND  THEN  OFF  TROUT  FISHING
Shot off to Merseylea around 10.30am this morning armed with a kids butterfly net as I was going after grasshoppers and not trout for a change. It was very overcast and dull with rain not that far away going by the conditions.  Once at Merseylea I headed off through the tall grassy paddocks with net in hand and  started swishing it through the grass. Started to get a few but they weren't that big which was a little disappointing as there were much bigger ones here a few days ago. With it being cooler and overcast probably didn't help either. I did manage a couple of large ones and around thirty small hoppers, plus I picked up a few nice big black crickets. Trout just love these big black crickets too, and so they'll be the first ones to go on the hook. 
Category: Mersey River
Hits: 5349

Kimberley 20/3/2014

SHORT  SPIN  SESSION  AT  KIMBERLEY
Left home this afternoon and was on my way to the Meander River for a spin session, but I didn't get there. While driving along the Bridle Track Road I had a change of mind and decided to fish the Mersey River at Kimberley instead. I thought I would just have a short spin session today instead of putting in a full afternoon on the Meander. I will do that some time next week. The river was low and clear and there was a light Nor- Easterly breeze which was just enough to put a light ripple on the surface every now and then. With the Pirtek Challenge on this weekend this was one of the main reasons I have been fishing the Mersey over the past few days, as this will be the river I'll be fishing for the challenge. 
Category: Mersey River
Hits: 5958

Mersey River Report 19/3/2014

CATCH  RATE  QUITE  THE  OPPOSITE  FROM  YESTERDAYS  FISHING
With another day of howling winds I decided to go and see what the Mersey River had to offer at Weegena this afternoon. It's been quite a while since I've had a session there and I was looking forward to it as it normally fishes well at this time of year. Once there I strolled out onto Dylan's Bridge to check out the river and I couldn't believe how low the river was.
Category: Mersey River
Hits: 5055

Merseylea Report 18/3/2014

CATCH  RATE  A  LITTLE  BETTER  TODAY 
With a forecast for strong West to Sth Westerly winds today I headed over to Merseylea for a mid afternoon session on the Mersey River. On leaving Sheffield at 2.20pm the wind had really picked up and I knew it was going to be a bit of a challenge on the water today for accurate casting. At one stage I was thinking about not even going given the strength of it and knowing how difficult it can make the fishing. Then I thought what the heck, it's still good  practice casting in these conditions. 
Category: Mersey River
Hits: 4823

Merseylea Report 14/3/2014

ONLY  TWO  BROWNS  FROM  SEVEN  HOOK UPS. 
Cloudy, humid conditions today made for a run over to Merseylea for a couple of hours in the Mersey River in the hope of picking up a trout or two. The river was still running low and clear and the rocky river bottom was just as slippery here like it was further upstream at Kimberley last Friday. I did see the odd fish jumping which was good, as it was a sign that there were a few trout about and so I might be in luck today.
Category: Mersey River
Hits: 4607

MERSEY GIVES UP BOTH SPECIES IN A FIVE HOUR SESSION 7/3/2014

Headed of to Kimberley this afternoon to give the Mersey River another go at giving up a few trout. The river was running very clear and much lower than my last trip to it. The day was humid and overcast with only the slightest bit of a breeze from the Nth East which wasn't even enough to put a ripple on the water. I stuck with the rainbow pattern Rapala F3 again today as it has been working out well for me lately, and so when you're on a good thing then stick to it I say! I started off flicking the lure into a long run of fast water that flowed into a large pool and just let the lure drift downstream with the flow. I then slowly retrieved it back along the edge of the flow with a light twitch of the rod then let it drift back again and "'bang'" it was hit hard and I had my first fish for the session. After a short battle with this fish which was a rainbow (360gm) I soon had it in the net photographed and returned to the river. Another good start to a session I once again, but will it stay like this for the rest of it I wondered as I've been in this position (like yesterday Meander River) before.
Category: Mersey River
Hits: 4297

Salmon  in the Mersey

This picture was taken from a friends Facebook page (with his permission). 

Category: Mersey River
Hits: 4812

Mersey River 11/10/2013

Given that we were finally gifted with a fine and warmer day and the fact that it hasn't rained in four or five days I decided to give the Mersey River a spin. So after lunch I headed off to the Union Bridge near Mole Creek in pretty good conditions apart from a strong westerly breeze.
Category: Mersey River
Hits: 4663

Merseylea 22/8/2013

Went back to Merseylea this morning for a few hours on the worm. Here's the result, only the one brown for the morning. I did head back this morning to Merseylea and found the river had dropped by around 3 feet and I could get to a nice little spot just below the bridge. Using a rig with a running sinker and just the one hook set up flicked out the two baited rods and sat back and waited. The weather wasn't too bad except for the wind that was starting to strengthen and it wasn't a warm breeze either. There were a few other having a fish here as well but after an hour they left empty handed.

Category: Mersey River
Hits: 4414

Nice Couple of Hours on the Mersey River 7/8/2013

After August the 6ths wet conditions with some 44mms of rain in and around the Kentish area I thought another trip was worthwhile to the Mersey River once again. Left home in cool and sunny conditions and arrived at my ever reliable hole on the Mersey and had both worm baited rigs in the water in no time at all. The river was at least 350mm higher this morning than on Monday and I was a little unsure of how my little fishing hole would go as there was a fair flow of water pushing through it. I could see that it had been much higher too as there were the signs of flattened grass along the river bank and I could see the high water mark that it had reached. The Mersey had already dropped around 400mm from that mark which was good for me. Had it been at that height this morning I would be looking elsewhere to drop a worm. 

Category: Mersey River
Hits: 4016

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From the Archives ... (last chance)

Tiny creeks and sea run trout - Christopher Bassano

Presented from Issue 105, August 2013
Christopher Bassano fishes over 250 days a year. This interview was recorded just before he headed off to fish for Australia in the World Fly Fishing Championships in Norway 14-17 August 2013.

I live on a small stream and at the start of the season I like to go off on a bit of a discovery mission and fish the headwaters of the creeks and rivers I feel an affinity with.

These small rivers include the St Pats, Meander, Forester, Little Forester and others. The further up you go on these rivers the clearer and lower the levels. They are often less affected by the rain and runoff and you get some good opportunities. Get as close to the source as you can and you will find some good dry fly fishing. Don’t limit yourself to those I have mentioned. Most headwaters will hold trout.

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